CHAPTER XL 



THE HOTTENTOT RACE. 



I AM not sure that I have seen Hottentots of pure race; and in the 

 following account, I am obliged to rely in part on published figures 

 and descriptions of them. Eye-witnesses uniformly agree in regard- 

 ing the Hottentot as differing in physical race from the Negro; and 

 they refer to the diminutive stature, and the light complexion; the 

 latter, in some well-authenticated instances, having even been known 

 to exhibit a flush. 



Both races seem to be alike in the texture of the hair, which is more 

 closely woolly than in the rest of mankind ; and to agree also, in the 

 general style of feature. But many travellers describe the Hottentot 

 countenance, as being to a marked degree peculiar. 



I am inclined to think, that the coloured portrait of a Hottentot 

 woman in F. Cuvier's Mammiferes, will prove to be a characteristic 

 representation of the race. 



The three days I spent at the Cape of Good Hope, were in great 

 part occupied in an unsuccessful search for examples of the Hottentot 

 race. Some individuals of mixed descent, were pointed out to me, 

 and I thought I could myself distinguish others. A wagon from the 

 Interior, was accompanied by several individuals who differed in their 

 personal appearance from mulattoes; and who, like the other mixed 

 Hottentots I saw, were rather good-looking. Hottentots were said to 

 be extremely serviceable, and indeed indispensable, to military expe- 

 ditions; as well from their knowledge of the country, as from their 

 intimate acquaintance with the habits of the Kaffer tribes. 



I have found many points of interest in the Hottentot character, as 

 portrayed by travellers; who universally bear testimony to the faith- 

 fulness, efficiency, and courage of their guides in trying situations, 



