genes, married to petite Khoisan physiques - and high cheekbones - make for great beauty. Some think that the Basters are the most beautiful people on earth.

The Basters are also notably old-fashioned. They speak pure 18th-century Dutch, and they practice a fierce Lutheran faith; they also, according to anecdotes, like a drink. Perhaps this helps them get over their famous shyness.

So what's the problem? The Basters themselves worry that their culture is going to dissolve into Namibia's ethnic melting pot: there are only 30,000 of them compared to, say, a million Ovambo. So they are taking their case for autonomy to the United Nations. They hope that the UN will help them preserve their precious if peculiar heritage.

In a Rehoboth bar, the polite bartender has one of the sweetest faces I have ever seen. I hope the Basters of Rehoboth survive.