442 Transactions of the South African Philosophical Society. 



clan, and was the leader in the various hunting or predatory expedi- 

 tions undertaken, but the various clans scarcely ever combined for 

 offensive purposes. The Bushmen were communists in the sense 

 that the game killed by a member of a clan was shared by the whole 

 of it. 



They lived mostly in caves. Great numbers of these caves occur 

 in Basutoland, in almost every one of which traces of Bushman 

 occupation can be found. They were the rallying-points of the 

 various clans, and no matter how far their wanderings may have led 

 them they never failed to return periodically to relate their hunting 

 exploits. 



When a young man wanted to marry a girl, he was always sup- 

 posed to kill an animal, generally the largest and fiercest he could 

 find. He then carried the animal, or as much of it as he could, 

 home, and gave the best part to the girl. He was then looked upon 

 as a man, and as a suitor for the hand of the girl. Besides this, the 

 young men of the clan usually gathered round him and gave him a 

 severe thrashing with sticks till he was quite bruised. If he bore 

 this without murmur he was declared worthy of the girl. 



The Bushmen were partly monogamous, partly polygamous. 

 Considerations of food were generally the ruling motives in the 

 choice of wives. When game was plentiful, and the hunters had 

 undisputed possession of the country, polygamy generally prevailed, 

 but when the stronger races began to drive the Bushmen before 

 them it was incumbent on each man to have as few family encum- 

 brances as possible. This was specially true in the later stages of 

 their history. The husband was absolute master of the wife, but 

 this did not mean that he treated her any worse than other Bantu 

 tribes do. Conjugal fidelity on the part of either husband or wife 

 was not conspicuous. Great laxity in such matters usually pre- 

 vailed. From observation on Bantu tribes, I am convinced that 

 polygamy is no safeguard against purity in family relations. Besides, 

 wealth is always a great inducement to polygamy amongst heathen 

 peoples. The man who has the largest worldly possessions, espe- 

 cially cattle, will usually have the largest number of wives. 



The rite of circumcision seems to have been practised by Bush- 

 men, as one of the Basuto circumcision songs speaks of the " clever 

 Bushman " who first taught them how to perform the rite in a 

 ** good manner." 



The Bushmen usually cut off the first joint of the little finger of 

 the left hand. What religious significance this had, if any, I am 

 unable to discover, as the only Bushman to whom I put the question 

 was not able to afford me any information. 



