318 



HOTTENTOTS. 



Hottentots, this strap is suspended in front a kind of case or bag 

 ""V ' made of the skin of a jackal with the hair outwards ; 

 and which is intended to receive those parts, which 

 modesty requires to be concealed. From the back part 

 of the girdle hangs apiece of stiff dried skin, pimped 

 like an isosceles triangle, with the point uppermost, 

 and reaching nearly to the middle of the thigh. Some- 

 times two of these pieces are used ; but these straps, 

 especially when the wearer is walking or running, en- 

 tirely fail to answer the purpose of concealment; and 

 are conjectured to have been originally intended rather 

 as a kind of artificial tail, to fan the body by its motion, 

 and to lash away troublesome insects. In the winter 

 months, the}' wear cloaks made of skins, generally of 

 sheep, which are worn, as the weather requires, either 

 with the wool inwards or outwards ; and which serve 

 as blankets and bedding throngh the night, as well as 

 for a garment through the day. The women suspend 

 from their belt in front a kind of apron made of skin, 

 but cut into threads, which hang in a bunch between 

 the thighs, and reach about hall- way to the knee ; or 

 they wear a smaller apron about seven or eight inches 

 wide, not divided into threads, but ornamented with 

 shells, metal buttons, and any of their most showy 

 trinkets. In place of the tail worn by the men, they 

 have a sheep's skin, which entirely covers the posterior 

 part of the body from the waist to the calf of the leg, 

 and makes a rattling noise as they walk. Instead of 

 the thongs of dried skin, which formerly covered their 

 legs from the ankle to the knee, as a protection against 

 the bite of poisonous animals, they have substituted 

 strings of glass beads and shells. These they wear 

 also in great abundance around their necks and arms. 

 Some of them have skin caps on their heads, differently 

 shaped and adorned according to the fancy of the wear- 

 er ; and they have sheep skin cloaks resembling those 

 of the men. When these cloaks are laid aside, which 

 is commonly the case in the warmer weather, both 

 sexes may be said to be nearly naked ; but their bodies 

 are in some measure protected from the influence of 

 the sun or air by the unctuous matter which they rub 

 over the whole of their persons ; and which, however 

 filthy in itself, is a very natural and useful resource in 

 hot climates, to prevent the skin from being parched 

 and shrivelled by the scorching heat. It is supposed 

 that a similar practice in parallel latitudes would pre- 

 vent that disgusting and dreadful disorder, the ele- 

 phantiasis, which is so common in many hot countries, 

 but which, with most other cutaneous diseases, is 

 wholly unknown among the Hottentots.* This greasy 

 covering applied from time to time, and accumulating 

 perhaps for a whole year, sometimes softening in the 

 sun, or melting before a fire, catches up the dust and 

 dirt, and gradually covers the surface of the body with 

 a thick black coating, which entirely conceals the na- 

 tural colour of the skin. This native hue is perceivable 

 only on the face and hands, which are kept rather 

 cleaner than the other parts of the body, not by wash- 

 ing them in water, which would have no effect upon the 

 grease, but by rubbing them with the dung of cattle. 



KooJ. ^ ^ e Hottentots are often reduced, especially in their 



native state, to live upon gums, roots, and the larvK of 

 insects, and at times make a kind of bread from the 

 pith of the palm tree ; but their universal delight is to 



indulge in animal food. They are remarkably patient Hottentots. 

 of hunger, and are able to fast a very lon<r time ; but "~" "V"' 

 are equally voracious when supplied with their favour- 

 ite diet, and are described as the greatest gluttons en 

 the face of the earth. Their manner of eating suffi- 

 ciently indicates the voracity of their appetite. They 

 cut a "large steak from the carcase upon which they 

 feed, and, passing the knife in a spiral manner from 

 one edge till they reach the middle, form it into a 

 string of flesh two or three yards in length. This they 

 coil round and lay upon the hot ashes ; and, when the 

 meat is just warmed through, they grasp it in both 

 hands, and, applying one end of the string to their 

 mouth, proceed without intermission, and with con- 

 siderable expedition, to the other extremity. They do 

 not think of cleaning the meat from the ashes of the 

 green wood, which serve as a substitute for salt; and 

 they wipe their hands, when done with eating, merely 

 by rubbing them on different parts of their body. They 

 are passionately fond of ardent spirits and tobacco ; 

 and, to make as much as possible of the flavour of the 

 latter luxury, they purposely employ a very short pipe. 



The Hottentot families, who engage in the service of Huts* 

 the colonists, live in small straw huts around the farm 

 house. In a more independent state, they horde toge- 

 ther in kraals or villages, where the houses are com- 

 monly ranged in a circle with the doors opening to- 

 wards the centre, and thus forming a kind of court, 

 into which their cattle are collected at night, to pre- 

 serve them from the beasts of prey. The huts are ge- 

 nerally circular in their form, resembling a bee-hive, 

 covering a space about twenty feet in diameter, but 

 commonly so low in the roof, that, even in the centre, 

 it is rarely possible for a man of middle size to stand 

 upright. The fire place is situated in the middle of 

 the apartment, around which the family sit or sleep in 

 a circle ; and the door, which is seldom higher than 

 three feet, is the only aperture for admitting the light, 

 or letting out the smoke. The frame of these arched 

 habitations is composed of slender rods, capable of 

 being bent in the desired form, some parallel with each 

 other, some crossing the rest, and others bound round 

 the whole in a circular direction. Over this lattice 

 work, are spread large mats, made of reeds or rushes, 

 which are about six or ten feet long, and sewed toge- 

 ther with a kind of thread or rather catgut, made from 

 the dorsal sinews of different animals. These materials 

 are easily taken down, and removed on the backs of 

 the oxen, when there is occasion to change the place of 

 residence. 



These free Hottentots depend for subsistence upon Weapon.?. 

 the milk and flesh of their cattle, and the produce of 

 their skill in the chace. They are excellent marksmen 

 with the musket, but still make use occasionally of 

 their ancient weapons, the Hassagai or javelin, and 

 bow with poisoned arrows. The Hassagai is an iron 

 spear about a foot in length, fastened to the end of a 

 tapering shaft about four feet long, which is thrown 

 from the hand by grasping it in the middle, raising it 

 above the head, and delivering it with the fore-finger 

 and thumb. The bow is a plain piece of wood seldom 

 much more than a yard long, and sometimes tapering to 

 a point at each extremity. It is furnished with a string 

 composed of hemp, or the fibres of animal-tendons 



# A similar practice prevails among the inhabitants of Tombuctoo, as observed by the American sailor Adams. " It is the uni- 

 versal practice of both sexes," says his Narrative, " to grease themselves all over with butter produced from goats milk, which 

 makes the skin smooth, and gives it a shining appearance. This is usually renewed every day ; and, when neglected, the skin bt- 

 rough, greyish, and extremely ugly." 



