352 Conwnmicntions made, hy a Native of South Africa. 



saw no snow upon tlipm during tlio twelve months he wns there, hnt walrr 

 froze a( the town, which did not happen beside the great water. Beside the 

 town, and near the mountains, are many trees ; they are not like oaks but more 

 like the pines in the streets of Cape Town. There is a fruit in the country of 

 the size of a peach but it was never eaten. The tribe of Umpooroo have many 

 cattle. They build in the same manner as the Bechuana, dress like ihem, 

 and speak the same tongue. 



Upon the banks of the Lake are found another people, named the Bacoua:. 

 They are darker in colour than the former, and speak a different language, 

 and build small ugly huts like the Bushmen. They dr-ess like the Bechuana. 

 The Macowa use boats and navigate the lake: they i)ossess some cattle, but 

 live much on fish. They cut the wood for the boats wi(h iron axes and adzes, 

 and pierce holes with iron lools of their own manufacture. The boats are not 

 hollowed out of trees, but are made of planks fastened together with wooden 

 pins. Moopi had crossed the lake in these boats, and often saw ihem when 

 drawn upon the beach. They are about eighteen feet long, and 4 or 5 wide, 

 and will carry twelve people. 'l"he boats are impelled by means of one long 

 pole, about 10 feel long. Aloopi had seen it used, and also in theboa(son 

 the shore; only one pole was used. It is round and no where flat, (Moopi 

 ohowed how tljey worked wilh it, and exhibited an action like that of rowing 

 or sculling;, il is used near the foreward end of the boat. It was not pushed 

 against the bottom, it came up clean without any mud ; and ihe water is very 

 deep. It is dark coloured, and the bottom cannot be seen. 'I'hey used no 

 sails. The boat wer.t through the ivaler fast, and when they gained (he op- 

 posite bank the boat was hauled up on shore. The water of the lake is fresh 

 and good. The fish in it are caught with a hook, he saw no net — when the 

 fish was large and heavy, the Bacowa speared them. 



The water rises higher when it rains, but does not rise and fall at othci- 

 limes. When there is wind the waves break on the shore as they do by the 

 «ea-beach at Cape Town. It look ihe boats from (5 to 8 hours to cross it. 

 They could not see across it from either shore, but in Ihe middle they could see 

 land on both sides. Moopi had never gone round the water, either way, but 

 had seen people who came round wilh cattle by the eastward, and does not 

 know if they can go round the other way. lie had heard of another gre:vt 

 water to the westward. There are no mountains close by the lake, tlie shore 

 is low, with reeds and bushes, but no trees. Many rivers fall into it, two of 

 which are wide and deep, and are crossed by means of boats near the lake, 

 where their water runs slow. They are not so wide as the Gariep. 



When Moopi was al the eatlle post by the water, the sun rose out of lire 

 water, and the mountains and the town lay to the right-hand. The sun was 

 across the water at mid.day in the cold season, and when looking at the sun 

 then, the town was on the right : in the hot season the sun came right above 

 overhead, — when he looked north to the water the sun was then behind, it set 

 over a low flat country. Heavy rains caitie at the end of the warm season. 

 There are no very stormy winds. 



The Macowa had copper and iron in their country; he saw no other metal 

 there. They rullivate millet, pumpkins, and Bechuana beans ; they also eat 

 wild bulbs. There is only one harvest in the year, lie had heard of years 

 of great sickness, when many died. 



The Macowa have beads with which they bay and sell, — they are larger 

 than those in this Colony. They do not make them. There are elephants in the 

 country, and a people come to purchase the teelh with beads. They give icn 

 large bunches for a good elephant's tooth. They do not bring knives or any 

 thing but beads. They bring pack-oxen with them, on which they carry their 

 goods. They come from the westward, arc two months on their journey be- 

 fore they reach the Macowa,^ — ^their oxen are fat when they arrive, — there is 

 grass and water on the road. They do not take away any men for slaves. 

 They are armed wilh assagais, and go quite naked. They are black, and 

 have curled hair, and are tattooed on the nose and up the forehead like steps. 

 They do not kill their beasts like the Macowa, but cut their throats. 



There is no fighting among the people by the lake, but the Dammaras 

 sometimes attack them all. Moopi and his people were driven from this 

 country after resting a year there, by an attack of Manlatees. They fled lo 

 the eastward, where they found no water, and many died before thejr agarii 

 reachad the Bechuana country; 



