20(3 



CAFFRARIA. 



Caffraria, which period is still observed both by the Mahome- 

 1 tans and Caffrea. This ceremony, however, the Caf- 

 fre does not consider as a sacred institution, but mere- 

 ly as a custom handed down to him by his ancestors, 

 and as a duty which he owes to their memory. It is 

 the only exterior mark of religion which he seems to 

 have retained ; and if he possesses any religion at all, 

 it is a religion without worship. 



The appearance of the Caffre bespeaks him to have 

 (sprung from a race very superior to his neighbours 

 the Hottentots of the Cape, or the negroes of Mo- 

 zambique. He has neither the protruding cheek- 

 bones and contracted chin of the one, nor the large 

 broad face, flat nose, and thick lips of the other. 

 The contour of hi& visage and head can scarcely be 

 distinguished from that of an European ; his counte- 

 nance is open and manly, and generally overspread with 

 a smile ; his eyes are large and black, his teeth as pure 

 as ivory, and his hair short and curled ; his figure is 

 tall, muscular, and elegant ; and his carnage firm and 

 erect. " A young man about twenty," says Mr Bar- 

 row, " of six feet ten inches high, was one of the finest 

 figures that perhaps was ever created. He was a per- 

 fect Hercules ; and a cast from his body would not have 

 disgraced the pedestal of that deity in the Farnese pa- 

 lace." The women, however, are not of such a hand- 

 some make, being rather of low stature, and strong 

 limbed; but they are sprightly, good humoured, and 

 active ; and their countenances are animated with dark 

 sparkling eyes, and regular and beautiful white teeth . 

 The same traveller, when describing a party of Caffre 

 women, the first indeed which he had met with, ob- 

 serves, " Good temper, animation, and a cheerful 

 turn of mind, beamed in all their countenances. We 

 found them to be modest, without reserve ; extreme- 

 ly curious, without being troublesome ; lively, but 

 not impudent ; and sportive, without the least sha- 

 dow of being lascivious." The Caffres also surpass 

 their neighbours in the qualifications of their minds. 

 They are mild, benevolent, and hospitable, but at 

 the same time brave, and devoid of fear or suspicion ; 

 and in their manners have more the appearance of ci- 

 vilization thananyother unlettered nation in the world. 



Their language, though they retain not the small- 

 est vestige of a written character, surpasses that of 

 many nations who can boast of greater refinement 

 and civilization. " In the enunciation," says Mr 

 Barrow, " it is soft, fluent, and harmonious ; has 

 neither the monotonous mouthing of the savage, nor 

 the nasal nor guttural sounds that prevail in almost 

 all the European tongues ; and is as different from 

 that of the Hottentots, as the latter is from the 

 English." The names of the mountains and rivers 

 of this country, however, are all Hottentot, which 

 is a presumptive proof that the Caffres are not the 

 aborigines of these possessions which they now enjoy. 



The habitations of these people are in. general cir- 

 cular, and in the form of bee-hives, and are larger 

 and more regular than those of the Hottentots. In 

 Cafferland, the frame is constructed of wood, which 

 is plastered both within and without with a kind 

 of mortar made of yellow clay and the dung of 

 sattle, and a neat covering of matting is wrought 

 over the whole. Their temporary abodes, when 

 abcut with their cattle, are generally 



formed of the shrubbery of the woods, and consist Canrarl*. 

 of a few living twigs bent and interwoven into each 

 other in the form of a parabola, and covered over 

 with branches of trees and long grass. 



The village which Mr Barrow visited, contained 

 only from 40 to 50 huts; but among the BOOSHU- 

 ANAS and BAURALOOS, the towns are much more 

 extensive and better built. (See these articles.) 

 The Caffres rub their faces and bodies with a solu- 

 tion of red ochre, and the practice of tatooing i$ 

 very general throughout the nation. The dress of 

 the men consists chiefly of a long cloak made of calf 

 skins', which in summer they throw entirely aside. 

 They are fond of ornament, and their legs and arms 

 are decorated with rings of ivory, or bracelets of 

 copper and iron. Their necks are surrounded with 

 glass beads, or a string of small bones, to which they 

 give a most beautiful polish, and some of them wear 

 porcupine quills stuck through the ears. The wo- 

 men have also a skin cloak reaching below the calf 

 of the leg, which they wear in all seasons, and which 

 is studded with brass buttons. The head is covered 

 with a close leather cap, ornamented with beads, shells, 

 and pieces of polished iron or copper ; and from their 

 neck, which is decorated with a vast variety and pro- 

 fusion of ornaments, is suspended the shell of a small 

 land tortoise, in which they carry some red ochre, 

 and a thin piece of leather to rub it upon their faces. 



The Caffre is both a shepherd aiul a warrior, but 

 he only assumes the latter character when the emer- 

 gencies of his tribe call for his assistance. War is 

 not with him an employment which he prosecutes 

 in order to satisfy his thirst for blood or plunder,- 

 and is never entered into, either for extension of ter- 

 ritory or individual aggrandizement. It is only when 

 compelled to take up arms by the aggression or in- 

 justice of a neighbouring horde, that he renounces 

 for a time his peaceful habits, and enters into all the 

 horrors and fatigues of war. His principal weapon 

 is the omkontoo, or hassagai, as it is called by the 

 Hottentots, from the name of the tree of which the 

 shaft is formed. It is an iron spear, nearly a foot in 

 length, fixed to a tapering shaft, about four feet 

 long. This he throws with great address, and ael- 

 dom fails of hitting his object if within fifty or sixty 

 paces. His other weapon is the keerie, which he 

 uses either in close engagement or at a distance. It 

 is a kind of club about two feet and a half long, and 

 at one end nearly three inches in diameter. He car- 

 ries also an oval shield about four feet in length, 

 made of the thickest part of a bullock's hide, upon 

 which he receives the darts and arrows of his enemy-. 

 He disdains, however, to poison his weapons as is 

 done by his neighbours the Bosjesmans and Hotten- 

 tots, and considers it as unworthy both of his cou- 

 rage and his humanity : neither does he attack by sur- 

 prise, but boldly opposes himself to his adversary in 

 the open field. " Le Caffre," says Vaillant, " cherche 

 toujours son ennemi face a face ; il ne peut lancer sa 

 hassagai, qu'il ne soit a decouvert ; le Hottentot, 

 au contraire, cache sous une roche, on derriere un 

 buisson, envoie la mort, sans s'exposer a la recevoir; 

 1'un est le tigre perfide qui fond traitreu semen t sur 

 la proie ; 1'autre est le lion genereux qui s'annonce 

 se moiitre attaque et pent, s'il n'est pas vaiaquer-.'-* 



