observable. In one quarter, the hunters, preparing for an excursion
higher up the river, were seen, some cleaning their guns and casting
bullets ; some buckling on their pouch and powder-horn ; and others
saddling their oxen or horses ; mounting with an alacrity, gaily anticipating
their success, and promising their wives and children a
plentiful feast at their return : * then, whistling their dogs around
them; briskly trotting off, and calling to their companions to follow
without delay, they brushed through the thicket, and mounting the
high bank, presently rode out of sight.
In another quarter, sitting by the side of their waggons, the
wooden-bowl makers displayed their workmanship and industry,
busily intent on carving out bowls and jugs *, from the green wood
of the willow; while at a distance a large willow tree was just
falling to the ground, hacked through by hatchets, so weak and
small, that nothing but perseverance and much time could enable
them with such tools, to sever trunks above a foot or eighteen
inches in diameter. These were cut into convenient lengths, according
to the utensil intended to be made; and the soft, tough
nature of the wood, rendered it peculiarly fit for the purpose. After
the rough log had been chopped with the hatchet or adze, nearly to
* The above figures are representations of the Hottentot hatchet, the bowl, the ju g
or bambus, and the knife used for hollowing out the inside.
These may be considered as some of the aboriginal utensils of the Hottentots.
Hatchets of this form are truly African, and are seen in general use with all the tribes of
tbe Interior, as-far as I penetrated. Their adze, and their mattock, differ from this only
by their greater size, and by the position of the edge of the iron being transverse instead
of longitudinal.
the required shape, a common knife was the only tool employed to
smooth and completé the outside; and another knife, having its top
bent laterally into a semi-circular hook, was used with great dexterity
and neatness to hollow out the inside. As soon as this was done, the
whole was thoroughly smeared with fat, to prevent it splitting from
the heat and dryness of the weather. The bowls are of various sizes,
but most frequently from twelve to eighteen inches across, shallow
and mostly oval. The jug, or jar, which they call a bambus, is made
in the form of a short cylinder, having the mouth or neck contracted
generally to about two-thirds. Their most usual capacity is about a
gallon, but they are made of all sizes, from a pint to five gallons.
Some of our party built themselves huts of green boughs, covered
with grass and rushes; and a large and safe enclosure for
the cattle was made with the thorny branches of Acacia, which, for
this purpose, are preferable to every other fence; and, beset in every
direction with long sharp thorns, equally well prevent their escape,
and keep out invaders, whether men<or beasts of prey.
The intelligence of our arrival was, by means of their spies,
quickly spread among the natives; and fourteen Bushmen, from a
kraal several miles beyond the other side of the river, paid us a
visit early this morning. They were nearly all of a mixed race of
Bushman, Kora, and Bichuana descent. Their language was quite
different from that of the inhabitants of the district of the Karree
mountains; and I was assured that the variety of language amongst
the Bushman race is so great, that neighbouring kraals often speak
dialects so different as not to be understood without difficulty. I
cannot, however, assert this from my own knowledge; for depending
on Hottentot interpreters, I am rather inclined to believe
that the degree of variation in the Bushman language is somewhat
exaggerated by them. Yet, as I have found the same remark made
by every Hottentot whom I have questioned on the subject, I have
no doubt that such is the fact, although not perhaps to so extraordinary
a degree as they represent. The language of these men was
so abundant in claps, that it seemed as if almost every word was
accompanied by this strange noise; and which oft times occurred