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towards the N.E., and they are supposed to be affluents of 

 King George's river that runs into Dalagoa Bay. The 

 country itself is a vast table-land stretching across the 

 middle of the continent, and the ridge of mountains above 

 mentioned divides the waters that run westward into the 

 Gariep from those which flow by the Mapoota and English 

 rivers into Dalagoa Bay. (See a letter from Captain Owen, 

 R.N., who surveyed the coast of Dalagoa Bay, quoted by 

 G. Thompson in his Travels and Adventures in Southern 

 Africa, Lond. 1827.) The Betchouana are Caffres, and 

 they resemble the southern Caffres, or the Amakosa and 

 Amatymba tribes, who border on the colony of the Cape. 

 They are copper coloured, and some are of a bronze hue, 

 but in general they are not so swarthy as the southern 

 Caffres ; they are well made, have not unpleasant features, 

 and are equally distinct in their appearance and habits from 

 the Hottentots as from the negro tribes. Like the other 

 Caffres, they practise circumcision, are polygamists, and 

 have no form of worship. The Betchouana or Sichuana 

 language, as it is called by some, seems to be spoken by all 

 their tribes, and although different from the Amakosa or 

 southern Caffre dialect, it appears to have considerable 

 affinity to it. (See G. Thompson.) The Dammara, who are 

 also a tribe of Caffres, are said to speak the Betchouana 

 language. Lichtenstein (1805), Burchell (1812), the Rev. 

 John Campbell (1813), and G. Thompson (1823), have 

 given vocabularies of the Betchouana language. Its sounds 

 are said to be full toned and soft, and without that unplea- 

 sant clattering of the Hottentot tongue. 



The Betchouana tribe best known to us is that of the 

 Machappee, or, according to Thompson, Machlapee, whose 

 chief town, Lattakoo, or Letakoon, has been visited by the 

 travellers above mentioned since the beginning of the pre- 

 sent century. The country of the Machlapee lies north of 

 that of the Griquas, where is the well-known missionary 

 settlement of Klaarwater, north of the Great Orange river. 

 About seventy miles from Klaarwater, northward, is a range 

 of hills called Kamhanni. Having passed these, one enters 

 the country of the Betchouana. The old town of Lattakoo, 

 which was visited by Lichtenstein, Burchell, and Campbell, 

 lay in a plain about fifty miles to the north-east of these hills, 

 and in 24 40 E. long., and 27 10' S. lat. But afterwards 

 the people removed to a new site, five miles to the 

 N.E. of old Lattakoo, on the further or north bank of the 

 Lattakoo river. This is the Lattakoo visited by Thomp- 

 son in 1823. Lattakoo is said to contain 1500 houses, and 

 between 7000 and 8000 inhabitants. The houses are built 

 in clusters, irregularly grouped, each cluster being under 

 the authority of an elder or chief, subordinate to the king. 

 The houses are circular and divided into several apart- 

 ments ; the partition walls are made of sticks, neatly plas- 

 tered over with a composition of sandy clay and the fresh 

 manure of cattle-pounds, and grass cut into small pieces, 

 which appear to make a very tenacious kind of cement. 

