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BUSHMEN BUTCHERS. 



BUSHMKN, or BUSHMEN ; the common name of Umt 

 wild race of people, who dwell in the western part of 

 South Africa, in the immense plains bordering on the 

 north side of the colony of the cape of Good Hope, 

 and are lost in the unknown regions of tin- interior. 

 Janssens, formerly Dutch governor at the cape, gives 

 the following account of them : The Bushmen are 

 a wild, rude, cruel, and miserable people. So far from 

 forming a nation, they do not even form societies. 

 They live together in single families, and unite in 

 great numbers only for defence or for pillage. They do 

 not cultivate the land, and have no domestic animals 

 except the dog. Their usual food is locusts. They 

 endure hunger for a long time, but indemnify them- 

 selves by their voracity if they are so fortunate as to 

 kill any wild game, or steal an ox or a sheep. They 

 are entirely destitute of huts and household furniture. 

 The scorching heaven is their tent, and the hot sand 

 their bed. Their weapons consist of a small bow and 

 poisoned arrows, which they shoot, with astonishing 

 accuracy, to a great distance. Their language is ex- 

 ceedingly poor. It consists of a certain rattling with 

 the tongue, and harsh, gurgling tones, for which we 

 have no letters. They are for the most part, of low 

 stature ; their skin is of a dark yellow : and their 

 hair, which resembles wool, is twisted together in 

 small tufts. See Hottentots. 



BUSHWANAS, or BOSHUANAS, or BETJOUANAS ; an Afri- 

 can people, occupying the country lying between 20 

 nnd 25 S. latitude, divided into several tribes. Though 

 under the government of separate chiefs, who are 

 often at war with each other, these tribes are united 

 by language, manners, and customs. Less tall than the 

 Caflres, and as well proportioned, their form is even 

 more elegant. Their skin is of a brown tint, between 

 the shining black of the Negro and the yellow colour 

 of the Hottentots. They surpass the Caffres in civi- 

 lization and the arts of life. Some of their towns are 

 considerable. Kurechanee was visited by Campbell 

 in 1821, who estimated the population at 16,000. 

 Inoculation for the small pox is practised there. Old 

 and New Leetakoo contain each 4000 inhabitants. 

 The Bushwanas are inquisitive and intelligent ; with- 

 out any settled occupation, yet always active. Their 

 principal food is the curds of milk and the produce of 

 the chase : they rarely kill cattle, and have an in- 

 vincible aversion to fish. The ashes in which their 

 meat is cooked serve them for salt. Their clothes 

 are made of the skins of animals : the women cover 

 the breast, and leave the belly exposed. Their or- 

 naments are rings and bracelets of ivory and brass. 

 Their houses are light, clean, airy, and generally of 

 a circular form. They are very skilful in tempering 

 iron, and making their arms, which consist of a has- 

 sagay (javelin), a shield, and a club. Polygamy is 

 established among them ; a young man buys a wife 

 for 10 or 12 oxen : her first business is to build a 

 house, for which she fells the necessary quantity of 

 wood. The erection of the stable, the cultivation of 

 the fields, and all the household work falls to her. 

 As soon as he can afford it, the Bushwana buys a 

 second wife, who, in like manner, must build a house 

 and stable, and cultivate a piece of ground. Honesty, 

 loyalty, and courage are the highest virtues, in their 

 estimation. They have an idea of a soul, and believe 

 in an invisible Lord of nature, the sovereign Dispenser 

 of good and evil, whom they call Mourimo. Their 

 principal ceremonies are circumcision and the blessing 

 of cattle. They divide the year into 1 3 lunar months, 

 and distinguish the planets from the fixed stars. 

 Christianity has been introduced among them by 

 missionaries, and with it some degree of civilization. 



BUSKIN (in Greek and Latin, cothurnus) ; a kind of 

 high shoe worn upon the stage, by the ancient actors 

 iff tragedy, in order to give them a more heroic ap- 



pearance. It was introduced by Sophocles, and, from 

 this use, the word is figuratively employed, by the 

 classic authors, for tragedy itself (Juvenal, xv. 29), 

 or for a lofty and elevated style (grande munus Cv- 

 cropio cothumo, Hor. Od. ii. I, 12). The buskin was 

 also worn by both seres, particularly by the ladies, 

 for ornament (Juv. vi. 505). The Melpomene in the 

 Villa Borghese has the buskin. Hunters and soldiers 

 used a different kind, resembling the half boot. 



BUST (Italian, il busto, from the Latin bustum), in 

 sculpture ; the representation of that portion of the 

 human figure, which comprises the head and the up- 

 per part of the body. Busts are of different extent : 

 1. such as consist of the head, the upper p'art of the 

 neck, and the upper part of the shoulders ; 2. heads 

 with the upper part of the chest, to the end of the 

 breast bone (busts properly so called) ; and, 3. heads 

 with the whole chest to the middle of the body, often 

 to the hips. Between the bust and its pedestal is 

 sometimes a column, or a square prop ; such a bust is 

 called HerrM. The figure is sometimes in relief. 

 The origin of the bust may be derived from the 

 Herme, and from the custom of the Greeks and Ro- 

 mans to decorate their shields with portraits, and 

 their vestibules with the images of their ancestors. 

 Busts were afterwards used for the images of their 

 gods, as being less expensive. The greater part 

 have been found in Rome and Italy. Some remark- 

 able ones have been obtained from Herculaneum, in 

 bronze. The chief difficulty in the execution of busts 

 arises from this circumstance, that we are accustomed 

 to estimate the size of the head by comparing it with 

 the whole body. In a bust, therefore, the head ap- 

 pears disproportionately large, and the artist is obliged 

 to yield, in some measure, to this ocular deception, by 

 lessening its natural proportion. 



BUSTARD ; the trivial name of a species of wader 

 belonging to the genus otis, L., and to the family 

 presfirostres, C. The great bustard (otis tarda, L.) 

 is the largest of European land birds, the male weigh- 

 ing, on an average, 25 pounds. It is four feet in 

 length, and measures nine feet from tip to tip of the 

 wings. The head and neck are ash-coloured, and 

 there is a tuft of feathers about five inches long on 

 each side of the lower mandible. The back is trans- 

 versely barred with black and bright ferruginous 

 colours, and the primaries are black. The tail con- 

 sists of 20 feathers, broadly barret! v/ith red and black. 

 The belly is white, the legs dusky, naked, and with- 

 out a hind toe. The female is but half the size of the 

 male, and has the crown of the head of a deep orange 

 colour, traversed by red lines''; the remainder of the 

 head is brown. She otherwise resembles the male, 

 except that the colour of her plumage is less bright. 

 This species is found in most of the open and level 

 countries of the south and east of England, where 

 they are occasionally seen, in autumn, in flocks of 

 50 and upwards. They are very shy and vigilant, 

 and by no means easy to shoot. They run with great 

 speed, and aid their course with their wings, like the 

 ostrich. Although they rise on the wing with diffi- 

 culty, they are said to fly many miles without resting. 

 They feed on grain, seed, worms, &c., and lay two 

 eggs, as large as those of a goose : these are of a pale 

 olive tint, with dark spots. The nest is merely a 

 hole scraped in the earth. Thejt do not wander far 

 from their accustomed haunts, seldom going to a 

 greater distance than 20 or 30 miles. Their flesh is 

 considered fine eating. 



BUTCHERS have been much the sarafc in all ages and 

 countries, and we know not of any great improve- 

 ments that modern art or science has introduced into 

 the practice of slaughtering animals. The ancient 

 Scythians, and their Tartar descendants, seem to be 

 peculiar in their taste for horse flesh. The Romans 



