THE BOSJESMAN OR BUSHMAN.
ORIGIN OF THE NAME -- THEORIES RESPECTING THEIR ORIGIN -- THEIR
LANGUAGE AND ITS PECULIARITIES -- THE GESTURE-LANGUAGE -- SMALL SIZE
OF THE BOSJESMANS -- THEIR COMPLEXION AND GENERAL APPEARANCE -- A
STRANGE VISITOR -- THE BOSJESMAN’S PIPE AND MODE OF SMOKING -- SAID
TO HAVE NO NAMES, AND NO DISTINCTIONS OF RANK -- SOCIAL LIFE AMONG
THE BOSJESMANS -- MATRIMONY AND ITS TROUBLES -- INDIVIDUALITY OF THE
BOSJESMAN -- HIS INDIFFERENCE TO PAIN -- A CULPRIT AND HIS PUNISHMENT
-- DRESS OF BOTH SEXES -- THE BOSJESMAN FROM INFANCY TO AGE.
We now come to a singular race of human beings, inhabiting various
parts of Southern Africa, and being evidently allied to the Hottentots.
They are called Bosjesmans by the Dutch settlers. This word is
pronounced Bushes-man, and is popularly contracted into Bushman,--a
word which is, indeed, an exact translation of the Dutch title. As,
however, several groups of savages in different parts of the world are
called Bushmen, we will retain the original Dutch name.
Inspecting the precise relationship there are three distinct theories.
The first is, that they are the aboriginal inhabitants upon whom the
Hottentots have improved; the second is, that they are degenerate
offshoots of the Hottentot race; and the third is, that they form a
totally distinct group of mankind. On the whole, I am inclined rather
to accept the theory that they are a variety of the Hottentot race,
which they closely resemble in many particulars. The peculiar form of
the countenance, the high cheek-bones, the little contracted eyes,
and the long narrow chin, are all characteristics of the Hottentot
race. The color of the skin, too, is not black, but yellow, and even
paler than that of the Hottentot, and the women are notable for that
peculiarity of form which has already been noticed.
Their language much resembles that of the Hottentots in sound, the
characteristic “click” being one of its peculiarities. But, whereas
the Hottentots generally content themselves with one click in a word,
the Bosjesman tribes employ it with every syllable, and have besides a
kind of croaking sound produced in the throat, which is not used by the
Hottentots, and which they find the greatest difficulty in imitating.
But though their tongue resembles the language of the Hottentots in
sound, the words of the two languages are totally different, so that
a Hottentot is quite as much at a loss to understand a Bosjesman as
would be a European. Even the various tribes of Bosjesmans differ much
in their language, each tribe having a dialect of their own, and even
changing their dialect in the course of a few years. This is accounted
for by the fact that the hordes or families of Bosjesmans have but
little intercourse with each other, and remain as widely separated as
possible, so that they shall not interfere with the hunting-grounds of
their fellow-tribesmen.
In their conversation among each other also, they are continually
inventing new words. Intellectually, they are but children, and, like
children, the more voluble condescend to the weakness of those who
cannot talk as well as themselves, and accept their imperfect words as
integral parts of their language. So imperfect, indeed, is the language
of the Bosjesmans, that even those of the same horde often find a
difficulty in understanding each other without the use of gesture; and
at night, when a party of Bosjesmans are smoking, dancing, and talking,
they are obliged to keep up a fire so as to be able by its light to see
the explanatory gestures of their companions.
Like many other savage nations, they possess a gesture-language which
is universally understood, even where words are quite unintelligible,
and by means of this language a European can make himself understood
by them, even though he does not know a word of their spoken language.
