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KAFPRARIA. 



KAHIRA. 



SCI 



oouDti7, and iUtci. The inlubiUoU, it ia nid, call themaeWM 

 Chriatians. 



(Kmpr, in the MonatAeriAU der Btriimtr OmeUtAafi far SnOmuU.) 



KAKKKAKIA, U the name giTan by Europeaoa to the eaatern 

 fmri of South Africa, from the north-eaat frontieraof the Cape Colony 

 to about S4* S. lat. The KaOr race extend farther north, probably 

 aa far ai the Zambexi River. At SofiUa Bay, in 20* & lat, Salt law 

 natiTea whom he eonaidertd to be nearly allied to the Kaffira. 



The complexion of the Kaffin Tiirioa from a yellowiah-brown or 

 copper hue to that of deep black. The noae approachea to an arched 

 form ; tbey hare thick lip* and hair curly, but leaa woolly than the 

 Demai. The KaiBr femalea ara amnnq; the bandaomeat in Africa. 



The Arabian and other Hnainlmnii traders and conquerors who 

 formed establisbmente on the Mozambique eoait, boBtowed the 

 general appellation of Kafir, or ' Unbeliever,' on the native population. 

 The name was adopted first by the Portugueee, and afterwards by the 

 Dutch and the Engliab. 



Kaffraria, properly to called, extends for about 600 miles along the 

 coast, from the Great Key River to Dalagoa Bay, and inland as far 

 aa the high land which divitles the waters that flow into the Indian 

 Ocean, from those Which flow into the Orange River and the Atlantic. 

 It nina in a north-eaat direction at an average distance of about 100 

 miles from the sea. The eastern or Kaffir side of the ridge is more 

 abrupt than the western, which slopes in a sort of table-land towards 

 the Atlantic. KaShiria is a laud of rugged hills and deep valleys. 



In the Amaponda country Kaffir villages are scattered about, and 

 numerous herds of cattle graze in the plains, while the lower sides 

 of the hills exhibit patches of cultivated ground. Beasta of prey are 

 not numerous : now and then a lion, and more frequently a tiger, or 

 rather leopard, are met prowling in the more secluded ravines. The 

 hippopotamus is found in most of the rivers, and its flesh is eaten by 

 the natives. The country abounds in game, antelopes, hares, pheasants, 

 and partridges. There are quantities of baboons and monkeys, and 

 also serpents and other reptiles. 



Four nations, originally of one stock, are the chief occupants of 

 the country from the frontiers of the Cape Colony to Dalat^oa Uay — 

 the Amakota, the Amatimba, called by the Dutch Tambookies, the 

 Amaponda or Hambona, whom the Dutch have named Mambookies, 

 and the Vatvahs or Zoolahs, sometimes called Amozoolah. 



The Vatvalis or Zoolahs acquired considerable influence under their 

 late chief Chaka. They were originally a small tribe who came not 

 many years since from the north, somewhere about the mountains 

 weat of English River, which falls into Dalagoa Bay. Their language 

 is diflisrent from that of the Amakosa and other southern Kaffirs, 

 and is said to have more affinity to the Sichuana or Betchouana 

 language. They are a fine athletic race ; in war tbey carry large oval 

 ahields of bullock's hide, and an umconto, or spear, besides a bundle 

 of assagais. The country is represented as very fine, rich in pasture, 

 and abounding with cattle. 



The tribes who live in the low lands round Dalagoa Bay are said to 

 be industrious, wellbi-haved, and favourably disposed to trade with 

 straogera. Captain Owen mentions the arrival at Dalagoa Bay of a 

 caravan from the interior, consisting of 1000 natives, with from 800 

 to 400 elephants' tusks, and a great quantity of cattle. He repre- 

 sents the people aa honest in their manner of dealing ; their prudence 

 will not allow them to give their merchandise for the momentary 

 gratification of rum or tobacco ; but they have a great desire for cloth. 

 Of the countries to the north of Dalagoa Bay we know very little. 



Mr. Duncan in 1844, and Lieutenant Ruxton in 1845, travelled into 

 the interior of those regions. The government of the Kaffin is a 

 sort of clanship system. The population of each Kaffir tribe is 

 divided into kraal*, or hamlets, containing from ten to twenty families, 

 each family occupying a separate hut. "There is a petty chief in each 

 kraal, who exercises a kind of patriarchal authority over the people. 

 A higher chief rules over a whole district, containing a certain num- 

 ber of kraals. These higher chiefs nre hercilitary and independent of 

 each other, although they acknowledge to a certain extent the 

 authority of the Umkumkani, or great chief of the whole tribe, who 

 is supposed to be the original possessor of all the land and cattle within 

 ita territory. No individual is allowed to kill any of his cattle with- 

 out permission of the chief, who claims part of the carcass as his 

 right : likewiw the first-fruits of the season are not allowed to be 

 gathered without t>ermission of the great chief of the tribe. All the 

 Innd is held in common, except a small patch to each fnmily. The 

 Kaffirs have no written laws, but certain long-established principles 

 and usages, any infraction of which by a chief would be o]i|K>st.'d by 

 his subjecte at large. The Kaffirs acknowledge the existence of a 

 snpreroe being, for whom they have several names in the language, 

 but they have no form of worship, and their notions of a future life 

 are very vague and unsettled. "They have no idols, but have an 

 abundance of superstitious usagea. 



The huts of the Kaflirs are nemlapherical, and mostly from 18 to 

 SO feet in diameter, and from S to i feet high. They are made of 

 flexible bough* covered with thatch, and plastered with clay or cow- 

 duni;. A few mats, couM earthenware pota of native manufiicture, 

 a rush basket so closely woven as to contain liquids, a calabash, and 

 a bundle of assagais — these constitute all the furniture of a common 

 Kaffir hut. 



