PROGNATHOUS STOCK. 



they occupy is very considerable ; but their tendency is to press 

 southward, so as to encroach upon the districts occupied by the 

 Hottentots, portions of whose territories have been usurped by them, 

 as tradition informs us, and as the Hottentot names of places and 

 rivers, in districts now tenanted by the Caffres, prove. 



The distribution of the Caffre nations, at the present time, is, in a general 

 sense, as follows: on the west, above Angra Pequena, the Damaras have 

 established themselves, holding a district of considerable extent. To the 

 east of the Damara country, the Bechuana nation occupies a large tract 

 in the interior, above the Orange River, of which one tribe, the Batchapis, 

 or Matchappees, are well known to Europeans; Lattakoo, or Litakii, 

 being their metropolis. To the north-east of the Bechuanas are the 

 Tammaha and Marootzee nations ; and to the westward of the latter, the 

 Wankitzee. The Mantatees, a wandering horde of warlike savages, 

 occupy the interior of the country above the Bechuanas. Their language 

 is a dialect of the Sichuana, spoken by the Bechuana, Tammaha, Ma- 

 rootzee, and Wankitzee nations ; which is the language, also, of the 

 Damaras, and of the natives of the country adjacent to Delagoa Bay. 

 Southward of Delagoa Bay, the Amazoolahs, a powerful people, have 

 usurped a wide territory, extending to the Natal Coast, and including the 

 Hamboona country, the Caffre natives of which they have completely 

 subjugated. On the Natal Coast, above the boundaries of the Cape colony, 

 the region formerly occupied by the Gonaqua Hottentots is possessed by 

 the Amakosahs. 



To the superiority of the Caffre tribes, generally speaking, above the 

 Negro races of Guinea and other parts of equatorial Africa, travellers 

 have born abundant testimony. Without losing all traces of the Negro, 

 they rise in the scale of physical characters above him ; and have that in 

 their physiognomy which at once distinguishes them. The forehead is 

 high and ample ; the lips are thick ; the nose elevated ; the cheek-bones 

 prominent ; the eyes long and deeply set ; and the chin well moulded : 

 the hair is short, black, and woolly, growing in frizzled knots ; and such 

 is the character of the beard : the complexion is mostly of a clear brown ; 

 the stature is tall ; the figure athletic. Fig. 216, is an example of the Caffre 

 physiognomy. 



Though revengeful and cruel, like all rude nations, the Caffres are not 

 utterly uncivilized : they dwell in hamlets, or towns, of circular houses ; 

 are governed by kings, who succeed each other by hereditary right ; hold 

 assemblies for the discussion of important topics ; possess herds of cattle ; 

 practise agriculture ; and cultivate enclosed gardens. They are acquainted 

 with the working of iron and copper, and the art of tanning leather. 

 They believe in the existence of supreme powers, and in a future state of 

 being ; are influenced by various superstitions ; sacrifice to imaginary 



