24-0 ANIMALS OF THE 



serviceable. They are their fellow-domestics, the 

 companions of their pleasures and fatigues ; the 

 cow is at once the Hottentot's protector and ser- 

 vant, assists him in attending his flocks, and guard- 

 ing them against every invader : while the sheep 

 are grazing, the faithful Backely, as this kind of 

 cow is called, stands or grazes beside them j still, 

 however, attentive to the looks of its master, the 

 backely flies round the field, herds in the sheep 

 that are straying, obliges them to keep within 

 proper limits, and shows no mercy to robbers, or 

 even strangers, who attempt to plunder. But it 

 is not the plunderers of the flock alone, but even 

 the enemies of the nation, that these backelies are 

 taught to combat. Every army of Hottentots is 

 furnished with a proper herd of these, which are 

 let loose against the enemy when the occasion is 

 most convenient. Being thus sent forward, they 

 overturn all before them ; they strike every oppo- 

 ser down with their horns, and trample upon them 

 with their feet j and thus often procure their mas- 

 ters an easy victory even before they have attempt- 

 ed to strike a blow. An animal so serviceable, it 

 may be supposed, is not without its reward. The 

 backely lives in the same cottage with its master, 

 and by long habit gains an affection for him ; and 

 in proportion as the man approaches to the brute, 

 so the brute seems to attain even to some share 

 of human sagacity. The Hottentot and his backe- 

 ly thus mutually assist each other ; and when the 

 latter happens to die, a new one is chosen to suc- 

 ceed him by a council of the old men of the vil- 

 lage. The new backely is then joined with one 



