THE HOTTENTOT RACES.
THE CONTRASTED RACES -- MUTUAL REPULSION BETWEEN THE KAFFIR AND THE
HOTTENTOT -- NATIVE ALLIES -- APPEARANCE OF THE HOTTENTOT RACE; THEIR
COMPLEXION AND FEATURES -- RESEMBLANCE TO THE CHINESE -- THE SUN AND
ITS SUPPOSED EFFECT ON COLOR -- THE HOTTENTOT IN YOUTH AND AGE --
RAPID DETERIORATION OF FORM -- SINGULAR FORMATION OF HOTTENTOT WOMEN
-- PORTRAIT-TAKING WITH A SEXTANT -- GROWTH OF THE HAIR -- GENERAL
CHARACTER OF THE HOTTENTOTS -- DRESS OF THE MEN -- WOMEN’S DRESS AND
ORNAMENTS -- OSTRICH EGG SHELLS USED AS AN ORNAMENT -- A CURIOUS
FRONTLET -- GREASE, SIBILO, AND BUCHU -- NATURE OF THE SIBILO, AND
THE MODE IN WHICH IT IS PROCURED -- USE OF THE BUCHU -- MODE OF
PREPARING SKINS -- THE TANNING-VAT -- ROPE-MAKING -- BOWLS AND JARS
-- HIDE ROPES AND THEIR MANUFACTURE -- THE HOTTENTOT SPOON -- A
NATIVE FLY-TRAP -- MAT-MAKING -- HOTTENTOT ARCHITECTURE -- SIMPLE
MODE OF AVOIDING VERMIN -- NOMAD HABITS OF THE HOTTENTOTS -- THE
DIGGING-STICK.
Before proceeding with the general view of the remaining tribes which
inhabit Africa, it will be necessary to give a few pages to the
remarkable race which has lived for so long in close contact with
the Kaffir tribes, and which presents the curious phenomenon of a
pale race living in the same land with a black race, and yet having
preserved its individuality. About three centuries ago, the whole of
Southern Africa was inhabited by various tribes belonging to a large
and powerful nation. This nation, now known collectively under the
name of Hottentot, was at that time the owner and master of the land,
of which it had held possession for a considerable period. Whether or
not the Hottentots were the aboriginal inhabitants of Southern Africa,
is rather doubtful; but the probability is, that they came from a
distant source, and that they dispossessed the aborigines, exactly as
they themselves were afterward ejected by the Kaffirs, and the Kaffirs
supplanted by the Europeans.
The Hottentots have a deadly and almost instinctive hatred of the
Kaffir race. The origin of this feeling is evidently attributable
to the successive defeats which they suffered at the hands of the
Kaffirs, and caused them to be merely tolerated inhabitants of a land
in which they were formerly the masters. The parents have handed down
this antipathy to their children, and, as is often the case, it seems
to have grown stronger in each generation, so that the semi-civilized
Hottentot of the present day, though speaking the European language,
and wearing European clothing, hates the Kaffirs as cordially as
did his wild ancestors, and cannot even mention their name without
prefixing some opprobrious epithet.
In consequence of this feeling, the Hottentot is an invaluable
cow-herd, in a land where Kaffirs are professional cow-stealers. He
seems to detect the presence of a Kaffir almost by intuition, and even
on a dark night, when the dusky body of the robber can hardly be seen,
he will discover the thief, work his stealthy way toward him, and kill
him noiselessly with a single blow. In the late South African war,
the Hottentots became most useful allies. They were docile, easily
disciplined, and were simply invaluable in bush-fighting, where the
English soldier, with all his apparatus of belts and accoutrements, was
utterly useless.
It is rather a remarkable fact that, in every country into which the
English have carried their arms, the natives have become the best
allies against their own countrymen, and have rendered services without
which the English could scarcely have kept their footing. No one can
track up and capture the Australian native rebel so effectually as a
native policeman. The native African assists them against those who at
all events inhabit the same land, though they may not happen to belong
to the same race. The natives of China gave them great assistance in
the late Chinese war, and the services which were rendered them by
native forces during the great Indian mutiny can hardly be overrated.
However much the Hottentot may dislike the Kaffir, the feeling of
antagonism is reciprocal, and the vindictive hatred borne by the
defeated race toward their conquerors is scarcely less intense than the
contemptuous repugnance felt by the victors toward the vanquished.
Neither in color nor general aspect do the Hottentots resemble the
dark races around them. Their complexion is sallow, and much like that
of a very dark person suffering from jaundice. Indeed, the complexion
of the Hottentots much resembles that of the Chinese, and the general
similitude between the two nations is very remarkable. (See page 224.)
One of my friends who lived long in South Africa had a driver who
dressed like a Hottentot, and who, to all appearance, was a Hottentot.
