VIEWS FROM ANDERSSON.
When Andersson visited Damaraland he found the natives an exceedingly fine-looking race. They were tall, well-formed, and had a graceful carriage. In color they were dark, but not black. So dirty was their skin, however, that it was impossible to discover its natural color under the coating of red ochre and grease with which it was smeared.
Little clothing was worn. The only garment consisted of a sheepskin or goatskin wrapped about the waist or thrown carelessly over the shoulders. The girls wore a kind of apron, made of quantities of small strings, from which were suspended ornaments in the form of iron and copper beads.
The men wore few ornaments, but the women who could afford it decorated their wrists and ankles with iron and copper rings. The headdress of the married women was curiously picturesque, its general shape and appearance resembling a helmet.
In place of regular garments the men wore strips of leather, often several hundred feet in length, wound around the loins. Their clubs and pipes were carried in these unique belts and bands.
These natives were always well armed; they carried lances, bows and arrows, and clubs. Another national weapon was a stick with a knob on the end. Andersson found these natives very skillful in throwing it, for they often brought down birds upon the wing.
They were nomadic in their life, and with their enormous herds of cattle wandered over the country, leaving it bare of vegetation. They had a curious custom of taking an oath in token of sincerity of purpose, when they swore by "the tears of their mothers."
Andersson was much interested in the natives of Ovampo land and their customs. They cultivated two kinds of corn. One was the common Kaffir corn, and the other a small-grained variety. At the ripening of the corn, these natives simply cut off the ear and left the remainder to the greedy cattle.
In addition to corn, the Ovampo people cultivated calabashes, watermelons, pumpkins, beans, and peas. Some tobacco was also raised. The quality of it was, however, rather poor. To prepare it, the leaves and stalks of the ripened plant were collected and then pressed in a hollow piece of wood by means of blows from a heavy pole.
The Ovampo had, also, great herds of cattle, as well as sheep and goats. They had hogs, too, of an enormous size. Among the domestic animals Andersson noticed dogs and fowl.