All the youths who submit to the boguera at one time are formed into a company, and the more sons a Bechuana can bring to the ceremony, the prouder he is. A chief will generally try to introduce a son of his own or of a near relative to take command of the troop, and an esprit de corps is frequently excited which sometimes has a beneficial effect upon the quarrels that arise at court. The friendship thus formed often remains unbroken, in spite of the commander avowing himself a Christian and being baptized.
The girls, so long as the ceremonial lasts, are not allowed to sleep; to keep them awake they are made to spend the night sitting upon wooden corn-pounders, of which the equilibrium is so unstable that the first attempt to get a wink of sleep sends the damsel toppling over.
BAMANGWATO GIRLS DRESSED FOR THE BOGUERA.
The real object of the entire ceremonial is to discipline and harden the young, particularly the boys; the rite is followed by a succession of hunting excursions, organized and kept up for several successive years; the members of a company are told off into sets, and under the guidance of an experienced hunter are taken out first to chase antelopes and gazelles, and in course of time to pursue elephants and buffaloes. On these expeditions they are designedly exposed to many hardships; they are compelled to make long marches through districts where there is no water; only in exceptional cases are they suffered to approach the fire even in the severest weather, and they are forced to experience the long-continued pangs of hunger.
A Bechuana will commonly reckon his age from the date of a boguera; when asked how old he is, he will mention the company to which he belongs, and will refer to the names of one or two of its best-known members.
According to Mr. Mackenzie, the “tshwaragana moshang,” or ceremonial of alliance between two chiefs, ought not to be omitted from an account of Bechuana customs. When vows of fidelity are exchanged between a ruler and any other chief or refugee, some domestic animal is slaughtered; and the stomach being cut open so as to expose the entrails, the two parties plunge their hands into the midst of them, and mutually shake them together.
The various forms of purification should likewise be mentioned. There are special rites to be performed by all who return either from war or from hunting-expeditions; arms, prisoners, plunder, have all to be subjected to a process of cleansing; whoever has touched a corpse must be purified; women after childbirth have to live apart from their husbands from one to three months, according to their means; a period of seclusion is prescribed for all who have been seriously ill; in all these cases the linyakas are invariably consulted and receive substantial rewards, one of the most common directions which they give consisting, as I have said, in ordering the woolly hair to be cut off with a knife or small sharpened horn.
We left Shoshong for the Marico district on the 16th of February. The weather was still unpropitious, and our progress was retarded by the miry state of the soil; in many places the water was two feet deep, and the dense growth of the woods did not permit us to make a détour to avoid it. The entire district south-eastwards between Shoshong and the Limpopo was one great forest. In some places the soil continued salt, and salt-pans were of not unfrequent occurrence; towards the south, on the banks of the Sirorume, it became rather undulated and very sandy. The journey occupies three days; and in the winter there are only two places where fresh water can be obtained.
In the course of the next day’s march I made my first acquaintance with a bird that throughout South Africa is known as “det fasant.” Hearing a sharp, shrill cackle in the underwood, I turned and saw a brown bird (Francolinus nudicollis) perched on a tree-stump. It belongs to the partridge tribe, and is to be found in many of the wooded and well-watered districts that I afterwards visited. It is common likewise in Central South Africa. The francolins live either in pairs or in small coveys, and the cock would appear to be a most watchful guardian, not only calling out upon any approach of danger, but even whilst scratching the ground for food, and on retiring to a tree to roost; the habit of crying out whenever it perches, makes it an easy prey to the sportsman.