310 
THE NEW AFRICA 
until, with the age of seventeen years, Moremi n. attained his 
majority, and became king. 
Some years after Moremi’s accession to the reins of govern¬ 
ment, Lobengula, whose bloodthirsty cupidity was inflamed by 
the reports the two deserting Makololo brought him of the enor¬ 
mous herds of cattle to be found at the lake, sent in an army 
under their guidance, of about twelve thousand men, to rob these 
peaceful dwellers in the desert of their herds. They reached 
the lake on the 8th of May 1883, when Makehto, of whom more 
later, brought the report of their advance. The rest of the 
history has been already related. The returning Matabele 
managed to take three of the enormous horned cattle from the 
lake with them to Bulawayo, as specimens to show the king 
what kind of cattle flourished in that country. Lobengula, 
incensed at their failure, killed the leaders of the army, keeping 
the heads of the oxen as a trophy of this disastrous expedition, 
Avhich he is wont to display as a deterrent to others of his 
warriors who importune him for permission to attack the lake 
people again. 
By much inquisitive asking, we elicited the fact, of which 
apparently the families do not care to converse with strangers, 
that Moremi’s family hold the duiker-buck ‘ puti,’ sacred, and on 
no account will allow one to be killed, nor will any of the family 
touch one. This is why the appellation Baputi, as a family 
distinction, is applied strictly to the Mongwato portion of the 
tribe. Another family of the tribe, the Bakubeng have the 
same reverence for the hippopotamus and bear its name, while 
other families have other animals as guardian angels. 
Lately I have heard that Moremi n. is dead, and that the 
country is now ruled by a king called Moremi hi. 
