SOUTHERN AFRICA. 357 
formidable tribe of people. The few that I had an oppor- 
tunity of seeing were strong lusty men, apparently of the 
same tribe as the Namaaquas. They are considered as being 
more cruel, and at the same time more daring than any other 
tribe of this nation. They possess a few sheep and cattle, 
but have the same wandering inclination, and the same pro- 
pensity to the chace and to plunder, with the other Bosjes- 
mans. The Briequa Kaffers, who inhabit the country close 
behind them, are very considerable sufferers from such daring 
neighbours. Of these people, the Koranas not only carry 
off large herds of cattle, but they also seize and make slaves 
of their children, some of whom have been brought into the 
colony, and purchased by the farmers in exchange for cattle. 
The Briequas, with their hassagais, have little chance of 
standing against poisoned arrows. The shields too of the 
Koranas are enormously large, and so thick that the hassagai 
cannot penetrate them. I saw one made from the hide of 
an eland, that measured six feet by four. These people 
make regular attacks, in large parties of four or five hundred. 
Though very good friends among each other while poor, 
from the moment they have obtained by plunder a quantity 
of cattle, they begin to quarrel about the division of the 
&poil ; and they are said to carry this sometimes to such an 
excess, that they continue the fight and massacre till, like the, 
soldiers of Cadmus, very few remain in the field, 
suoque 
" Marte cadunt subitl per mutua vulnera fratres." 
The miserably bad roads, the nakedness of the country^ 
and the very few animals that are found in a state of nature. 
