AFRICAN EXPLORERS OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 83 
men and women wear leather rings upon their arms and 
legs—a custom which gave rise to the fable that this 
race rolled puddings round their limbs, to feed on from 
time to time. They also wear copper and iron rings, 
but these ornaments are less common. 
The kraal, or Hottentot village, is a collection of 
huts in a circle, all very similar, and of the shape of 
beehives. The doors, which are in the centre, are so 
low that they can only be entered on the knees. The 
hearth is in the middle of the hut, and the roof has no 
hole for the escape of the smoke. 
The Hottentots must not be confounded with the 
Bushmen. The latter live only for hunting and robbery ; 
their skill in throwing poisoned arrows, their courage, 
and the wildness of their lives, render them invincible. 
At Zwellendam, Sparrman saw the quagga, a species 
of horse, like a zebra in shape, but with shorter ears. 
The explorer next visited Mossel Bay, a harbour little 
used, as it is too much exposed to the west winds; 
and thence he proceeded to the country of the Hout- 
niquas, or, as BurcheH’s map calls them, the Antiniquas. 
This woody country appeared fertile, and the colonists 
established there are prosperous. Sparrman met with 
most of the quadrupeds of Africa in this district, such 
as elephants, leopards, lions, tiger-cats, hysenas, monkeys, 
hares, antelopes, and gazelles. 
We will not attempt to follow Sparrman to all the 
small settlements he visited. An enumeration of the 
streams, kraals, or villages he passed would convey no 
information to the reader. Rather let us gather from 
his narratives a few curious and novel details concerning 
two creatures which he describes, the sheep of the Cape, 
and the “ honey-guide.” 
“ When a sheep is to be killed,” he says, “ the very 
leanest of the flock is selected. It would be impossible 
to use the others for food. Their tails are of a triangular 
shape, and are often a foot and a half long, and occa¬ 
sionally six inches thick in the upper part. One of 
these tails will weigh eight or twelve pounds, and they 
consist principally of delicate fat, which some persons 
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