every species, in the bays and along the coasts. During the winter season, whales, porpoises, and sharks enter the bays; and seals and penguins frequent various parts of the coast.

The domestic cattle of Europe are all found here, altered, however, in many respects. The horse is smaller but very hardy, while the ox is large horned and clumsy in proportions; but the beef is excellent. The sheep

are long-legged, small bodied, thin in front, and have all their fat collected about the hind quarters. The general weight of the sheep is from 40 to 60 pounds, and the wool, if it may be so called, is a strong frizzled hair, which drops off in September and October, and is scarcely fit even for stuffing cushions. Merinos are now being extensively introduced. The Namaquas possess the handsomest and most vigorous breeds of domestic animals in South Africa. The oxen are equally strong as those of the colony, but are trained into three different classes: beasts of burden and draught, saddle oxen, and war oxen. The saddle oxen are much superior to the horse in supporting fatigue. The war oxen are peculiar to this nation; they are chosen from the most savage and ungovernable, and being driven against the enemy rush on them like wild bulls;-they will even attack wild beasts.

Of the white inhabitants of Southern Africa, the most numerous are the original European settlers, or their descendants, termed Africanders, and consist chiefly of Dutch, with a small intermixture of French Protestant refugees who left their country after the revocation of the edict of Nantes. In physical structure the Cape Dutchmen are a fine race; in some districts their stature and strength are gigantic; particularly on the frontiers, where little vegetable food is consumed, and where mutton stewed in sheep's-tail fat is the principal food throughout the year. In mental attainments they are by no means deficient, when they are educated in youth, and when a proper stimulus is given to the development of their talents. In the interior of the country corpulence is one of the chief beauties of a Dutch housewife; and the men are distinguished alike for their hospitality and bravery. Those who live by grazing, termed Vee Boors, are now the most numerous, and, probably, the wealthiest class. A numerous colony of British settlers was established in Uitenhage, Somerset, and Albany, on the eastern frontier of the colony in 1820. The other British colonists are principally confined to Capetown, or engaged in trade at different stations.

The liberated slaves form the next most numerous caste. They amount to 35,000, and may be divided into three classes: Malays, Negroes, and Africanders; the last being a mixed race, descended from a European man and a Malay or negro woman. These classes keep themselves perfectly distinct, and will not intermarry. Many of them are nominally Christians; but the prevailing creed of the Malays is Islamism.

The HOTTENTOTs, the aborigines of the country, are the next in number, but the least in importance and social worth, in the opinion of many of the colonists. At present, after two centuries of oppression, they probably do not amount to 30,000. When young they are clean-limbed, and well proportioned; with joints, hands, and feet remarkably small. In some the nose is flat, in others it is raised; the eyes are of deep chestnut color, very long, narrow, and distant from each other. The eyelids are rounded into each other exactly like those of the Chinese. Their complexion is a clear olive or yellowish brown; and the hair of the head grows in hard, knotted tufts, and when left to grow, hangs on the neck in hard twisted, fringe-like tassels. Their cheek bones are high and prominent, forming, with a narrow

pointed chin nearly a triangle; their teeth are small, and exquisitely enamelled. The tending of cattle is their principal occupation in the colony; and for this purpose they hire themselves to the farmers. Their fidelity and honesty, when well treated, entitle them to rank with any Europeans. Their habits of life, however, are filthy and slovenly. Their villages, or kraals, form a confused mass of little conical huts, reared of twigs and earth, and so low that the inmates cannot stand upright. They carry on various little manufactures, such as tanning and dressing skins, forming mats of flags and bulrushes, bowstrings from the sinews of animals, and even moulding iron into knives. Several varieties of the Hottentot race exist on the skirts of the colony, under the names of Korannas, Bosjesmans, Namaquas, Damaras, and Griquas or Bastards.

The Korannas or Koras are a nomadic people of mild character, occupying the country along the banks of the Gariep, and are divided into a number of independent tribes. They appear to be a mixture between the Hottentots and the Caffres. They dress in sheep-skins, and their food consists of curdled milk, supplied by their cows, which they seldom or never kill, aided by berries, locusts, and game. A wild superstition supplies the place of religion.

The Bosjesmans or Bushmen, probably the aborigines of South Africa, are now reduced to a very small number. They are short in stature, but well made; of an olive color, resembling the hue of a faded beech-leaf; their eyes are very small, deep-seated, roguish, and twinkling incessantly; their lips thick and projecting; and their nose small and depressed. In cold weather a skin is used for covering, and a mat, placed on two sticks over a hole in the earth, serves as a house. Their weapon is a poisoned arrow, which inflicts a certain and speedy death. They are adepts in stealing cattle and sheep; and consequently many of the Dutch border farmers used to hunt them like wild beasts, and even to boast of the number they had killed. Their language seems to consist of a collection of disagreeable hissing sounds, all more or less nasal; but in general they understand a little Dutch. Sorcerers exist among them, and they seem to have a name for the Supreme Being; but of their religion it is difficult to obtain information. All efforts to preserve the remnant of the Bushmen seem to be abortive. They are to be found chiefly between the Gariep and the northern borders of the colony.

