Wonders of the tropics; or, Explorations and adventures of Henry M Stanley and other world-renowned travelers, including Livingstone, Baker, Cameron, Speke, Emin Pasha, Du Chaillu, Andersson, etc., etc .. . ust not think that it is nearly so formidable to the;Bechuanas as it would be to Americans. In the first place, the nervous,system of a white man is far more sensitive than that of South African,natives, and injuries which would lay him prostrate have but little effectupon them. Moreover, their skin, from constant exposure to the ele-;ments, is singularly insensible, so that the stripes do
Wonders of the tropics; or, Explorations and adventures of Henry M Stanley and other world-renowned travelers, including Livingstone, Baker, Cameron, Speke, Emin Pasha, Du Chaillu, Andersson, etc., etc .. . ust not think that it is nearly so formidable to the;Bechuanas as it would be to Americans. In the first place, the nervous,system of a white man is far more sensitive than that of South African,natives, and injuries which would lay him prostrate have but little effectupon them. Moreover, their skin, from constant exposure to the ele-;ments, is singularly insensible, so that the stripes do not inflict a tenthpart of the pain that they would if suffered by a white person. , LIVINGSTONE AMONG SAVAGES. 63 Only the older men are allowed to take part in this mode of instruc--tion of the boys, and if any man should attempt it who is not qualifiedhe is unpleasantly reminded of his presumption by receiving on his ownback the stripes which he intended to inflict on the boys, the old menbeing in such a case simultaneously judges and executioners. No eleva-tion of rank will allow a man to thus transgress with impunity; and onone occasion, Sekomi himself, the chief of the tribe, received a severe. TRAINING ROYS FOR HARDSHIPS. blow on the leg from one of his own people. This kind of ordeal, calledthe Sechu, is only practised am9ng three tribes, one of which is the Ba-mangwato, of which Sekomi was the chief It takes place every six or seven years, so that a large number of boysare collected. These are divided into bands, each of which is under thecommand of one of the sons of the chief, and each member is supposedto be a companion of his leader for life. They are taken into the woods ?64 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS. by the old men, where they reside for some time, and where, to judgefrom their scarred and seamed backs, their residence does not appear tobe of the most agreeable description. When they have passed throughthe different stages of the boguera, each band becomes a regimen
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