NATIVE TRIBES. 1 83 



Makololo to whom I refer. The younger Makololo, who 

 have been accustomed from their infancy to lord it over 

 the conquered Makalaka, have unfortunately no desire to 

 imitate the agricultural tastes of their fathers, and expect 

 their subjects to perform all the manual labour. They are 

 the aristocracy of the country, and once possessed almost 

 unlimited power over their vassals. Their privileges were, 

 however, much abridged by Sebituane himself. 



I have already mentioned that the tribes which Sebit- 

 uane subjected in this great country, pass by the general 

 name of Makalaka. The Makololo were composed of a 

 great number of other tribes, as well as of these central 

 negroes. The nucleus of the whole were Basuto, who 

 came with Sebituane from a comparatively cold and hilly 

 region in the south. When he conquered various tribes 

 of the Bechuanas, as Bakwains, Bang wake tze, Bamang- 

 wato, Batauana, &c, he incorporated the young of these 

 tribes into his own. Great mortality by fever having 

 taken place in the original stock, he wisely adopted the 

 same plan of absorption on a large scale with the Makalaka. 

 So we found him with even the sons of the chiefs of the 

 Barotse closely attached to his person ; and they say to 

 this day, if anything else but natural death had assailed 

 their father, every one of them would have laid down his 

 life in his defence. One reason for their strong affection 

 was their emancipation by the decree of Sebituane, " all 

 are children of the chief." 



The Makalaka cultivate the Holcus sorghum, or dura, as 

 the principal grain, with maize, two kinds of beans, 

 ground-nuts (Arachis hypogcea), pumpkins, water-melons, 

 and cucumbers. They depend for success entirely upon 

 rain. Those who live in the Barotse valley cultivate in 

 addition the sugar-cane, sweet-potato, and manioc 

 (Jatropha manihot). The climate there, however, is 

 warmer than at Linyanti, and the Makalaka increase the 

 fertility of their gardens by rude attempts at artificial 

 irrigation. 



The instrument of culture over all this region is a hoe, 

 the iron of which the Batoka and Banyeti obtain from the 

 ore by smelting. The amount of iron which they produce 

 annually may be understood, when it is known that most 

 of the hoes in use at Linyanti are the tribute imposed on 

 the smiths of those subject tribes. 



Sekeletu receives tribute from a great number of tribes 