One day, however, he astonished his master by declaring himself a
Chinese, and proving the assertion by removing his hat and showing
the long pig-tail twisted round his head. He was, in fact, a Chinese
Coolie, who had been imported into Southern Africa, and who, after
the fashion of his people, had accommodated himself to the manners
and customs of those among whom he lived. Mr. Moffatt, the missionary
author, mentions that he saw two Chinese children, whom he would have
taken for Hottentots had he not been informed of their true character.
The existence of this light-colored race in such a locality affords a
good proof that complexion is not entirely caused by the sun. There is
a very popular idea that the hot sun of tropical countries produces the
black color of the negro and other races, and that a low temperature
bleaches the skin. Yet we have the Hottentots and their kindred tribes
exhibiting pale skins in a country close to the tropics, while the
Esquimaux, who live amid eternal ice, are often so dark that they might
almost be mistaken for negroes, but for the conformation of their faces
and the length of their hair.
The shape of the Hottentot face is very peculiar, as may be seen by
reference to any engravings which illustrate scenes in Hottentot life.
The cheek-bones project sharply from the face, and the long chin is
narrow and pointed. These characteristics are not so visible in youth,
but seem to grow stronger with age. Indeed, an old Hottentot, whether
man or woman, seems to have scarcely any real face, but to be furnished
with a mere skin drawn tightly over the skull.
What were the manners and customs of the Hottentots before they were
dispossessed by the Kaffirs, or deteriorated by contact with bad
specimens of European civilization, is extremely difficult to say, as
no trustworthy historian of their domestic economy has lived among
them. Kolben, whose book of travels has long been accepted as giving a
true account of the Hottentot, is now known to be utterly unworthy of
belief, insomuch as his information is second-hand, and those from whom
he obtained it have evidently amused themselves by imposing upon his
credulity.
As this work treats only of the normal habits and customs of
the various parts of the world, and has nothing to do with the
modifications of civilization, the account of the Hottentot will be
necessarily brief.
In shape the Hottentots alter strangely according to their age. When
children, they are not at all agreeable objects--at least, to an
unaccustomed eye, being thin in the limbs, with an oddly projecting
stomach, and a corresponding fall in the back. If tolerably well fed,
they lose this strange shape when they approach the period of youth,
and as young men and girls are almost models of perfection in form,
though their faces are not entitled to as much praise. But they do
not retain this beauty of form for any long period, some few years
generally comprehending its beginning and its end. “In five or six
years after their arrival at womanhood”, writes Burchell, “the fresh
plumpness of youth has already given way to the wrinkles of age; and,
unless we viewed them with the eye of commiseration and philanthropy,
we should be inclined to pronounce them the most disgusting of human
beings.” Their early, and, it may be said, premature symptoms of age,
may perhaps, with much probability, be ascribed to a hard life, an
uncertain and irregular supply of food, exposure to every inclemency of
weather, and a want of cleanliness, which increases with years. These,
rather than the nature of the climate, are the causes of this quick
fading and decay of the bloom and grace of youth.
The appearance of an ordinary Hottentot woman can be seen by reference
to the illustration No. 2, opposite, taken from a sketch by the author
whose words have just been quoted. The subject of the drawing looks
as if she were sixty years old at the very least, though, on account
of the early deterioration of form, she might be of any age from
twenty-seven upward. It is hardly possible to conceive that so short
a period would change the graceful form of the Hottentot girl, as
shown on the same page, into the withered and wrinkled hag who is here
depicted, but such is really the case, and the strangest part is, that
it is scarcely possible to tell whether a woman is thirty or sixty
years of age by her looks alone.
[Illustration: (1.) HOTTENTOT GIRL. (See page 222.)]
[Illustration: (2.) HOTTENTOT WOMAN. (See page 218.)]
Not the least remarkable point in the Hottentot women is the singular
modification of form to which they are often, though not universally,
subject--a development of which the celebrated “Hottentot Venus”
afforded an excellent example. A very amusing description of one of
these women is given by Mr. Galton, in his well-known work on Southern
Africa:--
“Mr. Hahn’s household was large. There was an interpreter and
a sub-interpreter, and again others, but all most excellently
well-behaved, and showing to great advantage the influence of their
master. These servants were chiefly Hottentots, who had migrated
with Mr. Hahn from Hottentotland, and, like him, had picked up the
language of the Damaras. The sub-interpreter was married to a charming
person, not only a Hottentot in figure, but in that respect a Venus
among Hottentots. I was perfectly aghast at her development, and
made inquiries upon that delicate point as far as I dared among my
missionary friends. The result is, that I believe Mrs. Petrus to be
the lady who ranks second among all the Hottentots for the beautiful
outline that her back affords, Jonker’s wife ranking as the first; the
latter, however, was slightly _passée_, while Mrs. Petrus was in full
_embonpoint_.
“I profess to be a scientific man, and was exceedingly anxious to
obtain accurate measurement of her shape; but there was a difficulty
in doing this. I did not know a word of Hottentot, and could never,
therefore, explain to the lady what the object of my foot-rule could
be; and I really dared not ask my worthy missionary host to interpret
for me. I therefore felt in a dilemma as I gazed at her form, that gift
of bounteous nature to this favored race, which no mantua-maker, with
all her crinoline and stuffing, can do otherwise than humbly imitate.
