is carried to the grave, having the head covered with a skin, and is placed in a sitting posture. Much time is spent in order to fix the corpse exactly facing the north; and though they have no compass, they manage, after some consultation, to place it very nearly in the required position. Portions of an ant-hill are placed about the feet, when the net which held the body is gradually withdrawn; as the grave is filled up, the earth is handed in with bowls, while two men stand in the hole to tread it down round the body, great care being taken to pick out every thing like a root or pebble. When the earth reaches the height of the mouth, a small twig or branch of an acacia is thrown in, and on the top of the head a few roots of grass are placed; and when the grave is nearly filled, another root of grass is fixed immediately above the head, part of which stands above ground. When finished, the men and women stoop, and with their hands scrape the loose soil around on to the little mound. A large bowl of water, with an infusion of bulbs, is then brought, when the men and women wash their hands and the upper part of their feet, shouting "pùla, pùla," rain, rain. An old woman, probably a rela

tion, will then bring his weapons, bows, arrows, war axe, and spears, also grain and garden-seeds of various kinds, and even the bone of an old pack-ox, with other things, and address the grave, saying, "there are all your articles." These are then taken away, and bowls of water are poured on the grave, when all retire, the women wailing, "yo, yo, yo,” with some doleful dirge, sorrowing without hope.

These ceremonies vary in different localities, and according to the rank of the individual who is committed to the dust. It is remarkable that they should address the dead; and I have eagerly embraced this season to convince them that if they did not believe in the immortality of the soul, it was evident from this, to them now unmeaning custom, that their ancestors once did. Some would admit this might possibly have been the case, but doubted whether they could have been so foolish. But with few exceptions among such a people, argument soon closes, or is turned into ridicule, and the great difficulty presents 'tself of producing conviction where there is no reflection. When we would appeal to the supposed influence of the dead body in neu

tralizing the rain-maker's medicines for producing rain, and inquire how such an influence operated, the reply would be, "The rain-maker says so."

CHAPTER IX.

Cunning of a rain-maker-Is sent for to bring rain-Finds it hard work-Wants a baboon, then the heart of a lion-Orders the missionaries away—The natives determine to murder the rain-maker-He is spared, and departs.

YEARS of drought had been severely felt, and the natives, tenacious of their faith in the potency of a man, held a council, and passed resolutions to send for a rain-maker of renown from the Bahurutsi tribe, 200 miles north-east of the Kuruman station. It was natural to suppose that the offer must be a tempting one which could draw him from a post so lucrative, and where he had so signalized his boasted powers. The Bechuanas possess very inventive minds; and when they have a point to gain, as truth and honour are never regarded, they find no difficulty in embellishing their story. The ambassadors received

their commission with the strictest injunction not to return without the man. No doubt many were their cogitations on the journey how they might best succeed. Promises were cheap, and with a redundance of the fairest kind, they succeeded beyond expectation. This, however, was not surprising, when they assured him that, if he would only come to the land of the Batlapis, and open the heavens, which had become as hard as a stone, cause the rains to fall and quench the flaming ground, he should be made the greatest man that ever lived; his riches should be beyond all calculation; his flocks covering the hills and plains; he should wash his hands in milk, while all would exalt him in the song, and mothers and children would call him blessed. When a period had elapsed sufficient to allow the messengers time to return, it was rumored through the town, that they had been murdered, a common event in those days. The gloom which this cast over the native mind, formed a striking contrast to the dazzling rays pouring forth from an almost vertical sun blazing in a cloudless sky. The heavens had been as brass, scarcely a cloud had been seen for months, even on the distant