66 DIVISION OF TRIBES LIONS TROUBLESOME. 



a dozen yards they will shoot tolerably well, but beyond 

 that distance they are wretched marksmen. 



The Damaras are divided into two large tribes, the Ovahe- 

 rero and the Ovapantiereu, of which the former lives nearest 

 to the sea ; still, with the exception of a slight difference in 

 the language, they appear to be one and the same people. 

 They may again be divided into rich and poor Damaras,* or 

 those who subsist on the produce of their herds, and those 

 who have no cattle, or at least very few, and who live chief- 

 ly by the chase, and what wild fruit and roots they can pick 

 up abroad. These are called Ovatjimba, and are looked upon 

 with the utmost contempt by the prosperous classes, who re- 

 duce them to a state of slavery, and do not even scruple to 

 take their lives. 



But, as the Damaras are little known to Europeans, much 

 is to be said of them, and they will require a chapter to 

 themselves. I shall, therefore, reserve a more detailed ac- 

 count of their peculiarities, customs, manners, &c., to a later 

 period, when I became better acquainted with them and their 

 country. 



In consequence of an unusually severe drought this year, 

 most of the rain-pools in the neighborhood of Richterfeldt 

 were dried up ; but as spring-water was still to be found at 

 that place, a great number of wild animals nightly congre- 

 gated there. As usual under such circumstances, the game 

 was followed by troops of lions, who were a constant annoy- 

 ance to us. To guard against their attacks, we had on our 

 first arrival made a strong fence or inclosure round the 

 camp, but even then we did not feel very secure. 



One evening these beasts were more than usually trouble- 

 some. The sun had hardly sunk below the horizon when 

 they began their terror-striking music, and kept it up with- 



* To prevent confusion, when speaking hereafter of these people, I 

 shall simply call them Damaras, in contradistinction to the Hill-Da- 

 maras, who are a totally different race of natives. 