 The roof is conical, and runs up to a point ; it is made of 

 straw or reeds, and it projects over on every side, the eaves 

 being supported at the height of four or five feet from the 

 ground by posts made of the rough stems of trees, leaving 

 between them and the outer wall of the house a sort of ve- 

 randa. In the larger houses the roof covers a space of 

 ground of about twenty- six feet in diameter. The house is 

 situated in the middle of a much larger area or court, en- 

 closed all round by a strong circular fence, from five to seven 

 feet high, and two and a half feet thick at the bottom, gra- 

 dually diminishing in thickness to about one foot at the 

 top. This fence, which is made of straight twigs and 

 small branches carefully interwoven, forms a close and firm 

 defence. One doorway only, wide enough for a single 

 person, leads into the court, and is closed at night by a rude 

 wicker-door. A smaller house for servants and a horse- 

 room are often found within the enclosure, detached from 

 the family house. Much neatness and ingenuity are dis- 

 played in the building of these dwellings, which are kept 

 remarkably clean, as well as the streets or spaces between 

 the various houses. The task of building, enclosing, roof- 

 ing, &c., devolves chiefly upon the women. The houses of 

 the poor are made in the same form, only smaller ; some- 

 times they consist of only a conical roof resting on the floor, 

 witnout any opening for windows. All Betchouana towns 

 are built after the same manner. Mateebe, the king of the 

 Machlapee, some time previous to Thompson's visit, in 

 1823, had removed with one division of his tribe to the town 

 of Kuruman about thirty-five miles S.W. of Lattakoo, leaving 



in the latter place a subordinate chief. Kuruman is stated 

 by Thompson to contain from 8000 to 10,000 inhabitants, 

 and is built in the same manner as Lattakoo. A mis- 

 sionary station was established at Kuruman when Thomp- 

 son visited it, and the missionaries were kindly treated by 

 Mateebe. The river Kuruman runs through the country 

 in a S.W. direction, and joins the Gariep ; but during the 

 greater part of the year it is almost dry, and its water loses 

 itself in the sands, like most of the streams in the Bet- 

 chouana country. In June, 1823, Lattakoo was invaded by 

 the Mantatees, a roving tribe, or rather collection of fugitives 

 coming from the eastward, who having been driven two 

 years before by Tchaka from their own country near the 

 banks of the Mapoota river, crossed the ridge of mountains 

 where the Gariep has its sources, and threw themselves 

 upon the Betchouana country. They took first a northern 

 direction, and attacked the Moorootzee, a numerous Bet- 

 chouana tribe, about 200 miles N.E. of Lattakoo, and sacked 

 and burnt their capital Kurrechane, in 25 30' S. lat., and 

 27 E. long. Kurrechane is said to have been a much 

 larger and more populous town than Lattakoo. The Man- 

 tatees after this attacked the Vankeetz, called also Nuaketsee 

 by Burchell and others, a powerful and warlike tribe, W. of 

 the Moorootzee, and whose capital Melita is placed about 

 25 10' S. lat, and 26 E. long. But Makabba, the king 

 of the Vankeetz, fell by surprise upon the Mantatees and 

 drove them away from his territory. They then turned 

 to the S.W., fell upon another Betchouana tribe called Ba 

 rolongs, who live near the banks of the^Mashow river. (See 

 the map which accompanies Thompson's Travels ; and the 

 map of South Africa in John Arrowsmith's new Atlas, 

 London, 1835, which is the most distinct, and appears the 

 most accurate of any yet made of this country.) 



After devastating the country of the Barolongs, the Man- 

 tatees fell upon their next neighbours the Machlapee, who 

 fled in terror from Lattakoo. Thompson was at Kuruman 

 at the time; he rode to Lattakoo and saw the host of the 

 Mantatees advance. After plundering Lattakoo, the in- 

 vaders were attacked by a small party of Griquas mounted 

 and armed with muskets, who, having come to the assist- 

 ance of their neighbours the Machlapee, fell upon the Man- 

 tatees, killed a great number of their best warriors, and so 

 terrified them by their fire-arms, that they retreated east- 

 ward again, after setting fire to Lattakoo. (See an in- 

 teresting account of this singular campaign in Thompson's 

 book.) In consequence of these events, the Betchouana 

 and Mateebe, and his tribe in particular, seem to have been 

 impressed with a higher sense of European superiority. To- 

 wards the end of 1 823, Mateebe sent his son Peclu, and 

 one of his subordinate chiefs, Teysho, who seems to have 

 been an intelligent old man, to Cape Town, in company 

 with Mr. Moffat, one of the missionaries from Kuruman. 

 The two Betchouana appear to have been much struck by 

 what they saw during their visit. 



The Betchouana wear a covering round the middle, and 

 occasionally cloaks made of skins neatly sewn together. 

 They wear caps of the same materials. The women wear 

 several aprons one above the other, bracelets of copper and 

 beads. The Betchouana work copper and iron ; they make 

 spades, awls, bodkins, knives, spears, &c. The most skilful 

 smiths are said to be at Melita in the Vankeetz tribe : the 

 Lattakoo people are very inferior to them in handicraft. 

 The Moorootzee are also very skilful in several kinds of 

 handicraft. It would appear that arts, industry, and social 

 order, are found to increase progressively as we advance 

 north-eastward beyond the Machlapee country. (See W. D. 

 Cooley's Memoir in the Journal of the Geographical So- 

 ciety, vol. iii.) They get the iron and copper from some 

 distant tribes to the northward. They sow millet and 

 beans, and other vegetables. They also dry and preserve 

 several kinds of fruit ; but their cattle constitutes their chief 

 property. 



The Betchouana seem to have remained for a long time 

 past stationary in their half-civilized condition. They have 

 an idea of a Supreme Being, hut seem to have no distinct 

 notion of his attributes ; and they confound the principle 

 of good with the evil principle. They believe in sorcery 

 and wear amulets. With regard to their moral character, 

 Lichtenstein gave rather a favourable view of it: the 

 judgment? of Burchell, Campbell (First Journey, 1813), 

 sinil Thompson, are more severe. These last, however, re- 

 fer chiefly to the Machlapee or Letakoon people, who are 

 now known not to be the most favourable specimen of the 



