244 COOK’s VOYAGE. 
clothing confifls of a lkin, generally that of a Iheep, thrown 
ever their fhoulders ; befides which, the men wear a fmall 
pouch in the middle of the waift, and the women, a broad 
leather flap, both which hang from a girdle, or belt, that 13 
adorned wdth beads, and fmall pieces of copper. Eoth men 
and women wear necklaces, and fometimes bracelets, of 
l eads ; and the women wear rings of hard leather round 
their ancles, to defend them from the thorns, with which 
their country every where abounds : fome of them have a 
fan dal, made of wood or bark ; but the greater part of them 
2re unihod. 
To a European, their language appears to be fcarcely arti- 
culate; befides which it is diftinguifned by a very remarkable 
Angularity. At very frequent intervals, while they are {peak- 
ing, they cluck with their tongue againft the roof of the 
mouth : thefe clucks do not appear to have any meaning, but 
rather to divide what they fay into fentences. Moll: of thefe 
Hottentots fpeak Dutch, without any peculiarity of pronun- 
ciation. 
They are all modeft, even to Iheepilhnefs ; for it was not 
without the greateft difficulty that we could perfuade any of 
them to dance, or even to fpeak in their own language ta 
each other, in our prefence. We did however both fee them 
dance, and hear them fing ; their dances are by turns adtive 
and fluggith to excefs ; fometimes confifting of quick and vio- 
lent motions, with llrange aiftertions of the body, and un- 
natural leaps backwards and forwards, with the legs crofiing 
each other ; and being fometimes fo fpiritlefs that the darner 
only flukes the ground firft with one foot, and then with the 
other, neither changing place, nor moving any other part of 
his body : the fengs alfo are alternately to quick and flow 
movements, in the fame extremes as the dance. 
V7e made many enquiries concerning thefe people of she 
Dutch, and the following particulars are related upon the 
credit cf their report. 
Within the boundaries of the Dutch fettlements there are 
feveral nations of thefe people, who very much differ frem 
each other in their cufloms and manner of life : all how ever 
are friendly and peaceable, except one clan that is fettled to 
the eaftward, which the Dutch call Bojch men, and thefe live 
entirely by plunder, or rather by theft ; lor they never attack 
their neighbours openly, but fteal the cattle privately in the 
night. 1 hey are armed however to defend themfelves, if 
they happen to be detected, with lances or affagays, and ar- 
rows, which they know how to poifon by various ways, fome 
with the juice of herbs, and fome with the venom of the fer- 
pent called Ccbra di Cctpelo ; in the hands of thefe people a 
flone alfo is a very formidable weapon, for they can throw it 
with 
