3io The V O Y 
■dens, fent over a Complaint to the Company, alleging, that 
it was prejudicial to their private Affairs, and put it out of 
their Power to maintain their Families, Upon this, the 
Governor was recalled immediately. His Difcoveries, how- 
eves, were of very great Confequence ; inafmuch as they 
made known, not only the inner Parts of the Country, but 
the Nations that inhabit them. Thefe, fo far as they are 
yet difcovered, confift of feven different People, all com- 
prehended under the general Name of Hottentots. The firfl 
of thefe, and the leaft confiderable, are without a Chief, 
'live in the Neighbourhood of the Cape, and are moft 
of them in the Service of the Company, dwell with Townf- 
men, or are employed by the Peafants and Farmers, who 
bufy them in cultivating their Lands. The fecond inhabit 
the Mountains, or, to fpeak with greater Propriety, live in 
the Caverns of the Mountains. They are Thieves and 
Robbers by Profeffion, and draw their Subfiftence intirely 
from plundering the peaceable Hottentots , with whom they 
are in continual War. There is one thing, however, that 
is very fmgular with refpedt to this thievifh Nation ; which 
is, that they never rob or moleft a Chriftian. The third 
Nation is called the Little Macqua ; the fourth the Great 
Macqua , the fifth the Little Kricqua ; the fixth the Great 
Kricqua. T hefe Words Macqua and Kricqua fignify Kino- 
or Chier. They are conftantly engaged in War with each 
other ; but, when any Nation is in Danger of being totally 
ruined, two or three Nations immediately join them ; for the 
Balance or Power is a Maxim as well underftood and fop- 
ported by tne Hottentots , as by the Nations of Europe. 
Part o( thefe Hottentots have fubmitted themfelves to 
the Hollanders , and are therefore (tiled the Company’s 
Hottentots . The Dutch fend annually about fifty or fixty 
Perfons to trade with thefe Hottentots , who purchafe their 
Cattle, and give them in Exchange Arrack, Tobacco, 
Hemp, and feich Seeds as they have Occafion for, by 
which means a good Underftanding is preferved. Thefe 
Hottentots of the Company are very often attacked by the 
other Nations ; and, when they find they have fo far the 
worft of it, that they are no longer able to defend them- 
felves by their own proper Force, the King puts himfelf at 
the Head of a (mail Body of Troops, and marches down 
to the Cape, to demand Afiiffance. As foon as he arrives 
there, he goes to the Governor, with the principal People 
of his Nation, with the commanding Staff in his Hand, 
which was given him by the Company, and has their Arms 
upon it •, and, holding it out towards the Governor, defires 
he would grant him Succours. If the Governor does not 
think fit to grant him his Requeft, but contents himfelf 
with giving him good Words, he, without more ado, 
throws his Staff at the Governor’s Feet, and tells him in 
bad Dutch , V oor my , niet meer Compagnies Hottentot, that 
is to fay. For me , I will he no more the Company's Hotten- 
tot. The Governor, however, generally fends an Efcort 
of Troops home with him ; for it is the Intereft of the 
Company to be upon good Terms with this fort of a Prince, 
becaufe he is always ready to do for them whatever they 
•defire of him. 
Thefe People are certainly very ftupid, and very brutal: 
They rub their Bodies all over with old Greafe, which has 
a very bad Smell ; fo that you may nofe them at a confider- 
able Diftance. Their Children are born perfedtly white ; 
but, by their being conftantly rubbed with Greafe, and ex- 
pofed to the Sun, they grow, by degrees, brown, and 
almoft black. When a Woman is brought-to-bed of Twins, 
one of them is immediately condemned to Death, and is 
tied to a Tree, where it continues, till it expires. Some 
of them have a Cuftom of taking out one of the Tefticles 
of their Male Children, as foon as they are able to bear it, 
in hopes that, by this Method, they may prevent, when 
they come to be married, their begetting Twins ; and this 
is a Cuftom of which they cannot be broken, notwithftand- 
ing Experience (hews them, that it is to no manner of pur- 
pofe. They feem, for the moft part, to have but little 
Religion : Yet they frequently look up with Admiration to 
the heavenly Bodies, faying, He that governs them is certainly 
a Being of infinite Power and IVifdom. In many refpects 
they are more like Beafts than Men. They are very dif- 
agreeable in their Perfons, and are, in (hort, take all things 
together, (thefe are our Author’s Words) one of the meaneft 
3 
AGES of Book I, 
Nations on the Face of the Earth. Their Complexion is 
dark, occafioned, as has been before obferved, by their 
rubbing themfelves with Greafe, and being expofed conti - 
nually to the Sun, when they are young. They are fhort. 
