The Collaborative International Dictionary
Basutos \Ba*su"tos\, n. pl.; sing. Basuto. (Ethnol.) A warlike South African people of the Bantu stock, divided into many tribes, at one time subjected by the English. They formerly practiced cannibalism, but have now adopted many European customs.
Usage examples of "basutos".
In the south, between the Orange River and the Vaal, there was no form of government at all, but a welter of Dutch farmers, Basutos, Hottentots, and halfbreeds living in a chronic state of turbulence, recognising neither the British authority to the south of them nor the Transvaal republics to the north.
Such an incident is much to be regretted, and yet, looking back upon the long course of the war, and remembering the turbulent tribes who surrounded the combatants--Swazis, Basutos, and Zulus--we may well congratulate ourselves that we have been able to restrain those black warriors, and to escape the brutalities and the bitter memories of a barbarian invasion.