MANNER OF SEWING. 
511 
transverse tube of the same material is formed for the purpose of 
receiving the cord which goes round the neck, and perhaps also for 
keeping them in a perpendicular position. 
The work which they perform with this instrument, although 
proceeding very slowly, is admirably neat and strong, two qualities 
in which it far excels all which I have seen of European sewing. Their 
thread is the divided sinew of animals * ; than which, no fibre 
possesses greater strength. Their manner of sewing is ; to place the 
two edges of the leather to be connected, close by the side of each 
other, and, if fur, to place the hairy sides together ; a hole, barely 
large enough to admit the thread, is then, with the utmost precision, 
pierced with the thuko, and the sinew inserted with the hand. The 
durability of these seams consists not only in the strength of thread, 
but in each stitch being fastened ; so that the breaking of one does 
not affect any of the others : they are also rendered impervious to 
the wind, by the care which they take to make the holes no larger 
than the thread. To this end the gradually tapering form of the 
thuko is especially adapted ; for thus, with the same needle, holes of 
any size may be made with the greatest precision, by so placing the 
finger and thumb, that the instrument shall not penetrate beyond 
that part which is just of the thickness to make a hole of the size 
required ; or, in other words, they place the finger at the part where 
it is of the same thickness as the thread. Although they admired 
the greater expedition with which my Hottentots worked with needles 
which drew the thread through by means of an ' eye,' yet they ex- 
pressed not the least wish to possess any of these or to make use of 
them ; and when some of my people employed them to assist in 
making their leathern trowsers, the natives always used the thuko. 
Their riiethod was in reality the best in every respect excepting 
despatch; but as expedition in work, instead of being an advantage 
to people who have more time than employment, is rather a dis- 
advantage, as it would often leave them without the means of 
amusing their otherwise vacant hours, they viewed our superiority 
VOL. II. 
* See Vol. I. page 214. 
4 E 
