270 



THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND 



Bee the face of his wife, and he is only allowed to visit her in the dark. But even among 

 these clans the marriage tie is very loose, and a community of wives prevails. 



The true Bushmen have a certain belief in fetish and in a future life. Livingstone 

 records that at a grave on the Zouga (a river that flows into Lake Ngami) the Bushmen 

 "showed by their observances that they regarded the dead as still in another state of being; 

 for they addressed him, and requested him not to be offended, even though they wished still 

 to remain a little while longer in this world." Livingstone also records their habit of appealing 

 for guidance to spirits by throwing dice. But Livingstone used the term Bushman very 

 loosely, and accepted as members of that race men who must have been Negroes, or at least 

 half-breeds. It has indeed been asserted that the true Bushmen have no religious ideas 

 whatever. But this is improbable, as their folklore contains many references to spirits and 

 the existence of men and animals after death. Moreover, the fact that the Bushmen bury 

 a spear beside the dead shows that they have a belief in an existence beyond the grave. They 

 are said to have a proverb, "Death is only a slumber." They believe in two gods, one good 

 and one evil: they pray to the former in times of famine; but before the chase they pray 

 to the caterpillar, which they call n'go, from which they extract one of their arrow-poisons. 



Their folklore is remarkably rich in fables about animals of the "Uncle Remus" and 

 "Brer Rabbit" type. It also contains many references to astronomical phenomena. Thus, 

 according to one of their legends, the star Arcturus supplies them with rice; they say that 

 light originated by a man being hurled from the earth into space, the Magellanic clouds, the two 



star-clusters beside the Southern Cross, are believed 

 to be a pair of steinbok, a species of antelope. 



The Bushman language has a very extensive 

 vocabulary. Its most interesting feature is the 

 existence of a number of clicks, sounds that have 

 been compared to those made by coachmen to quicken 

 the pace of horses. To a European these sounds are 

 practically unpronounceable as part of a word. There 

 are six main clicks, which are represented by con- 

 ventional signs when the language is reduced to 

 writing. The " cerebral click " is compared to the pop 

 of a cork when drawn from a bottle, and it is 

 represented by a note of exclamation; thus the word 

 for "fox" is written " ! Tcamap," indicating that such 

 a pop-like sound must be made at the beginning of 

 the word. The "palatal click," represented by the 

 sign t or j , may be imitated by pressing the tip of the 

 tongue against the front of the palate and suddenly 

 withdrawing it. The " labial click " is made by rapidly 

 moving the tongue, as in flute-playing, while a word 

 is being spoken. The "lateral click" is compared to 

 the quack of a duck, and the "'dental" click is like 

 a loud, sharp kiss. 



Photo by Underwood & Underwood, N. Y. 

 A. CONGO PYGMY. 



THE ANGOLA. DWARFS. 



To the north of the Bushman clans of British 

 South Africa and Damaraland there are several pygmy 

 tribes in the forest region of Angola. The best 

 known of these tribes is the Bakwaudo, who are 

 described as a small people, with dark yellow skin, 

 big cheek-bones, prominent lips, small legs, and pro- 

 jecting jaws. In physical characters, therefore, as far 