The object of my admiration stood under a tree, and was turning herself
about to all points of the compass, as ladies who wish to be admired
usually do. Of a sudden my eye fell upon my sextant; the bright thought
struck me, and I took a series of observations upon her figure in
every direction, up and down, crossways, diagonally, and so forth, and
I registered them carefully upon an outline drawing for fear of any
mistake. This being done, I boldly pulled out my measuring tape, and
measured the distance from where I was to the place where she stood,
and, having thus obtained both base and angles, I worked out the result
by trigonometry and logarithms.”
This remarkable protuberance, which shakes like jelly at every movement
of the body, is not soft as might be imagined, but firm and hard. Mr.
Christie, who is rather above the middle size, tells us that he has
sometimes stood upon it without being supported by any other part
of the person. The scientific name for this curious development is
Steatopyga. It does not cause the least inconvenience, and the women
find it rather convenient as affording a support whenever they wish to
carry an infant.
Another peculiarity in this curious race is the manner in which the
hair grows on the head. Like that of the negroes it is short, crisp,
and woolly, but it possesses the peculiarity of not covering the entire
head, but growing in little patches, each about as large as a pea.
These patches are quite distinct, and in many instances are scattered
so sparingly over the head, that the skin can be plainly seen between
them. Perhaps this odd growth of the hair affords a reason for the
universal custom of wearing a cap, and of covering the head thickly
with grease and mineral powder. The original manners and customs of the
Hottentots have entirely vanished, and, unlike the fiercer and nobler
Kaffir tribes, they have merged their own individuality in that of the
white settlers. They always dress in European apparel, but it has been
noticed by those who have lived in the country, that the Hottentot,
though fully clothed, is far less modest in appearance than the Kaffir,
who wears scarcely any clothing at all. In this point seems to be one
of the great distinctions between the Hottentot and other races. It
is quite true that Le Vaillant and travellers antecedent to him have
written of the Hottentots in the most glowing terms, attributing to
them almost every virtue that uncivilized man is likely to possess, and
praising them for the absence of many vices that disgrace civilized
humanity.
Now, the fact is, that Le Vaillant was evidently a man of exceptional
abilities in the management of inferiors, and that he possessed an
intuitive knowledge of character that is very seldom to be found.
Consequently the men who were submissive, docile, and affectionate
under his firm, yet determined sway, might have been captious, idle,
and insubordinate under a less judicious leader. They looked upon
him as a being infinitely superior to themselves, untouched by the
impulsive and unreasoning motives by which these children of nature
are led, and in consequence yielded to the subtle and all-powerful
influence which a higher nature exercises over a lower.
The Hottentots with whom our author came in contact were free from the
many vices which degrade the Hottentot of the present day, but it is
clear that they were innocent simply because they were ignorant. Those
of the present time have lost all their ancient simplicity, and have
contrived to imbue themselves with the vices in which the advent of the
white men enabled them to indulge, without at the same time improving
their intellectual or social condition.
We will now endeavor to see the Hottentot as he used to be before he
was conquered by the Kaffirs, and reduced to servitude by the European
colonists.
The general appearance of the Hottentot may be seen by reference to
the illustration No. 2, opposite, which represents a young man named
Klaas, who was the favorite attendant of Le Vaillant, and of whom the
traveller speaks in the highest terms. He has, therefore, been selected
as a favorable specimen of his nation. The reader will understand that
in the following account of the Hottentot tribes, they are described as
they used to be, and not as they are at the present day.
The ordinary dress of a Hottentot man can be tolerably imagined from
the portrait of Klaas. Over his shoulder is thrown a large mantle,
or kaross, made of cow-hide tanned and softened, and worn with the
fur inward. This mantle is most in fashion, and when engaged in
his ordinary occupations the Hottentot throws it off, so as to be
unencumbered. Around his waist are a number of leathern thongs, mingled
with strings of beads and other ornaments, and to one of these thongs
are fastened two aprons, one in front and the other behind. That one
in front is called the “jackal,” because it is generally made of a
piece of jackal skin or similar fur. The second apron, if it may be so
named, is not universally worn, though a Hottentot of taste does not
consider himself dressed without it. It is simply a triangular flap of
leather, barely a foot in length, two inches in width at the top, where
it joins the girdle, and widening to four inches at the bottom. This
curious appendage is ornamented with bits of metal, steel, beads, and
other decorations, and the owner seems to take a great pride in this
odd article of dress. Of course it is not of the least use, and may be
compared to the tails of a modern dress-coat, or the bag attached to
the collar of a court suit.
Some families among the Hottentots vary the shape of the
“staart-rheim,” as the Dutch colonists call it, and make it of
different forms. Some have it square, and others circular or oblong,
while some, who are possessed of more than ordinary ingenuity, make it
into the form of a crescent or a cross. This article of dress still
survives among some of the African tribes, as will be seen on a future
page.
