134 AN ARGUMENT FOR POLYGAMY. Chap. X 



p riated two cows to our use. Tlds was in accordance with the ac- 

 knowledged rule throughout the country, that the chief should 

 feed all strangers who come to him on special business, and 

 take up their abode in his kotla. A present is usually given 

 in return for the hospitality, but, except in cases where their 

 aboriginal customs have been modified, nothing would be 

 asked. Europeans spoil the feeling that hospitality is the 

 sacred duty of the chiefs; No sooner do they arrive than 

 they offer to purchase food, and, instead of waiting till a meal 

 is prepared, cook for themselves, and often decline to partake 

 of the dishes which have been got ready for them. Before 

 long the natives come to expect a gift without having fur- 

 nished any equivalent. 



Strangers who have acquaintances among the under-chiefs 

 are treated at their establishments on the same principle. So 

 generally is the duty admitted, that one of the most cogent 

 arguments for polygamy is, that a respectable man with only 

 one wife could not entertain visitors as he ought. This 

 reason has especial weight where the women are the chief 

 cultivators of the soil, and have the control over the corn, as 

 at Kolobeng. The poor, who have no friends, often suffer 

 much hunger, and the kind attention lavished on them by 

 Sebituane was one of the reasons of his great popularity in 

 the country. 



The Makololo cultivate a large extent of land around their 

 villages. The nucleus of this miscellaneous nation were 

 Basuto who came with Sebituane from a comparatively cold 

 and hilly region in the south ; and those who truly belong to 

 that tribe retain its former habits, and may be seen going out 

 with their wives, hoe in hand ; a state of things never wit- 

 nessed among the other Bechuanas. The younger Makololo 

 lord it over the conquered Makalaka, and have unfortunately 

 no desire to imitate the agricultural tastes of their fathers. 

 They are the aristocracy of the country, and expect their 

 subjects to perform all the manual labour. They once pos- 

 sessed almost unlimited power over their vassals, but their 

 privileges were much abridged by Sebituane himself. When 

 he conquered the Bakwains, Bangwaketze, Bamangwato, 

 Batauana, &c, he incorporated the young of these tribes into 

 his own. Great mortality by fever reduced the original stock, 



