The Ethnology of the British Colonies and DependenciesLatham, R. G. (Robert Gordon)
History
The Ethnology of the British Colonies and Dependencies
Latham, R. G. (Robert Gordon)
Ethnology
I think, too, that a similarly undue inference has been drawn from the
extent to which the Kaffre and the Korana are _alike_; inasmuch as an
infusion of Kaffre has been assumed for the sake of accounting for it.
Of this, however, no proof exists.
The Saabs are described as having constitutions "so much enfeebled by
the dissolute life they lead, and the constant smoking of _dacha_, that
nearly all, including the young people, look old and wrinkled;
nevertheless, they are remarkable for vanity, and decorate their ears,
legs, and arms with beads, and iron, copper, or brass rings. The women
likewise stain their faces red, or paint them, either wholly or in part.
Their clothing consists of a few sheepskins, which hang about their
bodies, and thus form the mantle or covering, commonly called a
_kaross_. This is their only clothing by day or night. The men wear old
hats, which they obtain from the farmers, or else caps of their own
manufacture. The women wear caps of skins, which they stiffen and finish
with a high peak, and adorn with beads and metal rings. The dwelling of
the Bushman is either a low wretched hut, or a circular cavity, on the
open plain, into which, at night, he creeps with his wife and children,
and which, though it shelters him from the wind, leaves him exposed to
the rain. In this neighbourhood, in which rocks abound, they had
formerly their habitations in them, as is proved by the many rude
figures of oxen, horses, serpents, &c. still existing. It is not a
little interesting to see these poor degraded people, who formerly were
considered and treated as little better than wild beasts in their rocky
retreats. Many of those who have forsaken us live in such cavities not
far from our settlement, and we have thus an opportunity of observing
them in their natural condition. Several who, when they came to us from
the farmers, were decently clothed and possessed a flock of sheep, which
they had earned, in a short time returned to their fastnesses in a state
of nakedness and indigence, rejoicing that they had got free from the
farmers, and could live as they pleased in the indulgence of their
sensual appetites. Such fugitives from civilised life, I have never seen
otherwise occupied than with their bows and arrows. The bows are small,
but made of good elastic wood; the arrows are formed of small reeds, the
points furnished with a well-wrought piece of bone, and a double barb,
which is steeped in a potent poison of a resiny appearance. This poison
is distilled from the leaves of an indigenous tree. Many prefer these
arrows to fire-arms, under the idea that they can kill more game by
means of a weapon that makes no report. On their return from the chase,
they feast till they are tired and drowsy, and hunger alone rouses them
to renewed exertion. In seasons of scarcity they devour all kinds of
wild roots, ants, ants' eggs, locusts, snakes, and even roasted skins.
Three women of this singular tribe were not long since met with, several
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