Chap. X. MEANING OF "BECHUANAS." 137 



band, which was 130° at least. This put a stop to amicable 

 relations. 1 prevailed upon the Makololo to keep the peace 

 during my stay, but it was easy to perceive that public 

 opinion was against sparing a tribe of Bechuanas for whom 

 they entertained the most sovereign contempt. The young 

 men exclaimed, " Lechulatebe is herding our cows for us ; 

 let us only go, we shall ' lift ' the price of them in sheep." 



Such are the usual causes which produce an Afiican war. 

 The diffusion of fire-amis among them will render their 

 contests less frequent and less bloody. As nearly all the 

 feuds in the south have been about cattle, the risk which 

 must be incurred from long shots general^ proves a preven- 

 tive to the foray. It is rare, indeed, to hear of two tribes 

 who have guns going out against each other. These weapons 

 are only mischievous when the}' are an exclusive possession, 

 and especially when they fall into the hands of a small tribe, 

 commanded by a weak chief like Lechulatebe, who is thus 

 tempted to try his strength with a numerous and warlike 

 race. 



As the Makololo are the most northerly of the Bechuanas, 

 we may enumerate the various tribes included under that 

 generic name before we proceed to the branch of the negro 

 family distinguished by the term Makalaka.* The word (28) 

 Bechuana seems derived from Chuana— alike, or equal — with 

 the personal pronoun Ba (they) prefixed ; and therefore 

 means fellows or equals. When addressed with any degree 

 of scorn, they still reply, " We are Bachuana, or equals — we 

 are not inferior to any of our nation." Their name for the 

 whites is Makoa, which might seem to mean "handsome," 

 from the manner in which they use it to indicate beauty, but 

 the conjecture of Burchell is probably correct. "The differ- 

 ent Hottenot tribes were known by names terminating in 

 kua, which means ' man,' and the Bechuanas simply added 

 the prefix Ma — denoting a nation." The language of the 

 whites (or Makoa) is called Sekoa ; that of the Bechuaras is 

 termed Sichuana. 



The Makololo, or Basuto, have arranged the different 



* The Makololo have conquered the country as far as 14 c south, but ; t is still 

 peopled chiefly by the black tribes named Makalaka. 



