il888.] Lore of the South African Natives, 311 



okanumaihi, " little drinker of sweet milk," on account of its appear- 

 ance at milking time. 



In Kongo a star is called ntetemhwa, a term possibly connected, 

 as in Zulu and Xosa, with a word meaning [to sparkle or glitter, viz.: 

 tentena ; and a planet is called nhazi a iigonde, the wife of the 

 moon. In Bunda (Angola) a planet is chi-tetembuka. 



The eshi-Kongo generally call a constellation ehunda dia ntetemhwa, 

 or " gathering of stars." They have a curious name for the three 

 Stars in the Belt of Orion, namely mbwe yo nshiji yo nhoiigwambiva, 

 or " the dog, the palm rat and the chief huntsman." 



In Kafir, Orion's belt is simply amaroza, " a line of stars," primarily 

 " a row of beads." 



It will be noticed that on the West Coast among the ova-Herero, 

 the eshi-Kongo and the Angolese a distinction is made between fixed 

 stars and planets. 



Although generally viewing the heavens with indifference, many 

 Bantu tribes make an exception in favour of the beautiful star cluster 

 around which so many northern legends have gathered. 



Miss Gierke tells us that in Arabic the Pleiads are called Eth 

 Thuraiya, from therum^ copious, abundant, because many are gathered 

 in a small space ; and that the idea of family or groups is also con- 

 tained in the Biblical Kimah. " Analogy," she says, " then almost 

 irresistibly points to the interpretation of the Greek Pleiads by 

 pleio?iis, many, or pleios, full, giving to the term in either case the 

 obvious signification of cluster." 



We have seen that " cluster " is one of the meanings attributed to 

 the Nama Khunuseti ; among the Bantu we find this meaning unmis- 

 takably evident in the Herero oty''ose. This word is a form of 

 ohiyose, star, plural ova. nyose, and means strictly no more than 

 " starry," " appertaining to stars," " the place of stars." Hence its 

 application among the ova-Herero to the Pleiad Star cluster. 



In Kongo the word is udundalunda, a swarm, applied also to a 

 swarm of bees. This closely resembles the Australian word worrul, 

 a bee's nest applied to the same asterism, and reminds us of the poet's 

 " fire flies tangled in a silver braid." 



The eshi-Kongo have, however, another word for the Pleiads za 

 lunda emvula^ which seems to mean the " storehouse or gathering 

 place of rain." (Cf Inhambane " rainy season "== 7^a!m^^e-?^^;^^/«.) 

 This would appear to connect the Pleiads in the Kongo mind with the 

 advent of the rainy season just as the " pluviae Hyades " were so con- 



