KOLBEN. 
honours which they render to the dead, and tha 
dread of ghosts, shew some secret belief of it. 
The Hottentots, in Kolben's time, were not en* 
tirely without government. A hereditary chief, 
called Konquer, commanded in war, negociated 
peace, and presided at the public assemblies. A 
second officer, also hereditary, called Captain, 
judged the people in peace, and, in war, com- 
manded under the Konquer. Both these func- 
tionaries, at their accession, came under an oath 
to attempt nothing against the rights of each other, 
or of the people. Tlie Hottentots were then a 
warlike race. On the slightest injury they flew 
to arms. Their wars, like those of all savages, 
were short, tumultuary, and irregular. They form- 
ed alliances with each other, and seemed even to 
study a sort of balance of power. The Dutch 
were frequently called in by the weaker party ; 
an occurrence which they always succeeded in 
turning to their own advantage. 
Kolben gives many particulars of the natural 
history of the Cape, though they cannot now be 
considered as of much value. He notices the 
species of sheep with tails of extraordinary mag- 
nitude, composed entirely of fat, and weighing 
often fifteen or twenty pounds. He describes 
particularly the elephant, the rhinoceros, the leo- 
pard, and the buffalo. But the most beautiful 
animal he saw was the zebra, which he knows 
