of skin was met with in the colony. Their bodies
are always blistered on exposure to the sun, as the
skin is more tender than that of the blacks. The
Kuruman woman lived some time at Kolobeng, and generally
had on her bosom and shoulders the remains of large
blisters. She was most anxious to be made black,
but nitrate of silver, taken internally, did not produce
its usual effect. During the time I resided at
Mabotsa, a woman came to the station with a fine boy,
an Albino. The father had ordered her to throw
him away, but she clung to her offspring for many years.
He was remarkably intelligent for his age. The
pupil of the eye was of a pink color, and the eye
itself was unsteady in vision. The hair, or rather
wool, was yellow, and the features were those common
among the Bechuanas. After I left the place the
mother is said to have become tired of living apart
from the father, who refused to have her while she
retained the son. She took him out one day, and
killed him close to the village of Mabotsa, and nothing
was done to her by the authorities. From having
met with no Albinos in Londa, I suspect they are there
also put to death. We saw one dwarf only in Londa,
and brands on him showed he had once been a slave;
and there is one dwarf woman at Linyanti. The
general absence of deformed persons is partly owing
to their destruction in infancy, and partly to the
mode of life being a natural one, so far as ventilation
and food are concerned. They use but few unwholesome
mixtures as condiments, and, though their undress exposes
them to the vicissitudes of the temperature, it does
not harbor vomites. It was observed that, when
smallpox and measles visited the country, they were
most severe on the half-castes who were clothed.
In several tribes, a child which is said to “tlola”,
transgress, is put to death. “Tlolo”,
or transgression, is ascribed to several curious cases.
A child who cut the upper front teeth before the under
was always put to death among the Bakaa, and, I believe,
also among the Bakwains. In some tribes, a case
of twins renders one of them liable to death; and an
ox, which, while lying in the pen, beats the ground
with its tail, is treated in the same way. It
is thought to be calling death to visit the tribe.
When I was coming through Londa, my men carried a
great number of fowls, of a larger breed than any
they had at home. If one crowed before midnight,
it had been guilty of “tlolo”, and was
killed. The men often carried them sitting on
their guns, and, if one began to crow in a forest,
the owner would give it a beating, by way of teaching
it not to be guilty of crowing at unseasonable hours.


