Chap. YIII. 
LEAVE BAKWAIN COUNTKY. 
159 
wliere. But, though they all possess a distinct knowledge of a 
deity and of a future state, they show so little reverence, and feel 
so Kttle connexion with either, that it is not surprising that some 
have supposed them entirely ignorant on the subject. At Lotla- 
kani we met an old Bushman who at first seemed to have no 
conception of morality whatever; when his heart was warmed by 
our presents of meat, he sat by the fire relating his early adven¬ 
tures: among these was killing five other Bushmen. “Two,’' 
said he, counting on his fingers, “ were females, one a male, and 
the other two calves.”—“What a villain you are to boast of 
killin g women and children of your own nation! what will God 
say when you appear before him ?”—“ He will say,” replied he, 
“ that I was a very clever feUow.” This man now appeared to 
me as without any conscience, and, of course, responsibility, but, 
on trying to enlighten Mm by further conversation, I discovered 
that, though he was employing the word wMch is used among 
the Bakwains when speaking of the Deity, he had only the idea 
of a chief, and was aU the wliile referring to Sekomi, while his 
victims were a party of rebel Bushmen against whom he had 
been sent. If I had known the name of God in the Bushman 
tongue the mistake could scarcely have occurred. It must, however, 
be recollected, wMle reflecting on the degradation of the natives 
of South Africa, that the farther north, the more distmct do the 
native ideas on religious subjects become, and I have not had any 
intercom’se with either Caffres or Bushmen in then.' own tongues. 
Leaving Motlatsa on the 8th February, 1853, we passed 
down the Mokoko, wMch, in the memory of persons now living, 
was a flowing stream. We ourselves once saw a heavy thunder¬ 
shower make it assume its ancient appearance of running to 
the north. Between Lotlakani and Nchokotsa we passed the 
small well named Orapa; and another called Thutsa lay a 
little to our right—its water is salt and purgative; the salt-pan 
Chuantsa, having a cake of salt one inch and a half in thickness, 
is about ten miles to the north-east of Orapa. This deposit 
contains a bitter salt in addition, probably the nitrate of lime; 
the natives, in order to render it palatable and wholesome, mix 
the salt with the juice of a gummy plant, then place it in the 
sand and bake it by making a fire over it; the lime then becomes 
insoluble and tasteless. 
