THE MOORS, 
105 
considered as more genteel than those of leather. However, tliey are 
sometimes worn along with the latter, to the number of six or eigl»t 
at a time, particularly on the arms. The girls are not allowed to use 
any rings till they are marriageable. 
The Hottentots seldom wear any shoes, but such as they do make 
use of, are of the same form as those worn by the African })ea- 
sants, by the Esthonians and Livonians, as well as by some Finland- 
ers ; so that it is impossible to say whether they are the invention of 
the Dutch or the Hottentots themselves. They are made of undressed 
leather, with the hairy side outward, without any other preparation 
than that of being beat or moistened. 
Habitations, 
The huts of the Hottentots are built exactly alike, and are done 
in a style of architecture which not a little contributes to keep envy 
from coming under their roofs. Some of them are circular, others 
of an oblong shape, resembling a bee-hive ; the ground plot being 
from eighteen to twenty-four feet in diameter. The highest are so 
low, that it is scarce possible for a middle-sized man to stand upright 
even in the centre of the arch ; but, says our author, neither the 
lowness thereof, nor that of the door, which is just three feet high, 
can be considered as any inconvenience to a Hottentot, who finds 
no difficulty in stooping and crawling upon all fours, and is at any 
time more inclined to lie down than to stand. The fire-place is in 
the middle of each hut, by which means the walls are not so much 
exposed to danger from fire. From this situation of the fire-place, also, 
the Hottentots derive this additional advantage, that they can all sit 
or lie in a circle round it, equally enjoying the warmth. The door, 
low as it is, alone lets in day-light, and lets out the smoke ; and so 
much are these people accustomed to live in such smoky hovels, that 
their eyes are never affected by it, nor their health by the mephitic 
vapour of the fuel, which to Europeans would be certain death. 
The frame of the arched roof is composed of slender rods or sprays 
of trees. These being previously bent into a proper form, are laid, 
either whole or pierced, some parallel, others crosswise ; afterwards 
they are strengthened by binding others round them in a circular 
form with withes. All these are taken principally from the Cliffortia 
conoides, which grows plentifully near the rivers. Large mats are 
then placed very neatly over this lattice work, so as perfectly to 
cover the whole. The aperture which is left for the door is closed occa- 
sionally, by a skin or piece of matting. These mats are made of a 
kind of reed, and are ingeniously constructed in the following manner. 
The reeds being laid parallel to one another, are fastened together 
with sinews, or some kind of catgut which they have an opportunity 
of getting from the Europeans, so that they have it in their power to 
make them as long as they please, and as broad as the length of 
the reeds, which is from six to ten feet. The colonists use the same 
kind of matting next the tilts of their waggons, to prevent the sail- 
cloth from being worn, and to keep out the rain. — In a kraal, or 
Hottentot village, the huts are most commonly disposed in a circle, 
with the doors inwards ; by which means a kind of court-yard is 
o 
