THE WORLD* S WONDERS. 327 



came to the station with a fine albino boy. The father had 

 ordered her to throw him away, but she clung to her offspring 

 for many years. He was remarkably intelligent for his age. 

 The pupil of the eye was of a pink color, and the eye itself was 

 unsteady in vision. The hair, or rather wool, was yellow, and 

 the features were those common among the Bechuanas. Some 

 time after Livingstone left the place the mother is said to have 

 become tired of living apart from the father, who refused to 

 have her while she retained the son : so she took him out one 

 dav and killed him close to the village. 



/ 



In some tribes a case of tw'ns renders one of them liable to 

 death ; and an ox which, while lying in the pen, beats the ground 

 with its tail, is treated in the same way. It is thought to be 

 calling death to visit the tribe. If a fowl crows before midnight 

 it is guilty of "tlolo," and is killed. Livingstone's men often 

 carried them sitting on their guns, and if one began to crow in 

 a forest the owner would give it a beating, by way of teaching 

 it not to be guilty of crowing at unseasonable hours. 



SETTLING DISPUTES. 



LIVINGSTONE says that only on one occasion did he ever wit- 

 ness anything like a fist-fight between natives. An old woman, 

 standing by his camp, continued to belabor a good-looking young 

 man for hours with her tongue. Irritated at last, he uttered 

 some words of impatience, when another man sprang at him, 

 exclaiming, "How dare you curse my 'Mama?' " They caught 

 each other, and a sort of pushing, dragging wrestling-match 

 ensued. The old woman who had been the cause of the affray 

 wished Livingstone to interfere, and the combatants themselves 

 hoped as much ; but he preferred to remain neutral and allow 

 them to fight it out. It ended by one falling under the other, 

 both, from their scuffling, being in a state of nudity. They 

 picked up their clothing and ran off in different directions, each 

 threatening to bring his gun and settle the dispute in mortal com- 

 bat. Only one, however, returned, and the old woman continued 

 her scolding till thu men, fairly tired of her tongue, ordered her 

 to be gone. Their disputes are usually conducted with great 



