254 BOTANICAL EXCURSIONS 
credit to civilized men. Macomois of shorter stature than 
the generality of the Caffers, with a very keen, shrewd, intel- 
ligent countenance, though he is said, unfortunately for him- 
self, to be excessively addicted to drinking. Tyali, his bro- 
ther, is considerably taller and handsomer, but does not look 
equally clever. 
It is now pretty generally admitted that the Caffers belong 
to the negro race of mankind, but the characteristic pecu- 
liarities of that race, with the exception of the woolly hair, 
are less strongly marked in them than in the natives of 
Guinea or Mosambique; the lips are less thick, the nose 
less flat, the lower part of the face is not remarkably promi- 
nent, and the forehead is often as high and as amply deve- 
loped as in Europeans. (Note C). The colour of the skin 
appeared to me, in most of the individuals I saw, to be a 
dark umber-brown, frequently approaching to black, while in 
others it had a tinge of yellow or red ; but the skin is so often 
smeared with red ochre, that it is not easy to judge accu- - 
rately of its real native tint. 'The Caffer men are in gener 
tall, though not gigantic, and extremely well proportioned ; 
indeed their fine forms and easy attitudes often remind one | 
of ancient statues; but they are more remarkable for activity 
than for strength, and it is said, have generally been found 
inferior in muscular power to British soldiers. They wear no 
clothing except the skin cloak or karass, and this is worn 
only as a protection against weather, not with the view of 
concealing any part of the body. The skins of which these 
cloaks are made, are dressed in such a manner as to be 93  — 
soft and pliable as glove-leather, and acquire a red-brown 
colour, which is not at all unpleasing to the eye. Many 9 — 
the chiefs wear mantles of leopard's skin, prepared with the 
hair on. They ornament their hair, on great occasions, with 
red-ochre, which is applied in a very elaborate manner, the a 
hair being twisted up into a multitude of little separate knots — 
or lumps, and every knot carefully covered over with grease — 
and ochre. This process, which is performed by the women» - 
is said to be very long and tedious; but the appearance 
