escape with life after this is rare. Accordingly the Bushman is hunted down whenever a chance occurs, though he is everywhere feared, and is never, unless under very favourable circumstances, openly attacked, as we have already hinted. These arrows, which render him such an object of dread, he keeps in a quiver on his back, though those for immediate use are carried in his hair, from which they can be instantly removed and strung on the bow. They are about eighteen inches long, and unfeathered, so that they are only effective at short distances. The poison with which they are tipped is derived from the milky juice of various Euphorbias (or spurges), and the juice of the bulb of Amaryllis toxicaria, mixed with poison taken from the poison-gland of various venomous serpents, the mixture rendering an effectual antidote to it difficult to discover. The mixed juice is boiled down to a thick consistency, and spread over the barbs of the arrows. So deadly is this poison, that even the lion can be successfully attacked by the Bushmen armed only with the bow and arrows, Dr. Livingstone remarks that these animals-which, contrary to the usual story-book myth, evince no trait which can by the widest licence be called "noble," seem to have a wholesome dread of the Bushmen, "who, '-seem when they observe evidence of a lion's having made a full meal, follow up his spoor (trail) so quietly that his slumbers are not disturbed. One discharges a poisoned arrow from a distance of only a few feet, while his companion simultaneously throws his skin-cloak over the beast's head. The sudden surprise makes the lion lose his presence of mind, and he bounds away in the greatest confusion and terror. Our friends here showed me the poison which they use on these occasions. It is the entrails of a caterpillar called n'gwa, half an inch long. They squeeze out these, and place them all around the bottom of the barb, and allow the poison to dry in the sun. They are very careful in cleaning their nails after working with it, as a small portion introduced into a scratch acts like morbid poison in dissection wounds. The agony is so great that the person cuts himself, calls for his mother's breast as if he were returned in idea to his childhood again, or flies from human habitations a raging maniac. The effects on the lion are equally terrible. He is heard moaning in distress, biting the trees and ground in rage. As the Bushmen have the reputation of curing the wounds of this poison, I asked how this was effected. They said that they administer the caterpillar itself in combination with fat; they also rub fat into the wounds, saying that the n'gwa wants fat, and when it does not find it in the body, kills the man; we give it what it wants, and it is content;'-a reason which will commend itself to the enlightened among ourselves. The poison more generally used is the milky juice of the tree Euphorbia (E. arborescens). This is particularly obnoxious to the equine race. When a quantity is mixed with the water of a pond, a whole herd of zebras will fall dead from the effects of the poison before they have moved away two miles. It does not, however, kill oxen or men. On them it acts as a drastic purgative only. This substance is used all over the country, though in some places the venom of serpents and a certain bulb (Amaryllis toxicaria) are" (as we have already mentioned) "added, in order to increase their virulence. Father Pedro, a Jesuit, who lived at Zumbo, made a balsam conɩining a number of plants and castor-oil, as a remedy for the poisoned arrow-wounds. It is probable that he derived his knowledge from the natives, as I did, and that the reputed efficacy of the balsam is owing to its fatty constituents." It is well for the hunted Bushman that he has these deadly arrows, as they are his only defence. Had he not this protection, he would be soon exterminated by his ruthless enemies, who are only kept at arm's length by the

knowledge of the effect of this little weapon. A single Bushman lurking in the neighbourhood will keep a settlement in terror.

Dancing, singing, and playing on rude musical instruments are the Bushman's chief amusements. The chief of these musical instruments is the goura (or waterdrum), the description of which we may borrow from Le Vaillant :-"The goura is shaped like the bow of a savage Hottentot. It is of the same size, and a string made of intestines fixed to one of its extremities, is retained at the other by a knot in the barrel of a quill, which is flattened and cleft. The quill being opened, forms a very long isosceles triangle, about two inches in length; and at the base of this triangle the hole is made that keeps the string fast, the end of which, drawn back, is tied at the other end of the bow with a very thin thong of leather. The cord may be stretched so as to have a greater or less degree of tension according to the pleasure of the musician, but when several gouras play together they are never in unison. Such is the instrument of a Hottentot, which one would not suppose to be a wind instrument, though it is undoubtedly of that kind. It is held almost in the same manner as a huntsman's horn, with that end where the quill is fixed towards the performer's mouth, which he applies to it, and, either by aspiration or inspiration, draws from it very melodious tones. The savages, however, who succeed best on this instrument cannot play any regular tune, they only emit certain twangs, like those drawn in a particular manner from a violin or violoncello. I took great pleasure in seeing one of my attendants, called John, who was accounted an adept, regale himself with it, while his companions, transported and ravished, interrupted him every now and then by exclaiming, Ah! how charming it is; begin that again.' John began again, but his second performance had no resemblance to the first, for, as I have said, these people cannot play any regular tune upon this instrument, the tunes of which are only the effect of chance and of the quality of the quill. The best quills are those which are taken from the wings of a certain species of bustard, and whenever I happened to kill one of these birds I was always solicited to make a small sacrifice for the support of our orchestra." Of art they have no knowledge, though, contrary to what has been stated, I have the best authority for saying that they can distinguish the meaning of drawings.