When a Bosjesman is speaking, he uses a profusion of gestures,
animated, graphic, and so easily intelligible that a person who is
wholly ignorant of the language can readily follow his meaning. I have
heard a Bosjesman narrate the manner in which he hunted different
animals, and, although the precise words which he employed were
unknown to me, the whole process of the chase was rendered perfectly
intelligible. Perhaps some of my readers may remember that the late
Gordon Cumming was accompanied by a Bosjesman named Ruyter. This little
man survived the perils of the desert, he escaped from the claws of a
lion which dragged his companion from the blanket in which the two were
rolled, and lived for some years in England. He was an admirable actor,
and would sometimes condescend to display his wonderful powers. It is
scarcely possible to imagine anything more graphic than Ruyter’s acted
description of a lion stealing into the camp, and the consternation of
the different animals which found themselves in such close proximity
to their dreaded enemy. The part of each animal was enacted in turn
by Ruyter, whose best _rôles_ were those of the lion himself and a
tame baboon--the voices and action of both animals being imitated with
startling accuracy.
The Bosjesmans differ from the true Hottentots in point of size,
being so small as to deserve the name of a nation of pigmies, being,
on the average, very little above five feet in height, while some of
the women are seven or eight inches shorter. This does not apply to
the Kora Bosjesmans, who are about five feet four or five inches in
height. Still, small as they are, there is no proof either that they
have degenerated from the ancient stock, which is represented by the
true Hottentot, or that they represent the original stock, on which
the Hottentots have improved, and it is more likely that they simply
constitute a group of the Hottentot race.
It has been mentioned that their color is rather more yellow than dark.
This curious fairness of complexion in a South African race is even
more strongly marked than is the case among the Hottentots, although
in their native state it is scarcely so conspicuous. The fact is, the
Bosjesmans think fresh water far too valuable to be used for ablutions,
and, by way of a succedaneum for a bath, rub themselves with grease,
not removing the original layer, but adding a fresh one whenever they
make their toilets. Thus they attract the smoke of the fire over
which they love to crouch at night, and, when they are performing the
operation which they are pleased to consider as cooking, the smoke
settles on their bodies, and covers them with a sooty-black hue that
makes them appear nearly as dark as the Kaffirs. There is generally,
however, a tolerably clean spot under each eye, which is caused by the
flow of tears consequent on snuff taking. But when well washed, their
skins are wonderfully fair, and therefore the Bosjesmans who visit this
country, and who are obliged to wash themselves, give very little idea
of the appearance of these curious beings in their native state.
Of the ordinary appearance of the Bosjesman in his normal state, a
good description is given by Dr. Lichtenstein, in his well-known work
on Southern Africa:--“After some hours two Bosjesmans appeared, who
saluted us with their _T’abeh_, asked for tobacco, and, having received
it, seated themselves behind a bush, by a little fire, to revel at
their ease in the delights of smoking. I devoted a considerable time
to observing these men very accurately, and cannot forbear saying that
a Bosjesman, certainly in his mien and all his gestures, has more
resemblance to an ape than a man.
“One of our present guests, who appeared about fifty years of age, had
gray hair and a bristly beard; his forehead, nose, cheeks, and chin
were all smeared over with black grease, having only a white circle
round the eye, washed clean with tears occasioned by smoking. This man
had the true physiognomy of the small blue ape of Kaffraria. What gave
the more verity to such a comparison was the vivacity of his eyes,
and the flexibility of his eyebrows, which he worked up and down with
every change of countenance. Even his nostrils and the corners of his
mouth, even his very ears, moved involuntarily, expressing his hasty
transitions from eager desire to watchful distrust. There was not,
on the contrary, a single feature in his countenance that evinced a
consciousness of mental powers, or anything that denoted emotions of
the mind of a milder character than belongs to man in his mere animal
nature.
