310 ABORIGINES OF EASTERN PHOVIXCE. 



"wlio were neighbours of tlie Gouaqua, but not directly related 

 thereto, being- an olfshoot of the Iloengeijqua.* Apart from 

 Beutler's brief note, history is silent on these early inhabitants 

 of the Albany district, the Daniasonqua and their relatives. 

 At that time Captain Ruyter, who eventually obtained 

 dominion over all the Hottentot tribes of the Zuurveld, had not 

 reached the zenith of his power. He and his followers asso- 

 ciated with the' Daniasonqua, but he was not paramount chief. 

 According- to the Rev. John l^rownlee (in " Thompson's 

 Travels "), the Gonaqua Hottentots originally had their chief 

 kraals on the coast, and likewise inhabited the country along 

 the Buffalo River and up to the very sources of the Keiskama. 

 Afterwards, when the Caft'ers took possession of the Zuurveld, 

 the Gonaqua retired northward to tlie Zuurberg and ]5ruintjes 

 Hoogte. This took place in the time of Kohla or Renter, the 

 Gonaqua chief from whom the Zuurveld was purchased — 

 according to Caft'er statements — at a high price in cattle, by 

 the Amagqunukwebe clan. 



Lieut. Paterson wrote of the Gonaquas as follows: — 



" At a little distance to the eastward (from Sand Fleet) are 

 some kraals belonging to the tribe of Hottentots called Chonaequas. 

 These people are much darker in their complexion and better 

 shaped than any other tribes (Hottentots) I had before seen. 

 Whether this difference arises from their mixing with the Caffres, 

 several of whom dwell in this part of the country, or from any 

 other cause, I could not ascertain. It is not very uncommon for 

 the Caffers and Chonaequas to quarrel, which genei"ally ends in an 

 engagement. In these encounters several hundreds of the Caffers 

 sometimes unite to oppose their enemies, who very seldom bring 

 a proportionate force into the field, but the dexterity with which 

 the Hottentots use their bows and arrows, and the practice of 

 poisoning the latter, render them very dangerous enemies to those 

 who only use the Hassagai. The disputes bet\yeen these people 

 generally originate about cattle, of which both nations are extremely 

 avaricious. "We directed our course eastward to the Boschmans 

 River, and at noon I visited a kraal belonging to a Hottentot 

 captain called De Royter. This man has upwards of 200 Hottentots 

 and Caffres in his service, and a few hours before our arrival liad 

 fought against a number of Caffres, had beaten them oft' the field, 

 and taken many of their cattle." 



Thus it seems clear tiiat the Gonaqua were quite distinct 

 from the Western Province Hottentots, with whom the 

 traveller was well acquainted, and from the Caft'res whom he 

 met later after crossing the Great Fish River. Though 

 Bushman-like in mode of life, they appear to have been darker 

 and biggert than the small and yellow Bushmen found near 

 Camdeboo They were indeed called Hottentots by Paterson, 

 but it should be understood that he recognised no racial 



* Probably the same as the Geikhauas (Cauquas), belonging to 

 the Namaqua group of tribes, and regarded as a senior, and, in a sense, 

 paramount clan. 



t " The superior size and strength of the Inqua and Gonaqua 

 Hottentots is noteworthy. In the former case, at least, it cannot be 

 due to recent admixture' with Bantu tribes. The Namaqua Hottentots 

 of the Clanwilliam district were also described as half-giants compared 

 with the small-made Hottentots of the Cape." — Van Meerhof, 1661. 



