Chap. VIII. 
EFFECTS OF MISSIONARY EFFORTS. 
157 
CHAPTEE VIIL 
Effects of missionary efforts >— Belief in tlie Deity ~ Ideas of the Bakwains 
on religion — Departure from tlieir country — Salt-pans — Sour curd — 
Kchokotsa — Bitter waters — Thirst suffered by the wild animals — 
Wanton cruelty in hunting Ntwetwe — Mowana-trees — Their ex¬ 
traordinary vitality — The Mopane-tree — The Morala — The Bushmen 
—■ Their superstitions — Elephant-hunting — Superiority of civilised over 
barbarous sportsmen — The chief Kaisa — His fear of responsibility — 
Beauty of the country at Unku — The Mohonono bush —- Severe labour 
in cutting our way — Party seized with fever — Escape of our cattle — 
Bakwain mode of recapturing them — Vagaries of sick servants — Dis¬ 
covery of grape-bearing vines —- An ant-eater —■ Difficulty of passing 
through the forest — Sickness of my companion — The Bushmen — 
Their mode of destroying lions — Poisons — The solitary hill — A pic¬ 
turesque valley Beauty of the country — Arrive at the Sanshureh 
river The flooded prairies —■ A pontooning expedition — A night 
bivouac — The Chobe — Arrive at the village of Moremi — Surprise of 
the Makololo at our sudden appearance — Cross the Chobe on our way to 
Liny anti. 
The Bakalaliari, wlio live at Motlatsa wells, have always been 
very friendly to us, and listen attentively to instruction conveyed 
to them in their own tongue. It is, however, difficult to give 
an idea to an European of the little effect teaching produces, 
because no one can realize the degradation to which their minds 
have been sunk by centuries of barbarism and hard struggling for 
the necessaries of life: like most others, they listen with respect 
and attention, but, when we kneel down and address an unseen 
Being, the position and the act often appear to them so ridicu¬ 
lous that they cannot refrain from bursting into uncontrollable 
laughter. After a few services they get over this tendency. I 
was once present when a missionary attempted to sing among a 
wild heathen tribe of Bechuanas, who had no music in their com¬ 
position ; the effect on the risible faculties of the audience was 
such that the tears actually ran down their cheeks. Nearly all 
their thoughts are directed to the supply of their bodily wants, 
and this has been the case with the race for ages. If asked, then, 
what effect the preaching of the Gospel has at the commence¬ 
ment on such individuals, I am unable to tell, except that some 
