A F R I Q A. 177 
snas are the original ftem of the various na- 
tions inhabiting at prefent ,the fouthern part 
of Africa, and that from them all the tribes of 
the eaftern and weftern Hottentots are de- 
feended. Proofs of this, I think, may be per- 
ceived in their features, and in that clapping 
noife of the tongue when they fpeak, which 
in them is much more ftriking. • 
Thefe, however, are vague conclufions, In- 
fufficient to eftabliih the fad in queftion, which 
requires more decifive teftimonies. The peo- 
ple themfelvcs know nothing of their origin. 
In vain did I feveral times interrogate thetn 
on the fubjed: ; they always replied that they 
inhabited the fame country which had been 
inhabited by their anceftors; and this was all 
the fatisfadion I could obtain. It was not till 
my return to the Cape that I received any in- 
formation concerning them, which was from 
a few old planters refiding in the eaftern part 
of the colony ; and though I confider their ac- 
counts only as ancient traditions, the veracity 
of which I dare not warrant, I fhall here lay 
them before my readers. 
When the Europeans came to eftablifh them- 
felvcs at the Cape, the Houzouanas, they faid, 
Vol, III. , N in- 
