DRESS OP THE BECHUANAS. 201 



in a bottle-like shape. They never move without their 

 arms, which consist of a shield, a bundle of assagais, a 

 battle-ax, and a knobkerry. The shields are formed 

 of the hide of the buffalo or camelopard ; their shape 

 among some tribes is oval, among others round. The 

 assagai is a sort of light spear or javelin, having a 

 wooden shaft about six feet in length attached to it. 

 Some of these are formed solely for throwing, and a 

 skillful warrior will send one through a man's body at 

 one hundred yards. Another variety of asSagai is form- 

 ed solely for stabbing. The blades of these are stouter, 

 and the shafts shorter and thicker, than the other va- 

 riety. They are found mostly among the tribes very 

 far in the interior. Their battle-axes are elegantly 

 formed, consisting of a triangular-shaped blade, fasten- 

 ed in a handle formed of the horn of the rhinoceros.- 

 The men employ their time in war and hunting, and 

 in dressing the skins of wild animals. The dress of 

 the women consists of a kaross depending from the 

 shoulders, and a short kUt formed of the skin of the 

 pallah, or some other antelope. Around their necks, 

 arms, waists, and ankles they wear large and cumbrous 

 coils of beads of a variety of colors, tastefully arranged 

 in different patterns. The women chiefly employ their 

 time in cultivating their fields and gardens, in which 

 they rear corn, pumpkins, and water-melons, and like- 

 wise in harvesting their crops and grinding their corn. 

 Both men and women go bareheaded: they anoint 

 their heads with "sibelo," a shining composition, being 

 a mixture of fat and a gray sparkling ore, having the 

 appearance of mica. Some of the tribes besmear their 

 bodies with a mixture of fat and red clay, imparting 

 to them the appearance of Red Indians. Most of the 

 tribes possess cattle ; these are attended to and milked 



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