206 CAFFRARIA. 



which is their favourite nourishment, and which they grind or crush 

 between two stones ; for which reason, the families living separately, 

 each surrounded by his own plantation of corn, occasions a small 

 horde sometimes to occupy a league square of ground ; a circum- 

 stance never seen among the Hottentots. 



The distance of the different hordes makes it necessary that they 

 should have chiefs, who are appointed by the king. When there is 

 any thing to communicate, he sends for and gives them orders, or 

 rather information, which the chiefs bear to their several hordes. 



The principal weapon of the Caffre is the lance, or assaygay : which 

 shows his disposition to be at once intrepid and noble, despising, as 

 below his courage, the envenomed dart, so much in use among his 

 neighbours ; seeking his enemy face to face, and never throwing his 

 lance but openly. In war he carries a shield, of about three feet in 

 height, made of the thickest part of the hide of a buffaloe ; this de- 

 fends him from the arrow, or assaygay, but is not proof against a 

 musket-ball. The Caffre also manages with great skill a club of 

 about two feet and a half long, made of a solid piece of wood, three 

 or four inches thick in the largest part, and gradually diminishing 

 towards one of the ends. When in a close engagement, they strike 

 with this weapon, or frequently throw it to the distance of fifteen or 

 twenty paces; in which case it seldom fails of the intended effect. 



The sovereignty here is hereditary, the eldest son always succeed- 

 ing. In default of male heirs, it is not the kings brother that suc- 

 ceeds, but the eldest nephew ; and in case the king should have 

 neither children nor nephews, the chiefs of the different hordes elect 

 a king. Upon these occasions a spirit of party sometimes prevails, 

 •which gives rise to factions and intrigues that generally end in 

 bloodshed. 



Polygamy is customary among the Caffres ; their marriages are 

 even more simple than those of the Hottentots, the parents of the 

 bridegroom being always content with his choice ; the friends of the 

 bride are rather more difficult, but seldom refuse their consent ; after 

 which they rejoice, drink, and dance, for weeks together, according 

 to the wealth of the families ; but these feasts are never held but on 

 the first espousals. They have no musical instruments, but such as 

 are used by the Hottentots. As for their dances, the step is not 

 unlike the English. 



At the death of the father, the sons and the mother divide the pro- 

 perty he has left between them. The daughters, claiming' 1 nothing, 

 remain at home with their mother or brother, unless it pleases some 

 man to take them; and if this circumstance takes place during the 

 life of the parents, they receive cattle in proportion to the wealth of 

 their father. The dead are seldom buried, but carried away from the 

 kraal, by their family, and deposited in a deep trench, common to the 

 whole horde on such occasions, where the wild beasts repair at lei- 

 sure ; which preserves the air from those noxious vapours which 

 otherwise the putrefaction would occasion. The honours of burial are 

 due only to the king or chief of a horde ; they cover these bodies with 

 piles of stones in the form of a dome. 



