206 CORN, BEANS, AND PALMS. [chap. vii. 



Tlie harvest was now over ; but the high stubble 

 was still standing, and in it the oxen were allowed to 

 feed. There was at this time hardly any other pas- 

 turage for them. The Ovampo have two kinds of corn ; 

 one is the Egyptian doura (or exactly like it), a sort of 

 hominy ; and the other is a corn that was new to me, 

 but kindred, as I am told, to the Indian " badjera : " 

 its head is cylindrical, and full of small gray seeds, 

 which, though not larger than those of millet, are 

 so numerous that each head contains a vast deal of 

 nutriment. Both kinds of corn grow to much the 

 same height, about eight feet ; and in harvesting the 

 reapers bend down the stallvs and only cut off the 

 heads. As we journeyed on the next day om* surprise 

 at the agricultm'al oimlence of the country was in no 

 way decreased. Chick told us a great deal about the 

 tenure of the farms, and the way they dig them. Each 

 farmer has to j)ay a certain proportion of the tobacco 

 that he grows to Nangoro (tobacco is the chief circu- 

 lating medium in Ovampo-land) ; but the corn can be 

 planted without any drawback upon it. The fields are 

 hoed over before each sowing season, and the corn 

 planted. The manure from the cattle kraal is spread 

 over the ground. They plant beans and peas, but 

 adopt no systematic rotation of crops. The palms 

 that grew here were of the same sort as those that 

 I saw near Omanbonde ; but the fruit of these was 

 excellent, exactly like those of the Egyptian doum, 

 while that of the others was bitter. The other trees 

 that I observed were fruit trees : they were sparingly 

 scattered over the country ; but nearly all that I saw 



