________________
286
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
back, in consequence of his having received some injury to his knee. Having been held in high repute for extraordinary powers during life, he was invoked, even after death, as one who could still relieve and protect, and hence in process of time he became nearest in idea to their first conception of God.
The same story is told again and again with but slight variations. Dr. Moffat, in his Missionary Labours and Scenes in South Africa, writes :
In my journey to the back parts of Great Namaqualand I met with an aged sorcerer or doctor, who stated that he had always understood that Tsui-goab was a notable warrior of great physical strength; that in a desperate struggle with another chieftain he received a wound in the knee; but, having vanquished his enemy, his name was lost in the mighty combat which rendered tite nation independent ; for no one could conquer the Tsui-goab wounded knee). When I referred to the import of the word, one who inflicts pain, or a sore knee, manifesting my surprise that they should give such a name to their Creator and Benefactor, he replied in a way that induced a belief that he applied the term to what we should call the devil, or to death itself; adding, that he thought death, or the power of causing death, was very sore indeed.
Dr. Hahn heard the following account from an old HabobeNama:
Tsui-goab was a powerful chief of the Khoikhoi; in fact, he was the first Khoikhoib, from whom all the Khoikhoi tribes took their origin. But Tsui-goab was not his original name. This Tsui-goab went to war with another chief Gaunab, because the latter always killed great numbers of Tsui-goal's people. In this fight, however, Tsui-goab was
