176 
SOUTHERN AFRICA. 
with, it, is supplied by superstition and witch- 
craft, the sad fruits of ignorance and mental 
terror. They also possess strange traditions, 
which they believe, and recite to each, other. 
As an instance of the extravagance and ab- 
surdity of these, we again quote from the pen of 
Sir J. E. Alexander, whose account of this peo- 
ple deservedly claims credit and appreciation. 
"It is believed in the land," he writes, "that 
some of the Bosch people can change themselves 
into wolves and lions when they like." 
" Once on a time, a certain Namaqua Hotten- 
tot was travelling in company with a Bosch wo- 
man carrying a child on her back. They had pro- 
ceded some distance on their journey, when a 
troop of wild horses appeared, and the man said 
to the woman, " I am hungry, and I know you 
can turn yourself into a lion ; do so now, and 
catch us a wild horse, that we may eat." 
" The woman answered, " You'll be afraid." 
"No, no," said the man, " I am afraid of dying 
of hunger, but not of you." 
"Whilst he was yet speaking, hair began to 
appear at the back of the woman's neck ; her 
nails began to assume the appearance of claws ; 
and her features altered. She put down the 
child. 
" The man, alarmed at the change, climbed a 
tree close by The woman glared at him fearfully, 
