Chobi

Chobi, a large Bantu nation, Gazaland, South Africa, of whom there are two divisions, the Chobi proper ("Bowmen"), along the left bank of the Lower Limpopo, and the Mindongs, or Northern Chobi of the Inhambane coast district. The former have been reduced by the Zulu invaders of Gazaland; the latter have preserved their independence, thanks to the protection given them by the Portuguese. These Mindongs are the boa gente ("good folk") spoken of by Vasco da Gama (1498). They disfigure themselves with three rows of warty excrescences on the face; one running from the forehead to the tip of the nose, the others in concentric circles from ear to ear by the upper lip and chin. A similar system of tattooing prevails amongst the neighbouring Transvaal tribes, whence the term Knob-noses applied by the English to all this group of aborigines.