“When a piece of meat was given him, half rising, he stretched out a
distrustful arm, snatched it hastily, and stuck it immediately into
the fire, peering around with his little keen eyes, as if fearing lest
some one should take it away again. All this was done with such looks
and gestures, that any one must have been ready to swear that he had
taken the example of them entirely from an ape. He soon took the meat
from the embers, wiped it hastily upon his left arm, and tore out with
his teeth large half-raw bits, which I could see going entire down his
meagre throat. At length, when he came to the bones and sinew, as he
could not manage these with his teeth, he had recourse to a knife which
was hanging round his neck, and with this he cut off the piece which
he held in his teeth, close to the mouth, without touching his nose
or lips--a feat of dexterity which a person with a Celtic countenance
could not easily have performed. When the bone was picked clean, he
stuck it again into the fire, and, after beating it between two stones,
sucked out the marrow. This done, he immediately filled the emptied
bone with tobacco. I offered him a clay pipe, which he declined, and
taking the thick bone a long way into his mouth, he drew in the smoke
by long draughts, his eyes sparkling like those of a person who, with
more than usual pleasure, drinks a glass of costly wine. After three or
four draughts, he handed the bone to his countryman, who inhaled three
or four mouthfuls in like manner, and then stuck it, still burning,
into his pouch, to be reserved for future occasions.”
This very simple pipe is preferred by the Bosjesman to any other,
probably because he can take in a larger quantity of smoke at a single
inhalation than could be the case if he were to use the small-bored
pipe of civilization. Reeds, hollow sticks, and similar objects are
used for the same purpose. Sometimes the Bosjesman inhales the whole
of the smoke into his lungs, and takes draught after draught with
such eagerness, that he falls down in a state of insensibility, and
has to be restored to consciousness by being rolled on the ground,
and having water thrown over him. This is certainly an economical
mode of consuming the tobacco, as, in this manner, a single pipeful
will serve to intoxicate several smokers in succession. As is the
case with other savages, the Bosjesman has but little idea of using a
luxury in moderation. The chief value of tobacco is, in a Bosjesman’s
eyes, its intoxicating power, and he therefore smokes with the avowed
intention of being intoxicated as soon as possible, and with the least
expenditure of material.
It is stated by old travellers who have had much intercourse with the
Bosjesmans, that they have no names by which different individuals are
distinguished. This may possibly be the case, and, if so, it denotes
a depth of degradation which can scarcely be conceived. But as the
Bosjesmans are not without the average share of intellect which, in
their peculiar conditions, they could be expected to possess, it is
possible that the statement may be rather too sweeping. It is well
known that among many savage nations in different parts of the earth,
there is a great disinclination to allow the name to be known.
As has already been mentioned, the Kaffirs will not allow a stranger
to hear their true names, and, if asked for their names, will only
entrust him with their titles, but never with their true names. It is
therefore very probable that the Bosjesmans may be actuated by similar
motives, and pretend to have no names at all, rather than take the
trouble of inventing false ones. They have not the least objection to
take European names, mostly preferring those of Dutch parentage, such
as Ruyter, Kleinboy, Andries, Booy, &c.; and as they clearly comprehend
that those names are used in order to distinguish them from their
fellows, it seems scarcely possible to believe that they have not some
nomenclature among themselves.
Whatever may be the case with regard to their names, it is certain
that the Bosjesmans have no idea of distinctions in rank, differing,
however, from the natives which surround them. The Kaffir tribes are
remarkable for the elaborate code of etiquette which they possess,
and which could not exist unless social distinctions were definitely
marked. The Hottentots have their headmen, who possess supreme power in
the kraal, though they do not exhibit any external mark of dignity. But
the Bosjesman has not the least notion of rank, and affords the most
complete example of anarchic life that can be conceived. In the small
hordes of Bosjesmans who wander about the country, there is no chief,
and not even a headman. Each horde, as a general rule, consists of a
single family, unless members of other hordes may choose to leave their
own friends and join it. But the father of the family is not recognized
as its head, much less does he exercise any power. The leadership of
the kraal belongs to the strongest, and he only holds it until some one
stronger than himself dispossesses him.
It is the same with the social relations of life. Among the Kaffirs
and Hottentots--especially among the former--the women are jealously
watched, and infidelity to the marriage compact is severely punished.
