FOOD PREJUDICES. 209 



I admired the boldness with which they informed me 

 " that Christ was a very good prophet, but Mahomet 

 was far greater." And with respect to their loathing 

 of pork, it may have some foundation in their nature ; 

 for I have known Bechuanas, who had no prejudice against 

 the wild animal, and ate the tame without scruple, yet, 

 unconscious of any cause of disgust, vomit it sgain. The 

 Bechuanas south of the lake have a prejudice against 

 eating fish, and allege a disgust to eating anything like 

 a serpent. This may arise from the remnants of serpent- 

 worship floating in their minds, as, in addition to this 

 horror of eating such animals, they sometimes render 

 a sort of obeisance to living serpents by clapping their 

 hands to them and refusing to destroy the reptiles ; but 

 in the case of the hog they are conscious of no superstitious 

 feeling. 



Having parted with our Arab friends, we proceeded 

 down the Marile till we re-entered the I^eeambye, and 

 went to the town of Ma-Sekeletu (mother of Sekeletu), 

 opposite the island of I^oyela. Sekeletu had always sup- 

 plied me most liberally with food, and, as soon as I arrived, 

 presented me with a pot of boiled meat, while his mother 

 handed me a large jar of butter, of which they made great 

 quantities for the purpose of anointing their bodies. He 

 had himself sometimes felt the benefit of my way of putting 

 aside a quantity of the meat after a meal, and had now 

 followed my example, by ordering some to be kept for 

 me. According to their habits, every particle of an ox 

 is devoured at one meal ; and, as the chief cannot, without 

 a deviation from their customs, eat alone, he is often 

 compelled to suffer severely from hunger, before another 

 meal is ready. We henceforth always worked into each 

 other's hands by saving a little for each other ; and when 

 some of the sticklers for use and custom grumbled, I ad- 

 vised them to eat like men, and not like vultures. 



As this was the first visit which Sekeletu had paid to 

 this part of his dominions., it was to many a season of great 

 joy. The head men of each village presented oxen, milk, 

 and beer, more than the horde which accompanied him 

 could devour, though their abilities in that line are some- 

 thing wonderful. The people usually show their joy and 

 work off their excitement in dances and songs. The 

 dance consists of the men standing nearly naked in a circle, 

 with clubs or small battle-axes in their hands, and each 



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