142 SOCIAL MODE OF EATING. Chap. XI 



The chief is expected to feed all who accompany him, and 

 he either selects an ox or two of his own from his numerous 

 cattle stations in every part of the country, or he is presented 

 by the head-men of the villages he visits with as many as he 

 needs. The animals are killed by a thrust from a small 

 javelin in the region of the heart. The wound is made 

 purposely small to avoid the loss of the blood, which, with 

 the internal parts, are the perquisites of the slaughterman. 

 Hence all are eager to perform that office. Each tribe has its 

 own way of distributing an animal. Among the Makololo the 

 hump and ribs belong to the chief; among the Bakwains the 

 breast is his perquisite. After the oxen are cut up, the joints 

 are placed before Sekeletu, who apportions them among the 

 gentlemen of the party. The attendants rapidly prepare the 

 meat for cooking by cutting it into long strips, so many of 

 which are thrown into the fires at once that they are nearly 

 put out. These strips are handed round when half broiled 

 and burning hot. Every one gets a mouthful, but no one 

 except the chief has time to masticate. The prolonged enjoy- 

 ment of taste is not their aim, but to get as much food as 

 possible during the short time their neighbours are cramming. 

 They are eminently gregarious in their meals; and, as they 

 despise any one who eats alone, I always when breaking my 

 fast poured out two cups of coffee, that the chief, or some 

 one of the principal men, might share it with me. Of this 

 beverage they all become very fond ; and some of the tribes 

 attribute greater fecundity to its use. The raw material of 

 one ingredient of the mixture is already a home-growth. 

 They cultivate the sugar-cane in the Barotse country, but 

 only use it for chewing. They knew nothing of the method 

 of extracting the sugar from it. Sekeletu relished my sweet 

 coffee and biscuits, and said, " he knew my heart loved him 

 by finding his own heart warming to my food." He had been 

 visited during my absence at the Cape by some traders and 

 Oriquas, and " their coffee did not taste half so nice as mine, 

 because they loved his ivory and not himself." 



Sekeletu and I had each a little gipsy-tent in which to 

 sleep. The Makalaka huts are infested with vermin. Those 

 of the Makololo are generally clean, owing to the habit of 

 frequently smearing the floors with a plaster composed of 



