to the north it generally rains. Hence the origin of this superstition.

14. Hunters, especially, have superstitions of their own. If a hare crosses a hunter's path, the hunter will immediately return home; but if the hare runs in the same direction as the hunter's path lies, it is considered a good sign.

15. If a certain kind of chameleon (laroxab) creeps on a hunter or his weapons, or on anything belonging to him, where he is resting on the road, he is believed to be successful.

16. Also, if the Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus), which we already met in Heitsi-eibib's fight with the Lion, follows a hunting party, and always rests where the party has rested, they are sure to be lucky. On the whole, this vulture seems to be a prophetic bird, and its sagacity is well known from the following story, which I heard dozens and dozens of times all over Great Namaqualand :—If the jackal has discovered an ostrich nest, he will look for the white vulture, and then scream out. The bird now follows him, and as soon as they come to the nest, covered by the ostrich hen, the vulture takes a stone and goes into the air vertically over the nest, from where he drops the stone on the breeding-hen. The ostrich, startled from the sudden cutting pain, runs off. Then reynard approaches, and breaks the eggs, and both he and the vulture have a grand feasting in the most amicable manner.

I myself have never seen it, but I have been assured by very respectable and truthful old Namaquas, and I, for my part, believe it.

17. The Korhaan (Otis Kori), if it does not fly far from the hunter and soon again sits down, is believed to give luck, but if it continues to fly far away the hunter had better return.

18. If a hunter has shot game, and if the bullet does not cause immediate death, the man will throw a handful of sand, taken from the footprints of the game, into the air

which, according to his belief, will soon bring the animal down. A hunter also may not sleep on his back, and pull his legs up, so that his knees stand bent up into the air. If he has done so he is sure to have bad luck.

19. About a future life there are certain indications, from the following sayings:-"That the "Stars are the eyes of the deceased," and also that the Stars are the souls of the deceased. The Khoikhoi appear to connect "eye" and "soul" in the same way, as is expressed in German, "Das Auge ist der Spiegel der Seele." The eye is the reflector of the soul. There is also a form of imprecation: "Thou happy one, may misfortune fall on thee, from the Star of my grandfather." This proves, beyond doubt, the belief in a life after this.

20. Ghosts and spectres have various names. ||Gaunagu (msc. plur.), Hailnugu (msc. plur.), Sobokhoin (com. plur.), and Hai-khoin (com. plur.). There is a saying: ||Naua Ilgauna ta ni-i.e., I will hear it, if I am a llgauna-this means, if I am a ghost, then I will have a better insight into things, which I now do not understand.

Also, if a person has lost something and cannot find it, they say: Haiļnub ke lã, Fawnfoot has stolen it.

21. These ghosts and spectres are believed in dark nights to leave the graves and come to the kraals. They make a rattling noise as if they were dragging skins over rocks and stones in order to frighten the people. This kind of spectres goes by the special name of hausan. They are very mischievous, and their greatest pleasure is to beat people almost to death.

Here we have the key to the original meaning of the word Gaunab. He was at first a ghost, a mischief-maker and evil-doer, whose greatest aim was to harm people and to destroy (llgau, Ilgou) them. Some people are said to die from the influence of this evil spirit, and these are called people who died the Ilgauna Especially if people are not buried, but devoured by

gauna ōra khoin-i.e., death, or devil's death,

vultures and hyenas, they are also considered gauna ||ōra. A man who is killed as a criminal, or who is slain according to the rules of the vendetta, or a slave killed by the master, or enemies killed in the battleall are left to the animals of the desert to be feasted upon, so that they will be entirely annihilated, they are also considered gauna ||ora khoin.

