Pkksidknt'.s Audukss -Skct. F. 347 



acute observer, visited Mt>nibas;i and Kilwa in 13."50, but as far as can 

 be gatbered be did not come into personal contact witli any of tbe 

 infidel Bantu (tbe Kafirs) of tbe mainland, altbougb be records tbeir 

 defeat by tbe Hultan of Kilwa. He describes tbis port and its trade, 

 enumerates its tbree liundi'ed mosques, and speaks in a general way of 

 tbe Zeny as Mobannnedan negroes. And yet 200 years later, (Juring 

 tbe reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, Leo Africanus, a Moor of Granada, 

 confesses tbat notbing is known of tbe tribes soutb of tbe Nile source 

 beyond a rumour tbat tliey trade witb tbe people bordering on tbe 

 ocean. 



It was just tbis epocb, tbat saw tbe capture of Constantinople by 

 tbe Turks, tbe discovery of America and of tbe Cape route to India, 

 wbiyb probably witnesfsed tbe passage of tbe Zambesi soutbwards of 

 tbe advance-guard of tlie Bantu tribes. Hencefortb, witb tbe Hottentot 

 and Busbman tbey sbare in tbe term tbe " Native Races of Soutb 

 Africa" ; and we bave evidence tbat in 1508 click-speaking Bantu like 

 tbe Xosa or Tembu were still as far nortb as — or perbaps T sbould say 

 no fartber soutb tban — Sofala. 



Ludovico de Vartbema, gentleman of Bologna, Roman patrician, 

 ex-Moslem and ex-Mameluke, on bis leturn bome from tbe East Indies 

 toucbed at Kilwa, Mozambique and Sofala, wbere, on going to tbe 

 mainland to amuse bimself and see tbe country, be found some races 

 of people quite black, tbeir bair bristling up and sbort, tbe lips as tbick 

 as two fingers, tbe face large, tbe teetb large and as wbite as sjiow ; 

 " wbo," be says, "speak in a manner wbicb I sball bave great trouble 

 in making you understand. However, I will endeavour to explain it 

 to you in tbe best way I can. For example, wben tbe muleteers follow 

 tbeir mules in Sicily and wisb to drive tbem on ^\ itb tbe tongue under 

 tbe palate tbey make a certain warble and a certain noise witb wbicb 

 they make tbe mules go on. So is tbe manner of speaking of tbese 

 j^eople, and witb signs until tbey are understood." 



This points to admixture or at least intercourse witb the Hotten- 

 tots or Bushmen, the Waqwaq, who according to Mas'udy border tbe 

 Zeng at Sofala. Tbe first record of European contact witb these 

 yellow-skinned tribes, tbe encounter of the valiant Veloso at St. Helena 

 Bay, is of course well known, and the description handed down to us 

 by Castanbeda exactly corresponds to the Strandloopers and Vismans 

 of Van Riebeck's time. 



For our acquaintance with the subsequent Portuguese authorities 

 we are almost entirely indebted to tbe discoveries and labours of Dr. 

 Theal. (See his Records of South- Eastern Africa.) 



The Legends of Correa (1560), the Chronicles of Damiao de Goes 

 (1566), and the History of Manuel de Faria e Sousa (1666), are com- 

 piled witb varying accuracy from the accounts of those who actually 

 visited Africa and came personally into contact with the native tribes. 

 Such was Duarte Barbosa (1586), an otlicial at Cananor, under the 

 viceroy at Goa, who visited Mozambique and Kilwa on his way to and 

 from India, and whose description of the natives is but brief; and 

 such were the Jesuit Fathers Don Gonzalo da Silveira and Andre 



