OCR Text |
Show tl ft In Troubled Africa Germany Is meeting with some difficulty diffi-culty In Its colony In southwest Africa, Af-rica, one of tho nntlvo tribes, tho Ovampos, being strongly opposed to Teuton rule. Sud-west, ns tho colony Is generally culled, Is a country of magnificent distances (Its area Is about 280.000 square miles), anil much of It Is practically desert. Along tho wholo coast (some S00 miles) anil for about 100 miles Inland It Is a howling wilderness first of sand nnd then of stones. Within this belt the country Improves Im-proves somewhat, hut tho continued drouths nro n sore trial to farmers. The fcrtllo areas are generally dried up. Tho country In tho southern half of tho colony Is covered with scrub, nnd wide stretches of undulating country coun-try ulternato with high ridges. It Is n country ndapted to guerrilla war-faro. war-faro. Thoro nro soveral tribes living in tho territory Herreros, Damaras, Ovampos, Hottentots nnd Bushmen. Tho Herreros, Damaras nnd Ovampos are of the sntne blood ns the Zulus, Basutos and Capo Kaffirs. Tho two former, who llvo chiefly In tho central zone, have given llttlo troublo to the Gormnns, but tho Ovampos, who llvo in the far north, nro still uncon-querod, uncon-querod, and nro defiant nnd Insolent to tho Germans, who for several years past have planned expeditions which so far hnvo had to bo postponed. post-poned. The Ovnmpos, If fully mustered, mus-tered, could show 14.000 fighting men, some of thorn armed with rifles, and tho oxpedltlon which Germany Is now sending ngnlnst them will hnvo to be n strong one. The Hottentots arc of various clans, scatterrd about, chiefly in tho southern south-ern half of the colony. Thoy nro usually small nnd yellow skinned, and their wool grows In patches. Their language consists largely ot clicks nnd gurgles and Is not pleasant to listen to. They nro lazy, treacherous, thievish thiev-ish and untruthful. They work when thoy cannot help It, nnd when there Is n chnucc ot hunting, oft they go, nnd leave their employer In tho lurch. They will llvo where n white man would starve, nnd And water whore ho would die of thirst. Their cunning Is proverbial, nnd ns trackers of gamo they rnnk high. Thoy hnvo never been thoroughly thrashed and arc not well disposed townrd tho Gormans. Tho pure Bushmen nro probably tho lowest typo of human being In tho world. Queer llttlo, undersized, nervously nerv-ously grinning blacks, they ennnot bo tnmed, and now nro approaching extinction. ex-tinction. They live now, as they always al-ways did, widely scattered. Their language Is practically a succession of clicks, nnd as a rule their intellects ennnot grasp any number higher than five. Anything beyond that Is "a great many." Tho Bushman has apparently no moral sense. Ho will llvo whero oven a Hottentot would stnrve, and ns a hunter ho Is hard to bent. He will follow fol-low a buck until it drops from exhaustion, ex-haustion, nnd his poisoned arrows nro things to bo avoided. |