174 



THEIR HABITS ^THEIR ARMS. 



people invariably made use of salt with their food, a thing 



never seen among the Damaras. 

 As soon as their plain meal was 

 finished, pipes — of their own man- 

 ufacture — were produced, and, aft- 

 ^^^^- er a few whifis, a song was struck 



up. One man began to chant, and the whole party joined 

 occasionally in chorus. Though somewhat monotonous, the 

 music was not unpleasing. 



They were armed with bow and arrows, the assegai and 

 the knob kierie ; but the two first-named weapons were of 

 smaller dimensions than those used by the Damaras. Their 

 bows, moreover, were constructed fi'om a kind of wood called 

 mohama, which, in its natural state, is flat on one side, and 

 thus, in a degree, of the required form. 



The arrows are generally tipped with bone or iron ; but 

 they do not often poison them. They carry their quivers 

 under the left arm by means of a strap across the right 

 shoulder. In addition to the weapons mentioned, they have 

 a dagger, protected by a leather sheath tastefully ornamented 

 with thin copper wire. 



DAGGER AST) SHEATH. 



Carpenter's work is not much 

 practiced among the Ovambo. 

 The rude hatchet here represent- 

 ed is nearly the only mechanic's 

 tool I remember to have seen in 

 their possession. 



