88 APPENDIX. [sect. 



been greatest. They were an insignificant and filthy people 

 when first discovered; but, being nearest to the colony, they 

 have had opportunities of trading; and the long- continued 

 peace they have enjoyed, through the influence of religious 

 teaching, has enabled them to amass great numbers of cattle." 



The language spoken by some of these tribes, such as the 

 Bak wains and the Makololo, is called Sichuana. It is more 

 or less understood by all the Bechuana tribes 1 . 



They were first visited by Europeans towards the end of 

 the last century ; but, unfortunately, by marauders who made 

 a bad impression. 



These people, who reside by compulsion in the 

 Bakalahari. Kalahari desert, are traditionally reported to be 

 the oldest of the Bechuana tribes. Although 

 dwelling in a desert they are fond of agriculture, and of rear- 

 ing domestic animals. They possessed enormous herds of 

 large-horned cattle before they were driven into the desert by 

 the pressure of other tribes. They are a timid race, and live 

 far from water, in order that they may keep as secluded as 

 possible. Some of their little villages extend down the Lim- 

 pop o. 



Dr Livingstone, in the letter dated Tete, thus speaks of 

 them : " They generally attach themselves to influential men 

 in the Bechuana towns, who furnish them with dogs, spears 

 and tobacco, and in return receive the skins of such animals as 

 they may kill either with the dogs or by means of pitfalls. 

 They are all fond of agriculture, and some possess a few goats ; 

 but the generally hard fare which they endure makes them 

 the most miserable objects to be met with in Africa. From 

 the descriptions given in books, I imagine the thin legs and 

 arms, large abdomens, and the lustreless eyes of their children, 

 make the Bakalahari the counterparts of Australians 2 ." 



1 For an account of this language, see Appendix, p. 106. 

 3 Letter, dated Tetd. 



