She look’d not like a habitant of earth,
And yet was on it.’
We were glad to bribe her to depart by a present of tobacco; and the wretched creature’s countenance evinced thankfulness at our liberality.
“The pigmy race, of which this woman was a characteristic specimen, usually reside in holes and crannies of rocks, and sometimes in wretched huts, incapable of protecting them from the inclemency of the seasons. These, their constant fear of discovery induces them to erect in secluded spots at a great distance from water: a precaution to which they are further prompted by a desire to leave the pools open for wild animals, which they occasionally shoot from an ambush with poisoned arrows, and devour on the spot. They possess neither flocks nor herds—are unacquainted with agriculture—and the most wealthy can boast of no property beyond his weapons and his starving dog. With no cares beyond the present moment, they live almost entirely upon bulbous roots, locusts, reptiles, and the larvæ of ants, with the habitations of which latter the country is in many places thickly strewed. Not a trace of their hovels could be seen from the road; and a traveller might even pass through their country without seeing a human being, or suspecting that it was inhabited. Such is their general distrust of visitors, that the males would never willingly approach us, evincing great trepidation when forced to do so—no object being more unwelcome to their sight than a troop of horsemen on the plain.
“The women, who were much less shy, and who never failed to follow the tracks of our waggons when they happened to come upon them, with the hope of obtaining tobacco in exchange for ostrich eggs, are of small and delicate proportions, with hands and feet of truly Lilliputian dimensions. Their footprints reminded us of Gulliver’s adventures, and are not larger than those of a child. When young, they have a pleasing expression of countenance, which they take care to render as captivating as possible by bedaubing their flat noses and prominent cheek-bones with a mixture of red-ochre and fat. The toilets of many were made with scrupulous attention, the effect of the paint being enhanced by necklaces composed of the fresh entrails of wild beasts—a few cowrie shells, old bones, and buttons being also interwoven with their matted hair; but the life they lead, their frequent long abstinence, and constant exposure to the wind and glare of light in a dry open country, soon inducing the habit of keeping their naturally small eyes more than half closed, their comeliness is very ephemeral, and never extends beyond youth. The females possess much greater volubility and animation of gesture than the men; but the sounds they utter are a succession of claps of the tongue produced by forcing that unruly member against different parts of the teeth and palate: and whilst the enunciation is thus rendered troublesome and full of impediment, it resembles rather the chattering of monkeys than the language of human beings.”
18th.—Thermometer at noon 52°.—Sharp and very cold: the scarlet fever in Cape Town.
19th.—Walked to Green Point, and gathered shells beyond the second lighthouse, which is situated on a rocky shore, where vessels are frequently wrecked, both accidentally and, it is said, intentionally. The waves break beautifully over the rocks that run out far into the sea. The sand on the shore glitters like silver, being composed of fragments of pounded shells: there are numerous shells to be found, but generally broken by the ruggedness of the coast. The people dig for them here, and procure them in great quantities out of the sand, which they sift; they are sold to burn for lime, which is made at a less cost from the shells than from the limestone quarries, as on the latter a duty is levied by the municipality.
The rocks are covered with limpets of all sorts, and cockles: the great ear shell (haliotis) is common, the coat-of-mail shell (chiton) and other species are also numerous. The great ear shells I have seen carried about for sale in Cape Town at twopence each; the people consider the contents good food.
In Camp’s Bay, and other bays, I understand fine and perfect specimens of a great variety of shells are found where the shore is less rugged and the sand good. The enormous size of the sea-weed is quite surprising, its great stem is of such length and thickness. On removing a clump of the sea-weed, the sand is alive with millions of wood-lice, at least I think they are so called; they make great bounds by rolling themselves up in a ball, and suddenly opening, the strength of the scales and the breadth of the tail sending them on at a surprising rate. It brought to my mind those early days in which a mouse, with a tail turned under the body, and fixed with a bit of cobbler’s wax, was made to jump about the room to my great delight.
21st.—Heavy rain—thermometer 56° at noon; the rain has taken away the great sharpness of the cold, which was too cutting to be pleasant. In these slightly-built houses, when the thermometer was 52° under the mountain, the air was very cold and clear, and peculiarly sharp and crisp. I roamed as usual up the mountain; it is covered with honey bush, at present in full flower, both the red and the white; the protea, a sort of honey bush, is now also in flower. As I made my way along, myriads of small sugar birds started from the bushes, where, fluttering over the flowers, they had been dipping their long slender beaks into the sweet juice below. The people collect the juice which flows in great abundance from the flower of the honey bush; they warm it, and sell it in quart bottles at three shillings a piece to the druggists, who recommend it for coughs.