COUNTRY OF THE HOTTENTOTS. 



THE country of the Hottentots is a large region in the southern 

 extremity of Africa, extending north by west from the Cape of Good 

 Hope, beyond the mouth of Orange-river, and from the Cape in an 

 east-north-east direction to the mouth of the great Fish-river. 



The Hottentots of the colony of Cape, formerly the possessors of 

 the country, are now almost to a man the slaves of the Dutch. "This 

 weak people," says Mr. Barrow, " the most helpless, and in their 

 present condition, perhaps the most wretched of the human race, 

 duped out of their possessions, their country, and finally out of their 

 liberty, have entailed upon their miserable offspring a state of exis- 

 tence to which that of slavery might bear the comparison of happiness. 

 It is a condition, however, not likely to continue to a very remote pos- 

 terity. The name of Hottentot will be forgotton, or remembered only 

 as that of a deceased person of little note. Their numbers of late 

 years have rapidly declined." There are still, however, several tribes 

 to which the general name of Hottentot* is given, as the Namaquas, 

 the Bosjesmens, and the Gonaquas, who still preserve their independ- 

 ence. The former vary but little in their persons and dress from the 

 Hottentots of the Cape and the Gonaquas, though their language is 

 widely different. The Bosjesmens, or men of the bushes, so called 

 from their lying in ambush in their predatory expeditions against the 

 farmers of the colony, " are," says Mr. Barrow, " an extraordinary 

 race of people. In their persons they are extremely diminutive : 

 the tallest of the men measured only four feet nine inches, and the 

 tallest women only four feet four inches. One of these, who had 

 several children, measured only three feet nine inches. Their colour, 

 their hair, and the general turn of their features, evidently denote a 

 common origin with the other tribes of Hottentots, though the latter, 

 in point of personal appearance, have greatly the advantage. The 

 Bosjesmen indeed are amongst the ugliest of all human beings. The 

 flat nose, high cheek-bones, prominent chin, and concave visage, par- 

 take much of the apeish character, which their keen eye, always in 

 motion, tends not to diminish. Their bellies are uncommonly protu- 

 berant, and their backs hollow ; but their limbs seem to be in gene- 

 ral well turned and well proportioned. Their activity is incredibly 

 gi'eat. The klip-springing antelope can scarcely excel them in leap- 

 ing from rock to rock, and they are said to be so swift that on rough 

 ground, or up the sides of mountains, horsemen have no chance with 

 them. The Bosjesmen, however, though in every respect a Hotten- 

 tot, yet in his turn of mind differs very widely from those who live 

 in the colony. In his disposition he is lively and cheerful, and in 

 his person active. His talents are far above mediocrity; and averse 

 to idleness, he is seldom without employment. Confined generally 



* This name, according to Mr Barrow, is unknown to the Hottentots, except 

 as they have received it from the Dutch, and lias no place nor meaning in their 

 language. The general name which they bear among themselves, in every part 

 of the country, is Quaiquse. 



