farmers in the lands below the escarpment, who are known as Nguni,
spoke dialects of the same language, of which the modern survivors are
Xhosa in the south and Zulu in the north. Most of those on the plateau
above the escarpment spoke dialects of another language, of which the
modern survivors are Sotho in the south, Pediin the east, and Tswana in the
west. The two languages had a similar syntax and much common vocabu-
lary. Farmers could and did move easily from community to community
throughout southeastern Africa, and those who migrated to a new area
rapidly assimilated the local culture. There were, of course, considerable
differences within the region, as farmers adapted to distinctive micro-
environments. Conditions in the better-watered subtropical lands below
the mountain escarpment in what are now KwaZulu, the eastern Trans-
vaal, and southern Mozambique were very different from those in the
frontier zone in Botswana, where crop agriculture was rarely possible.
The mixed farming economy was more productive than the economies
of both the herders and the hunter-gatherers. Besidespossessing sheep and
cattle, hunting the abundant game population, and gathering indigenous
plants, the farmers cultivated sorghum and made, used, and traded iron