“ of Mimofa which conftitutes the principal food of the Ca-
“ melopardalis. We eftimated the city to be, in its circum-
“ ferenee, as large as Cape Town, with all the gardens of Table
“ Valley; but it was impoffible to afcertain the number of
“ houfes, on account of the irregularity of the'ftreets, and low-
“ nefs of the buildings, but concluded they muft amount fome-
“ where between two and three tfaoufand, of the fame kind,
“ but not fo large, as that of the chief. The whole population,
including men, women, and children, we confidered to be
“ from ten to fifteen thoufand fouls. Tracing our route from
“ thelaft place in the Roggeveld, upon Mr. Barrow’s map, and
‘‘ continuing the fame fcale, we calculated the fituation of
“ Leetakoo to be in latitude 26° 30' fouth, and longitude 270 oo"
“ eaft from Greenwich.”
The women here, as well as among- the eaftern Kaffers,
and indeed in all nations jail emerged from a favage ftate,.
went through all the hard labour and drudgery that was required
for the fupport of the family. They not only performed
the talk of breaking' up the ground with a kind of hoe made
of iron, and afterwards planted it, but they conftrudled their
habitations, and cdledted the materials that were neeeflary for
the fame. They reaped the grain, cleared it from the huik,
and laid it up in the granaries, which, with other earthen pots
and wooden vefiels, were the work of their hands. The men
prepare the ikins and hides which fence for fhoes, and make
them up into cloaks for themfelves, their wives, Mid children;
they attend alfo the cattle, milk the cows, and' hunt the antelopes
.
lopes and other game, with a weapon called the Haffagai, which
is ufed alfo in battle,
I obferred, in the former volume, that the Kaffers were not
the aborigines of the fouthern angle of Africa j that they might,
perhaps, derive their origin from fome of thofe wandering tribes
of Arabs known by the name of Beduins. I am more than
ever convinced they are of Arabic origin. Their paftoral habits
and manners, their kind and friendly reception to ftrangers,
their tent-fhaped houfes, the remains of Iflamifm difcoverable
in one of its ftrongeft features, the circumcifion of male children,
univerfally pra&ifed among the Kaffer hordes, all denote
their affinity to the Beduin tribes. .Their countenance alfo is
Arabic j the colour only differs, which in fome tribes varies
from deep bronze to jet black, but moil generally the latter is
the prevailing colour. Nor can I fuppofe they owe this colour
to their connection with thofe blacks which are ufually called Negroes,
as they have no refemblance, in any part of the body,
to the peculiar conformation of this race of human beings. To
the Ethiopeans or Abyffinians they have a much clofer re.-
femblance.
The public will fhortly have an opportunity of forming a
better judgment, than by any defcriptiori I can convey, of the
Kaffer countenance and figure, from the' accurate penciL of Mr.
S. Daniell, who accompanied the above-mentioned commiffion-
ers, and who is preparing for publication a fet of valuable prints,,
which are meant to defcribe the character and coftume of the.
■various tribes, of natives that environ' the Cape fettlement, together