IQ2 SOCIAL MODE OF EATING. 



villages he visits with as many as he needs by way of 

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

 javelin in the region of the heart, the wound being pur- 

 posely small in order to avoid any loss of blood, which, 

 with the internal parts, are the perquisites of the men who 

 perform the work of the butcher ; hence all are eager to 

 render service in that line. Bach tribe has its own way 

 of cutting up and 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 different joints are placed before 

 Sekeletu, and he apportions them among the gentlemen 

 ■of the party. The whole is rapidly divided by their 

 attendants, cut into long strips, and so many of these are 

 thrown into the fires at once that they are nearly put out. 

 Half broiled and burning hot the meat is quickly handed 

 round ; every one gets a mouthful, but no one except the 

 chief has time to masticate. It is not the enjoyment of 

 eating they aim at, but to get as much of the food into the 

 stomach as possible during the short time the others are 

 cramming as well as themselves, for no one can eat more 

 than a mouthful after the others have finished. They are 

 eminently gregarious in their eating ; and, as they despise 

 any one who eats alone, I always poured out two cups of 

 coffee at my own meals, so that the chief, or some one of 

 the principal men, might partake along with me. They 

 all soon became very fond of coffee ; and, indeed, some of 

 the tribes attribute greater fecundity to the daily use of 

 this beverage. They were all well acquainted with the 

 sugar-cane, as they cultivate it in the Barotse country, 

 but knew nothing of the method of extracting the sugar 

 from it. They use the cane only for chewing. Sekeletu, 

 relishing the sweet coffee and biscuits, of which I then had 

 a store, 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 

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

 mine, because they loved his ivory and not himself." 

 This was certainly an original mode of discerning char- 

 acter. 



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

 sleep. The Makololo huts are generally clean, while those 

 of the Makalaka are infested with vermin. The clean- 

 liness of the former is owing to the habit of frequently 



