130 MEMORIES OF MY LIFE 



dot. The land between the Swakop and the Kuisip 

 is a high desert plateau and uninhabited. The 

 Damaras extend northward up to about the line 

 where " Damara Limit" is written on the map, and 

 they extend far to the east. The Kaoko plain, of 

 which I learnt little that was definite, lies to the 

 west, between them and the sea. 



" Damara" is a corruption of the Hottentot 

 word " Damup," used indiscriminately for numerous 

 Bantu tribes that have no general name in their 

 language, but severally call themselves Ovaherero, 

 Ovapantieru, etc. In a similar way the Arabic 

 word " Caffre " (Kaffir, or infidel) comprehends many 

 different Bantu tribes on the east side of South 

 Africa. The Damaras and the Caffres are clearly of 

 the same race. To the immediate north of Damara 

 Land is a narrow belt of country ill fitted for habita- 

 tion. Northward of this belt and from the line where 

 " Ovampo Limit " is written on the map, is the country 

 of the Ovampo. The Ovampo are pure negroes, but 

 of a high type. Their country extends northwards a 

 little beyond the limits of the map, up to the Cunene 

 River, beyond which the Portuguese claim pos- 

 session. 



In addition to the Damaras, small tribes are 

 scattered over their territory of two totally distinct 

 races of Hottentot and Negro. Both of these tribes 

 now speak the Hottentot language. The first of 

 them are the Bushmen, so called by the Namaquas, 

 and who are pure Hottentots. They are usually 

 small men, but not so very small as the Bushmen 

 proper of Cape Colony are, or rather were, for those 

 exist no longer. On the other hand, the Ghou 



