Chap. VIII. 
MORALA-TEEE—BUSHMEN. 
165 
In passing along we see everywhere the power of vegetation in 
breaking up the outer crust of tufa. A mopane-treej growing in 
a small chink, as it increases in size rends and hfts up large 
fragments of the rock aU around it, subjecting them to the dis¬ 
integrating influence of the atmosphere. The wood is hard, and 
of a fine red colour, and is named hon-wood by the Portuguese. 
The inhabitants, observing that the mopane is more frequently 
struck by hghtning than other trees, caution travellers never to 
seek its shade when a thunder-storm is near—“ Lightning hates 
it;” wliile another tree, the ^‘Morala,” which has three spines 
opposite each other on the branches, and has never been 
known to be touched by lightning, is esteemed, even as far as 
Angola, a protection against the electric fluid. Branches of it 
may be seen placed on the houses of the Portuguese for the same 
purpose. The natives, moreover, beheve that a man is thoroughly 
protected from an enraged elephant, if he can get into tlie shade 
of this tree. There may not be much in this, hut there is fre¬ 
quently some foundation of truth in their observations. 
At Eapesh we came among our old friends the Bushmen, 
under Horoye. This man, Horoye, a good specimen of that 
tribe, and his son Molvantsa and others, were at least six feet 
high, and of a darker colour than the Bushmen of the south. 
They have always plenty of food and water ; and as they frequent 
the Zouga as often as the game in company with which they 
hve, then* life is very different from that of the inhabitants of the 
tlursty plains of the Kalahari. The animal they refrain from 
eating is the goat, which fact, taken in connection with the 
superstitious dread wliich exists in every tribe towards a parti¬ 
cular animal, is significant of their feelings to the only animals 
they could have domesticated in their desert home. They are a 
merry laughing set, and do not teU lies wantonly. They have in 
their superstitious rites more appearance of worsliip than the 
Bechuanas; and at a Bushman’s grave we once came to on the 
Zouga, the observances showed distinctly that they regarded the 
dead as still in another state of being; for they addressed him, 
and requested him not to be offended even though they wished 
still to remain a httle while longer in this world. 
Those among whom we now were kill many elej^hants; and 
when the moon is full choose that time for the chace, on account 
