who are not entirely naked, have hit upon a lefs effectual one
for fuch a purpofe than that of the Hottentot. If the real intent
of it was the promotion of decency, it ihould feem that he
has widely miffed his aim, as it is certainly one of the moil im-
modeft objefls, in fuch a fituation as he places it, that could
have been contrived. From the back part of the belt or girdle
hangs a piece of ftiff dried ikin, reaching fcarcely to the middle
o f the thigh, cut into the ihape of an acute ifofceles triangle
with the point uppermoft. Some wear a couple of fuch pieces.
This contrivance is no better covering than the other; for
when he walks quickly or mutters up a running pace, it flies
from one fide to the other, and flaps backwards and forwards
in fuch a manner as to conceal no particular part. This indeed
does not feem to have been the purpofe exa£tly for which
it has been contrived. Nature having given to moft animals a
tail to fan themfelves in hot weather and to laih away trouhle-
fome infefts, and having left the Hottentot without one, he has
adopted an artificial one to anfwer the fame end. Thefe con-
ftitute the whole of their fummer drefs. A great beau will
probably fatten a bracelet of beads or a ring of copper round
his wrift : but fuch are more properly ornaments belonging to
the other fex.
The Hottentot women, fond o f finery like tbofe of moft nations,
by their immoderate rage for drefs accelerated the ruin
of their hufbands, which they themfelves had brought on by as
ftrong a rage for ardent fpirits and tobacco. Thefe two
articles and glafs beads were exchanged for their cattle— things
ufelefs, worthlefs, and even pernicious, for what was their only
fupport,
fupport, the foul of their exiftence. The thongs of dried ikins
that had encircled their legs from the ankle to the knee, as a
protedion againft the bite of poifonous animals, were now de-
fpifed and thrown away, and beads were fubftituted in their
place. Thus what had been adopted as a matter of necefiity
and prudence patted into an affair of faihion. Their necks,
arms, and legs were loaded with glafs beads : but the largeft
and moft fplendid of thefe ornaments were bellowed upon the
little apron, about feven or eight inches wide, that hangs from
the waift and reaches barely to the middle of the thigh. Great
pains feem to be taken by the women to attrad notice towards
this part of their perfons. Large metal buttons, fhells of the
cyprtea genus with the apertures outwards, or any thing that
makes a great ihew, are fattened to the borders- of this apron.
Thofe who either cannot afford to wear glafs beads, or have no
tafte for the faihion, wear an apron o f a different fort, which
has a very odd appearance : it is the ikin of an animal cut into
threads that hang in a bunch between the thighs, reaching
about half-way to the knee; the exterior and anterior parts of
the thigh are entirely bare. The threads of fuch an apron are
frequently too thin and few to anfwer the purpofe of concealment.
Inftead of the tail worn by the men, the women have a
iheep’s ikin that entirely covers the pofterior part of the body
from the waift to the calf of the leg, and juft wide enough to
ftrike the exterior part of the thigh. The rattling of this hard
and dry ikin announces the approach of a Hottentot lady long
before ihe makes her appearance. The reft of the body is
naked. Some, however, wear ikin-caps on their heads made
up into different ihapes, and ornamented as caprice may direift.
x 2 In