C) SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 



Our three observatories in the held at Montezuma, Chile, Table 

 Mountain, California, and Mount Brukkaros, South West Africa, have 

 carried on as usual. The following- extracts from the diary of 

 Mrs. Sordahl, wife of the director at Mount Brukkaros, show some of 

 the unusual incidents of life in a Hottentot reservation. 



January 2, 1930. The blue cats of Mount Brukkaros celebrated the New Year 

 by raiding our chicken house at two o'clock this morning. Adam woke us up, 

 and Louis jumped out, grabbed his pistol and rifle and flash light and went 

 up to the chicken house. The wild cat was still inside. Louis shot it with his 

 .32 Luger. Adam skinned the cat and I prepared it as a flat skin. We had a 

 chicken dinner. 



January 24, 1930. During last night's storm, the lightning had struck the 

 tunnel. The cotton wrapping on the wires was burned, also the wires, box, 

 shunt, resistance box and Wheatstone bridge ; both strips in the bolometer were 

 broken, lights burned out, second Wheatstone damaged, and theodolite blackened. 



Alfred went to town, sent cablegram to Dr. Abbot January 25, 1930. 



The men worked all day repairing instruments January 26, 1930. The 



men worked all day at the tunnel. I stood by and tried to be of help, but per- 

 haps was more of a hindrance. They ran a plate test at 5 : 30 p. m. Had a ter- 

 rific whirlwind today. The stove became " stopped up " so the men had to fix 

 that too, and the whirlwind took the sacks off the coleman lamps. Trouble 

 never comes singly. 



May iS, 1930. Went back to Berseba and waited to see the wedding. The 

 Hottentots perform their own pagan ceremonies of marriage first, and the next 

 day they have the missionary marry them according to Christian rites. The 

 bride was hidden away from all the ceremony and celebration. This is done to 

 test her faithfulness as a lover. The groom walked about with a look of loneli- 

 ness and despair as he could not take part in the gayeties either. He wore a 

 bright orange pair of trousers, black pointed shoes, and a felt hat, all of winch 

 made a peculiar combination of Hottentot and European styles. Tbe groom's 

 relatives form a procession and go to the bride's parents' home with the inheri- 

 tance. The bride's relatives do likewise to the groom's home. The groom's 

 train consisted of seven yoke of oxen drawing a wagon load of food. The wagon 

 was covered with green foliage. Behind the wagon, the men drove teams of 

 goats. A long line of women walked on either side, carrying green branches 

 forming an arch over the oxen and goats to conceal the gifts that the bride was 

 to receive. The two parties met half way between the homes, crossed paths 

 and proceeded to the opposite home. After this ceremony the celebration 

 begins. They build a large fire to barbecue the meat and cook the mealy meal. 

 Mr. Mutz told us that in good years they kill as many as twenty head of oxen 

 for a wedding, but during poor years such as this one the number seldom exceeds 

 seven. They eat, drink, dance and sing all night. The next noon the missionary 

 marries them again. 



