LEAVE BAKWAIN COUNTRY. I77 



where. But, though they all possess a distinct knowledge of a 

 deity and of a future state, they show so little reverence, and feel 

 so little connection with either, that it is not surprising that some 

 have supposed them entirely ignorant on the subject. At Lotla- 

 kani we met an old Bushman who at first seemed to have no 

 conception of morality whatever ; when his heart was warmed by 

 our presents of meat, he sat by the fire relating his early adven- 

 tures 1 among these was killing five other Bushmen. "Two," 

 said he, counting on his fingers, " were females, one a male, and 

 the other two calves." " What a villain you are, to boast of kill- 

 ing women and children of your own nation ! what will God say 

 when you appear before him?" "He will say," replied he, " that 

 I was a very clever fellow." This man now appeared to me as 

 without any conscience, and, of course, responsibility ; but, on 

 trying to enlighten him by further conversation, I discovered that, 

 though he was employing the word that is used among the Bak- 

 wains when speaking of the Deity, he had only the idea of a chief, 

 and was all the while referring to Sekomi, while his victims were 

 a party of rebel Bushmen against whom he had been sent. If I 

 had known the name of God in the Bushman tongue the mistake 

 could scarcely have occurred. It must, however, be recollected, 

 while reflecting on the degradation of the natives of South Africa, 

 that the farther north, the more distinct do the native ideas on re- 

 ligious subjects become, and I have not had any intercourse with 

 either Cafires or Bushmen in their own tongues. 



Leaving Motlatsa on the 8th of February, 1853, we passed down 

 the Mokoko, which, in the memory of persons now living, was a 

 flowing stream. We ourselves once saw a heavy thunder-show- 

 er make it assume its ancient appearance of running to the north. 

 Between Lotlakani and Nchokotsa we passed the small well 

 named Orapa ; and another called Thutsa lay a little to our 

 right — its water is salt and purgative ; the salt-pan Chuantsa, 

 having a cake of salt one inch and a half in thickness, is about 

 ten miles to the northeast of Orapa. This deposit contains a 

 bitter salt in addition, probably the nitrate of lime ; the natives, 

 in order to render it palatable and wholesome, mix the salt with 

 the juice of a gummy plant, then place it in the sand and bake it 

 by making a fire over it ; the lime then becomes insoluble and 

 tasteless. 



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