The Namaquas are a pastoral people, inhabiting the country on both sides of the Gariep towards the sea-coast. They differ little from the Korannas in their habits; like them they live chiefly on milk, and lead a migratory life. Their country is, for the most part, an extensive plain; the climate is hot and dry, and the thermometer, in the summer months, rises so high as 1200 Fahrenheit.

The Damaras dwell along the coast, to the north of Namaqualand, and by some travellers are believed to be of the Caffre race. Their country is considered fertile; they grow various kinds of pulse; but flocks and herds form their principal wealth. They manufacture copper ornaments of a rude kind; and are associated in large villages, which are substantially built. Their weapons are the bow and arrow and the assagais.

The Griquas are spread along the banks of the Gariep, about the middle of its course, for 700 miles, and are in number from 15,000 to 20,000, of whom about 5,000 are armed with muskets. They are a mixed race, produced by the intercourse of Dutchmen with Hottentot women, on which account the Dutch colonists call them Bastards. They evince a bold,

warlike, and industrious disposition; possess numerous flocks and herds, with many excellent horses. Their principal settlement is at Griquatown or Klaarwater (480 miles N. E. of Capetown,) where the elders of the people reside, and conduct the affairs of the tribe, aided by two or three excellent missionaries, who are, in South Africa, the pioneers of civili

zation.

The CAFFERS, KAFFIRS, or CAFFRES, live along the coast to the east of the colony, and extend to a considerable distance inland. Caffre or Infidel is a term of reproach applied to all the people of South Africa by the Moslem inhabitants farther north. They have themselves no general name, and do not form one political community; but are divided into races and tribes, known by the various names of Amakosas or Amaxosas, Amatembous, Amapondas, Amazoulah, and Tambookies. They are supposed to be of Arabian descent; but have no records of their origin. With the exception of the woolly hair, the Caffres have no resemblance to the Hottentots or negroes; for, though their color is a dark brown, nearly black, yet their features are regular, with an Asiatic cast, and their forms symmetrical; the men, in particular, being of a fair average height, and extremely well proportioned. The head is not, generally, longer than that of a European; the frontal and the occipital bones form nearly semicircles; and the profile of the face is, in some instances, as finely rounded and as convex as that of a Greek or Roman. The women are of a short stature, very strong-limbed and muscular; and they attribute the keeping up of the standard of the men, to their frequent intermarriages with strangers, whom they purchase of the neighboring tribes; the barter of cattle for young women forming one of the principal articles of their trade. They are remarkably cheerful, frank, and animated, place implicit confidence in visitors, and use every means to entertain them. In the warm season they prefer a state of nudity, with a scanty apron; but in winter they use cloaks of wild beast skins admirably curried. Their arms are javelins, short clubs, and large shields of buffalo hides; but their intestine wars, which often arise about disputed pasture-ground, are generally decided without much bloodshed. They never wear a covering for the head even in the hottest weather, and seldom use any kind of shoes, unless during a long journey, when they strap a kind of leather sole to the foot. Both sexes have their bodies tattooed, especially on the shoulders; and young men who wish to pass for dandies, paint their skins red, and curl their hair into small distinct knots like peas. They have no towns; but their kraals or villages generally consist of about a dozen of huts, like those of the Korannas; in these, however, they spend little of their time; for the climate is so fine that they live chiefly in the open air, and it is only at night, or in bad weather, or during sickness, that they remain within doors. The sites of the villages and the cattle folds are chosen with reference to the pasture grounds, as the increase and maintenance of their herds and flocks seem to be their only and unceasing care. Their diet is very simple, consisting principally of milk in a sour curdled state. Horses have been lately introduced among them; sheep and goats have also multiplied exceedingly. No regular system of idolatry exists among them; but they are much addicted to sorcery, spells, and charms, and some scattered traces may even be found of the remains of religious institutions. The men are brave and warlike, but seldom engage in war; their principal occupation is that of herdsmen, in which they cannot be excelled. Their government is that of hereditary chieftains, who are legislators as well as judges; but they assemble, occa

