TRIBES HOUSES. 315 



that is, people who have come over land. Be this as it may, 

 the Namaqua-Hottentots consider it as a compliment to be 

 addressed as " Oerlam." " Topnaar," on the other hand, sig- 

 nifies the First, the Highest, the Great, or those who origin- 

 ally inhabited Great Namaqua-land, and they view with con- 

 siderable jealousy the progress and superiority of the " Oer- 

 lam s," whom they justly consider as intruders. 



The northern Namaquas are divided into numerous tribes, 

 each under petty chiefs. The principal of these are Jonker 

 Afrikaner, Cornelius, Amral, Zwartbooi, Jan Boois, Will- 

 iam Fransman, Paul Goliath, David Christian, and Bondel 

 Zwartz. 



The Namaquas dwell in small round huts, made on the 

 same principle as those of the Damaras, and covered with 

 mats composed of rushes, which are prepared in the follow- 

 ing manner : A quantity of the inner bark of the mimosa is 

 collected and dried. When wanted for immediate use, the 

 required portion is put into hot water and softened. Each 

 member of the family then fills his mouth with as much of 

 the fibre as it can hold, and chews it until it becomes quite 

 pliable, when it is at once converted into strings by the rude 

 process of twisting it on the naked leg. A large quantity is 

 in this manner manufactured in an incredibly short time. 

 The rushes are then cut to the desired length, and laid out 

 on the ground singly, and in a row, when holes are made, at 

 intervals of about two inches, through each rush, and the 

 string in question passed through them by means of a bono 

 or thorn needle. The ends of the rushes, however, are se- 

 cured more strongly by back-stitches. These mats serve a 

 double purpose. In warm weather they are open and airy, 

 while, being of a porous texture, a shower closes them, and 

 after a while they become proof against the most deluging 

 rains. 



When they remove their habitations, these mattings and 

 the frame-work of the hut, which consists of semicircular 