This, however, is not the case with the Bosjesmans, who scarcely seem
to recognize any such compact, the marriage tie being dissoluble at the
will of the husband. Although the man can divorce his wife whenever
he chooses, the woman does not possess the same power--not because
either party has any regard to the marriage tie, but because he is the
stronger of the two, and would beat her if she tried to go away without
his permission. Even if a couple should be pleased with each other, and
do not wish to separate, they cannot be sure that they will be allowed
to remain together; for if a man who is stronger than the husband
chooses to take a fancy to the wife, he will take her away by force,
and keep her, unless some one still stronger than himself happens to
think that she will suit his taste. As to the woman herself, she is not
consulted on the subject, and is either given up or retained without
the least reference to her feelings. It is a curious fact, that in the
various dialects of the Bosjesmans, there are no words that express
the distinction between an unmarried girl or wife, one word being
indiscriminately used.
In this extraordinary social condition the Bosjesman seems to have
lived for centuries, and the earliest travellers in Southern Africa,
who wrote accounts of the inhabitants of that strange land, have given
descriptions which exactly tally with narratives which have been
published within the last few years.
The character of the true Bosjesman seems to have undergone no change
for many hundreds of years. Civilization has made no impression upon
him. The Kaffirs, the Dutch, and the English have in turn penetrated
into his country, and have driven him further into the wilderness, but
he has never submitted to either of these powerful foes, nor has he
condescended to borrow from them any of the arts of civilization. Both
Kaffirs and Hottentots have been in so far subjected to the inroads
of civilization that they have placed themselves under the protection
of the white colonists, and have learned from them to substitute the
blanket for the kaross, and the gun for the spear or arrow. They have
also acted as domestic servants to the white men, voluntarily hiring
themselves for pay, and performing their work with willingness. But the
Bosjesman has preserved his individuality, and while the Hottentots
have become an essentially subservient race, and the Kaffirs have
preferred vassalage to independence, he is still the wild man of
the desert, as free, as untamable, as he was a thousand years ago.
Kaffirs, Dutch, and English have taken young Bosjesmans into their
service. The two former have made them their slaves; the latter have
tried to educate them into paid servants. But they have been equally
unsuccessful, and the Bosjesman servant cannot, as the saying is, be
trusted further than he can be seen, and, by a wise master, not so far.
His wild nature is strong within him, and, unless closely watched, he
is apt to throw off all appearance of civilization, and return to the
privations and the freedom of his native state.
The principal use to which a Bosjesman servant is put is to serve the
office of “fore-louper,” _i. e._ the guide to the oxen. When a wagon
is harnessed with its twelve or fourteen oxen, the driver sits on the
box--which really is a box--and wields a most formidable whip, but
has no reins, his office being to urge, and not to guide. His own
department he fulfils with a zest all his own. His terrific whip, with
a handle like a salmon-rod, and a lash nearly as long as its line, can
reach the foremost oxen of the longest team, and, when wielded by an
experienced driver, can cut a deep gash in the animal’s hide, as if a
knife, and not a whip, had been used. A good driver can deliver his
stroke with equal certainty upon the furthest ox, or upon those that
are just beneath him, and so well are the oxen aware of this, that the
mere whistle of the plaited cord through the air, or the sharp crack of
its lash, will cause every ox in the team to bend itself to its work,
as if it felt the stinging blow across its back, and the hot blood
trickling down its sides.
But the driver will not condescend to guide the animals, that task
being considered the lowest to which a human being can be put, and
which is in consequence handed over to a Hottentot boy, or, preferably,
to a Bosjesman. The “fore-louper’s” business is to walk just in front
of the leading oxen, and to pick out the track which is most suitable
for the wheels. There is now before me a beautiful photograph of a
harnessed wagon, with the driver on his seat, and the fore-louper in
his place in front of the oxen. He is a very little man, about four
feet six inches in height, and, to judge from his face, may be of any
age from sixteen to sixty.