Round the ankles are fastened thongs of hide. These articles gave rise
to the absurd statement that Hottentots wore the intestines of animals
until they became softened by putridity, and then ate them, carefully
keeping up the supply by adding fresh thongs in the place of those
which were eaten. The real fact is, that these leathern bands act as a
defence against the thorns among which the Hottentots have to walk, and
for that purpose they are used by both sexes. It is true that, in some
cases, the wearers have been reduced to such a state of starvation
that they have been obliged to eat the hide circlets from their limbs,
and eat them with the aid of what rude cooking could be extemporized.
But it will be remarked that the Kaffir soldiers have been reduced to
eat their shields and the leathern thongs which bound the assagai-heads
to the shaft, and no one would therefrom infer that the Kaffirs made
their shields an ordinary article of diet.
The feet are protected from sharp stones and thorns by a simple kind of
shoe, or sandal, which is little more than a piece of stout leather,
larger than the sole of the foot, and tied on by thongs. The feet
of the card-players, on page 237, show this sandal. It is not worn,
however, when the Hottentot is engaged in his ordinary vocations, and
is only employed when he is on a journey, and the ground which he has
to traverse is exceptionally rough and thorny. These sandals are in use
throughout a large portion of Southern Africa, and the best are made by
the Bachapins, a sub-tribe of the Bechuanas.
The dress of the women is essentially the same as that of the men,
although it is more complicated, and there is more of it. As is the
case with the Kaffir, the children of both sexes wear no clothing at
all until they are eight or nine years old, and then the girls assume
the little leathern apron called the “makkâbi.” This portion of dress
is somewhat similar to that which is worn by the Kaffir girls, and is
simply a flat piece of leather cut into thin strips. The thongs are
generally longer than those worn by the Kaffir, and sometimes reach
nearly to the knee. Over this is sometimes, but not universally, worn
a second apron of skin, ornamented with beads, bits of shining metal,
and similar decorations. The beads are arranged in patterns, an idea
of which can be gained from the illustration No. 1, page 219, which
represents a Gonaqua Hottentot girl, about sixteen years of age. This
girl was a special favorite of Le Vaillant’s, and certainly seems
from his account to have been a singularly favorable instance of
unsophisticated human nature. The attitude in which she is depicted is
a very characteristic one, being that which the Hottentot girls are in
the habit of assuming. It is remarkable, by the way, that the pleasing
liveliness for which the Hottentot youth are notable departs together
with youth, the demeanor of the men and women being sedate and almost
gloomy.
Around the loins is fastened a much larger apron without any
decoration. This is of variable size and shape, but the usual form is
that which is shown in the illustration. Its name is “musesi,” and,
like the “staart-rheim” of the men, is not thought to be a necessary
article of clothing, being put on more for ceremony than for use. This
apron is also variable in size, sometimes being so long as nearly to
touch the ground, and sometimes barely reaching to the knee. The Dutch
settlers called these aprons the “fore-kaross,” and “hind-kaross,”
words which sufficiently explain themselves.
[Illustration: (1.) HOTTENTOT YOUNG MAN. (See page 218.)]
[Illustration: (2.) HOTTENTOT IN FULL DRESS. (See page 222.)]
The leather thongs which encircle the leg are mostly ornamented with
wire twisted round them, and sometimes a woman will wear on her legs
one or two rings entirely composed of wire. Sometimes there are so
many of these rings that the leg is covered with them as high as the
knee, while in a few instances four or five rings are even worn above
the knee, and must be extremely inconvenient to the wearer. Beads of
various colors are also worn profusely, sometimes strung together on
wire, and hung round the neck, waist, wrists, and ankles, and sometimes
sewed upon different articles of apparel.
Before beads were introduced from Europe, the natives had a very
ingenious method of making ornaments, and, even after the introduction
of beads, the native ornament was much prized. It was made by
laboriously cutting ostrich shells into thin circular disks, varying in
size from the sixth of an inch to nearly half an inch in diameter, and
pierced through the middle. Many hundreds of these disks are closely
strung together, so as to form a sort of circular rope, white as if
made of ivory. Sometimes this rope is long enough to pass several times
round the body, against which the shining white disks produced a very
good effect.
Burchell mentions a curious kind of ornament which was worn by a
young Hottentot girl, and which seemed to be greatly prized by her.
It consisted of three pieces of ivory about the size and shape of
sparrow’s eggs, each tied to the end of a thong, and so arranged that
one of them hung over the nose and another on each cheek. As she moved
her head in conversation these ivory beads swung about from side to
side, and in her estimation produced a very telling effect. I have in
my collection a good specimen of a similar frontlet. It consists of a
leathern thong three feet in length, at each end of which is a cowrie
shell. One foot in length of its centre is composed of a double row
of the ostrich egg-rope which has just been described, so that, when
the frontlet is tied on the head, the white egg-shell ropes cross the
forehead. From the exact centre fall six short thongs, at the end of
each of which is an ornament of pearly-shell or tortoise-shell. Four of
these thongs are covered with native beads, made from the bone of the
ostrich, and are further ornamented with a large scarlet seed in the
middle. At each end of the egg-shell rope are two shell-clad thongs,
exactly like those which have been described, and, when the frontlet is
in its place, these ornaments hang upon each cheek. The illustration
No. 5 upon page 247 shows the frontlet as it appears when bound upon
the head of a Hottentot belle.
