MILITARY STATION AT ALGOA BAT. 
FOUR PORTRAITS FROM NATURE. 
THE QUAHKAH. 
N° 13. 
This bay being situated at the distance of five hundred miles from the Cape of Good 
Hope, and not far from the Kaffer frontier, and possessing, moreover, tolerably good 
anchorage and a landing place ; may be considered as one of the most important 
points on the eastern coast of Africa. Under this view Lieuten ant-General Francis 
Dundas, whose exertions were unremitting for the benefit of his Majesty's service 
during his government of the colony, went down in person and caused a block- 
house and a small fort to be erected at the landing place, and near a small stream 
of fresh water which fell into the bay. The establishment of a small military force 
in this distant part of the settlement, not only added to the security of the colony, 
but was of great use to the boors who inhabited the district, affording them a market 
for such commodities as they could not conveniently carry to the Cape. The face 
of the country, surrounding the bay, was soon completely changed, by the labours 
of the soldiers, from a barren waste to a suite of fertile gardens. It still continues 
to be occupied as a military post by the present government of the Cape. 
N° 14. 
N° 15. 
The Hottentot and Kaffer countenances are so justly described inBarrow's Travels in 
Southern Africa, a work of such acknowledged Merit and unquestionable authority, 
that little more is required to be said on the subject of this print. " The face 
" of the Hottentot," he observes, (e is in general extremely ugly; but this differs 
" very materially in different families, particularly in the nose, in some of which it 
te is remarkably flat, and in others considerably raised. The colour of the eye is a 
" deep chesnut; these are very long and narrow; removed to a great distance from 
" each other; and the eyelids at the extremity next the nose, instead of forming an 
" angle as in Europeans, are rounded into each other exactly like those of the 
" Chinese. The cheek bones are high and prominent, and with the narrow pointed 
" chin form nearly a triangle. Their teeth are beautifully white. The colour of the 
" skin is that of a yellowish brown or a faded leaf. The hair is of a very singular 
<c nature ; it does not cover the whole surface of the scalp, but grows in small tufts 
" at certain distances from each other, and, when kept short, has the appearance 
" and feel of a hard shoebrush, with this difference that it is curled and twisted 
" into small round lumps about the size of a marrow-fat pea. When suffered to 
" grow, it hangs in the neck in hard twisted tassels like fringe." 
With regard to the Kaffers, Mr. Barrow observes, " There is, perhaps, no nation 
" on earth, taken collectively, that can produce so fine a race of men. Their conn- 
cc tenances are lively and pleasing; their eyes vivid and active, their teeth white 
" as the purest ivory, and the noses of many of them not in the least flattened, but 
" like those of Europeans." Here it may be observed, that the portrait of the 
Kaffer in the print being taken on the skirts of their country may differ a little from 
this description, the original having, probably, some mixture of the Hottentot; but 
the woman is a pure Kaffer, and few will refuse to pronounce her face as not wanting 
in lines of beauty, or void of harmony. This race of men is certainly very different 
from that of the African negroes, not only in their features, but in the shape of 
the skull and every part of the body, and may justly be compared with the finest 
formed Europeans. Mr. Barrow thinks it is probable, from their countenance and 
habits, that they derive their origin from that particular tribe of Arabs which are 
called Beduins, and which dwell about the same degree of latitude on the northern 
part of Africa that the Kaffers do on the south. Be this as it may, it is very re- 
markable to find so fine a race of men hemmed in by the negroes on one side, and 
the Hottentots on the other. 
This species of Wild Horse which the Hottentots call Quahkah, is one of the most 
common and abundant of the larger animals that are met with on the barren plains 
of southern Africa. It is generally found in numerous herds that are mostly accom- 
panied by a few harte-beests and ostriches. They are tolerably swift; but the boors 
sometimes succeed by stratagem to take them alive, by throwing the noose of a 
rope over their heads. By domestication it soon becomes mild and tractable, and 
might be rendered extremely useful by patient training; yet abundant as they are 
in the country, there are few instances of their being put in harness. They are 
stronger than the mule; live hardily, and are never out of flesh. They are variously 
marked; some with waved stripes on the neck only, others with bands across the 
shoulder, and others marked on the haunches, somewhat like the Zebra, which 
gave rise to an idea that was long entertained of its being the female of that ani- 
mal; from which, however, it differs in almost every particular, except in the 
stripes, being in its shape infinitely more beautiful. The large head, the long ears, 
and the slender legs of the Zebra, partake very much of the character of the com- 
mon ass. The mane of the Quahkah is curious, appearing as if trimmed by art. 
This animal is found on all the plains behind the first range of mountains beyond 
the Cape Peninsula, 
