e central valley, have no such tradition as this, nor have either
the one or the other any account of a trader's visit to them in ancient
times.

All the Batoka tribes follow the curious custom of knocking out the
upper front teeth at the age of puberty. This is done by both sexes; and
though the under teeth, being relieved from the attrition of the upper,
grow long and somewhat bent out, and thereby cause the under lip
to protrude in a most unsightly way, no young woman thinks herself
accomplished until she has got rid of the upper incisors. This custom
gives all the Batoka an uncouth, old-man-like appearance. Their laugh is
hideous, yet they are so attached to it that even Sebituane was unable
to eradicate the practice. He issued orders that none of the children
living under him should be subjected to the custom by their parents, and
disobedience to his mandates was usually punished with severity; but,
notwithstanding this, the children would appear in the streets without
their incisors, and no one would confess to the deed. When questioned
respecting the origin of this practice, the Batoka reply that their
object is to be like oxen, and those who retain their teeth they
consider to resemble zebras. Whether this is the true reason or not, it
is difficult to say; but it is noticeable that the veneration for oxen
which prevails in many tribes should here be associated with hatred to
the zebra, as among the Bakwains; that this operation is performed at
the same age that circumcision is in other tribes; and that here that
ceremony is unknown. The custom is so universal that a person who has
his teeth is considered ugly, and occasionally, when the Batoka borrowed
my looking-glass, the disparaging remark would be made respecting boys
or girls who still retained their teeth, "Look at the great teeth!" Some
of the Makololo give a more facetious explanation of the custom: they
say that the wife of a chief having in a quarrel bitten her husband's
hand, he, in revenge, ordered her front teeth to be knocked out, and all
the men in the tribe followed his example; but this does not explain why
they afterward knocked out their own.

The Batoka of the Zambesi are generally very dark in color, and very
degraded and negro-like in appearance, while those who live on the high
lands we are now ascending are frequently of the color of coffee and
milk. We had a large number of the Batoka of Mokwine in our party, sent
by Sekeletu to carry h