There is also a cruel custom among the Khoikhoi, of which I have convinced myself that is, to leave elderly people to their fate; some food and water is left with them, and the younger folks remove to another spot. Inquiring into the reason of this so repulsive practice, I was told that it sometimes was done by very poor people, who had not food enough to support the aged parents. But sometimes, even if there was food enough, and if people, especially women, who had cattle and milk-cows of their own, gave suspicion that they were under the influence of ||Gaunab, and did secretly mischief by practising witchcraft, they were left to die from starvation. The people, awe-stricken, were almost compelled to fly from them. It is, therefore, not strange that ||Gaunab, the evilspirit, is also invoked. They promised him offerings so as not to provoke his anger, as is the case among the ‡Auni-Nama, in the Walefish Bay territory. I am almost certain that, before the Khoikhoi tribes separated, this bad Being, ||Gaunab, was generally worshipped, and is of much older date than Tsuil/goab and Heitsi-eibib. It is strange that the Gabe-Bushmen, the Ai-Bushmen, the Nunin, and especially among these the Hei‡guin (or wooden noses), all know ||Gauna, whom they fear as an evil-doer, while we find no trace of the name Tsuillgoab or Heitsi-eibib. For these reasons I am of opinion that the Gauna was an evil demon, known already to the primitive Hottentot race, before there was a distinction between San and Khoikhoin. Tsuillgoab, however, was a secondary Being, the national God of the Khoikhoi branch.

22. Another custom, common to Khoikhoi, Bushmen and Berg-Damara-of whom the latter have entirely adopted the Khoikhoi language and manners-is the practice of cutting off a finger. This is done even to new-born children who are not a day old. As all sicknesses are expected to come from ||Gauna, or from his servants, the practitioners of witchcraft, it appears that this custom is a kind of sacrifice or offering to Guana; and we are entitled to conclude that, in very remote times, human sacrifice must have been practised by the Hottentot race.

23. If a woman's or young girl's breasts itch, they say : "My son, my cousin, or some near relation, will soon arrive."

24. If a cow, during the night commences to groan in her sleep, the next morning she is caught, and a piece of skin, just above the nose, is cut, so that it hangs down in the shape of an ear-ring or ear-drops. If this be neglected, the owner of the cow soon will die.

25. If a girl becomes of age, or if a wedding is to be celebrated, nothing but cows and sheep-ewes may be slaughtered; and if any other cattle is killed the couple is sure to live unhappy. The fattest cow or the finest young heifer is chased about the place by the young men, and thrown with stones and beaten with clubs, until she is so exhausted and trembling with fear that she allows everybody to come near and touch her. If she still should kick and show fight, it is a sure sign that the marriage will be a continuation of fights and quarrels between husband and wife.

26. The girl or girls who have become of age must, after the festival, run about in the first thunderstorm, but they must be quite naked, so that the rain which pours down. washes the whole body. The belief is that they will get fruitful and have a large offspring. I have on three occasions witnessed this running in the thunder-rain, when the roaring of the thunder was deafening and the whole sky appeared to be one continual flash of lightning. This was among the Gami‡nus, on the banks of the Geilab

river, among the Gei Khauas at Nuis, and among the

Ogeis, on the banks of the Kham river. I am, however, assured that even young converts, if they have become of age, absent themselves to outlying places away from the mission stations, to have their bodies washed by the waters of the thunder-clouds.

27. Also, if a woman during her pregnancy eats of the meat of the lion or leopard, her child will have the characteristics of these animals—ferocity, celerity, swiftness, and strength. They also consider the drinking of lion and panther blood as having influence on the nature of a person. or on the child in the mother's womb. A woman lost her temper, and was very cruel to her slave. I spoke to her, and asked whether she did not, as a mistress (lady, geitaras), feel ashamed of herself. She said, she could not help it; I must scold her mother, who once drank panther blood in order to get ferocious children.

28. A great influence is also attached to the power of an imprecation or curse. If one had a quarrel with a Khoikhoi, there is nothing more painful to him than not to be talked to. He will come repeatedly and apologize, until he hears the word "lutago," I have forgiven; and to show his gratitude, he will bring a present--be it a sheep or a cow or whatsoever he may afford to give.

I once had a very unpleasant quarrel with a Namaqua; perhaps he was more in fun, and it was a misunderstanding on my side. Anyhow, I got vexed, and said: "I shall never forget what you have done, and mind what you are about. I will have my day, too; do not think that, because I am the only white man here, that you will get the best of me!" He laughed, and thought that I was in fuu. I, however, left. A year after he met me on the road in another part of the country; and when he saw that I greeted his friends but did not notice him, he at once borrowed from one of his mates a cow, and said to me: "Take this, and forgive me; but don't be angry any further-I can't bear it." I accepted his apology, and told him to keep the cow. But