and thick- fet ; their Nofes fiat, like thofe of a Dutch Dorr f 
their Lips very thick, and big-, their Teeth exceeding 
white, but very long, and ill-feet, feme of them (ticking out 
of their Mouths, like Boars Tufics. Their Flair is black, 
and curled, like Wool They are very nimble, and thev 
run with fuch Speed as is almoft incredible. They are ge- 
nerally covered with a Sheep-fkin, having each a Quiver of 
Arrows on his Back, and his Bow in his Hand. As foon 
as they come within Sight of an Enemy, they fet up a moft 
dreadful Cry, leaping and dancing at the fame time in the 
moft frightful Poftures. The feventh Nation is that of the 
Caffres. Thefe are properly the Anthropophagi, who have 
made fo much Noife in the World. The Hottentots are 
exceedingly afraid of them, and take all the Care they can 
to keep out of their Way, for fear of being roafted or 
boiled, if they fhould be taken Prifoners. This abomina- 
ble Nation would never enter into any fort of Commerce 
with the Chriftians ; but, on the contrary, take all the Pains 
they can to intrap them, in order to murder, and, as is 
generally believed, to eat them. It is indeed reported, of 
late Years they are grown fomewhat more tradable, and 
entertain fome fort of Trade with fuch as will venture to 
have any Dealings with them. They are a very potent, and 
a very warlike Nation, being all of them ftrong, well-made 
Men ; and tho’ their Hair is curled and black, like that of 
other Negroes, yet they have better Faces, and a much 
more manly Appearance. 
At the Diftance of about eighteen Leagues from the Cape, 
there is another Port, called the Bay of Saldeney , which is," 
in all refpeds, an infinitely better Harbour than that of the 
Cape, except one, and that is in point of Water ; but this 
fingle Exception is fufficient to render it unfrequented. As 
to the Animals of this Country, they are many of them as 
remarkable as in any Places in the World. The Lion is 
very common here, and, in hard Winters, will venture very 
near their Habitations. It is thought, this Creature is re- 
puted the King of Beafts, becaufe he never eats a Man alive, 
but beats his Breath out with his Paws before he tears him. 
He roars, and (hakes his Mane terribly, before he attacks 
a Man ; and, if he does not give thefe Signals of his Rage, 
there is no Danger in paffing him. Tygers and Leopards 
are alfo very common, and do a prodigious deal of Mifchief. 
It is pretty probable, that thefe Creatures would be much 
more numerous, if it was not for a Race of wilci Dogs, that 
are alfo bred in this Country, and hunt in Packs ; which 
renders them fo bold, that they frequently weary, and then 
worry, a Lion : Tygers, Leopards, and Wolves, they 
often deftroy ; and, which is very wonderful, they will fof- 
fer a Man to take their Prey when they have killed it. Paf- 
fengers are never afraid at the Sight of them ; but rather 
rejoice, becaufe they are fore, that no wild Beafts are in that 
Neighbourhood. Elephants are common here, and of as 
large a Size, as in any Part of the World, being frequently 
from twelve to fifteen Feet high, or better, their Teeth 
weighing from 60 to 120 Pounds. The Rhinoceros alfo 
is often met with. He is fomewhat lefs than the Elephant, 
but ftronger. His Skin is prodigioufly thick, and fo hard, 
that fcarce any Weapon will pierce it. He has a Snout like 
an Hog, upon which grows a folid Horn, from twelve to 
twenty Inches in Length ; which is very much valued, be- 
caufe it is efteemed an excellent Medicine in Convulfions. 
But there are two Animals peculiar to this Country, and 
which therefore deferve Notice : The one is a wild Afs, 
which refembles the tame one in nothing, but its long Ears. 
He is of the Size of an ordinary Horfe, and is the moft 
beautiful Creature in the World. Flis Hair is very foft, 
and, from the Ridge of his Back down to his Belly, falls in 
Streaks, that form fo many Circles. He is a bride, lively 
Bead, and runs more fwiftly than any Horfe. It is very 
difficult to take him alive ; and, when taken, it is impoffible 
to break him : Notwithstanding which, they fell at a pro- 
digious Rate, and one of them is thought a Prefent fit for 
a fovereign Prince, on account of their Rarity, and exqui- 
fite Beauty. The other Creature, found in no other Coun- 
try than this, is by the Dutch called the Stinkbungfem , or 
Stinking - 
