436 SERPENTS FISH THE BATOANA. 



numerous ; but, though they at times attain a gigantic size, 

 they appear very harmless, being often destroyed by the na- 

 tives, who devour them with great relish. I never myself 

 saw a specimen exceeding seven or eight feet in length, but 

 procured skins measuring fully three times that size. The 

 Bushmen assured me that they not unfrequently surprise 

 these monsters when asleep and gorged, and that on such oc- 

 casions it was not unusual to dispatch them with a blow on 

 the head from the knob-kierie. These snakes feed chiefly on 

 birds and smaller quadrupeds. 



The finny tribe was also pretty numerous ; but my stay at 

 the Lake was of too short a duration to collect much infor- 

 mation on this head. I saw and tasted many different kinds, 

 some of which were most excellent eating, and had a rich 

 and agreeable flavor. The only ones, however, which I re- 

 member had any likeness to northern fishes were a sort of 

 perch, and one or two barbel kinds. 



CHAPTER XXXV. 



The Batoana. — Government. — Eloquence. — Language. — Mythology. 

 — ^Religion. — Superstition. — The Rain-maker. — Polygamy. — Cir- 

 cumcision. — Burial. — ^Disposition of the Bechuanas. — Thievish Pro- 

 pensities. — Dress. — Great SnufF-takers. — Smoking. — Occupations. 

 — Agriculture. — Commerce. — Hunting and Fishing. 



The people who dwell on the shores of the Lake are, as 

 before said, called Batoana,* under the rule of Lecholetebe. 

 They are a small tribe of that large family of "• blacks" 



* Some of the notions entertained of these people before the exist- 

 ence of the Ngami was known to Europeans are curious and amusing. 

 Captain Messum, in an article in the Nautical Magazine on " the ex- 

 ploration of Western Africa," says that he had heard the inhabitants 

 of the Lake regions represented as monsters, with only one eye in the 

 centre of the forehead, and feeding on human flesh, as the giants of 

 old used to take their breakfasts. " A baby was nothing ; they swal- 

 lowed it whole." 



