288 REMARKS ON THE KAFIRS.
savage class of African nations, who live in insulated hamlets
without intercourse with each other. They are semi-nomadic,
moving occasionally their towns, which resemble camps. Their
clothing is scanty, and made of tanned skinsn They practise
polygamy. They have considerable herds of cattle. They are
acquainted with the use of iron, and have the art of working
this metal, common to them and to many other pagan nations
of Africa, especially in the eastern part of the continent. They
are likewise acquainted with the use of copper, and some of
their tribes, particularly the Damaras, work the ore of that
metal and manufacture with it various ornaments.
The Kafirs practise agriculture, have field a and gardens
fenced with thorny shrubs, cultivate maize, millet,, kidney.-
beans, and water-melons, make bread and. beer, manufacture
earthenware of sand and clay baked in fire. They wear mantles*
and the females a more complete covering of sotened skins,-:
they live in towns of considerable size and population. - Old
Litaku was thought by an intelligent traveller to, be_capable
of containing from eight to ten thousand inhabitants. The
houses are circular, and resemble those of the Fufahs and
other nations of Northern Africa.
The Kafirs are not, as some have thought, destitute of religion.
The Kosas believe in a Supreme Being; to whom they
give the appellation of Uhlunga, supreme, and frequently th ||
Hottentot name Utika, beautiful. They also believe in the
immortality of the soul, but have no idea of a state of rewards
and punishments. They have some notion of Providence, and,
pray for success in war and in hunting expeditions, and
during sickness for health and strength. They believe in
the attendance of the souls of their deceased relatives, and
occasionally, especially on going tcTwar, invoke their aid.
They conceive thunder to proceed from the agency of the
Deity, and if a person has been killed by lightning, say that
Uhlunga has been among them. On such occasions they
sometimes remove from the spot, and offer an heifer or an ox
in sacrifice. Sometimes they sacrifice to rivers in time of
drought, by killing an ox, and throwing part of it into the
stream.
They have some superstitions resembling those connected
REMARKS ON THE KAFIRS. 289
with the brute worship and conservation of animals prevalent
among the-old Egy ptians. If a person has been killed by an
elephant, 'they$offer a sacrifice, apparently to appease the
demon suppb’s e t ^ have,.actuated the animal. One who kills
by accident a makem, or Balearic crane,, or a brom^vogel, a
species, of tucanp. tausbbffer a calf in atonement. Sometimes
they imagine that a shulugay,! or spirit, resides , in' a particular
ox, and.propitiate it by prayers When going oh hunting expeditions.*
If 7. Physical Characters of the Kafirs and Bechuanas.
Mr. Barrow was the first writer, who' Cleairl’y distinguished
and described the Kafirs : previously to his timqth'ey had beeii
frequently confounded with the Ho&Pfqtsr He sfiysy—
^ u The Kafirs are tall, robust, mid .mushular,, a ml clm^til ulc
xmebf the finest hahes in the world. ^TliC complexion o^sopif
tribes varies from a deep^ bronze to jet-blaclf^but most generally
the latter is the prevailing,col our.” . This description refers
to the tribes near the sea^coask Of
interior,''Mr. Barrow remarks, that “ they are- hot, like the
eastern Kafirs, invariably black, ,||p f |' being of a bronzi*
colour, and others of nearly as. light a brown Hottentots.
Their hair,”- he adds, “ is longer, and morq inclined to
be straight.”
The Kafirs are frequently in the practice of coverings theM
bodies with wood-soot or charcoal mixed with fat. Can thisC,
circumstance have been overlooked, by Mr. Barrow, and have
caused him to believe the natural complexion of the Kosahs to
be of a darker shade than more .recent travellers'have generally
reported it to be ?
Some older writers agree entirely in their accounts of the
people of Caffraria with Mr. Barrow.
Lieut. A. Paterson, who visited the eastern shores of Caffraria,
describes the complexion of the natives as of a iet-blaok
colour; and Dampier has thus described the people/of the
coast near Cape Natal, which is in the country Of the.Tam-
* These particulars are collected from the works of MM. Barrow, Thompson,
Burchell, and other travellers.