Chap. I. 
NAMES OF BECHUANA TRIBES. 
13 
me, and, attacking Mebalwe, bit Ms tMgh. Another man, whose 
life I had saved before, after he had been tossed by a buffalo, 
attempted to spear the lion while he was biting Mebalwe. He 
left Mebalwe and caught tMs man by the shoulder, but at that 
moment the bullets he had received took effect, and he fell down 
dead. The whole was the work of a few moments, and must have 
been Ms paroxysm of dying rage. In order to take out the charm 
from him, the Bakatla on the followmg day made a huge bonfire 
over the carcase, wMch was declared to be that of the largest 
lion they had ever seen. Besides crunclimg the bone into splmters, 
he left eleven teeth wounds on the upper part of my arm. 
A wound from tins anmial’s tooth resembles a gun-shot wound ; 
it is generally followed by a great deal of slougMng and dis¬ 
charge, and pains are felt m the part periodically ever afterwards. 
I had on a tartan jacket on the occasion, and I believe that it 
wiped off all the vhns from the teeth that pierced the flesh, for my 
two compamons in tins affray have both suffered from the pecu¬ 
liar pains, wlnle I have escaped with only the inconvemence of a 
false joint m my limb. The man whose shoulder was wounded 
showed me Ms wound actually burst forth afresh on the same 
month of the followmg year. TMs curious pomt deserves the 
attention of mquirers. 
The different Bechuana tribes are named after certain animals, 
showmg probably that m former times they were addicted to 
ammal-worsMp like the ancient Egyptians. The term Bakatla 
means they of the monkeyBakuena, they of the alligator 
Batlapi, “they of the fish;” each tribe havmg a superstitious 
dread of the animal after which it is called. They also use the 
word “ bina,” to dance, in reference to the custom of thus naming 
themselves, so that, when you wish to ascertam what tribe they 
belong to, you say, “ What do you dance ? ” It would seem as 
if that had been a part of the worsMp of old. A tribe never eats 
the ammal wMch is its namesake, using the term “ ila,” hate or 
dread, m reference to killmg it. We find traces of many ancient 
tribes in the country in mdividual members of those now extmct, 
as the Batau, “ they of the lionthe Banoga, “ they of the 
serpentthough no such tribes now exist. The use of the per¬ 
sonal pronoun they, Ba-Ma, Wa, Ya, or Ova, Am-Ki, &c., pre¬ 
vails very extensively in the names of tribes in Africa. A single 
