FIRST JOURNEY. 
19 
to the fouthward, empties itfelf by the Pott Berg hi Strugs* q'^^^-^ 
Bay ; and foon after, croffing the ferry, we arrived at Zwel- ^- — - — ' 
* OHrlch. 
making a trial of them. Whatever is ufeful, whether it comes from Paris or the country of 
the Hottentots, alike defervesour attention and imitation. 
The Hottentots who live in thefe parts, or within the boundaries of the Dutch colonies, fcl- 
dom make ufe of any weapons. Here and there, indeed, a man will furnirti himfclf with a 
javelin, by way of defence agalnft the wolves: this is called a Hafl'agai. 
Their habitations are as their drefs, and equally adopted to the wandering paftoral life they 
lead in thofe parts. In fact, they fcarcely merit any other name than that of huts ; though, 
perhaps, as fpacious and eligible as the tents and dwelling-places were of the patriarchs of old, 
at leaft they are fufficient for the Hottentot's wants and defires ; who may therefore be confider- 
ed as a happy man, in being able in this point likewife fo eafily to fatlsfy them. The great 
fimplicity of them is, perhaps, the reafon, why in a Hottentot craal, or village, the huts are all 
built exadly alike ; and that one meets there with a fpecies of architecture, that does not a little 
contribute to keep envy from infinuating itfelf under their roofs. In fad, the equality of 
fortune and happinefs in fome meafure enjoyed by thefe people, cannot but have a fingular 
eftecl in preventing their breafls from being difturbed by this baneful pafiion. 
Every hut is difpofed in the following manner. Some of them are of a circular, and others of 
an oblong fliape, I'efembling a round bee-hive or a vault. The ground-plot is from eighteen to 
twenty -four feet in diameter. The higheft of them are fo low, that even in the center of the 
arch, it is fcarcely ever poffible for a middle-fized man to ftand upright. But neither the low- 
nefs of the hut, nor that of the door, which is barely three feet high, can perhaps be confidered 
as any inconvenience to a Hottentot, who finds no difficulty in flooping and crawling on all 
fours, and who is at any time more inclined to lie down than ftand. 
The fire place is in the middle of each hut, by which means the walls are not fo much 
expofed to danger from fire. From this fituation of their fire-place, the Hottentots likewife 
have this additional advantage, that when they fit or lie in a circle round the fire, the whole 
company equally enjoys the benefit of its warmth. 
The door, low as it is, is the only place that lets in the day-light ; and, at the fame time 
the only outlet that is left for the fmoke. The Hottentot, inured to it from his infancy, fees 
it hover round him, without feeling the leaft inconvenience arifing from it to his eyes : while, 
rolled up like a hedgehog, and wrapped up fnug in his (kin, he lies at the bottom of his hut, 
quite at his eafe in the midft of his cloud, excepting that he is now and then obliged to peep 
out from beneath his Iheep-fkin in order to ftir the fire, or perhaps to light his pipe, or elfe 
fometimes to turn the fteak he is broiling over the coals. 
The materials for thefe huts are by no means difficult to be procured ; arnl the manner of 
putting them together being both neat and inartificial, merits commendation in a Hottentot, 
and is very fuitubk to his charader. The frame of this arched roof, as I have defcribcd it 
above J 
