CHAP. IX.] GHOU DAMUP GENEALOGIES. 251 



of the present Damara-land but also of the whole 

 country to the south of it haK way down to the Orange 

 Kiver, and that they are of a race hi every respect 

 kindred to the Ovampo. The Bushmen appear to 

 have invaded and thoroughly conquered the Ghou 

 Damup, for they not only exist as the superior caste 

 of the two, but have also taught them their language, 

 to the entire exclusion of whatever other one they may 

 at some former period have possessed. Those Ghou 

 Damup that I saw have no tradition of any other 

 language than that they used ; but the tribes who live 

 on the lower parts of the Omoramba were described as 

 speaking several languages; and some of these were 

 said to be ignorant of Hottentot. 



All these bits of information were derived from very 

 many sources ; some I received from persons in Damara- 

 land, some from Ghou Damup among the Namaquas, 

 and the rest from Bushmen who Hved far to the east 

 of them. The Ghou Damup are abused and tyrannised 

 over by everybody, but servitude has become their 

 nature, and the very name of Ghou which they 

 themselves adopt and use is far from complimentary. 

 Like many other Hottentot names it is not translatable 

 to ears polite. The missionaries for delicacy's sake call 

 them " Hill " Damaras, because they live on the hills. 



A standing joke against the Ghou Damup is, that 

 they trace thek descent from the monkey tribe. An 

 old man amongst them gave me the following history 

 of his family ; he worded it very neatly: — "My great 

 uncle was a baboon, and lived on excellent terms with 

 the rest of the family, but the following occurrence 



