Page:Lake Ngami.djvu/232

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been validated.
224
DAMARA GRAVE.

saving a child that was about to be destroyed in this barbarous manner.

After having consigned the remains of a chief to his last resting-place, they collect his arms, war-dress, &c., and suspend them to a pole or to a tree at the head of the grave.

DAMARA GRAVE.

The horns of such oxen as have been killed in commemoration of the occasion are hung up in like manner—a custom also found among the natives of Madagascar. The tomb consists of a large heap of stones, surrounded by an inclosure of thorn bushes, no doubt to prevent hyænas and other carnivorous animals from extracting the corpse. Sometimes,