*777* O&ober. Rivier, or Broad River, where there is a punt or ferry. Here the river Zondereynd joins the Broad River, which winding Th e leather of which thefe ilioes is made is undrefled, with the hairy fide outwards ; and undergoes no other preparation, than that of being beat and moiftened. I f it be of a thick or flout fort, as for example, of buffaloe’s hide, it is befides kept fome hours in cow-dung, by which means it is rendered very foft and pliable. Afterwards fome kind of greafe is made ufe of for the fame purpofe. The fhoes are then made of this leather in the following manner: they take a piece of leather of a re£tangular form, fomething longer and broader than the foot of the perfon for whom the lhoes are intended. The two foremoft corners are doubled up together, and fewed down, fo as to cover the forepart of the foot. This feam may be avoided and the (hoes may be made much neater at the toes, by fitting immediately over them a cap taken from the membrane in the knee joint of the hind leg of fome animal. Now, in order to make this piece of ikin or leather rife up to the height of an inch on both fides of the foot, and clofe it in neatly, it is pierced with holes at fmall diftances all round the edge, as far as the hind-quarters, and through thefe holes is palled a thong, by which the rim is drawn up into gathers; farther, in order to make ftrong hind-quarters, the backpart of the piece of leather is doubled inwards, and then raifed up and preifed along the heel. The ends of the thong, or gathering-ilring, are then threaded on both fides through the upper edge of the hind-quarters to the height of about two inches; they are then carried forwards, in order to be drawn through two of the above-mentioned holes on the infide of each rim. They are then tied over the inftep, or, if it be thought neceflary to tie the ihoe ftill falter, they are carried crolfways over the inftep, and fo downwards under the thong, which comes out from the hind-quarters, then upwards again over the ankle, and even round the leg itfelf, if the wearer chufes Shoes of this kind are certainly not without their advantages. They fit as neat upon the foot as a flocking, and at the fame time preferve their form. They are eafily kept foft and pliable, by conftantly wearing them. Should they at any time grow rather hard above the edge, this is eafily remedied by beating them and greafing them a little. They are extremely light and cool, by reafon that they do not cover fo much of the foot as a common ihoe does. They wear very well, as they are without any feam, and the foies, or rather bottoms of the (hoes, are both tough and yielding. As lhoes of the common tanned leather are burnt up, as it were, and are apt to Hide about in the fcorching African fands, and at the fame time are eafily torn in a flony and rocky foil, thefe field lhoes, as they are called, made of almoft raw leather, are much more durable. Thefe may be likewife had at a much inferior price, as the leather ufed in the making of them is entirely undrefied ; and a man can make himfelf a pair of them in the fpace of an hour or two. Some advantage, efpecially with regard to oeconomy, would, in my opinion, accrue, if the ufe of thefe lhoes was, in fome meafure, introduced amongft us, particulary in fummer-time. T o failors they would feem, as being very light, to be particulary ufeful. I have brought home with me a pair of them, that I wore in my expedition into the country, that they may ferve for a model, in cafe any body Ihould be inclined to have a pair made by way of making to the fouthward, empties itfelf by the Pott Berg A J o in Strugo s* OTct7o7b7e-r. Bay j and foon after, crofling the ferry, we arrived at Zwel- '—,—* # Oftrich. making a trial of them. Whatever is ufeful, whether it comes from Paris or the country of the Hottentots, alike deferves our attention and imitation. The Hottentots who live in thefe parts, or within the boundaries of the Dutch colonies, fel- dom make ufe of any weapons. Here and there, indeed, a man will furniih himfelf with a javelin, by way of defence againft the wolves : this is called a Haflagai. Their habitations are as their drefs, and equally adapted to the wandering paftoral life they lead in thofe parts. In fail, they fcarcely merit any other name than that of huts ; though, perhaps, as fpacious and eligible as the tents and dwelling-places were of the patriarchs of old, at leaft they are fufficient for the Hottentot’s wants and defires ; who may therefore be confider- ed as a happy man, in being able in this point likewife fo eafily to fatisfy them. The great fimplicity of them is, perhaps, the reafon, why in a Hottentot craal, or village, the huts are all built exa£tly alike : and that one meets there with a fpecies of archite&ure, that does not a little contribute to keep envy from infinuating itfelf under their roofs. In fa£t, the equality of fortune and happinefs in fome meafure enjoyed by thefe people, cannot but have a Angular effedl in preventing their breafts from being difturbed by this baneful paflion. Every hut is -difpofed in the following manner. Some of them are of a circular, and others of an oblong ihape, refembling a round bee-hive or a vault. The ground-plot is from eighteen to twenty-four feet in diameter. The higheft of them are fo low, that even in the centre of the arch, it is fcarcely ever poflible for a middle-fized man to ftand upright. But neither the low- nefs of the hut, nor that of the door, which is barely three feet high, can perhaps be confidered as any inconvenience to a Hottentot, who finds no difficulty in {looping and crawling on all fours, and who is at any time more inclined to lie down than ftand. Th e fire-place is in the middle o f each hut, by which means the walls are not fo much ex- pofed to danger from fire. From this fituation of their fire-place, the Hottentots likewife have this additional advantage, than when they fit or lie in a circle round the fire, the whole company equally enjoys the benefit of its warmth. The door, low as it is, is the only place that lets in the day-light; and, at the fame time the only outlet that is left for the fmoke. The Hottentot, inured to it from his infancy, fees it fyover round him, without feeling the leaft inconvenience arifing from it to his eyes: while, rolled up like a hedgehog, and wrapped up fnug in his {kin, he lies at the bottom of his hut, quite at his eafe in the midft of his cloud, excepting that he is now and then obliged to peep out from beneath his iheep-ikin in order to ftir the fire, or perhaps to light his pipe, or elfe fometimes to turn the fteak he is broiling over the coals. The materials for thefe huts are by no means difficult to be procured ; and the manner of putting them together being both neat and inartificial, merits commendation in a Hottentot, and is very fuitable to his character. T h e frame of this arched roof, as I have defcribed it above.
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