352 



Hottentots. 



CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 



Caffre tribes. 



from Algoa Bay. They are sold by auction, in 

 the market-place, every Saturday. This mode of 

 effecting sales is almost universal. The services 

 of auctioneers are of course in request, and in 

 addition to their legitimate trade they receive de- 

 posits and make advances on merchandize com- 

 mitted to their charge. The government taxes on 

 sales by auction amount to a large sum, and no 

 article can be sold unless a tax is paid ; for any 

 infraction of this law there is a heavy penalty, to 

 be collected by the market-master, who is appointed 

 by the government, and who superintends the 

 collection of the dues according to a tariff which 

 is published. 



There is a great want of labourers in the colony; 

 and since the abolition of slavery, this scarcity has 

 very much increased, for it is found that those who 

 have been manumitted are not disposed to work 

 more than is necessary to provide themselves with 

 food. The attempt has been made, and arrange- 

 ments I believe were in progress, or contem- 

 plated, to bind as apprentices the captured slaves 

 brought into the island of St. Helena, to those who 

 were willing to receive them, at the Cape of Good 

 Hope. The governor of St. Helena, Colonel H. 

 Trelawny, was well disposed to this plan, and it 

 was understood was co-operating with the autho- 

 rities of the Cape to carry it fully into effect. Five 

 years is to be the term of apprenticeship. How- 

 ever much the authorities incline to this plan, the 

 wisdom of it is much doubted by a large number 

 of the inhabitants of the colony, who allege, that 

 although it may answer the purpose of giving re- 

 lief, yet this benefit will not be permanent, and in 

 a few years they may be overburdened with a 

 population of blacks, who will be little inclined to 

 labour, and may be a great impediment to the in- 

 troduction of a class of free labourers, who might 

 be permanently beneficial to the towns as well as to 

 the interior. 



In the inhabitants of Cape Town, although one 

 sees a great variety of costume and figure, yet a 

 true Hottentot of full blood is said to be but rarely 

 met with. Some, indeed, were pointed out as such; 

 but, although they seemed to have the distinguish- 

 ing marks that are generally impressed upon us as 

 characteristic, yet on further inquiry they did not 

 prove to be really so. 



The men are represented as being very much 

 attached to their sheep-skin cloak or caross. Those 

 that we saw were remarkable for very high and 

 prominent cheek-bones and a sharp chin; they are 

 not much inclined to steady employment: the at- 

 tending of cattle, and the indolent and wandering 

 life in which they pass their time, suit their dispo- 

 sition. They at times hire themselves out to the 

 farmers, receiving cattle as wages. In the colony 

 they do not bear a very high character for honesty 

 and faithfulness. They are expert drivers of 

 wagons, but are otherwise careless and inattentive. 

 They are deemed an improvident race, though 

 there are some instances of their showing great 

 attachment to individuals who have treated them 

 well. Their numbers now are variously stated; 

 but little dependence is to be placed on the accounts 

 given, as is evident by their ranging from ten to 

 thirty thousand. 



Upwards of thirty thousand slaves in the colony 

 have been manumitted ; but the success of these as 

 free labourers is by no means encouraging. The 



cooleys or bearers have regular employment, but 

 the great majority of these are Malays or people 

 from India. 



I had the pleasure of becoming acquainted with 

 Mr. Thompson, the intelligent African traveller, 

 to whom the world is indebted for his interesting 

 accounts of the Bushmen, and the chief knowledge 

 we have of the interior of the colony. We are 

 indebted to his exertions, through the liberality 

 and joint action of some gentlemen of the Cape, 

 for the many attempts that have been made to 

 penetrate into the interior of Africa. When the 

 difficulties and perils of such efforts are duly con- 

 sidered, it is not surprising that so little success has 

 been met with in the various expeditions under- 

 taken with this view. To those who would wish to 

 seek adventure, the exploration of Africa offers at 

 present a wider and more novel field than any 

 other portion of the world. 



The colonial government has of late years had 

 much trouble with the Caffre tribes on the eastern 

 limits of the colony. These have frequently made 

 incursions, and driven off the cattle of the settlers, 

 in revenge for the injuries they have sustained 

 from the whites. The usual result is taking place; 

 here, as elsewhere, civilized man is driving the 

 savage before him, and occupying their hunting- 

 grounds for permanent agriculture. The mis- 

 sionaries have in some cases pushed their esta- 

 blishments among these savage races, and from 

 them the accounts of the Caffres have been mostly 

 derived. Their appearance as well as character 

 seem to indicate a totally different origin from the 

 negro and Hottentot tribes. One of the marked 

 peculiarities about them is that they avoid marry- 

 ing the women of their own tribe, preferring to 

 purchase wives from their neighbours, for whom 

 they barter their cattle. Tamboukie women are 

 preferred, although they are described as very 

 ugly, being short, stout in the body, and having 

 strong muscular limbs. 



Those who have visited the country of the 

 Caffres, describe them as extremely hospitable, 

 and very cheerful in their dispositions. They 

 mostly go naked, particularly during the heat of 

 summer, though they wear the caross of skin in 

 the winter. Their arms consist of the spear and 

 club, with a shield of bull's-hide to protect the 

 person. Their principal food is the milk of their 

 herds, which they value beyond any thing else : 

 they are a pastoral people, and the cattle-fold is 

 considered the great place of honour, so much so 

 that their chiefs are always found to occupy it. 

 They have of late years obtained many horses ; 

 formerly they used the ox for riding, and this 

 animal is said to have been even trained by them 

 for the race. 



The part of South Africa occupied by the Caffres 

 .enjoys a delightful climate, and C'-ey, consequently, 

 need but little protection from the weather ; and 

 their huts are rudely constructed. 



Of late years the settlers at Port Natal, on the 

 eastern coast, who are surrounded by the Caffre 

 tribes, set themselves up as a sort of independent 

 community, believing they were beyond the limits 

 of the colony ; they enacted laws and regulations, 

 issued their declaration of independence, invited 

 settlers, and for a time committed many atrocities 

 on the Caffres. The Cape government, deeming it 

 was advisable to check this disorderly spirit, sent 



