Chap. 1. 
HIS CHIEFTAINSHIP. 
15 
terrified Bakwains with a dexterity which they alone can employ. 
Sebituane had given orders to his men to spare the sons of the 
cliief; and one of them^ meeting Secheloj put him in ward by 
giving him such a blow on the head with a club as to render him 
insensible. The usurper was put to death; and Sechele, reinstated 
in his cliieftainship, felt much attached to Sebituane. The cir¬ 
cumstances here noticed ultimately led me, as will be seen by 
and ^ by, into the new well-watered country to wliich this same 
Sebituane had preceded me by many years. 
Sechele married the daughters of tlnee of his undercliiefs, who 
had, on account of them blood relationship, stood by him in his 
adversity. Tliis is one of the modes adopted for cementing the 
allegiance of a tribe. The government is patriarchal, each man 
being, by virtue of paternity, cliief of liis own cliildren. They 
build them huts around liis, and the greater the number of 
c hil dren the more his importance increases. Hence cliildren are 
esteemed one of the greatest blessings, and are always treated 
kindly. Near the centre of each cmcle of huts there is a spot 
called a “ kotla,” with a fireplace; here they work, eat, or sit 
and gossip over the news of the day. A poor man attaches him¬ 
self to the kotla of a rich one, and is considered a cliild of the 
latter. An underchief has a number of these circles around his; 
and the collection of kotlas around the great one in the middle 
of the whole, that of the principal chief, constitutes the town. 
The cmcle of huts immediately around the kotla of the chief is 
composed of the huts of his wives, and those of liis blood relations. 
He attaches the underchiefs to himself and his government by 
marrying, as Sechele did, their daughters, or inducing his brothers 
to do so. They are fond of the relationship to great families. 
If you meet a party of strangers, and the head man’s relationsliip 
to some uncle of a certain chief is not at once proclaimed by liis 
attendants, you may hear liim whispering, “ Tell him vdio I 
am.” This usually involves a counting on the fingers of a part 
of his genealogical tree; and ends in the important announce¬ 
ment that the head of the party is half-cousin to some well- 
known ruler. 
Sechele was thus seated in his chieftainship when I made his 
acquaintance. On the first occasion in which I ever attempted 
to hold a public religious service, he remarked that it was the 
