The Sun.
London, England, 1801-08-05 00:00:00

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THE 'HOTTENTOTS%

As the Cape Of Good Hope is
.no.w in our posf:es-
'sion, -we arelikely•to- have a more faithful account
of it than has hitherto appeared. Of the Hotten-
tots we have often heard ; but--as-•these-reo&
feted so much under,the cruelty of the Dutch, it
was not tO be supposed that any authentic atscrip_
tion of their oharaCter and manners would lac given.
by their tyrants Mr.. Bmotoi,V, a very intelligent
and apparently a.very impartial Writer, has lately
published his. "'ravels in Southern, Africa.'• 'From
his Work we extract sonic account "of this unfortu—
nate race ofbeings; which we. dotibt .not will be
'interesting to every -friend of • Humanity, a-3 their
'stiferings will of course bi-._ mitigated under the
mild controul of British ju3tice and benevolence. • •
• " These weak peoi3k., the most helpless, and in
their present condition perhaps. the most wretched.,
of die human race, duped out of their Possessions,
their Country; and finally -out of their Liberty,
have entailed upon their miserable offspring ti state
of existence to whiCh that of Slavery bight bear the
comparison of happinesS. It is a condition,- how-
ever, not likely to continue -to a very remote po-
sterity.. The name of Hottentot will be forgotten,
or remembered only as that of a deceased person of
little note. Their numbers of late years have ra-
•pidly declined., It has generally been observed
that wherever Europeans have coloniied, the lesS,
civilized natives lave always dwindled away, and;
at length, totally disappeared. • Various causes have
contributed to the depopulation of the Hottentots.,
The impolitic custom of :hording together in fami„
lies, and of not marrying out of their own kraals,
has, no doubt, tended to enervate this race of men,
and reduced them to their present degenerated con.:
dition, which is that of a languid, listlesS,,phlegma_
tic people, in whom the prolific powers of nature
seem to be almost exhausted. To this maybe' add;
ed their extreme .poverty, , scantiness of food, and
continual dejeaion of mind, arising from the cruel
treatment they receive from an inhuman and unfeel-
ing peasantry, who haVing discovered themselves to
be removed to too great a distance from the seat of
their former Government to be awed by its autho-
rity, have exercised, in the most wanton and bar-
barous manner, an absolute power over these poor
wretches, reduced.t6 the‘rtiesciVrof deperiding upon.
themfor amorsel ofliitgad;,,' There is scarcely an in-
stake of cruelty said,tbhave been -COnuittedagainst
the Staves in the Weo„lnclia Islands, that .could not
find a parallel from die Dutch Farmers of there-
mote parts of the colOny,, towards the Hottentots in
their- service.. Beating and cutting. them: with
thongs. of the hide of the sea..cotv-cow is
a „gentle punishment, though these -sort ol•whips,
which they call- skamb9s, are most horrid.rinstrU.
mutts, tough, pliant, arid heavy altdost" as lead.
Firing small shot itito the legs and thighs of a
,Hotteotot is a pitnishment.not unknoWn to some of
the. monsters who :inhabit the neighbourhood of
Oaintoos river.. Instant:death is not unfrequently
the-consequence of punishing these poor wretches.
in.a moment 'of rage. This is of little consequence
to. the Faancr ; for though they arc to all intents
and pufposcs his SlaVei, yet they'are not transfer-
able property. It is this circumstance which, in
his mind, makes their- lives less valuable and their
treatment more inhuman.

" In offences of too small moment to stir up the
phlegm of a Dutch peasatit, the coolness and tran-
quillity displayed at the. pnisluncrit cf Slave or
Hottentot is highly ricliculotg; and at the same time
indicative of a savage disposition to unfeeling. cruel-
ty lurking in his heart. He fh+gs them, not by any
giVen.numbcr of lashes, but by time ; and as they
.have no clocks, nor 'substitutc for them capable of
marking the- smaller divisions of time,: he has in-
vented an excuS:: for the it,dulgence` of one of. his
most favorite scnsualities, flogging -them till he
has smoked as many pipes of tobacco .as' he may
judge the magnitude of the crime to deserve. The
Government of Kalacca, according to the .manu-
script journal of ao, intelligent Offiterity the Expe-
dition against that:SettleMent, ha's'adopted: the same
custom of Agging by. pipes and khe Fiscal or Chief
Magistrate, or some of his Deputies, are the Smokers
on such occasions."

(To be c.2ntlxued. )

SHREWSBURY,
_JULY 31.

At our Assizes, which ended on Wednesday last,
eight persons were capitally convicted, and received
sentence of-death ; viz. John Nutts, alias Hay-
ward, indicted at the last Assizes for sheep-stealing,
and found by an" inquisition then taken to be mute
by the visitation of God, and being arraigned on
the same indiament at these assizes, standing mute
again, wasrlow found mute of malice, by, an inquest
of twelve menimpannelled and sworn to inquire for
the purpose. .
Upon John Nutts being put into the condemned
room at the prison. with the other conviets under the
same sentence, Mr. Cartwright about half an hour
afterwards waited upon them, as usual, to inform
them he was just going td the Clerk of the Assize
for the Calendar, and that he suspeEted some of them
would be left to suTer, particularly John Nutts,
when they all went down upon their knees, fervent-
ly praying and hoping for mercy. Mr. C. tellin4
Nutts he had but little to for, as he knew 'the
leurned and merciful Judge had given him to tinder-
stand, if he did not plead to his indktment. the law
must take its full course—Nutts' immediately
plied, " I did,! I did ! Pray God bless ,the Judge !
Oh ! Sir (he exclaimed), but I was advised to do
what I'did !" 1-iis Prrlszaltor saw him afterwards,
of wieom he asked forgiVehess, which was readily.
granted, and, on his.askirig".Nutts, "Do you for.,
give inc ?" t a cons id answered, " I do ! Ido !"
Ntitts receved the awful news of being left for death
with composure, and' has since behaved himself as-
becomes a person in his situation.
Samuel Jones, alias Lawrence, for uttering a se-
cond time counterfeit money, knowing the same to
be false and counterfeit, to be imprisoned for two
years; and to find sureties for his good behaviour for
two years more, to be computed from the end of the
first two years, by a recogLizance to be entered into