NEW VIEWS OF NATIVES.
Among the Bechuana tribes the government is patriarchal, and each man is chief over his own children. Livingstone writes of them: "They build their huts around his, and the greater the number of children, the more his importance increases. Hence, children are esteemed one of the greatest blessings, and are always treated kindly.
"Near the center of each circle of huts there is a spot called a 'kotla' with a fireplace; here they work, eat, or sit and gossip over the news of the day. A poor man attaches himself to the kotla of a rich one, and is considered a child of the latter.
"An under-chief has a number of these circles around his; and the collection of kotlas around the great one in the middle of the whole, that of the principal chief, constitutes the town. The circle of huts immediately around the kotla of the chief is composed of the huts of his wives and those of his blood relations.
"They are fond of the relationship to great families. If you meet a party of strangers, and the head man's relationship to some uncle of a certain chief is not at once proclaimed by his attendants, you may hear him whispering, 'Tell him who I am.' This usually involves a counting on the fingers of a part of his genealogical tree, and ends in the important announcement that the head of the party is half-cousin to some well-known ruler."
On one occasion, when Livingstone attempted to hold his first public religious service, a great chief remarked that it was one of the customs of his nation to ask questions when any new subject was brought before them, and begged to be allowed to do so on this occasion.
Livingstone's description of the interview is interesting, since it gives us some idea of the intelligence of this untaught child of nature: "On expressing my willingness to answer his questions, he inquired if my forefathers knew of a future judgment. I replied in the affirmative, and began to describe the scene of the 'great white throne, and him who shall sit on it, from whose face the heaven and earth shall flee away,' etc. He said, 'You startle me; these words make all my bones to shake; I have no more strength in me; but my forefathers were living at the same time as yours were, and how is it that they did not send them word about these terrible things sooner? They all passed away into darkness without knowing whither they were going.'
"I got out of the difficulty by explaining the geographical barriers in the north, and the gradual spread of knowledge from the south, to which we first had access by means of ships; and I expressed my belief that, as Christ had said, the whole world would yet be enlightened by the Gospel.
"Pointing to the great Kalahari Desert, he said, 'You never can cross that country to the tribes beyond; it is utterly impossible even for us black men, except in certain seasons, when more than the usual supply of rain falls, and an extraordinary growth of watermelons follows. Even we who know the country would certainly perish without them.'"
The watermelon may well be considered the most surprising plant of the desert. In certain years, when more than the usual amount of rain has fallen, vast tracts of country are literally covered with these melon plants. Years ago, when the annual fall of rain was greater than it is now, the natives were in the habit of sending trading parties to the lake section each year.