Mortified and annoyed at the shameful manner in which I had been treated, I was nevertheless glad to have come thus far. I had learned much in this short time (a summary of which will be given in the following chapters), which I could not have done had I remained at the Lake, to say nothing of the beautiful, diversified, and novel scenery which almost daily presented itself to the view, which alone was a sufficient reward for my troubles and anxieties.
REED-FERRY.[93]
CHAPTER XXXIX.
The Bayeye.—Their Country; Persons; Language; Disposition; Lying and Pilfering Habits.—Polygamy practiced among the Bayeye.—Their Houses; Dress; Ornaments; Weapons; Liquors; Agriculture; Grain; Fruits; Granaries.—Hunting.—Fishing.—Nets.—Diseases.—The Matsanyana.—The Bavicko.—Libèbé.
For a considerable distance to the northward of the chief’s werft, the banks of the Teoge are inhabited by Bayeye, and a few scattered Bushmen, all acknowledging Lecholètébè as their chief. Cooley supposes that these people came originally from the West Coast, and that they have been established in their present abode for a long period. Formerly, and before their subjugation by the Bechuanas, they must have possessed a large territory, and even now the country they occupy is of considerable extent, consisting, as I believe, of one continued plain, intersected by rivers, with extensive marshes. The banks of the rivers are, in general, very low, but wherever they rise a few feet above the level of the water they are shaded by a rank and wild vegetation. The trees are of a gigantic size, having their stems and branches interwoven with beautiful parasitical plants and creepers.
In person, feature, and complexion the Bayeye appear closely allied to the Ovambo and the Hill-Damaras.
The language of the Bayeye bears considerable resemblance to the Ovaherero, and has, moreover, some affinity with the dialects of the East Coast, though two or three “klicks” would seem to indicate a Hottentot origin.[94]
The Bayeye are of a merry and cheerful disposition, and, like my friends the Damaras, are the happiest of creatures, provided they have a pot full of flesh and a pipe. These elements of human felicity are not, however, peculiar to savages, as may be seen in the following stanza of an old song, often chanted by our English rustic forefathers:
“What more can any man desire,