The great skill of the Bushmen in using the bow, had been so
often extolled to me, that I now could not avoid the conclusion,
either, that those accounts had been exaggerated for the purpose of
relating something wonderful; or, that these men had cunningly dissembled
their power with a view of misleading me, should circumstances
ever place me under the necessity of guarding against it. I
incline to the latter opinion, although the former is not altogether
unfounded. .
The heads of all their arrows were covered with a deadly poison;
but they explained, that some were more especially intended to be used
against their enemies, and that others were made only for killing-game.
Many of the men were observed to have lost an eye, but the
cause which they assigned for this, has not been recorded in my journal,
and I will therefore not incur the risk of misleading by any
surmise of my own. The fact is remarkable.
I continued for some time longer strolling about the village from
hut to hut, and from group to group, and was everywhere received with
a friendly and happy countenance. It was to them, as I have already
observed, gratifying to behold a white-man in the midst of their
dwellings, unarmed and unprotected, trusting with unbounded confidence
to their good faith, showing respect to their prejudices and
customs, and, pleased with his new friends, entering, as one of their
own tribe, familiarly into their society. . „
This was the situation in which I had so long been desirous of
placing myself; and an opportunity of viewing these tribes as they
really are, had been one of the principal objects of my wishes. Till
now, imagination only had amused my mind; but here the interesting
reality itself-was before my eyes.
After passing four hours in the kraal, and having collected
a head-full of information, I returned home to deposit the observations
in my journal. There I continued the rest of the day,
employed in this manner; except when visitors came down from the
hill to fetch water: on which occasions, many of them good-naturedly
took their seat by my side; and, in the absence of an interpreter, we
found no small degree of amusement in holding, a conversation by
signs. As, in these dialogues, we must frequently have mistaken each
other’s meaning, information thus obtained was very rarely committed
tp paper: but they had their use, and a very important one, — they
often supplied a source of mirth and good humour, and always contributed
to our mutual confidence. :
In the evening, about eight o’clock, I again went up to the kraal,
having heard from the Hottentots, that these hordes are so fond of
dancing, that scarcely a night passes without some party of that kind at
one or other of the huts. Nor was I disappointed, for in the circle of
houses, most of which were enlivened by a fire, and all quite filled with
people, I soon discovered one of a more busy appearance than the rest.
It was nearly the largest, and contained as many persons, both men and
women, as could find room to seat themselves in a ring, leaving but
space enough in the centre for the dancer to stand in. A fire, just
without the entrance, threw its cheerful light upon this singular
assembly, and was, from time to time, supplied with fuel for the purpose
of keeping up a blaze.
My arrival, though unexpected, did not interrupt their amusement,
or occasion the shortest pause in the dancer’s performance.
He was then wrought up to that high degree of animation and internal
satisfaction, at which he heeded nothing around, and thought
only of himself. The spectators, when I approached, turned their
faces towards me with looks: which plainly spoke how pleased they
were to see me come amongst them ; and I, therefore, in imitation of
their own familiar manner, seated myself down in the circle.
As the size of these huts, does not admit of a person’s standing
upright, even in the largest, the dancer was obliged to support himself
by two- long sticks, which he held in his hands, and which rested
on the ground at as great a distance from each other, as could be
done with convenience. His body was consequently hent forwards
in a position which seemed as constrained, and as unsuited for dancing,
as imagination could devise: but it was not possible for the
motion of the limbs, to be less impeded by clothing, as he wore