The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-12-12

words of the Eastern poet. they come like water.
and, like wind, they go.
HI.
We turn to tho eighth chapter, which Is de-
voted to the natives Of South Africa. The
native races Of this region are, or rather were.
three. and the differences between them are
marked, being differences not only OF physical
appearance and language. but also Of character.
habits, and grade OF civilization. These three
are the Bushmen, the Hottentots, and those
Bantu tribes whom wo call Kaflrs. The Bush
men were, to all appearances, the first on tho
ground, the real aborigines Of South Africa.
They are ono Of the lowest races to be found
anywhere, as low as the Fuegians, or the "black
fellows" of Australia, though. perhaps, not
quite so low as the veddahs Of Ceylon or the now
extinct natives OF Tasmania They seem to
have been scattered originally over all South
Africa, from the Zambcsi to the Cape, and. SO lato
as eighteen years ago, wero almost the only In
habitants of Basutoland. where now none Of
them are left. They were nomads Of the most
primitive type, neither filling the soil nor own
ing cattle. but living on such wild creatures as
thcy could catch or smite with their poisoned
arrows, and, when these failed, upon wild fruits
and the roots of plants. For the tracking and
trapping of game they had q marvellous fac
ulty, such as neither tho other races nor any
European could equal. They had no organize
ton, however, not even q tribal one, for they
wandered about in small groups; and no religion
beyond some vague notion of ghosts and Of
spirits inhabiting or connected with natural
objects; their language was q succession Of
clicks, interrupted by grunts. Very low in
stature and possibly cognate to the pigmies
whom Stanley found in Central Africa, they
were capable of enduring great fatigue and Of
travelling very swiftly. Untamebly fierce, I'M
less caught in childhood, and incapable Of &C
customing themselves to civilized life, driven
| out of some districts by the European settlers,
who were often forced to shoot them down in
self-defence, and, In other regions. no longer
able to find support owing to the disappearance
| ofthe game, they are now almost extinct, though
q few remain in tho Kalahari Desert and
the adjoining parts of northern Bechuana-
land and of western Matabeleland toward
Lake Ngami. 1t is no longer easy to find in the
| Cape Colony q pure specimen. Mr.. Bryce says
that, before many years. the only trace Of their
existence will be in the remarkable drawings of
wild animals with which they delighted 20
cover the smooth surfaces of sheltered rocks.
These rawlings, which are found all the way
from the Zambesi to the Cape, and from Mani.
caland westward, are executed in red and yell
low pigments. and are often full Of spirit. Rude,
of course. they are. but they often convey the
aspect, anu eSpeClally Un0 CuHTdCteTlbUlC aLLi
tude Of an animal with great fidelity.
The second native race In South Africa wal
that which the Dutch called Hottentot, which
tho Portuguese explorers found occupying
the maritime regions in the southwest cor
ner of the continent to the east and north of tn,
Cape of Good Hope. They are supposed to hav,
come from the north and to have dispossesset
tho Bushmen of the grassy coast lands. driving
them into the moro arid interior. OF this, how
ever, there Is no evidence, and some have
fancied that the Hottentot race may have beer
q mixed one. produced by intermarriaee be
tween Bushmen and Kafirs. Be this al
1t may, tho Hottentots were superior
to the Bushmen, both physically and in
tellectually. They were small men indeed, bu
not p.gmies, of a reddish black or yellowisl
black hue, with no great muscular power II
their slender frames. Their hair. very shor
and woolly, grew like that Of the Bushmen. II
mall balls or tufts over tho skull. Just as gras
tufts grow separate from one another in tn
dryer parts Of the Veldt. They possessed sheep
and also CATTLE. lean beasts with huge horns. an
they roamed hither and thither over the cour
try as they could find pasture for their animals
doing a little hunting, but not attempting t
till the soil. and u~nacquainted with the metals
Living in tribes under their chiefs, they fought
little with one another, and a great deal with tn
Bushmen, who tried to prey upon their cattle
They were a thoughtless. cheerful, good nj
tured. merry sort of people, whom it was nc
difficult to domesticate as servants, and thei
relations with the Dutch settlers. In spite of tw
wars. were. on the whole, friendly. Within
century after tho foundation of the CAP
> Colony. their numbers, never large. had vastl
diminished, partly from the occupation by tn
colony of the best grazing ground, but still mol
from the rayages of smallpox and other ep
denies. which ships touching on their way frol
the East Indies brought into the country. ]
A. D. 1913 whole tribes persisted in this wa,
. Mr.. Bryce speaks of the Hottentots in the pal
= tenae for the reason that they are now. as a di
tinct race. almost extinct in the colony, althouR
a good deal of their blood has passt
into the mixed colored population of CAY
. Town and its neiRhborhood; a populate
the other clements of which are Malays fro
d the Dutch East Indies and the descendants
slaves brought from tho west coast of Africa
tho seventeenth and eighteenth %centurie
From unions between Hottentot women and Il
o Dutch sprang the mixed race which the Dut'
called Bastards and the English Griquas, al
which. though now dying out, like the Frent
and Indian half breeds of western Canad
y played. at ono time. a considerable part
10 colonial politics. Along the south bank of Il
Orange River. and to the north of II, In Gre
Namaqua Land, small tribes substantial
N identical with the Hottentots still wander ov
rs the arid Wilderness. In the settled parts of Il
ls colony, however. the Hottentot> of whom ,
G. used to hear 30 much, whom the POrtugue
10 at ono time feared SO much, has vanished mo
IN completely than has the Red Indian from I
Ii Atlantic States of North America. Mr.. Bry