432 THE HOTTENTOTS. 



nations which, though provided with metal implements, are 

 nevertheless but little removed from a state of barbarism. 



Thus the Hottentots, who were not only acquainted with 

 the use, but even with the manufacture of iron, and who pos- 

 sessed large numbers of sheep and cattle, were yet in many 

 respects among the most disgusting of savages. Even Kolben, 

 who generally takes a favourable view of them, admits that 

 they are, in his opinion, the filthiest people in the world.* 

 We might go farther, and say the filthiest animals ; I think 

 no species of mammal could be fairly compared with them 

 in this respect. Their bodies were covered with grease, their 

 clothes were never washed, and their hair was loaded " from 

 day to day with such a quantity of soot and fat, and it gathers 

 so much dust and other filth which they leave to clot and 

 harden in it, for they never cleanse it, that it looks like a 

 crust or cap of black mortar." ( They wore a skin over the 

 back, fastened in front. They carried this as long as they 

 lived, and were buried in it when they died. Their only other 

 garment was a square piece of skin, tied round the waist by 

 a string, and left to hang down in front. In winter, however, 

 they sometimes used a cap. For ornaments they wore rings 

 of iron, copper, ivory, or leather. The latter had the advan- 

 tage of serving for food in bad times. 



Their huts were generally oval, about fourteen feet by ten 

 in diameter, and seldom more than four or five in height. 

 They were made of sticks and mats. The sticks were fastened 

 into the ground at both ends, or, if not long enough, two were 

 placed opposite to one another, and secured together at the 

 top. One end of the hut was left open to form the door. The 

 mats were made of bulrushes and flags dried in the sun, and 

 so closely fitted together that only the heaviest rain could 



* Kolben's History of the Cape of Good Hope, vol. i. p. 47. 

 t Kolben, 1. c. p. 188. 



