Far to the south in Africa, in and about the Desert of Kalahari, live the Bushmen. They are somewhat like the Pygmies. They are little—full-grown men being from four feet to four feet six inches in stature. They are of a yellow-brown color; their hair is black and kinky, but appears to grow in little tufts with bare spaces between; the jaws project and the lips are thick; they wrinkle early. They are quick and lively in movements, and are bold hunters.

Little bands of them wander from place to place, without any fixed home. They build no houses. Usually they live in holes among the rocks; at most, they build rude, temporary shelters. They live chiefly on game, which they kill with the bow and arrow, or sometimes with the spear. They sometimes trail an animal a long distance, and when they overtake and kill it, stop at the spot to eat it. They are wonderful at following the trail of either animals or men, and see signs of their having passed which a white man would never notice. They get a hard living; they gather seeds and roots, fruits and gums; they hunt the honey of wild bees; they catch lizards and snakes. They are so fond of the white grubs, or pupÆ of ants—which we usually, but wrongly, call ants’ eggs—that the Boers, living near the little people, call them “Bushmen’s rice.” They also eat the huge eggs of the ostrich, and make water vessels out of the empty shells.

Their bows are small and their arrows are hardly more than a foot in length; the points of bone, stone, or iron are poisoned, and are so attached to the shaft that they separate and remain in the wound. The spear and darts which they use are also small and have poisoned tips. In the quivers with their arrows they carry a little sharpening stone for grinding the points and a brush for applying the poison. For digging roots the Bushmen use a pointed stick, which is weighted with a stone ring. These few simple weapons and tools are all that these poor people possess, except a few wooden dishes and a smoking pipe, which is said to be owned by a whole family or band.

Livingstone says that their arrow poison comes from a sort of caterpillar or grub, which they crush and dip the arrow tip into. They always clean their nails carefully after handling the poison, as it causes damage if it comes into contact with any scratch or cut. The pain caused by the poison is so great as almost to make the man who has been wounded crazy. When a lion has been struck with one of these poisoned arrows he roars terribly and bites and tears the ground and trees. To cure a person who has been bitten they use an ointment made of the crushed caterpillar mixed with grease. They believe that the caterpillar is hungry for grease; when it does not find fat in a person it kills him; when they supply it the fat it wants, it does no harm. It is said that this caterpillar is sacred and that they pray to it, asking it to give them plenty of game when they are hunting.

These little people are fond of music and drawing. Their finest musical instrument is a gora. This is a hunter’s bow, with a ring on the bow string. By sliding this ring they change the note which it gives when twanged. The twang of a bowstring is not a very loud sound; to increase it a gourd is hung to the lower end of the bow. All over the country of the Bushmen cliffs and the walls of caves are covered with their pictures, which represent animals, birds, and men; hunting scenes and battles are also represented. These pictures are sometimes just pecked out in the rock; sometimes they are painted; sometimes they are first pecked out and then filled with color. The colors most used in these pictures are red, yellow, and black.

The negroid Kaffirs and the Hottentots who live near the poor Bushmen hate them and harm them. Meeting them on the road, they sometimes kill them without pity. In 1804 a Kaffir who went to Cape Town on business found a Bushman boy eleven years old working as a servant in the government building. He killed the little fellow with a spear. This, of course, was long ago, but it shows how the Kaffirs despise the Bushmen.

The Hottentots live near the Bushmen and are a mixture between them and the negroids. They are taller than the Bushmen, but have much the same yellowish brown skin color and the same sort of hair. Their language, too, is much like that of the Bushmen. In both languages there are some strange sounds, hard for white men to pronounce, called “clicks.” These sounds come in the middle of words, and are called “clicks” because they sound something like the sound made in driving horses. Among the Bushmen there are nine different sounds of this kind; the Hottentots have only four.

The Hottentots are cattle-raisers, but do not cultivate plants. They gather wild fruits and dig roots. They move with their herds from one pasture to another; their settlements are called kraals. Their huts are dome-shaped and consist of a light framework of poles over which mattings are hung. When they move it takes only a few minutes to take the houses to pieces and pack them on to their cattle. The huts are always set up in a circle, enclosing a clear space where the cattle are herded.

Both men and women of the Hottentots wear fur caps, and it is considered indecent for a woman to be seen with her head bare. Hottentot clothing consists of leather aprons and cloaks. Hottentots rarely kill their cattle, which they keep for milk rather than for meat.

They are quite warlike, and each tribe has a leader. They honor brave warriors. They are gay in disposition and like to say sharp and funny things about each other; this often leads to quarrels and fights. When a man is angry with another, he takes a handful of dust and offers it to him; if the offender is willing to fight, he seizes the hand and scatters the dust on the ground; if he refuses to fight, the angry man throws the dust upon him to show that he is a coward. In fighting to settle quarrels, they kick and club each other and even use spears.

The Hottentots have many songs and prayers which they repeat to, or about, their sacred beings. Among their stories are some about the rabbit and his adventures. They worship the stars which we call the Pleiades. When these stars rise for the first time in the year, the people greet them. Mothers take their babies in their arms and teach them to stretch out their little hands toward the friendly stars. They then have a dance and sing a song in honor of one of their gods. There is a large insect called the mantis, which, when it stands still, raises its long front legs into a curious position; the Hottentots think that it is praying. When a praying mantis appears in a kraal every one is pleased, as they think it brings good luck. No one thinks of killing it, and they make an offering to it.

When a Hottentot man goes hunting, his wife kindles a fire at home and does nothing while he is gone but carefully tend it. They believe if she lets it go out that he will fail in his hunting. Hottentot conjurers are thought to be great snake charmers. It is said that they can hiss in such a way that all the snakes in the district will be attracted to them. So much are these conjurers feared that every one wears some object about him to protect himself against their power.