112 
TRAVELS IN 
inventions in the history of man, and much beyond the genius 
of a Hottentot. He has done, however, all that he found to 
be necessary by a very few compound words, and by the 
clacking with the tongue. In the first formation of his lan- 
guage, nature seems lo have been his guide. The croaking of 
a frog is easily recognized in kraak ov kraaie ; the lowing of 
an ox in 'mnoo ; the mewling of a cat in mean ; the neighing 
of a horse in hahcc ; the breaking of the sea upon the shore in 
hurroo ; all of which are correspondent words in the language 
of this people. Many instances, besides these, sufficiently prove 
that the names of physical objects were adopted in iriiitation of 
the sounds proceeding from such objects as they were meant 
to express. In the origin of their language they might per- 
haps be still closer imitations. The enunciation of sounds is 
liable to undergo many alterations in passing from one gene- 
ration to another, even among nations that have the means of 
catching the nice inflexions of voice, and of handing them 
down, in a visible form, to posterity. 
The genius of a language is frequently discoverable in the 
application of new words to new ideas. The Hottentots who 
had never seen nor heard the report of a gun before their un- 
fortunate connection with Europeans, had a new word to in- 
vent in order to express it. They called it kahoo, and pro- 
nounced the word in so emphatic a manner that it was scarcely 
possible to mistake their meaning. The ka is thrown out with 
a strong palatial stroke of the tongue, in imitation of the 
sound given by the stroke of the flint against the cover of the 
pan ; and with outstretched lips, a full mouth, and prolonged 
sound, the boo sends forth the report. This language at first 
