470 ANNUAL REGISTER, 
handfuls in a common way, so as 
to be furnished with a hearty 
meal, this is not enough ; to in- 
crease the quantity taken, they 
make long and deep trenches, 
from which the locusts, if they 
have once fallen into them, can- 
not easily rise and fly away. A 
very favourite food of these sava- 
ges is the termes-fatale, or white 
ant, and their eggs. The species 
of this animal formerly described, 
which makes such large heaps, or 
hillocks, does not belong to this 
part of the country ; it is a species 
somewhat smaller, which builds 
below the surface of the ground, 
spreading over a very large space. 
In the midst of these nests a hole 
is made by the Bosjesmans, con- 
siderably deeper than the nest it- 
self, and they are then certain, in 
a short time, to find a number of 
the animals at the bottom of the 
hole, they having fallen in on all: 
sides, in running about from one 
part of their habitation to another. 
At certain times of the year, or 
before any great change of wea- 
ther, these animals are particular- 
ly busy ; they are seen in great 
numbers upon the surface of the 
ground, heaping up leaves, very 
small twigs, and splinters of wood, 
over the entrance to their mine, 
as a sort of roof. This is the 
most favourable moment for the 
Bosjesmans to practise their mode 
of catching them. 
Sparing as nature is here in the 
distribution of her gifts, necessity 
has taught the Bosjesmans the use 
of several plants, wholesome to 
appease hunger, which in more 
abundant countries no one would 
think of applying to that purpose. 
Many of the lily species have a 
mealyenutritive buib, which, roast- 
1815. 
ed in the embers, has very much 
the flavour of a chesnut ; it is 
most in order to be eaten when 
the flower is just gone off. There 
are, however, several sorts very 
pernicious, which occasion sick- 
ness, and which, by an inexperi- 
enced person, might easily be 
mistaken for those which are sa- 
lutary. Many sorts of the mes- 
embryanthemum bear a pleasant 
acid kind of fruit, called by the 
colonists Hottentot-figs, which 
are also eaten by the Bosjesmans ; 
and those on the other side of the 
Great River feed much upon the 
bulbous root of their kambroo, a 
plant yet little known to the bota- 
nists, and undefined by them. 
It is not, however, to be in- 
ferred, that no tract of country is 
so poor but thatit produces where- 
withal to support the miserable 
lives led by these savages. In 
some parts, as on the banks of 
the Great River, they can procure 
easily and abundantly the means 
of supplying their daily wants ; 
but in others, which are deficient 
in game, in ants, in locusts, and 
in bulbs, they are often in a de-~ 
plorable situation; and, from a 
long privation of sufficient nour- 
ishment, waste away to the lean- 
est, most wretched figures imagin- 
able. Does a more favourable 
time of the year, however, come 
on, or do they change their quar~ 
ters to a more fertile region, it is 
amazing how soon the traces of 
this misery disappear ; in how 
short a time they become quite 
different beings. Alas! instead 
of chusing the latter means of al- 
leviating their misery, they have 
too often recourse to another, 
which draws hatred and contempt 
on all their nation ;—that is, rob- 
