484 THE MATSANYANA THE BAVICKO LIBEBE. 



is also of frequent occurrence ; and many of the natives bear 

 marks of the small-pox. Like* the Lake district, the Teoge 

 and the surrounding country is visited by a dangerous fever, 

 which carries off many of the natives. 



North of the Bay eye country we find the Matsanyana, 

 but I have not been able to ascertain whether these people 

 form a distinct nation. 



Still further north, that is, beyond the Matsanyana, we 

 hear of the Bavicko (or Wavicko) nation, whose capital is 

 called Libebe, from which also the chief derives his name. 

 The Griquas, whom I mentioned when speaking of the water- 

 sheds of the Lake, and whom I met and conversed with on 

 the subject, say that the country about Libebe is flat and 

 thickly overgrown with bush, occasionally relieved by large 

 isolated trees, and that the Teoge is there of great width and 

 studded with beautiful islands, on which the natives chiefly 

 dwell. 



The Bavicko are represented as an industrious and honest 

 people of agi'icultural habits. Their mode of dress resem- 

 bles that of the Moviza (a great trading nation in the interior 

 of the East Coast, and west of the Portuguese settlement). 

 Timbo, who was well acquainted with the appearance of the 

 Moviza, on hearing a description of the Bavicko, mistook 

 them for the former nation. The latter have some slight 

 knowledge of metallurgy. Iron they procure easily and in 

 abundance from their neighbors ; but, from all I can gather, 

 this ore does not seem to be indigenous to their own country. 



Libebe appears to be the centre of a great inland trade. 

 Among other tribes that repair here for the purpose of com- 

 merce are the Mambari, a race probably resident in the vi- 

 cinity of the new Portuguese settlement. Little Fish Bay. 

 A strong argument in favor of this supposition is, that the 

 Griquas, lately alluded to, and who found a party of these 

 men at Libebe, were informed by them that their tribe was 

 visited by two different white nations: by one of them — 