sionally, the elders of the tribes as a kind of jury, and also permit them a voice in their decisions. Their laws are few, simple, and easily understood. Murder, adultery, sorcery, and theft are the most frequent crimes; but murder is seldom punished with death, the murderer being generally fined in proportion to the importance of the person slain. Polygamy is allowed. The BETCHUANAS, who inhabit the country to the north of the Gariep, are superior to the Caffres in arts and civilization. They have large towns; their houses are well built, and remarkable for neatness; they cultivate the ground, and store the grain for winter consumption. Their features are more European than those of the Caffres, and often beautiful; their complexion is a brightish brown. Proceeding north-eastward, the traveller finds industry and civilization increasing at every step, and beyond the Murutsi, the last of the Betchuana tribes are the NAQUAINAS, a numerous and powerful nation, equalling the Murutsi in industry, and far surpassing them in wealth and numbers. They are known to all the southern tribes, as the people from whom all other nations receive their iron and copper wares. All, indeed, of the South African tribes to the south of Inhambané habitually regard each other as members of the same family; they are, as they express it, one people, and, unless when war disturbs their harmony, mingle together without fear or mistrust. The industrious tribes of the interior are not insensible to gain; the mercantile character is fully developed among them; and they think of nothing, says Mr. Campbell, but beads and cattle. Their trade may be traced from Delagoa Bay on the eastern, to Whale-fish bay on the western coast; and from Latakoo northwards to the Zambeze. The most southern tribe of the Betchuanas is the Batclapis, whose chief town is Litakoo or Latakoo, situate about 27° 6′ S. latitude, 24° 40′ E. longitude, with a population variously estimated at from 4,000 to 10,000. Its situation, however, has been several times changed within the present century; and Kruman, or New Latakoo, is the principal missionary station. Eastward from the Batclapis are the Tammahas, whose chief town is Mashow, 190 miles, or thereabouts, E. N. E. from Latakoo, and containing about 10,000 or 12,000 inhabitants. North-east of the Tammahas are the Murutsi, whose chief town is Kurrichane, about four times the size of Latakoo. West or north-west of the Murutsi are the Wankitsi.

The ZOOLAHS, or ZULUS, who live to the south-westward of Delagoa Bay, and round Port Natal, are a remarkably neat, intelligent, and industrious people, rich in cattle, cultivating a fine country, and inhabiting large towns. They were originally few in number; but have spread their conquests over a large territory, and now form a nation composed of all kinds of tribes. They are, generally speaking, of a more ferocious character than the southern Caffres, and also more powerful; but there is now a desert tract of 180 miles interposed between the Zoolahs and the Amapondas. Of late years, however, a great number of Dutch boors and farmers, discontented with the British government of the colony, have passed the frontiers to the north-east, and, after fighting their way through the intervening tribes, have established themselves, as an independent people, in the country of the Zoolahs, at Port Natal. Their chief town is Pietermauritzburg.

SPERANZA, OR CAPE COLONY.

THE portion of South Africa occupied by the colony of the Cape of Good Hope, consists of the most southern part of the continent, from VOL. II.

43

the river of Port Natal on the east coast, and the Gariep or Orange River on the west, including part of Caffraria, recently annexed. This country, on its north line, from east to west, is about 700 miles wide, and in depth, from north to south, from 330 to 500-least depth in the central parts, being there bounded by the third range of mountains. The whole contains an area of about 280,000 square miles.

The settled portions of the colonial territory are divided into two provinces, named the Western and Eastern, the latter of which is under the jurisdiction of a Commissioner-General. These provinces are subdivided into districts; but, as we have no general returns since 1836, it is useless to repeat the details of their statistics, as it is probable that many changes have since taken place. At that period the area of the colony was stated at 110,256 square miles; and the population, 150,110, of which 51,463 were negroes. Since then the population has been much increased from immigration, and the accession of a large territory on the east coast, by which the amount is probably, at the present time, at least 250,000.

The affairs of the colony are administered by a Governor, who resides at Capetown, aided by an Executive Council, which is composed of the Commander of the Forces, the Chief-Justice, the Auditor-General, Treasurer, Accountant-General, and Secretary to Government. There is also a Legislative Council, appointed by the British Home Government. The eastern districts have been lately placed under the superintendence of a Commissioner-General, who resides at Uitenhage. Each district or drostdy has a civil commissioner, who acts also as a resident magistrate, and is aided by a number of unpaid justices of peace; a district is subdivided into a number of smaller divisions called veld-cornetcies, over each of which a veldcornet, a sort of petty magistrate, presides. He receives no salary, but is exempt from all direct taxes.

When the Cape became a British Colony the Dutch civil and criminal laws were in operation; but these, particularly the latter, have undergone considerable modification. The laws are administered by a Supreme Court, consisting of one Chief and two Puisne Justices; and for the better execution of the law, sheriffs and deputy-sheriffs of districts have been appointed since 1823.

There is a variety of creeds among the Christian part of the population; the most numerous body being the Calvinists, or adherents of the Dutch Reformed Church. Missionary Societies have also been long laboring in the attempt to convert the Hottentots and Caffres, and in some places have met with considerable success.

Corn, wine, wool, provisions, oil, aloes, and fruits, are the staples of this fine colony; but many other articles are either produced in the colony or obtained from the neighboring nations. There is an annual exportation of corn to a considerable amount, which brings, as flour, a higher price at the Mauritius and other markets than the best American. Barley, oats, and Indian corn, thrive well; the last is admirably adapted for fattening swine, the export of which, in the shape of hams, bacon, and salt pork, is yearly increasing. Two crops of potatoes are raised during the year, which are of a succulent yet mealy quality; and the nutritive property of every article of provision is abundantly exemplified in the fat and healthy appearance of the people. Wine has long been a staple export. The culture of the vine was introduced by the French Protestant refugees, and wherever the quality has been attended to, the wine produced is equal to that prepared in any other part of the world; but the vine-growers have, unfortunately, been