The dress of the married woman is, of course, more elaborate than that
of the young girl. Although they sometimes appear with a very slight
costume, they usually prefer to be tolerably well clad. With married
women both the aprons are larger than with the girls, and they wear
besides a shorter apron over the breast. Their kaross, too, is of
comparatively large size. The Hottentot females always wear a cap of
some kind, the usual material being leather, which is dressed in the
same manner as the skin of which the kaross and the aprons are made.
The hair is plentifully imbued with grease, in which has been
mixed a quantity of the metallic powder of which the Hottentots
are immoderately fond, and which is called by the Dutch colonists
“Black-klip,” or Shining Rock, on account of its glittering appearance.
The natives call it by the name of _Sibilo_. which is pronounced as
if it were written Sibeelo. The sibilo is extremely local, being
only known to exist in one part of Africa, and is dug from a rock
called Sensavan. It seems to be a very friable kind of iron ore,
plentifully interspersed with minute particles of mica, the union
of these two substances giving it the appearance which is so much
admired by the natives. This substance is a “shining, powdery iron
ore, of a steel-gray or bluish lustre, soft and greasy to the touch,
its particles adhering to the hands or clothes, and staining them of
a dark-red or ferruginous lustre. The skin is not easily freed from
these glossy particles, even by repeated washings, and whenever this
substance is used everything becomes contaminated, and its glittering
nature betrays it on every article which the wearer handles.” Burchell
goes on to say that oxidization gives to the iron ore that peculiar
rust-red of which the Hottentots are so fond, while the micaceous
particles impart to it that sparkling glitter which is scarcely less
prized.
To the Sensavan rock come all the surrounding tribes for a supply of
this precious substance, and those who are nearest are in the habit of
digging it, and using it as a means of barter with more distant tribes.
By degrees the rock has been quarried so deeply that a series of
caverns have been worked into it, some penetrating for a considerable
distance. Burchell relates an anecdote of a party of Hottentots who
were engaged in digging the sibilo, and who were overwhelmed by the
fall of the cavern in which they were working. The various caverns are
never without inhabitants, for by day they are full of bats, and by
night they form the resting-place of pigeons.
Besides the sibilo, another substance called Buchu is in universal use
among the Hottentots. This is also a powder, but it is of vegetable,
and not of mineral origin. It is not nearly as valuable as the sibilo,
although considered to be nearly as necessary an article of adornment,
so that any one who is not bedaubed with sibilo, and perfumed with
buchu, is considered unworthy of entrance into polite society. Sibilo,
as the reader may remember, is to be obtained only from one spot, and
is therefore a peculiarly valuable material, whereas the buchu can be
obtained from several sources, and is accordingly held in lower esteem.
Buchu (pronounced _Bookoo_) is mostly obtained from a species of
Diosma, and is made by reducing the plant to a powder. It possesses
a strong odor, which to the nostrils of a Hottentot is extremely
agreeable, but which has exactly the opposite effect upon the more
sensitive organs of an European. When a number of Hottentots are
assembled in one of their rude huts, the odor of the buchu, with which
the karosses as well as the hair of the natives are plentifully imbued,
is so exceedingly powerful, that no one except a native can breathe
in such an atmosphere. The Hottentots have a wonderful veneration for
this plant, and use it for various purposes. It is thought to form an
admirable application to a wound, and for this purpose the leaves of
the plant are infused in strong vinegar, and are generally steeped for
so long a time that they form a kind of mucilage.
There are several species of plants from which the indispensable
buchu is made, and one of them is a kind of fragrant croton, named by
Burchell _Croton gratissimum_, from its pleasant aromatic odor. It is a
handsome bushy shrub, from four to seven feet in height. Both flowers
and leaves possess an agreeable scent, and the buchu is made by drying
and pounding the latter, which are lance-shaped, green above, and
whitish below. The powder is used as a perfume, which to the nostrils
of the Hottentot is highly agreeable, but to the European is simply
abominable, especially when mingled with the odor of rancid grease and
long-worn skin dresses.
Skins are prepared in some places after a different manner to that
which has been described when treating of the Kaffirs, and undergo a
kind of tanning process. When a Hottentot, wishes to make a leathern
robe, or other article of dress, he deprives the skin of its hair by
rolling it up with the furry side inward, and allowing it to undergo a
partial putrefaction. In the mean while he prepares his tanning-vat,
by fixing four stakes into the ground, connecting their tops with
cross-bars, and lashing a tolerably large hide loosely to them, so as
to form a rude kind of basin or tub. A quantity of the astringent bark
of the karroo thorn is placed in the vat together with the skin, and
a sufficient quantity of ley is poured over them until the vessel is
full. The bark of this acacia not only possesses a powerful tanning
principle, but at the same time imparts to the leather that reddish
hue which is so much admired by Hottentots, and which is afterward
heightened by the sibilo and buchu which are rubbed upon it.
