Africa . literallycovered with these melons, which are provided as if pur-posely to save up the supply. The Bushmen or Saan are the nomads of the Kala-hari, as indeed of all thoseregions of inner South Africawhich, on account of their in-fertility, are not occupied bythe Kafirs, or Hottentots, orEuropeans. Though of lowstature, thin, and wiry, theBushmen are not dwarfish,and it is very remarkablethat on the borders of thedesert, as the country beginsto improve, the natives alsoimprove in stature as well asin abilities and while the Bushmen of that part of the desert whichis e
Africa . literallycovered with these melons, which are provided as if pur-posely to save up the supply. The Bushmen or Saan are the nomads of the Kala-hari, as indeed of all thoseregions of inner South Africawhich, on account of their in-fertility, are not occupied bythe Kafirs, or Hottentots, orEuropeans. Though of lowstature, thin, and wiry, theBushmen are not dwarfish,and it is very remarkablethat on the borders of thedesert, as the country beginsto improve, the natives alsoimprove in stature as well asin abilities and while the Bushmen of that part of the desert whichis encompassed by the Kafirs and Hottentots in the south,are nearly the lowest in the scale of human beings, andhave been systematically enslaved both by the Kafirsand by the Boers, those who live to north of the Kala-hari are fine well-made men, nearly independent of everyone. Excepting a few mats hung up as a shelter, theBushman, the gipsy of South Africa, has no house or 1 Livingstone, Missionary THE BUSHMAN. THE BUSHMEN. 441 home, never tries to cultivate the soil, possesses neithercattle nor goats, and has no domestic animal about himsave a few wretched half-wild dogs. He acknowledgesno king or chief, and even the family ties seem to be ex-tremely loose. A few rough skins serve for his clothing;bow and poisoned arrows serve him in the chase afterthe antelopes, which he follows about from place to is skilful in laying traps for all kinds of game; witha sling he brings clown the partridge or the guinea fowl,whether running or on the wing, and the vulture guideshim to where the previous night the lion has fallen on hisprey, leaving to him the great marrow-bones of the ele-phant or giraffe; his scanty subsistence of the flesh ofgame is eked out by what the women can collect of rootsin the desert. Here the Bushmans only rude implementof agriculture, if it may be so called—a round stonebored through to admit a pointed stick—comes into weight of the sto
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Keywords: ., bookauthorkeaneaha, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, bookyear1878
