RECEPTION AT VILLAGES. Ill 



tongue, peal forth, "Great lion!" "Great chief!" "Sleep, 

 my lord !" &c. The men utter similar salutations ; and 

 Sekeletu receives all with becoming indiiference. After a 

 few minutes' conversation and telling the news, the head 

 man of the village, who is almost always a Makololo, rises 

 and brings forth a number of large pots of beer. Cala- 

 bashes, being used as drinking-cups, are handed round, and 

 as many as can partake of the beverage do so, grasping 

 the vessels so eagerly that they are in danger of being 

 broken. 



They bring forth also large pots and bowls of thick milk; 

 some contain six or eight gallons; and each of tnese, as 

 well as of the beer, is given to a particular person, who has 

 the power to divide it with whom he pleases. The head- 

 man of any section of the tribe is generally selected for 

 this office. Spoons not being generally in fashion, the milk 

 is conveyed to the mouth with the hand. I often presented 

 my friends with iron spoons, and it was curious to observe 

 how the habit of hand-eating prevailed, though they were 

 delighted with the spoons. They lifted out a little with 

 the utensil, then put it on the left hand, and ate it out of 

 that. 



As the Makololo have great abundance of cattle, and the 

 chief is expected to feed all who accompany him, he either 

 selects an ox or two of his own from the numerous cattle- 

 stations that he possesses at different spots all over the 

 country, or is presented by the head-men of the villages 

 he visits with as many as he needs, by way of tribute. The 

 animals are killed by a thrust from a small javelin in tho 

 region of the heart, the wound being purposely small in 

 order to avoid any loss of blood, which, with the internal 

 parts, are the perquisites of the men who perform the work 

 of the butcher; hence all are eager to render service in 

 that line. Each tribe has its own way of cutting up and 

 distributing an animal. Among the Makololo the hump 

 and ribs belong to the chief; among the Bakwains the 

 breast is his perquisite. After the oxen are cut up, the dif- 