Mr. Baines is, however, of opinion that this mode of preparing skins,
primitive as it may appear, is not the invention of the Hottentot race,
but is due to the superiority of the white settlers. The tanning-vat of
hide appears simple enough to have been invented by a savage race, but,
as it is only used near European settlements, the idea has probably
been borrowed by the Hottentots. In places remote from the white
settlers, and where their influence is not felt, the Hottentots do
not tan the hides by steeping them in ley, but prepare them by manual
labor in a manner somewhat similar to that which is used by the Kaffir.
When a large cow-hide is to be prepared, several men take part in the
proceeding, and make quite a festival of it. They sit in a circle, with
the hide in their midst, and work it with their hands, occasionally
rubbing in some butter or other grease. They sing songs the while, and
at regular intervals they grasp the hide with both hands, and give it a
violent pull outward, so as to stretch it equally in every direction.
The cord or string of which the Hottentots make so much use is twisted
in a very simple manner. The bark of the ever-useful acacia is stripped
from the branches, and divided into fibres by being steeped in water,
and then pounded between two stones. Sometimes the rope-maker prefers
to separate the fibres by chewing the bark, which is thought to have
an agreeable flavor. When a sufficient quantity of fibre has been
prepared, the workwoman seats herself on the ground, takes two yarns
of fibre, and rolls them with the palm of her hand upon the thigh. She
then brings them together, gives them a quick roll in the opposite
direction, and thus makes a two-stranded rope with a rapidity that
could hardly be conceived, seeing that no tools of any kind are used.
If any of my readers should happen to be skilled in nautical affairs,
they will see that this two-stranded rope made by the Hottentots is
formed on exactly the same principle as the “knittles” which are so
important in many of the nautical knots and splices.
Rope-making is entirely a woman’s business, and is not an agreeable
one. Probably it is remitted to the women for that very reason. The
friction of the rope against the skin is apt to abrade it, and makes
it so sore that the women are obliged to relieve themselves by rolling
the rope upon the calf of the leg instead of the thigh, and by the
time that the injured portion has recovered the other is sore; and so
the poor women have to continue their work, alternating between one
portion and another, until by long practice the skin becomes quite
hard, and can endure the friction without being injured by it.
Among all the tribes of Southern Africa the taste for hide ropes is
universal. Ropes of some kind are absolutely necessary in any country,
and in this part of the world, as well as in some others, ropes made
of hide are very much preferred to those which are formed from any
other material. The reason for this preference is evidently owing to
the peculiarities of the country. There are plenty of fibrous plants in
Southern Africa which would furnish ropes quite equal to those which
are in use in Europe, but ropes formed of vegetable fibre are found to
be unsuitable to the climate, and, as a natural consequence, they have
been abandoned even by European colonists.
The mode of preparing the hide ropes varies but little, except in
unimportant details, and is briefly as follows:--The first process is
to prepare a vessel full of ley, which is made by steeping the ashes
of several plants, known under the generic title of Salsola. The
young shoots of these plants are collected for the purpose, burned,
and the ashes carefully collected. When an ox is killed, the hide is
cut into narrow strips, and these strips are placed in the tub of ley
and allowed to soak for some four-and-twenty hours. At the expiration
of that time, a sufficient number of the strips are joined together,
loosely twisted, and passed over the horizontal branch of a tree, a
heavy weight being suspended from each end, so as to keep the thongs
always on the stretch. A couple of natives then set to work, one
stationing himself at each end of the rope, and twisting it by means
of a short stick passed between the strands, while by the aid of the
sticks they drag the rope backward and forward over the bough, never
allowing it to rest on the same spot for any length of time, and always
twisting the sticks in opposite directions. The natural consequence
is, that the rope becomes very pliant, and at the same time is equally
stretched throughout its length, the regularity of the twist depending
on the skill of the two rope-makers. No other treatment is required, as
the powerful liquid in which the raw thongs have been steeped enacts
the part of the tanning “fat,” and the continually dragging over the
branch serves to make it pliant, and to avoid the danger of “kinking.”
The use of the rope among the European settlers affords a good example
of the reaction that takes place when a superior race mingles with an
inferior. The white men have taught the aborigines many useful arts,
but at the same time have been obliged to them for instruction in
many others, without which they could not maintain their hold of the
country. The reader will notice that the hide ropes are made by men,
because they are formed from that noble animal, the ox, whereas ropes
made of ignoble vegetable fibre are handed over to the women.
