130   MEMORIES OF MY LIFE

dot. The land between the Swakop and the Kuisip is a high desert plateau and uninhabited. The Damaras extend northward up to about the line where " Damara Limit" is written on the map, and they extend far to the east. The Kaoko plain, of which I learnt little that was definite, lies to the west, between them and the sea.

"Damara" is a corruption of the Hottentot word " Damup," used indiscriminately for numerous Bantu tribes that have no general name in their language, but severally call themselves Ovaherero, Ovapantieru, etc. In a similar way the Arabic word " Caffre " (Kaffir, or infidel) comprehends many different Bantu tribes on the east side of South Africa. The Damaras and the Caffres are clearly of the same race. To the immediate north of Damara Land is a narrow belt of country ill fitted for habitation. Northward of this belt and from the line where " Ovampo Limit " is written on the map, is the country of the Ovampo. The Ovampo are pure negroes, but of a high type. Their country extends northwards a little beyond the limits of the map, up to the Cunene River, beyond which the Portuguese claim possession.

I n addition to the Damaras, small tribes are scattered over their territory of two totally distinct races of Hottentot and Negro. Both of these tribes now speak the Hottentot language. The first of them are the Bushmen, so called by the Namaquas, and who are pure Hottentots. They are usually small men, but not so very small as the Bushmen proper of Cape Colony are, or rather were, for those exist no longer. On the other hand, the Ghou