the foies, or rather bottoms o f the ihoes-, are both tough and yielding. As ihoes of the common tanned leather are burnt up, as it were, and are apt to flip and ilide about in the fcorchirig African fands, and at the fame time are eafily torn in a itony and rocky foil, thefe field ihoes, 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 o f them is almoft entirely Un- drefied; and a man can make himfelf a pair of them in the fpace of an hour or two. Some advantage, efpecially with regard to ceconomy, would, in my opinion, accrue, if the ufe of thefe ihoes was, in fome meafure, introduced amongft us, particularly in fummer time. To failors they would feem, as being very light, to be particularly 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 a trial o f them. Whatever is ufe- ful, whether it come 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, feldom make ufe o f 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 haJJ'agai, and is delineated in Plate VIII. fig. i and 2, and will be defcribed farther on, when we come to fpeak o f the more diftant nations o f the Hottentots. Their habitations are as fimple as their dreisy and equally adapted to the wandering paftoral life they lead in thofe parts. In fail, they fcarcely merit any other name than I that that of huts; though, perhaps, as ipacious and eligible as the tents arid dwelling-places of the patriarchs, at leaft they are fufficient for the Hottentot’s wants and defires; who may therefore be confidered as a happy man, iri being able in this point likewife fo eafily to fatisfy them. The great fimplicity o f them is, perhaps, the reafon, why in a Hottentot’s craal, or village, the huts are all built exacftly alike;' and that one meets there with a ipeoies of arcb itcclure, that does not a little contribute to keep envy from infinu- ating itfelf under their roofs. The equality o f fortune and happinefs in fome meafure enjoyed by thefe people, cannot but have a Angular effedt 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 o f them are fo low, that even in the center o f the arch, it is fcarcely ever pofiible for a middje-fized man to Hand upright. But neither the lownefs thereof, nor that o f the door, which is but juft three feet high, can perhaps be confidered as any inconvenience to a Hottentot, who finds no difficulty in ftooping and crawling on all fours, ‘ and who is at any time more inclined to lie down than Hand. The fire-place is in the middle o f each hut, by which means the walls are not fo much expofed to danger from fire. From this fituation of their fire-place, the Hottentots like- '* wife have this additional advantage, that when they fit ' C c a or* *77;- Auguli...
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