pontain a crooked or an imperfed mind. Judging the mind of
a Kaffer by fu;h a rule, it could not be pronounced deficient
in talent/ The experiment of giving him a fuitable education
has not yet been made; but there are perhaps no unlettered
people on the face of the earth whofe manners and opinions
have more the appearance o f civilization than thofe of the Kaf-
fers : they are no contemptible artifans. Though they have no
knowledge of fmelting iron from the ore, yet when it comes to
their hands in a malleable ftate, they can thape it to their pur-
pofe with wonderful dexterity.: Every man is his own artift.
A piece of ftone ferves for his. hammer, and another for the
anvil, and with thefe alone he will finiih a fpear, or a chain, or
a metallic bead that would not difgrace the town of Birmingham.
The lhafts o f their fpears are alfo neatly made. Many
of the ornaments o f copper and iron, with which they adorn
their heads, are far from being void of tafte. The article that
furniihes their drefs is prepared and put together with fome
degree o f ingenuity. Calves’ ikins only are ufed for this pur-
pofe : when taken from the animal they are fixed to the ground
with wooden pegs, extended as far as they will bear, and well
fcraped, fo that no part of the fleih remains upon them. As
foon as they are fufficiently dry to have loft the power o f con-
tradion, they are beaten with ftones till they become foft and
pliant. In this ftate the interior fide is fcraped with iharp
ftones, and fmeared with red ochre, till a nap, like that on
cloth, is raifed over the whole furface v> they are then cut into
proper fliapes, and fewed together exadly in the fame mariner
that the ihoemakers o f Europe ftitch together two pieces'of ■
'leather. Their bodkin is a piece of polilhed iron, and the
thread
thread is the fibres of the tendons of the long dorfal mufcle
taken from various animals ; thofe in a wild ftate are preferred,
as furniihing a much ftronger thread than fuch as are domefti-
cated. The Hottentots few together their (heep-ikins with the
fame material; and the colonifts, following the example of the
natives, have recourfe to the fame article as a fubftitute for
flaxen thread, which, when the Engliih took pofleflion of the
fettlement, bore an advance in price of a thoufand per cent.
The progrefs of their agriculture, as obferved by the king,
has lately been checked by internal dilfentions, and the
encroachments ■ of a rival power. They feem however to
be much more: inclined to the paftoral than the agricultural
life,— a circumftance which will retard their advancement in
civilization. The one finds leifure to fit down and refled ; the
other is never ftationary, but wandering from place to place in
iearch of food for the cattle. The chace employs the greateft
portion of the time they have to fpate. In the Kaffer country
the larger fort of game, particularly the elephant and the buffalo,
are become very fcarce; and not an oftrich nor a fpringbok
is now to be found there. Thefe two animals, keeping gerie-
rally upon the plains, and avoiding the woods, were eafiiy
enclofed by the numerous hunting parties, and deftroyed. The
elephant and the buffalo fell alfo in the woods by the Haffagai,
but more frequently by deep pits made in the ground acrofs the
paths that led to their ufual haunts. In this manner they fome-
times took the hippopotamus ; but the ufual gait of this animal,
when not difturbed, is fo cautious and flow that he generally
fmelt the fnare that was laid for him, and avoided it. The
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