“They are locusts, if I don’t mistake,” said the latter. “Hand them up here, Frank, and I’ll take a closer look at them. Yes, they are locusts. These Hottentots consider them a great dainty.”
“The nasty wretches!” cried Nick, starting up and throwing away the viands he had been consuming. “To think I should live to sup on beetles! Hand us the bowl of milk there, Ernest. I suppose that’s all right, isn’t it? That comes from a cow, and not a crocodile, or something of the sort?”
“Yes, that’s all right, Nick,” said Lavie, laughing; “and, after all, there are many other people who eat locusts besides these Hottentots.”
“Every one to his taste,” said Gilbert, setting down the bowl after a long draught. “Mine doesn’t incline to roasted insects. However, that milk has pretty well taken the taste out. And now, I suppose the next thing is to go to bed. I was up very early this morning, and have had a hard day of it. What do you say, Frank?”
“I say ditto to you,” said Wilmore. “I shall just roll myself up in one of these skins to keep off the flies, and shut up for the night. Good night, Lion, old boy; I wish you a sound repose.”
The two boys accordingly wrapped themselves in the deer-hides which were scattered on the floor, and lay down, each with a roll of matting for a pillow. In two or three minutes their regular breathing announced that they were fast asleep. But Ernest and Charles did not follow their example. They sat near the entrance of the hut, smoking their pipes, and conversing on subjects which had but little interest for their companions.
“These Hottentots are a strange race,” observed Warley. “I suppose nothing is really known of their origin and history.”
“Nothing, I believe, with any certainty,” returned the doctor. “They seem to have no traditions on the subject, which is a rare circumstance in the history of any people. Their very name is uncertain. Europeans call them Hottentots, or Namaquas, but they themselves do not acknowledge either title. Neither word, in fact, exists in their language. They call some of their tribes ‘Oerlams,’ meaning new-comers in the land, and others ‘Topnars,’ or the ancient aboriginal inhabitants. But the early history of these latter is quite unknown.”
“And what do you imagine to be their origin, Charles? They look very much like Chinese or Tartars. They have been supposed to be of Chinese origin, have they not?”
“I believe so; but on no intelligible grounds that I ever heard. I have a theory of my own about them; but I don’t suppose many would share it.”