A remarkable substitute for a spoon is used by this people. It consists
of the stem of a fibrous plant, called Umphombo, and is made in the
following manner. The stem, which is flattish, and about an inch
in width, is cut into suitable lengths and soaked in water. It is
then beaten between two stones, until the fibres separate from each
other, so as to form a sort of brush. This is dipped in the liquid,
and conveys a tolerable portion to the mouth. The mention of this
brush-spoon recalls a curious method of catching flies. The reader may
remember that in Southern Africa, as well as in other hot parts of
the world, the flies are so numerous as to become a veritable plague.
They come in swarms into the houses, and settle upon every article of
food, so that the newly-arrived traveller scarcely knows how to eat his
meals. Being thirsty creatures, they especially affect any liquid, and
will plunge into the cup while its owner is in the act of drinking.
The natives contrive to lessen this evil, though they cannot entirely
rid themselves of it, and mostly do so by the following ingenious
contrivance:--
They first shut the doors of the hut, and then dip a large wisp of hay
in milk, and hang it to the roof. All the flies are attracted to it,
and in a few seconds nothing can be seen but a large, seething mass of
living creatures. A bag is then gently passed over them, and a smart
shake given to the trap, which causes all the flies to fall in a mass
to the bottom of the bag. The bag is then removed, so as to allow a
fresh company of flies to settle on the hay wisp, and by the time that
the first batch of flies is killed, another is ready for immolation.
Sometimes nearly a bushel of flies will be thus taken in a day. It is
most likely that the natives were led to this invention by seeing the
flies cluster round their brush-spoons when they had been laid aside
after use.
In some parts of the country, the flies are captured by means of the
branches of a bush belonging to the genus Roridula. This is covered
with a glutinous secretion, and, whenever the flies settle upon it,
they are held fast and cannot escape. Branches of this useful plant
are placed in different parts of the hut, and are very effective in
clearing it of the little pests. Many of these flies are identical
with the common house-fly of England, but there are many other species
indigenous to the country.
The Hottentot is a tolerably good carver in wood, not because he has
much idea of art, but because he has illimitable patience, and not
the least idea of the value of time. Bowls and jars are carved from
wood, mostly that of the willow tree, and the carver prefers to work
while the sap is still in the wood. A kind of willow grows by the
water-side, as is the case in this country, and this is cut down with
the odd little hatchets which are used in this part of the world.
These hatchets are made on exactly the same principle as the hoes
which have been so often mentioned, and which are represented on page
57. The head, however, is very much smaller, and the blade is set in
a line with the handle instead of transversely. They are so small and
feeble, that the labor of several men is required to cut down a tree
only eighteen inches or so in diameter; and the work which an American
axeman would complete in a few minutes occupies them a day or two. When
the trunk has been at last severed, it is cut into convenient lengths
by the same laborious process, and the different portions are mostly
shaped by the same axe. If a bowl is the article to be made, it is
partly hollowed by the axe, and the remainder of the work is done with
a knife bent into a hook-like shape. These bowls are, on the average, a
foot or eighteen inches in diameter.
Making bowls is a comparatively simple business, but the carving of a
jar is a most laborious task. In making jars, the carver is forced to
depend almost entirely upon the bent knife, and from the shape of the
article it is evident that, when it is hollowed, the carver must work
in a very constrained manner. Still, as time is of no value, the jar
is at last completed, and, like the bowl, is well rubbed with fat, in
order to prevent it from splitting. Generally, these jars hold about
a gallon, but some of them are barely a quarter of that size, while
others are large enough to contain five gallons. An European, with
similar tools, would not be able to make the smaller sizes of these
jars, as he would not be able to pass his hand into the interior. The
hand of the Hottentot is, however, so small and delicate, that he finds
no difficulty in the task. The jar is called Bambus in the Hottentot
language.
Unlike the Kaffirs, the Hottentots are rather a nomad race, and their
huts are so made that they can be taken to pieces and packed for
transportation in less than an hour, while a couple of hours’ labor
is all that is required for putting them up afresh, even when the
architect works as deliberately as is always the case among uncivilized
natives. Consequently, when a horde of Hottentots travels from one
place to another, a village seems to spring up almost as if by magic,
and travellers who have taken many Hottentots in their train have been
very much astonished at the sudden transformation of the scene.
In general construction, the huts are made on the same principle as
those of the Kaffir, being formed of a cage-like framework, covered
with lighter material. A Hottentot kraal is illustrated opposite. The
Kaffir, however, interweaves the withes and reeds of which the hut is
made among the framework, and binds them together with ropes, when, if
he is going to settle determinately in one spot, or if he builds a hut
in a well-established kraal, he plasters the interior with clay, so as
to make the structure firm and impervious to weather. The Hottentot,
on the contrary, covers his hut with reed mats, which look very much
like the sleeping-mats of the Kaffirs, and can be easily lashed to the
framework, and as easily removed. These mats are made of two species
of reed, one of which is soft, and can be easily manipulated, while
the other is hard, and gives some trouble to the maker. But the former
has the disadvantage of being very liable to decay, and of lasting
but a short time, whereas the latter is remarkable for its powers of
endurance. These plants are called respectively the Soft Reed and the
Hard Reed, and their scientific titles are _Cyperus textilis_ and
_Scriptus tegetalis_.
