MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 
her permission, she may go whi- 
ther she will, and associate with 
any other man; nay, the stronger 
man will sometimes take away the 
wife of the weaker, and compel 
her, whether she will or not, to 
follow him: I must, however, 
add, that such instances are not 
common. The almost instinctive 
love of the parents for their com- 
mon children unites the far greater 
part for their whole lives, and 
habit makes them inseparablecom- 
panions. Infidelity to the mar- 
riage compact is, however, not 
considered as a crime: it is scarce- 
ly regarded by the offended person. 
I have, on a former occasion, in 
my remarks upon the languages 
of these savages, observed, as a 
thing worthy of notice, that they 
seem to have no idea of thie dis- 
tinction of girl, maiden, and wife ; 
they are all expressed by one word 
alone. I leave every reader to 
draw from this singular circum- 
stance his own inference, with re- 
gard to the nature of love, and 
every kind of moral feeling among 
them. As little is the son con- 
sidered as bound to the father, 
the brother to the brother ; every 
one leaves his horde, and attaches 
himself to another, entirely at his 
own pleasure. 
Very little intercourse subsists 
between the separate hordes ; 
they seldom unite, unless in some 
extraordinary undertaking, for 
which the combined strength of 
a great many is required. For 
the most part, the hordes keep at 
a distance from each other, since 
the smaller the number, the easier 
is a supply of food procured. So 
trifling is the intercourse among 
them, that the names of even the 
most common objects are as vari- 
473 
ous as the number of hordes. 
Their language is disagreeably 
sonorous, from the frequent clack- 
ing of the teeth, and the prevail- 
ing croaking in the throat ; and it 
is extremely poor, no less in words 
than in sounds; they understand 
each other more by their gestures 
than their speaking. No one has 
a name peculiar to himself, though 
they distinguish themselves as a 
people by a general name. 
When a horde has taken any 
thing in the chace, or by plunder, 
it is concealed as much as possible 
from all the others; since who- 
ever learns that there is something 
to be eaten, comes without any 
ceremony, or waiting for an invi- 
tation, to partake of it. Asevery 
thing is common property, the 
booty cannot be withheld, or a 
part of it at least, from any one 
who requires it. Thence the in- 
credible voracity with which they 
immediately devour whatever they 
catch in the chase,—thence their 
avoiding the possession of living 
animals, ——thence the inefficacy 
of every attempt which has been 
made to keep them quiet, by pay- 
ing them a tribute of sheep and 
cattle,—thence the fruitlessness 
of all endeavours to accustom 
them to milder and more civilized 
habits. I cannot find any other 
ground than this envy andjealousy, 
this fear of being obliged to share 
what they get with others, for one 
of the most odious and revolting 
features in their character, their 
passion for destruction, Every 
thing that comes in their way, 
which they cannot appropriate on 
the spot to their own use, is de- 
stroyed, that it may not be of ad- 
vantage to others. If they dis- 
cover an ostrich’s nest, and cir- 
