work, nor pianoforte practice, to occupy their fingers, nor
reading to improve their minds; few have children to attend
to, and time does hang rather heavily on their hands.
The men wickedly aver that their two great amusements, or
modes for killing time, are sipping beer, and secretly smoking
bang, or Indian hemp, here known as matokwane. Although
the men indulge pretty freely in smoking it, they do not
like their wives to follow their example, and many of the
“ monsters” prohibit it. Nevertheless, some women do
smoke it secretly, and the practice causes a disease known
by a minute eruption on the skin, quite incurable unless
the habit be abandoned. The Chief himself is a slave to
this deleterious habit, and could hardly be induced to give
it up, even during the short time he was under medical treatment
We had ample opportunities for observing the effects
of this matokwane smoking on our men. I t makes
them feel very strong in body, but it produces exactly the
opposite effect upon the mind. Two of our finest young
men became inveterate smokers, and partially idiotic.
The performances of a group of matokwane smokers are
somewhat grotesque: they are provided with a calabash of
pure water, a split bamboo, five feet long, and the great
pipe, which has a large calabash or kudu’s horn chamber to
contain the water, through which the smoke is drawn, Nar-
ghiile fashion, on its way to the mouth. Each smoker takes
a few whiffs, the last being an extra long one, and hands
the pipe to his neighbour. He seems to swallow the fumes;
for, striving against the convulsive action of the muscles of
chest and throat, he takes a mouthful of water from the calabash,
waits a few seconds, and then pours water and smoke
from his mouth down the groove of the bamboo. The smoke
causes violent coughing in all, and in some a species of frenzy,
which passes away in a rapid stream of unmeaning words, or
short sentences, as, “ the green grass grows,” “ the fat cattle
thrive,” “ the fish swim.” No one in the group pays the
slightest attention to the vehement eloquence, or the sage or
silly utterance of the oracle, who stops abruptly, and, the
instant common sense returns, looks rather foolish.
Our visit to Sesheke broke in upon the monotony of
their daily life, and we had crowds of visitors both men
and women; especially at meal-times, for then they had
the double attraction, of seeing white men eat, and of eating
with them. The men made an odd use of the spoon
in supping porridge and milk, employing it to convey the
food to the palm of the left hand, which passed it on to
the mouth. We shocked the over-refined sensibilities of
the ladies, by eating butter on our bread. “ Look at them,
look at them, they are actually eating raw butter, u g h !
how nasty!” or pitying us, a goodwife would say, “ Hand
it here to be melted, and then you can dip your bread
into it decently.” They were as much disgusted as we
should be by seeing an Esquimaux eating raw whale’s blubber.
In their opinion butter is not fit to be eaten until it
is cooked or melted. The principal use they make of it is
to anoint the body, and it keeps the skin smooth and glossy.
Men and women begged hard for such things as they
fancied, and were not at all displeased when refused: they
probably thought there was no harm in asking; it did not
hurt us, and cost their glib tongues no effort. Mamire
asked for a black frock-coat, because he admired the colour!
When told he might have it for a nice new kaross of young
lechwes’ skins, he smiled, and asked no more; a joke usually
stopped the begging.
, The Chief receives the hump and ribs of every ox slaught