CHAP, v.] ARRIVE ON THE HIGH TABLE-LAND. 137 



it was larger than any in my drove, though I had some 

 fine ones amongst them. 



We had now finally lost sight of Jonker's hills and 

 all the broken ground of the Swakop, the summits of 

 whose liighest mountains were below us. We had 

 mounted steadily up, and were journeying on a high 

 plateau 6000 feet above the level of the sea, as 

 measured by a boiling-point thermometer. On this 

 plateau Omatako, Koniati, and other hills stood. 

 Almost immediately after leaving a large tributary 

 of tlie Swakop, we came upon a river-bed, running in 

 exactly the opposite direction, and tliis we followed ; 

 it is called Okaroscheke, or " naked " river — the story 

 being, that one rainy season, when the water was 

 flowing waist-high, some Damara women tried to cross 

 it to get at the berry-trees which grew on the opposite 

 bank, and stripped to do so, leaving their skin aprons 

 on the ground ; when they were on the other side 

 ,a torrent of water came down which swept theu' aprons 

 away, and left them without clothing. The Damaras 

 are very particular about wearing something, however 

 little it may be, and look upon complete nakedness as 

 a great disgrace. Another somewhat refined practice 

 that they have is, that no hunger will drive them to 

 eat raw or even underdone meat. They have number- 

 less superstitions about meat, which are very trouble- 

 some : in the first place, each tribe, or rather family, 

 is prohibited from eating cattle of certain colours, 

 savages " who come from the sun " eschewing sheep 

 spotted in a ijarticular way, which those " who come 

 from the rain" have no objection to. As there are 