Probably the worst quality in the Bushman is his implacable love of vengeance: to gratify this savage passion they will commit the most frightful outrages. So keen are they to glut their vengeance that it is immaterial on whom it is wreaked, so long as a victim can be found. In this manner not unfrequently the innocent suffer for the guilty. Sir Andrew Smith says he has known them, when under the influence of this semi-madness, exercise their vengeance with as much rancour and cruelty on their own relatives as on strangers. Instances are known in which parents destroyed their own children, and even boasted afterwards of their abominable deeds.

The Korannas and Namaquas are two of the few surviving offshoots of the Hottentots, and are, like them, wild nomads. The Korannas are entirely uncivilised, and in culture are little superior to the Bushmen, though mild and well-disposed in their character. The same description applies to the Namaquas. Rude and without martial spirit, they are a poor, downtrodden, and hopelessly ignorant race. They are fond of wearing European costumes, and are said to be so rude that they have no names, and cannot count beyond ten. Even in the absurd

statements with which the books of superficial ill-educated travellers abound-" sutores" who, when generalising on the religion of savage tribes after a few weeks' acquaintance with them, and without knowing a single word of their language, are decidedly going "ultra crepidam"there is scarcely anything more absurd. They have, however, but faint traces of a religion, unless we are to look upon this as represented by the abundant stock of superstition, of the usual South African type, with which their mythology abounds. They are clever conjurors, but believe that the Bushmen are sorcerers; and their "folk-lore" abounds with stories of

Bushmen and Bushwomen turning themselves into various animals, and of the pranks they played when in this guise. Rain-makers are in great repute among them; as well as those who have skill to allay storms by shooting arrows at the clouds. Among other superstitions is that of passers-by flinging each a stone on the graves of chiefs-a practice equivalent to that referred to in the Scottish proverb about, "flinging a stone on his cairn."

The children are in the habit of sucking goats; but among the practices which superstition debars them when they grow up is this, as well as the eating of the hare, which among them, as among the seafaring population in Europe, is an animal round which many superstitions ulate.

Marriage ceremony there is little of, and divorce is consummated without any, the woman being simply packed off to her friends when the fickle husband tires of her, fancying herself well content if this summary dismissal is not accompanied with a sound beating. Polygamy

prevails, and every man prefers to have as many wives as he is able to provide for. When the parents become old they are considered to be a burden upon their children, and they are "necessarily" abandoned. They are enclosed within a fence, and quietly left to die of starvation. Altogether the Namaquas are not a more amiable tribe than the race from which they are an offshoot.

78-VOL. II.

CHAPTER XII.

THE NEGRO AND NEGROID RACES; GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS.

WHEN Africa is mentioned ninety-nine out of a hundred people instantly associate it with the Negro race; and if forced to give an idea regarding the population of this vast continent, would doubtless assign to it the black-skinned, woolly-haired, high-cheek-boned, thick-lipped, and prognathous and projecting-jawed people known as Negro. In reality, however, this popular idea is erroneous. We have seen that Africa holds within its wide borders a vast population, comprising many nationalities differing widely from each other, and in many cases as apart from the true typical Negro as they are from the Europeans. The preceding sketch of the African populations has left us to describe, in the pages which follow, merely the area bounded by the southern frontier of the Sahara on the north, by the region of the equator on the south, by the Atlantic on the west, and by the water system of the Nile (there or thereabouts) on the east. In this limited but still wide region most Negroes are to be found. The eminent philologist whose classification we have, for the sake of convenience, followed, looks, however upon the term "Negro" as expressing a peculiar physiognomy, which is a mere matter of degree, "a simple question vi more or less." He points out that every African division of people has a Negro section, or a section approaching the Negro, no matter how much its other members may be other than Negro; while, on the other hand, the most Negro divisions on the whole continent of Africa present instances of lighter-coloured varieties, departing more or less in other respects also from the Negro type. Thus the Wadseags are a darker coloured or Negro variety of the Berbers. Among the Kaffirs, the change from black to brown sets in between Benguela and the Damara country. Again, the Sennaar people, and those living on the eastern feeders of Lake Tshad, are the Negroes of the Nilotic group. Abyssinia comprises a Negro division in the Shankali districts. "In fact," writes Dr. Latham-and I give his opinion as that of one of our ablest ethnographers, without, however, expressing any opinion in regard to the correctness of his views-" if we take the whole continent of Africa we may go so far as to say that the Negro physiognomy is the exception rather than the rule. To verify this we may ask, What are the true Negro districts of Africa? what those other than Negro? To the former belong the valleys of the Senegal, the Gambia, the Niger, and the intermediate rivers of the coast, parts of Soudania, and parts about Sennaar, Kordofan, and Darfur; to the latter the whole coast of the Mediterranean, the Desert, the whole of the Kaffir and Hottentot area south of the line, Abyssinia, and the Middle and Lower Nile. Truly this leaves but little room for the typical Negro. All the intertropical group of Africa give us Negroes, but every Negro group gives us some brown rather than black divisions. Thus, there is the great division of the Fulahs; all its members are more brown than black; some have been designated by the epithet red. There are the Nufi of the old Red Sandstone district to the back of the delta of the Niger; these, also, are brown rather than black. There are the Ediya of Fernando Po, which, being one of the few African isles of any size will be noticed more in detail. Within four degrees of the equator, and more than twenty miles from the parts about the Cameroons River