How the fore-louper will sometimes behave, if he thinks that his master
is not an experienced traveller, may be seen from the following account
by a traveller who has already been quoted: “My ‘leader’ (as the boy
is called who leads the two front oxen of the span), on my first wagon
journey, was a Bushman: he was about four feet high, and decidedly
the ugliest specimen of the human race I ever beheld, without being
deformed in body or limbs; the most prominent feature in his face was
the mouth, with its huge, thick, sensual lips. The nose could scarcely
be called a projection; at all events, it was far less distinguishable
in the outline of the side face than the mouth; it was an inverted (or
concave) Roman,--that is to say, the bridge formed a curve inward; the
nostrils were very wide and open, so that you seemed, by means of them,
to look a considerable distance into his head.
“With regard to the eyes, I am guilty of no exaggeration when I assert
that you could not see the eyeballs at all as you looked at his
profile, but only the hollows which contained them; it was like looking
at a mask when the eyes of the wearer are far removed from the orifices
cut for them in the pasteboard. The cheek-bones were immense, the
cheeks thin and hollow; the forehead was low and shelving--in fact, he
could scarcely be said to have a forehead at all. He was two or three
shades from being black, and he had even less hair on his head than his
countrymen generally; it was composed of little tight woolly knots,
with a considerable space of bare skin between each.
“So much for the young gentleman’s features. The expression was
diabolically bad, and his disposition corresponded to it. I firmly
believe that the little wretch would have been guilty of any villany,
or any cruelty, for the mere love of either. I found the only way
to keep him in the slightest control was to inspire him with bodily
fear--no easy task, seeing that his hide was so tough that your arms
would ache long before you produced any keen sense of pain by thrashing
him.
“On one occasion the wagon came to the brow of a hill, when it was
the duty of the leader to stop the oxen, and see that the wheel was
well locked. It may readily be imagined that a wagon which requires
twelve oxen to draw it on level ground could not be held back by _two_
oxen in its descent down a steep hill, unless with the wheel locked.
My interesting Bushman, however, whom I had not yet offended in any
manner, no sooner found himself at the top of the hill, than he let
go the oxen with a yell and ‘whoop,’ which set them off at a gallop
down the precipitous steep. The wagon flew from side to side of the
road, destined, apparently, to be smashed to atoms every moment,
together with myself, its luckless occupant. I was dashed about, almost
unconscious of what could be the cause, so suddenly had we started on
our mad career. Heaven only knows how I escaped destruction, but we
positively reached the bottom of the hill uninjured.
“The Bushman was by the wagon-side in an instant, and went to his place
at the oxen’s heads as coolly and unconcernedly as if he had just
performed part of his ordinary duties. The Hottentot driver, on the
contrary, came panting up, and looking aghast with horror at the fear
he had felt. I jumped out of the wagon, seized my young savage by the
collar of his jacket, and with a heavy sea-cowhide whip I belabored
him with all my strength, wherein, I trust, the reader will think me
justified, as the little wretch had made the most barefaced attempt
on my life. I almost thought my strength would be exhausted before I
could get a sign from the young gentleman that he felt my blows, but at
length he uttered a yell of pain, and I knew he had had enough. Next
day I dropped him at a village, and declined his further services.”
Missionaries have tried their best to convert the Bosjesman to
Christianity, and have met with as little success as those who have
endeavored to convert him to civilization. Indeed, the former almost
presupposes some amount of the latter, and, whatever may be done by
training up a series of children, nothing can be done with those who
have once tasted of the wild ways of desert life.
The dress of the Bosjesman bears some resemblance to that of the
Hottentot, but is, if possible, even more simple. Like the Hottentot,
the Bosjesman likes to cover his head, and generally wears a headdress
made of skin. Sometimes he pulls out the scanty tufts of hair to their
fullest extent--an inch at the most--and plasters them with grease
until they project stiffly from the head. Sometimes also he shaves
a considerable portion of the head, and rubs red clay and grease so
thickly into the remaining hair that it becomes a sort of felt cap. To
this odd headdress he suspends all kinds of small ornaments, such as
beads, fragments of ostrich shells, bright bits of metal, and other
objects.
