198 
KAABI'S NEW KRAAL. 
14) May, 
was somewhat concealed from distant view, by a low surrounding 
ridge of hills. (See the fourth plated''') I employed the afternoon in 
making drawings of the scene ; together with portraits of Kaabi, of a 
young woman and her child, and several other sketches. Among the 
people of this kraal, I observed one woman with very red, or carroty 
hair ; and have since seen in different tribes of Bushmen, other 
instances of this color ; but they were not frequent. Grey hair is 
equally a rarity. 
The vignette at the head of this chapter represents the arms of 
the Bushmen. From a strap which passes over one shoulder, are sus- 
pended the quiver, the bow, and the kirri (keeri) in the manner there 
seen. Behind these, are shown an arrow and the upper half of a 
hassagay ; all drawn to the same proportion, the bow being usually 
between three and four feet long, sometimes shorter, but rarely longer. 
The bowstring is always formed of catgut or the twisted entrails of 
some animal. The bow itself is made not always of the same sort of 
* The huts represented in this plate, are constructed of mats (Vol. I. p. 1 14. 263.) made 
of rushes, in the manner shown in a former plate (pi. 7. Vol. I. p. 325.) and more particularly 
described in a pi'eceding part of this volume, (p. 55. and 56.) The Bushmen of the 
Cisgariepine most commonly paint their mats lengthwise with stripes of red-ochre. The 
outermost Jigure on the left, will give an idea of the appearance of a Bushman as he is 
usually equipped for travelling, having his bow, quiver, hassagay and kirri. Before him 
is a representation of one of their dogs, (p. 56.) which are of a race perhaps peculiar to 
these tribes. Hassagays and sticks, when not in use, are most frequently stuck in the 
ground by the side of the hut. This plate exhibits, not only the particular view of the 
spot, but the ordinary appearance of a Bushman Kraal, and the genuine domestic state of 
its inhabitants, such as they are in their proper and original mode. In this picture, there- 
fore, the number of figures and their occupations, are only those which are consistent with 
this intention, and have no reference to the unusual and busy scene which this kraal 
became in consequence of my arrival among these people. The nearest figure in the 
middle of the picture, is that of a man returning home from hunting, carrying a fawn or 
young antelope at his back. To the left of him, are two men, and a woman having her 
child in her arms, sitting in front of their hut, a very common manner of spending their 
time in fine weather: other parties of the same kind are seen at the other huts. Most of 
the figures have leathern caps of various forms according to the fancy of the maker or wearer. 
The outermost figure on the right is a man returning from the neighbouring spring with 
an ostrich-egg shell filled with water. On the left of him, and close to the hut in the fore- 
ground, may be seen one of those sticks already described (p. 29.) as being loaded with a 
perforated globular stone for the purpose of digging up various eatable wild roots. The 
soil here is of a reddish color, and scantily covered with herbage and low bushes. 
