DRESS OF THE BECHUANAS. 201 



in a bottle-like shape. They never move without their 

 arms, which consist of a shield, a bundle of assagais, a 

 battle-ax, and a knobkerry. The shields are formed 

 of the hide of the buffalo or camelopard ; their shape 

 among some tribes is oval, among others round. The 

 assagai is a sort of light spear or javelin, having a 

 w^ooden shaft about six feet in length attached to it. 

 Some of these are formed solely for throwing, and a 

 skillful warrior will send one through a man's body at 

 one hundred yards. Another variety of assagai is form- 

 ed solely for stabbing. The blades of these are stouter, 

 and the shafts shorter and thicker, than the other va- 

 riety. They are found mostly among the tribes very 

 far in the interior. Their battle-axes are elegantly 

 formed, consisting of a triangular-shaped blade, fasten- 

 ed in a handle formed of the horn of the rhinoceros. 

 The men employ their time in war and hunting, and 

 in dressing the skins of wild animals. The dress of 

 the women consists of a kaross depending from the 

 shoulders, and a short kilt formed of the skin of the 

 pallah, or some other antelope. Around their necks, 

 arms, waists, and ankles they wear large and cumbrous 

 coils of beads of a variety of colors, tastefully arranged 

 in different patterns. The women chiefly employ their 

 time in cultivating their fields and gardens, in which 

 they rear corn, pumpkins, and water-melons, and like- 

 wise in harvesting their crops and grinding their corn. 

 Both men and women go bareheaded : they anoint 

 their heads with " sibelo," a shining composition, being 

 a mixture of fat and a gray sparkling ore, having the 

 appearance of mica. Some of the tribes besmear their 

 bodies with a mixture of fat and red clay, imparting 

 to them the appearance of Red Indians. Most of the 

 tribes possess cattle ; these are attended to and milked 



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