When a Bosjesman kills a bird, he likes to cut off the head, and fasten
that also to his hair-cap in such a manner that the beak projects over
his forehead. Mr. Baines mentions two Bosjesmans, one of whom wore the
head of a secretary bird, and the other that of a crow. One of these
little men seemed to be rather a dandy in his costume, as he also wore
a number of white feathers, cut short, and stuck in his hair, where
they radiated like so many curl-papers.
As for dress, as we understand the word, all that the Bosjesman cares
for is a kind of small triangular apron, the broad end of which is
suspended to the belt in front, and the narrow end passed between the
legs and tucked into the belt behind. Besides this apron, if it may be
so called, the Bosjesman has generally a kaross, or mantle, made from
the skin of some animal. This kaross is generally large enough to hang
to nearly the feet when the wearer is standing upright, and its chief
use is as an extemporized bed. Like the Hottentot, the Bosjesman rolls
himself up in his kaross when he sleeps, gathering himself together
into a very small compass, and thus covering himself completely with a
mantle which would be quite inadequate to shelter a European of equal
size.
As to the women, their dress very much resembles that of the Hottentot.
They wear a piece of skin wrapped round their heads, and the usual
apron, made of leather cut into narrow thongs. They also have the
kaross, which is almost exactly like that of the men. These are the
necessities of dress, but the female sex among this curious race are
equally fond of finery with their more civilized sisters. Having but
little scope for ornament in the apron and kaross, they place the
greater part of their decoration on the head, and ornament their hair
and countenances in the most extraordinary way. Water, as has been
already observed, never touches their faces, which are highly polished
with grease, so that they shine in the sunbeams with a lustre that is
literally dazzling. To their hair they suspend various small ornaments,
like those which have been mentioned as forming part of the men’s
dress. Among these ornaments, the money-cowrie is often seen, and is
much valued, because this shell does not belong to the coast, but is
used as money, and is thus passed over a very great portion of Southern
Africa as a sort of currency.
[Illustration: (1.) GRAPPLE PLANT. (See page 214.)]
[Illustration: (2.) WOMAN AND CHILD. (See page 249.)]
[Illustration: (3.) HOTTENTOTS ASLEEP. (See page 233.)]
[Illustration: (4.) BOSJESMAN QUIVER AND ARROWS. (See pages 257, 261.)]
[Illustration: (5.) FRONTLET. (See pages 225, 249.)]
A curious and very inconvenient ornament is mentioned by Burchell, and
the reader will see that it bears some resemblance to the frontlet
which is drawn on page 247. The girl who was wearing it had evidently
a great idea of her own attractions, and indeed, according to the
writer, she had some grounds for vanity. She had increased the power of
her charms by rubbing her whole dress and person thickly with grease,
while her arms and legs were so loaded with leathern rings, that she
evidently had an admirer who was a successful hunter, as in no other
way could she obtain these coveted decorations. Her hair was clotted
with red ochre, and glittering with sibilo, while her whole person was
perfumed with buchu.
Her chief ornament, however, was a frontlet composed of three oval
pieces of ivory, about as large as sparrow’s eggs, which were suspended
from her head in such a way that one fell on her nose, and the other
two on her cheeks. As she spoke, she coquettishly moved her head from
side to side, so as to make these glittering ornaments swing about in
a manner which she considered to be very fascinating. However, as the
writer quaintly observes, “her vanity and affectation, great as they
were, did not, as one may sometimes observe in both sexes in other
countries, elate her, or produce any alteration in the tone of her
voice, for the astonishing quantity of meat which she swallowed down,
and the readiness with which she called out to her attendants for more,
showed her to be resolved that no squeamishness should interfere on
this occasion.”
As is the case with the Hottentots, the Bosjesman female is slightly
and delicately formed while she is young, and for a few years is almost
a model of symmetry. But the season of beauty is very short, and in
a few years after attaining womanhood the features are contracted,
sharpened, and wrinkled, while the limbs look like sticks more than
arms and legs of a human being. The illustration No. 2 on page 247,
which represents a Bosjesman woman with her child, will give a good
idea of the appearance which these people present. Even naturally,
the bloom of youth would fade quickly, but the decay of youth is
accelerated by constant hardships, uncertain supply of food, and a
total want of personal cleanliness. The only relic of beauty that
remains is the hand, which is marvellously small and delicate, and
might be envied by the most refined lady in civilized countries, and
which never becomes coarse or disfigured by hard work.
