essity for beginning to
tell even the most degraded of these people of the existence of a God
or of a future state, the facts being universally admitted. Every thing
that can not be accounted for by common causes is ascribed to the Deity,
as creation, sudden death, etc. "How curiously God made these things!"
is a common expression; as is also, "He was not killed by disease, he
was killed by God." And, when speaking of the departed--though there
is naught in the physical appearance of the dead to justify the
expression--they say, "He has gone to the gods," the phrase being
identical with "abiit ad plures".

On questioning intelligent men among the Bakwains as to their former
knowledge of good and evil, of God and the future state, they have
scouted the idea of any of them ever having been without a tolerably
clear conception on all these subjects. Respecting their sense of right
and wrong, they profess that nothing we indicate as sin ever appeared to
them as otherwise, except the statement that it was wrong to have more
wives than one; and they declare that they spoke in the same way of the
direct influence exercised by God in giving rain in answer to prayers
of the rain-makers, and in granting deliverances in times of danger, as
they do now, before they ever heard of white men. The want, however,
of any form of public worship, or of idols, or of formal prayers or
sacrifice, make both Caffres and Bechuanas appear as among the most
godless races of mortals known any where. But, though they all possess a
distinct knowledge of a deity and of a future state, they show so little
reverence, and feel so little connection with either, that it is
not surprising that some have supposed them entirely ignorant on the
subject. At Lotlakani we met an old Bushman who at first seemed to have
no conception of morality whatever; when his heart was warmed by our
presents of meat, he sat by the fire relating his early adventures:
among these was killing five other Bushmen. "Two," said he, counting on
his fingers, "were females, one a male, and the other two calves." "What
a villain you are, to boast of killing women and children of your own
nation! what will God say when you appear before him?" "He will say,"
replied he, "that I was a very clever fellow." This man now appeared to
me as without any conscience, and, of course, responsibility; but, on
trying to enlighten him by further conversation, I discovered that,
though he was employing t