S08 ON THE ORIGIN, &C. OF THE NATIVE RACES 
bounded, on one hand, by the Damara and Benguela coun- 
tries, and, on the other, by the KafFer nations. 
These latter extend from the Keiskamma eastward along 
the coast towards Inhambane; but previous to reaching 
this point, they become inland, and possess the mountain- 
country, which, there is every reason to suppose, may ex- 
tend from the sources of the Gariep and Great Kei rivers, 
to the Equator. It would appear from the Journal of 
Van Reenen, that the Temboo is the last of the Kaffre 
tribes found on the coast of Natal, and that beyond them, 
in about Lat. S6° S,, are found the Hamboonas, a race 
totally different from the Kaffres. They are thus de- 
scribed : " Ce peuple a la peau jaunatre avec de longs che- 
veux fort epais et frises, qui sont releves sur le sommet de 
la tete en forme de turban At the point of coast where 
the Hamboonas disappear, the Negro race commences, and, 
extending around Sofala, Inhambane, and Mozambique, 
furnish the Portuguese with the most ample means of car- 
rying on a traffic the most revolting to the feelings of man- 
kind. The mountain-country, inhabited by the Kaffre 
race, cannot be of any great breadth, limited as it is on the 
east by the Negro country of Mozambique, and to the 
west by tjie vast and unknown deserts supposed to be in- 
habited by the wandering Macasses. It is unfortunate for 
our present inquiry, that two geographical problems of 
much interest remain to be solved. The Kaffre races have 
been conjectured to be Arabian, and the Bosjeman tribes 
have been considered by some of Chinese origin, by others 
• I consider the Hamboonas (if they really exist) as descended from a 
race of shipwrecked Chinese or Malay mariners, modified by intermarriage 
with Negro or Kaffre tribes. It is, however, quite possible that they may 
be a race from Madagascar. 
