SOUTHERN AFRICA. 233 
to be worn by some of the Hottentot women ; but the fila- 
ments were so small and thin that they answered no sort of 
use as a covering ; nor indeed did the females, either old or 
young, seem to feel any sense of shame in appearing before 
us wholly naked. Whether, in the confusion and hurry, they 
had scrambled among the rocks before they had time to ad- 
just this their only dress, or whether they were inditferent 
about concealing any particular part of their bodies, I do not 
pretend to say, but their aprons appeared to have been put 
on very carelessly. The fringed part of some of them was 
hanging behind ; of others, on the exterior side of the thigh ; 
and some had fallen down as low as the knee. Yet they were 
not entirely without notions of finery. A few had caps made 
of the skins of asses, in their shape not unlike helmets ; and 
bits of copper, or shells, or beads, were hanging in the neck, 
suspended from their little curling tufts of hair. All the men 
had the cartilage of the nose bored, through which they wore 
a piece of wood or a porcupine's quill. 
Whether they are considered as to their persons, their turn 
of mind, or way of life, the Bosjesmans are certainly a most 
extraordinary race of people. In their persons they are ex- 
tremely diminutive. The tallest of the men measured only 
four feet nine inches, and the tallest woman four feet four 
inches. About four feet six inches is said to be the middle 
size of the men, and four feet that of the women. One of 
these that had several children measured only three feet nine 
inches. Their color, their hair, and the general turn of their 
features, evidently denote a common origin with the Hotten- 
VOL. I. II H 
