SOUTHERN AFRICA. 241 
support of these insects, or whether they are kept under by the 
Bosjcsmans, I Avill not take upon me to say ; but an ant-hill, 
so very common in most parts of Africa, is here a rare object. 
Holes now and then occurred, over which the hills of the in- 
sect, demolished by this people, once bad stood ; but they 
were not very numerous. A third article, the larvaj of locusts, 
he can occasionally obtain w ithout much trouble ; but the pro- 
curing of the other species of food must cost him not a little 
labour and pains. 
The marks of their industry appeared in every part of the 
country, in their different plans for taking game : one was by 
making deep holes in the ground and covering them over with 
sticks and earth ; another by piling stones on each other in 
rows, with openings or interruptions in such places as it was 
intended the game should pass, and where the hunter could 
conveniently lie in ambush to strike the animals w^ith his poi- 
soned spears, or shoot them with his arrows. In this manner 
were lines continued across the plains and mouths of defiles for 
several miles. Sometimes, instead of stones, were placed rows 
of sticks, with black ostrich feathers tied to the ends, as being 
more effectual in turning game towards the spot where they 
wished them to pass. 
When all these means of subsistence fail them, and the}' are 
certainly very precarious, they are driven to the necessity of 
hazarding a toilsome and dangerous expedition of plunder into 
the colony. Such a mode of life naturally leads to habits of 
cruelty. The disposition of the Hottentot race seems to be mild 
and manageable in the highest degree, and by gentle usage to be 
VOL. 1, II 
