they might be, owned allegiance to the son of their basely-murdered chief, who had been permitted with a small number of their tribe to settle on a piece of land in the eastern quarter of Wankie’s territory. On my expressing my wonder that they did not all go and join him instead of staying where they were to be worried like dogs, they replied that this was their own country; and I learnt that like the Bushmen of the south they regarded with affection and reverence the wooded heights and pleasant valleys where they first saw the light of day.
In many of their customs the Manansas differ from other South African tribes. Like the Marutse, they treat their women in a way that offers a very favourable contrast to either the Bechuanas or the Matabele. They have a somewhat peculiar mode of wooing; when a young man has been captivated by a maiden of his tribe and has ascertained that he has secured her affection in return—an assurance for which neither Betchuana nor Zulu thinks it necessary to wait—he sends an aged woman to carry the proposal that she should become his wife; this agent is commissioned to portray the young man in glowing colours, to extol the excellence of his temper, to praise his skill in procuring “nyama” (game), to describe the productiveness of his garden, and to enumerate the skins with which he has made his bed soft and comfortable. Hereupon a family council is held; the father, other, and daughter all have a voice, and if no objection is alleged, the old woman is sent away with the message that the suitor may be admitted. When he enters the hut he must never fail to bring a present; until quite recently this was nearly always a valuable skin of
