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NOTES ON NAMAQUALAND BUSHMEN. 
By Miss L. Cukele. 
(With Additional Notes by L. Peringuey, F.R.S.S.Af.) 
(Read July 17, 1912.) 
The following was told me by one of our most progressive farmers — 
a gentleman whose veracity is above suspicion, and whose early life 
afforded him ample facilities for obtaining a clear insight into the 
characteristics of these people : — 
The Bushmen consist of wandering tribes, different branches using 
different languages; they habitually move about after game, on which 
they live by preference ; and when game is not procurable they live on 
roots and such things as mice and beetles, lizards, eggs, and white 
ants, called "rijs miere " (rice ants) by the Dutch people. The nests 
of these ants (termites) are underground and the Bushwomen are 
specially clever at finding these nests ; they discover them by throwing 
down a stick which gives a hollow sound just above such a nest (1). This 
stick is from 3 to 4 feet long. To the one end is fastened the horn of a 
male springbuck (antelope), which has been straightened by warming 
in the fire ; in the middle of the stick is a round stone weighing from 
5 to 6 lbs. with a hole through it (the / Kwe), giving weight to the stick 
and making it more effective. The upper end of the stick is a little 
thinner than the lower part, to allow the stone to rest securely midway. 
This is the only implement the women have except the upper part of a 
tortoise-shell, which they use as a drinking vessel. An empty ostrich egg, 
corked by a plug of grass, is utilised for a water-bottle ; this shell is 
carried on their back in a skin when they go a long distance to hunt 
for white ants and roots — this being specially the women's contribution 
towards the menu. 
The women's dress consists of a skin fastened round the waist. Some- 
times they wear round the neck a string of ornaments made from the 
shell of an ostrich egg, and decorate their woolly hair by stretching out 
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