SOUTHERN AFRICA. 167 
open to the root where they unite ; from thence the instru- 
ment is passed down each side to the fraenum, close along the 
edge of which the whole prepuce is divided into two parts, 
and entirely removed at the under side. After the operation 
the boy adopts a small bag of leather which extends a little 
beyond the glmis penis, fitted sufficiently tight to remain on 
without binding, though some wear a belt to which the cover- 
ing is attached by a string. The projecting end of the purse 
or bag has a small shank about an inch in length, by which 
it may more conveniently be drawn off ; this very slight and 
indecent covering, with the rings, and other ornamental ap- 
pendages, constitute the whole of a Kaffer's summer dress. 
He does not wear any covering on his head, which nature has 
clothed with the same kind of curling hair as that of the Hot- 
tentot. The circumstance of their having short hair should 
seem to militate against the supposition of their Arabic origin; 
but their intermixture with the Hottentots and other neigh- 
bouring nations along the coast, might have produced this va- 
riation from their supposed origin ; and when a twist is once 
got into the hair, in a warm climate, it seems to increase 
with every generation. The Bastaards, or those who aro pro- 
duced between an European and a Hottentot, have strong 
curling hair, and are, except in color, very like the Kaffers. 
So different are the opinions and the feelings of different 
nations concerning religion, and so difficult do the most civil- 
ized people find it to express their notions clearly and consist- 
ently of the *' unknown God," that little satisfactory inform- 
ation can be collected on those points without a very familiar 
and extensive knowledge of the language of the people among 