The wars which have disturbed the south African territories of late 

 yean, and the effect of these wan on the relations of the Kaffir tribes 

 with the British government, are noticed under Bbituh KartBABLa. 



KAKKUAUIA, BlUTISH. [BBirisa IUrrBaaiA.1 



KAKKRl.STAN. [ C At fristas.] 



KAHIRA, or CAIRO (£1 Ckdkink Muir), the capital of modem 

 Egypt, is situated in 30* 2' N. Ut, 31" 16' E. long., in a plain midway 

 between the right bank of the Nile and the ridge of Mokattam, near 

 the apex of the Delta of the Nile, and has about 250,000 inhabit- 

 ants, including the suburbs. The tract of land between the town 

 and the river, which a above a mile in width, in the direction of 

 Boolak, the northern harbour of Cairo, becomes narrower farther 

 south, so as to be less than half a mile wide, in the direction of Muar 

 el-Ateeckah, or Old Cairo, the southern harbour or landing place. 

 Cairo occupies about three square miles ; it is surrounded by a wall, 

 the gates of which are shut at night, and is commamled by a largo 

 citadel situated at an angle of the town, on one of the lower eleva- 

 tions of the contiguous ridge, in which is the reudenoe of the Pasha. 

 The streets of Cairo are uupaved, irregular, and narrow ; they are 

 more like lanes than streets. The great thoroughfare streets have 

 generally a row of shops on each side. Above the shops are apart- 

 ments which do not communicate with them, and which are inhabited 

 by private families. Host of the by-streets have a wooden gate at 

 each end, closed at night, and guarded by a porter within, who opens 

 it to persons who require admittance. There are also many courts 

 with several narrow lanes branching out of them, but no thorough- 

 fare, and only one common entrance, with a gate, which ia aUo closed 

 at night The external walls of the better sort of bouses are cased 

 to the height of the first floor with the soft calcareous atone of the 

 neighbouring mountain. The superstructure, the front of which 

 generally projects about two feet, is of burnt brick of a dull red 

 colour, but often plastered. The roof is fiat, and covered with a coat 

 of plaster. The ground-floor apartments next the street have small 

 wooden grated windows ; but the windows of the upper apartments 

 are mostly formed of turned wood lattice-work, which is so close that 

 it shuts out much of the light and sun, but admits the air. In the 

 better houses the windows are furnished with frames of glass iu the 

 inside, which are closed in the winter, for a penetrating cold is felt 

 in Egypt when the thermometer is below 60°. The houses in general 

 are two or three stories high, and most of them inclose an open 

 unpavcd court, into which the principal apartments look. In tlio 

 court is a well of slightly brackish water, which filters through the 

 soil from the Nile ; and on its most shaded side ara commonly two 

 water-jars, which are daily replenished with water of the Nile, 

 brought from the river in skins. 



There are in the town three or four squares or open places of con- 

 siderable extent, two of which are overflowed during the high flood* 

 of the Kile. Some of the squares are surrounded with good privat« 

 houses. Among the mosques, which number between 300 and 400, 

 four are distinguished for their size and architecture — that of Tooloon, 

 which dates from the 9th century ; that of El Uakim ; that of £1 Anhar, 

 which has a splendid dome, and a college attached to it ; and lastly, 

 the mosque of Hhasaneyn, with its high dome, its two lofty minaret^, 

 and its marble and other ornaments. These buildings are considered 

 master-pieces of Arabian architpcturo. Among the other remarkable 

 buildings are the public baths, of which there ara between 60 and 70 

 in the town, several of them very spacious, handsomely ornamented 

 and pninted externally and internally, the various apartments being 

 paved with marble. The cofiee-housea, which are very numerous, 

 are extremely plain and unadorned. There ara in Cairo numerous 

 buildings called wekalehs, for the accommodation of merchants and 

 their goods. These buildings are squara or oblong, having an open 

 court in the middle, with vaulted warehouses for merehnndise on the 

 ground floor opening into the court, and lodgings above them. The 

 shops in the streets are small square recesses or cells, about 6 or 7 feet 

 high and between 4 and 6 feet wide, iu which there is just room 

 enough for the seller and one or two customers. The public gardens 

 J consist of groves of orange- and lemon-trees and vines; and the 

 cemeteries, both within and without the town, are also frequented as 

 promenades. 



Of the population of Cairo about 135,000 are native Mussulmans, 

 60,000 Copts, between 3000 and 4000 Jews, and the rest strangers 

 from various countries. The police maintained in the metro|>oliB is 

 tolerably strict : punishments are arbitrary but lenient ; convicted 

 mnlvfncton are mostly employed in the public works. 



In the neighbourhood of Cairo are, Boolak, with the customhouse, 

 the bazaar, the printing-press, a school or college, somo silk manu- 

 factories, and about 18,000 inhabitants; Musr-el-Ateeckah, where the 

 town of Fostat, or Old Cairo, once stood, and where the vast 

 granaries, consisting of seven square towers, and called ' the granaries 

 of Joseph,' are now seen ; Schoobra, with a country-house and fine 

 garden* of tbePaaha; Aboo Zabel, where is a school of medicine, 

 anatomy, and surgery, and a large military hospital, all created by 

 the Paaha Mehemet Ali ; and between Boolak and Old Cairo arc the 

 palace and gardens of the late Ibrahim Pasha. Nearly opposite 

 Cairo, on the left bank of the Nile, are the great pyramids of Jizeh ; 

 and in the island of Roda is the celebrated Niloiuoter, a graduated 

 column, fur marking the height of the inundations of the rirer. 



