BAYEYE.
In former times the Bayeye possessed numerous herds of cattle, but these passed into the hands of the Bechuanas upon their assuming the mastery over the country. They are permitted, however, to rear a few goats, which they do less for the sake of the milk and flesh than for the skins, which are converted into sleeping rugs, and carosses for wear. They also keep a few barn-door fowls, but apparently of a very ordinary breed.
They derive their chief subsistence from the produce of the soil, which is fertile, yielding the necessaries of life in abundance, and with little labor. A month or two before the rainy season the ground for cultivation is selected, cleared, and slightly worked by a small, short hoe, the only agricultural implement I have seen used by the Bayeye in tilling. After the first heavy rains they begin to sow the corn, of which there are two kinds indigenous to the country, namely, the common “Cafire,” and another sort, very small-grained, and not unlike canary-seed—a description which is akin, as I am informed, to the “badjera” of India. This is more nutritious than the other, and, when well ground, makes excellent flour. Tobacco, calabashes, watermelons, pumpkins, beans, and small peas are also grown, as well as different kinds of edible earth-fruits, of which the oiengora (motu-o-hatsi of the Bechuanas, I believe) may be mentioned in particular. This is a sort of bean, having its pods under ground. It is well known to the Mozambiques; is extensively grown by the black population in Mauritius, and is, I am told, no uncommon article of importation at the Cape of Good Hope.
Moreover, the country, as before said, produces a variety of wild fruit-trees, which serve no less to beautify the scenery than to afford good and wholesome sustenance to the inhabitants. Among the most handsome and useful trees, the moshoma stands, perhaps, pre-eminent. On account of the great height, the straightness of the trunk, and the distance at which it begins to branch out, the fruit can only be gathered when it falls to the ground. It is then exposed to the sun for some time, and, when sufficiently dried, is put into a hollow piece of wood (a sort of mortar) and pulverized. It is fit for use at any time by simply mixing it with water, when it is not unlike honey in appearance, and has a sweet, agreeable flavor. Strangers, however, must use it cautiously at first, for if eaten in any large quantity it is apt to derange the stomach. The moshoma invariably grows on the banks of rivers, or in their immediate neighborhood, and may, with the greatest facility, be conveyed down the Teoge to the Lake. The Bayeye use the timber extensively for canoe-building and in the manufacture of utensils. I found the moshoma growing in Ovambo-land, and I am also given to understand that it is common throughout the countries west of the Portuguese settlements on the East Coast.
The Bayeye store their corn and other products of the soil in large baskets, not unlike those of the Ovambo, manufactured from palm-leaves and other fibrous and tenacious substances.
The Bayeye are fond of hunting, and as the country abounds in game, the spoils of the chase contribute materially to the support of the people. They are, moreover, expert fishermen. They either strike the fish with a barbed spear, or, more commonly, capture them in nets. These are made from the fibrous stalks of a species of aloe, which is found in abundance throughout the countries of the Namaquas, Damaras, the Ovambo, and others lying to the eastward, but only grows to perfection about the Teoge. The fibres are of great tenacity, apparently stronger and more flexible than hemp, though requiring less labor and attention in its growth and manufacture. Could this plant be naturalized, it would no doubt prove a valuable acquisition to any country. I believe the nets are also occasionally manufactured from fibrous and tenacious leaves, rushes, and grasses. The meshes are knotted the same way as in Europe.
From the humid nature of the country, the Bayeye, although, generally speaking, a healthy race, suffer at times from rheumatism and other similar affections. Ophthalmia is also of frequent occurrence; and many of the natives bear marks of the small-pox. Like the Lake district, the Teoge and the surrounding country is visited by a dangerous fever, which carries off many of the natives.
North of the Bayeye country we find the Matsanyana, but I have not been able to ascertain whether these people form a distinct nation.