The children of the Bosjesmans are quite as repulsive in aspect as
their elders, though in a different manner, being as stupendously thick
in the body as their elders are shapelessly thin. Their little eyes,
continually kept nearly closed, in order to exclude the sandflies,
look as if they had retreated into the head, so completely are they
hidden by the projecting cheek-bones, and the fat that surrounds them.
Their heads are preternaturally ugly, the skull projecting exceedingly
behind, and the short woolly hair growing so low down on the forehead
that they look as if they were afflicted with hydrocephalus. In fact,
they scarcely seem to be human infants at all, and are absolutely
repulsive, instead of being winning or attractive. They soon quit this
stage of formation, and become thin-limbed and pot-bellied, with a
prodigious fall in the back, which is, in fact, a necessary consequence
of the other deformity.
It is astonishing how soon the little things learn to lead an
independent life. At a few months of age they crawl on the sand like
yellow toads of a larger size than usual, and by the time that they
are a year old they run about freely, with full use of arms as well as
legs. Even before they have attained this age, they have learned to
search for water bulbs which lie hidden under the sand, and to scrape
them up with their hands and a short stick. From eight to fourteen
seems to be the age at which these people are most attractive. They
have lost the thick shapelessness of infancy, the ungainliness of
childhood, and have attained the roundness of youth, without having
sunk into the repulsive attributes of age. At sixteen or seventeen they
begin to show marks of age, and from that time to the end of their life
seem to become more and more repulsive. At the age when our youths
begin to assume the attributes of manhood, and to exhibit finely-knit
forms and well-developed muscles, the Bosjesman is beginning to show
indications of senility. Furrows appear on his brow, his body becomes
covered with wrinkles, and his abdomen falls loosely in successive
folds. This singularly repulsive development is partly caused by the
nature of the food which he eats, and of the irregularity with which he
is supplied. He is always either hungry, or gorged with food, and the
natural consequence of such a mode of life is the unsightly formation
which has been mentioned. As the Bosjesman advances in years, the
wrinkles on his body increase in number and depth, and at last his
whole body is so covered with hanging folds of loose skin, that it is
almost impossible for a stranger to know whether he is looking at a man
or a woman.
It has already been mentioned that the eyes of the Bosjesman are small,
deeply sunken in the head, and kept so tightly closed that they are
scarcely perceptible. Yet the sight of the Bosjesman is absolutely
marvellous in its penetration and precision. He needs no telescope, for
his unaided vision is quite as effective as any ordinary telescope, and
he has been known to decide upon the precise nature of objects which a
European could not identify, even with the assistance of his glass.
This power of eyesight is equalled by the delicacy of two other senses,
those of hearing and smell. The Bosjesman’s ear catches the slightest
sound, and his mind is instantly ready to take cognizance of it. He
understands the sound of the winds as they blow over the land, the cry
of birds, the rustling of leaves, the hum of insects, and draws his
own conclusions from them. His wide, flattened nostrils are equally
sensitive to odors, and in some cases a Bosjesman trusts as much to his
nose as to his eyes.
Yet these senses, delicate as they may be, are only partially
developed. The sense of smell, for example, which is so sensitive to
odors which a civilized nose could not perceive, is callous to the
abominable emanations from his own body and those of his comrades,
neither are the olfactory nerves blunted by any amount of pungent
snuff. The sense of taste seems almost to be in abeyance, for the
Bosjesman will eat with equal relish meat which has been just killed,
and which is tough, stringy, and juiceless, or that which has been
killed for several days, and is in a tolerably advanced state of
putrefaction. Weather seems to have little effect on him, and the
sense of pain seems nearly as blunt as it is in the lower animals, a
Bosjesman caring nothing for injuries which would at once prostrate any
ordinary European.