The method of making the mats is somewhat similar to that which is
employed by the Kaffirs. The reeds are cut so as to measure six feet in
length, and are placed in a heap by the side of the mat-maker, together
with a quantity of the bark string which has already been mentioned.
He pierces them with a bone or metal needle, or with a mimosa thorn
if he does not possess a needle, and passes the string through the
holes, so as to fasten the reeds together. Even considering the very
slow and deliberate manner in which the Hottentot works, the mats can
be made with considerable rapidity, and it is needless to observe that
three Hottentots do not get through nearly as much work as an average
Englishman.
In some cases, the Hottentot substitutes the skins of sheep or oxen for
mats, but the latter are most generally in use--probably because the
skins are too valuable as articles of apparel to be employed for the
mere exterior of a house. Owing to the manner in which these huts are
made, they are more impervious to weather than those of the Kaffir,
and, as a necessary consequence, are less capable of letting out the
smoke. An European can, on a pinch, exist in a Kaffir hut, but to do so
in a skin-covered Hottentot house is almost impossible. To a restless
and ever-moving people like the Hottentots, these mats are absolute
necessaries. A hut of ordinary size can be packed on the back of an
ox, while another ox can carry all the simple furniture and utensils,
together with the young children; and thus a whole family can be
moved at a few minutes’ notice, without much inconvenience. The huts
are, in fact, nothing but tents made of mats, and resemble, in many
particulars, the camel-hair tents of the equally nomad Arabs.
[Illustration: HOTTENTOT KRAAL. (See page 228.)]
No one--not even the owner--knows, on seeing a Hottentot hut, whether
he will find it in the same place after a few hours have elapsed.
Sometimes, a Hottentot wife will set to work, pull the hut to pieces,
but, instead of packing it on the back of an ox, rebuild her house
within twenty or thirty yards of its original locality. The object
of this strange conduct is to rid herself and family from the fleas,
which, together with other vermin, swarm exceedingly in a Hottentot’s
house, and drive the inmates to escape in the manner related. These
unpleasant parasites are generally attacked in the early morning, the
mantles, sheepskins, mats, and other articles, being taken outside the
hut, and beaten soundly with a stick. Sufficient, however, remain to
perpetuate the breed, and at last, as has been seen, they force the
Hottentot fairly to remove the house altogether.
As to the Hottentots themselves, they suffer but comparatively little
inconvenience from the bites of these creatures, against which the
successive coatings of grease, buchu, and sibilo act as a partial
defence. But, whenever the insects are fortunate enough to attack a
clean-skinned European, they take full advantage of the opportunity,
and drive him half mad. Gordon Cumming relates an amusing account of
a small adventure which happened to himself in connection with these
insects. He was extremely tired, and fell asleep among his followers,
one of whom compassionately took off the kaross which he was wearing,
and spread it over him. Presently the sleeper started up in a state of
unbearable irritation from the bites of the numerous parasites with
which the kaross was stocked. He was obliged instantly to remove every
single article of apparel, and have them all beaten and searched before
he could again resume them.
As may be seen by inspection of the illustration, the huts are not of
quite the same shape as those belonging to the Kaffirs, the ends being
flattened, and the apertures square instead of rounded, the door, in
fact, being simply made by the omission of one mat. The nomad life
of the Hottentots is necessitated by their indolent habits, and their
utter want of forethought. The Kaffir is not remarkable for the latter
quality, as indeed is the case with most savage nations. But the Kaffir
is, at all events, a tolerable agriculturist, and raises enough grain
to supply his family with food, besides, in many cases, enclosing
patches of ground in which to plant certain vegetables and fruit. The
Hottentot, however, never had much notion of agriculture, and what
little he attempts is of the rudest description.
The unwieldy hoe with which the Kaffir women break up the ground is a
sufficiently rude and clumsy instrument, but it is perfection itself
when compared with the digging stick of the Hottentot. This is nothing
more than a stick of hard wood sharpened at one end, and weighted by
means of a perforated stone through which it is passed, and which is
held in its place by a wedge. With this rude instrument the Hottentot
can break up the ground faster than might be imagined, but he oftener
uses it for digging up wild plants, and unearthing sundry burrowing
animals, than for any agricultural purposes.
The life of a Hottentot does not tie him to any particular spot. A
sub-tribe or horde, which tolerably corresponds with the kraal of the
Kaffir, settles down in some locality which they think will supply
nourishment, and which is near water. Here, if the spot be favorable,
they will sometimes rest for a considerable time, occasionally for
a space of several years. Facility for hunting has much to do with
the length of time that a horde remains in one spot, inasmuch as the
Hottentots are admirable hunters, and quite rival the Kaffirs in this
respect, even if they do not excel them. They are especially notable
for the persevering obstinacy with which they will pursue their game,
thinking a whole day well bestowed if they succeed at last in bringing
down their prey.