406 
HUNTERS. — BOWL-MAKERS. 
30 Oct. 
observable. In one quarter, the hunters, preparing for an excursion 
higher up the river, were seen, some cleaning their guns and casting- 
bullets ; some buckling on their pouch and powder-horn ; and others 
saddling their oxen or horses ; mounting with an alacrity, gaily an- 
ticipating their success, and promising their wives and children a 
plentiful feast at their return : then, whistling their dogs around 
them ; briskly trotting off, and calling to their companions to follow 
without delay, they brushed through the thicket, and mounting the 
high bank, presently rode out of sight. 
In another quarter, sitting by the side of their waggons, the 
wooden-bowl makers displayed their workmanship and industry, 
busily intent on carving out bowls and jugs*, from the green wood 
of the willow ; while at a distance a large willow tree was just 
falling to the ground, hacked through by hatchets, so weak and 
small, that nothing but perseverance and much time could enable 
them with such tools, to sever trunks above a foot or eighteen 
inches in diameter. These were cut into convenient lengths, ac- 
cording to the utensil intended to be made ; and the soft, tough 
nature of the wood, rendered it peculiarly fit for the purpose. After 
the rough log had been chopped with the hatchet or adze, nearly to 
* The above figures are representations of the Hottentot hatchet, the bowl, thej'wg 
or bambus, and the knife used for hollowing out the inside. 
These may be considered as some of the aboriginal utensils of the Hottentots. 
Hatchets of this form are truly African, and are seen in general use with all the tribes of 
the Interior, as far as I penetrated. Their adze, and their mattock, differ from this only 
by their greater size, and by the position of the edge of the iron being transverse instead 
of longitudinal. 
