466 SPECIMEN OF QUARRELLING. Chap. XXIII. 



Having passed the Loembwe, we were in a more open country, 

 with every few hours a small valley, through which ran a little 

 rill in the middle of a bog. These were always difficult to pass, 

 and being numerous, kept the lower part of the person constantly 

 wet. At different points in our course we came upon votive 

 offerings to the Barimo. These usually consisted of food ; and 

 every deserted village still contained the idols and little sheds 

 with pots of medicine in them. One afternoon we passed a 

 small frame house, with the head of an ox in it as an object of 

 Avorship. The dreary uniformity of gloomy forests and open flats, 

 must have a depressing influence on the minds of the people. 

 Some villages appear more superstitious than others, if we may 

 judge from the greater number of idols they contain. 



Only on one occasion did we witness a specimen of quarrelling. 

 An old woman, standing by our camp, continued to belabour a 

 good-looking young man for hours with her tongue. Irritated at 

 last, he uttered some words of impatience, when another man 

 sprang at him, exclaiming, " How dare you curse my ' Mama ' ? " 

 They caught each other, and a sort of pushing, dragging, wrest- 

 ling-match ensued. The old woman who had been the cause of 

 the affray, wished us to interfere, and the combatants themselves 

 hoped as much, but we, preferring to remain neutral, allowed 

 them to fight it out. It ended by one falling under the other, 

 both, from their scuffling, being in a state of nudity. They 

 picked up their clothing, and ran off in different directions, each 

 tlireatening to brmg his gun and settle the dispute in mortal 

 combat. Only one, however, returned, and the old woman con- 

 tinued her scolding till my men, fairly tired of her tongue, ordered 

 her to be gone. This trifling incident was one of interest to me, 

 for, during the whole period of my residence in the Bechuana 

 country, I never saw unarmed men strike each other. Their 

 disputes are usually conducted with great volubility and noisy 

 swearing, but they generally terminate by both parties bursting 

 into a laugh. 



At every village attempts were made to induce us to remain a 

 night. Sometimes large pots of beer were offered to us as a 

 temptation. Occasionally the head-man would peremptorily order 

 us to halt under a tree winch he pointed out. At other times 

 young men volunteered to guide us to the impassable part of the 



