314 



THE MACASSES. 



[1829, 



skin places the wearer without the pale of human charity. These peo- 

 ple are harmless, quiet, mild, timid, and inoffensive ; very affectionate 

 towards each other, and susceptible of strong attachments. They 

 appear to possess very little of the art, cunning, and ingenuity so 

 conspicuous in most tribes of straight-haired savages, and their indolence 

 seems to be a disease of which terror alone can cure them. Their 

 animal propensities are somewhat swinish — lazy, gluttonous, and 

 filthy ; and yet I have reason to know that they can endure the crav- 

 ings of hunger for a long time without complaining. When the want 

 of food becomes troublesome, they seek consolation in sleep, a state 

 of negative enjoyment very suitable to their natures. After all, how- 

 ever, they are much less indolent and stupid than the tribes within the 

 limits of the colony of the Cape of Good Hope. 



The external appearance of these Hottentots is of course far from 

 being prepossessing. Their faces are very ugly, with high prominent 

 cheek-bones, and a narrow pointed chin ; long and narrow eyes, which 

 do not form an acute angle at the nose, like ours, but are rounded 

 off like those of the Chinese. The natural complexion of their skin 

 is a yellowish brown, very similar to that of a faded leaf. They 

 have very regular teeth, of the purest white, and hair of a peculiar 

 and singular description. When suffered to grow, it spontaneously 

 twists into small curls, which hang down their necks. Their bodies 

 are slender and well proportioned, with small hands and feet. They 

 appear weak and imbecile when young, and prematurely grow old ; 

 very few of them reaching the age of seventy. 



The females are not so tall as the males, and are more delicately 

 formed. Their lively, smiling, good-humoured faces, combined with 

 sprightly movements and conciliating manners, generally render them 

 agreeable to strangers. A physical peculiarity in the formation of 

 female Hottentots is always a subject of curiosity and inquiry. 

 No offence is taken, and the inquirer is readily furnished with ocular 

 testimony of the fact. Their employments are pastoral, almost every 

 female being a shepherdess, and much attached to their fleecy charge, 

 to their cattle, and to their faithful dogs. 



Their dress consists of the skins of animals, sewed together in the 

 shape of a blanket, and thrown loosely over their shoulders ; with an 

 apron made of lamb-skin, about seven inches long, and five broad, 

 fastened to the waist with a strip of the gray fox-skin with the fur 

 inside. They adorn these aprons with such ornaments as shells, 

 feathers, ivory, minerals, and any thing else which they think will 

 heighten their charms in the eyes of a lover. The men paint their 

 faces with red and yellow ochre, and often tattoo their skins in differ- 

 ent parts. 



Both sexes are very quick-sighted in discovering game, or any 

 other object at a distance. The Hottentots are good hunters, and 

 have a peculiar skill in taming wild animals ; but what is very singu- 

 lar, though they resort to the seacoast many times in the course of a 

 year, they have not the least idea of building canoes, rafts, or balzas, 

 for the purpose of fishing. In hunting, as in war, they use the bow 



