134 INABILITY TO COUNT. [chap. v. 



until two sticks were put into his hand and one sheep 

 driven away, and then the other two sticks given him 

 and the second sheep driven away. When a Damara's 

 mind is bent upon number, it is too much occupied 

 to dwell upon quantity ; thus a heifer is bought from 

 a man for ten sticks of tobacco ; bis large hands being 

 both spread out upon the ground, and a stick placed 

 on each finger, he gathers up the tobacco ; the size 

 of the mass pleases him, and the bargain is struck. 

 You then want to buy a second heifer : the same pro- 

 cess is gone through, but half sticks instead of whole 

 ones are put upon his fingers ; the man is equally 

 satisfied at the time, but occasionally finds it out 

 and complains the next day. Once, while I watched 

 a Damara floundeiing hopelessly in a calculation on 

 one side of me, I observed Dinah, my spaniel, equally 

 embarrassed on the other. She was overlooking half 

 a dozen of her new-born puppies, wliich had been 

 removed two or three times from her, and her anxiety 

 was excessive, as she tried to find out if they were 

 all present, or if any were still missing. She kept 

 puzzHng and running her eyes over them backwards 

 and forwards, but could not satisfy herself. She 

 evidently had a vague notion of counting, but the 

 figm'e was too large for her brain. Taking the 

 two as they stood, dog and Damara, the comparison 

 reflected no great honour on the man. Hence, as 

 the Damaras had the vaguest notions of time and 

 distance, and as their language was a poor veliicle 

 for expressing what ideas they had, and, lastly, as 

 truth-telling was the exception and not the rule, 



