The Bergdamaras, who for many years inhabited the mountainous district of Western Damaraland, constitute a fascinating ethnological problem. They are Bantu by blood, Hottentot by language, and Bushmen by habit. Whence these strange affinities?
It is probable that the Bergdamaras were at one time connected with the main stream of Bantu people that spread southward over the country, but who by an eddy in the tide were left stranded in what is now Damaraland. Enslaved there by the more powerful Hottentots, they adopted the enemy’s language, and at length escaped from bondage to make their home in the fastnesses of the mountains, where no other means of subsistence remained for them but that of the Bushmen. They number about 18,000 to-day.
South-West Africa presents then a deeply interesting microcosm of native life, and affords glimpses of the migratory movements of the native people in far-off days. There are the Bushmen, the descendants of the aboriginal hunters who dwelt in the land unknown ages ago; the Hottentots, who are the sons of the yellow-skinned people that intruded into the hunting-grounds of the pigmy Bushmen; the Bergdamaras, who probably represent the pioneer tribes of the virile black-skinned races that early followed upon the trail of the yellow-skins; while in the Ovambos are exhibited some of the best traits of the most advanced native tribes in the whole country.
The number of natives actually counted when the census was taken in 1913 was 69,003, but the total estimated native population, excluding Ovamboland and the Caprivizipfel, was 78,810. A few thousands of the Ovambos have been attracted to the mines, but the Hottentots, Bergdamaras, and Hereros find employment on the farms and as domestic servants. About 2,500 natives from the Cape work as labourers at the diamond fields.
The White People
In the year 1880 the white population of South-West Africa consisted of 300 trek-Boers and 150 Europeans in Damaraland, and a dozen whites at Walvis Bay: in 1900, that is, six years after the German annexation, there was a total white population of 3,388, made up of 2,146 men, 452 women, and 790 children. The last census, taken on January 1st, 1913, showed a total population of 14,830. Including the 1,819 members of the military forces, the males numbered 10,147, the females 4,683, and the children 1,625. There was an increase of 250 women against the preceding year, and this is a healthy sign, since it goes to show that existence is becoming more stable in the colony, and that social conditions are improving.
The Windhoek district has the largest population, as it claims 2,871 people; Luderitzbucht is second with 1,616; Swakopmund third with 1,463; Karibib has the fourth place with 1,170; while Keetmanshoop is not far behind with 1,155.
The nationality of the population was, of course, largely German; there were only 272 Englishmen, but there were 1,630 “other British subjects.” The percentage of other nationalities to the population was very small.
There has been a slow but steady increase in population since the close of the native wars in 1906; but the increase is small in proportion to the size of the country; it should be noted, however, that the many native wars have had a most unsettling effect for years, and only a comparatively brief period has elapsed since they were brought to a close. There is no doubt that colonists will find their way to the country in increasing numbers in the near future, for the large areas in the central region constitute a fine “white man’s country.”
Up to the present the land has only claimed the labours of 24 per cent. of the adult males, while the commercial community has been responsible for 18 per cent., and “other professions” no less than 45 per cent.