Evening journal., 1898-11-18
SOUTH AFRICAN RACES.
The widely Different Characteristics
OF the Gnriepines and
the BantuH.

RHAANHt
Speaking Of South African native
races, and guided by comparative
philology, we find that there are only
two distinct families Of people in the
whole country. There are very many
subdivisions or clans, but only two dis
tinct races. These have been named
by comparative philologists the
Gariepine family and the Bantu fam
lily. The Gariepine are yellow, light
complexioned people, with oblique
eyes, strongly resembling Chinese or
Alougolians in all matters Of personal
appearance except the hair, which
merely dots the head like bushes in
barren country, and is curly. The old
tribe names are well-nigh disused now
in public returns in the colony.
On the mothers side these colored
people are chiefly Gariepine; but they
probably know no language now ex-
cept Dutch and English. This is GER
tainly true Of the young people. Found
by the first Europeans in possession of
the southwest portion of the con-
tinent, they were pastoral people, and
loved the banks or rivers for their
foclSs and herds. Like some Of the
tribes Of North Asia (whom they
otherwise resemble physically, these
yellow South Africans made their huts
with mats which they spread over
slender bent poles. When as graziers
they wished to move their herds, they
folded up their mats, collected and tied
up the slender poles of their huts, Sc
cured all on the backs Of pack oxen,
and proceeded to their next grazing
grounds, much in the same way as
Tartars and Mongolians are doing to-
day.
Beyond the woody hair which these
two families of Africans have IN com
mon, they are in all other respects
widely different from one another. In
common with Europeans, the yellow
people speak varieties of "sufilx"
language; while in common with the
islanders of the South seas, the Bantu
or dark people speak dialects Of a
prefix" language. The yellow people
are akin 20 North Asia and 20 Europe
not only as speaking sufiix languages,
but also in some OF their ancient GUS
toms. There Is, for instance, the in
teresting fact that among Asiatics as
we'll as Europeans, and from the earli-
est times, the daughter" has been the
"millmad" Of the family, as indeed
the derivation of our word daughter
itself conveys to us.
The ancient custom is the same
among the Gariepine people in South
Africa. 1 have seen the girls OF those
yellow people go forward Of an eye1A
ing TO meet the homecoming COVE
and, deftly throwing a rein CT cord
over their horns. lead them quietly
to the neigbboring tree or pole, and
proceed to milk them. Now in the
same neighborhood, IN village OF the
Bantu people, no woman might enter
the kraal or cattle-pen, or mingle
i with the cattle; Il was forbidden" ac
cording TO their old customs; in short
II was "uncanny."
Again, 70 is well known 10 Chimes,
scholars that there are "tones" n
Chinese; that is, that the height OF
lowness of the tone in which a word 8.
uttered viii decide what Is the mean
ing Of the word. For instance, I am
informed that In Chinese n certain
word, in the first tone, means TO fy;
IN the second tone, TO subsist; in the
third tone, TO swim; and in the fourth
tone, 70 issue. How necessary 20 pitch
ones words Alright in Chinal But
strange TO say, tits equally necessary
IN South Africa, II one is speaking The
old Hottentot or Koranna language
Thus, in the latter language, DR.. Bleel
tells us that a certain word, n pro
nounced in n loud key, means hand
kerchief; the same word, three notes
lower, means the spot, and four notes
lower still, IL stands for the adjectiv,
dark. Beyond the lozenge-shaped eyes
, Of the yellow people, their millsmaids
their sufilx languages, it would seen
that the stones" of their old languag,
complete the proof of their former
connection with North Asia. - Rev
John Mackenzie, in Good Words.