OVAM'POS AND OVAMPOLAND. The Ovampos or Otjiherero are a tribe, seemingly a connecting link between the Kaffir and Negro races, who inhabit the region n. of Great .Namaqualand, in South Africa, extending n. to the Cuanene river, and s. to the pal allel of 23' s. latitude. The Ovamno tribes are described by Audersson as of a very dark complexion, tall and robust, but remarkably ugly. He found them, however, hon est, industrious, and hospitable. They are not entirely pastoral. but cultivate much corn. Living in the same country are the Cattle Damaras. with still more of the negro type, a stout, athletic people, very dirty in their habits, and generally armed with the bow and arrow. They live in a state of constant warfare with the Ghondannup, or Hill Dama•as, a nearly pure negro race, on the one hand, and the Naniaqua Hottentots, who live s. of them, on the other.
Ovampoland is a more fertile region titan Niunaqualand, from which it is separated by a wide belt of densely-bushed country. It has but few rivers, and these not of it perennial nature. About 50 In. from the coast the country rises to a table-land about 0,000 ft. above the sea-level, aped then declines to the s. and e. into the deserts of the Kalihari and the region of lake 1N"gami. Many strong indications of copper-ore are found in various places. The principal rivers, or rather water-courses, are the Swakop, Kusip, and their lunches, which enter the Atlantic a few miles in. of Walfish bay. The
other rivers in the interior seem to lose themselves in the sands. The climate is healthy except near the coast, where fever in sonic seasons prevails. It seldom reins in the coast region. which is a very desolate one, and almost devoid of water. Thunder storms are very violent in the slimmer season. All the large mammalia are found. more or less plentiful, according as water may be found at the different drinking-pieces. Elephants, rhinoceroses, elmids, and other large animals driven front the s. by the march of civili zation, take refuge in the desert region lying e. of Ovampolend, where sportsmen like Green and Andersson have been known to kill as many as 12 elephants in it day. The country was first described by sir J. Alexander, who visited its s. bonier. Mr. Gallon afterward penetrated much further north; and Mr. C. J. Andersson has since fully explored it nearly as far n. as the Cuanene. Large numbers of horned cattle arc annually collected by traders front the cape in these regions, and whales abound on the coast. The trade in ostrich feathers and ivory is of increasing importance, end several trading stations are established for the collection of native products. Some elementary M mks have been primed in the Otjiherero dialect by the German missionaries; two appear in sir G. Grey's catalogue.