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BUSHMEN, or BOSJESMANS
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See also:BUSHMEN, or BOSJESMANS , a See also:people of See also:South See also:Africa, so named by the See also:British and Dutch colonists of the Cape. They often See also:call themselves Satin [Sing. Sal, but this appears to be the Hottentot name. If they have a See also:national name it is Khuai, probably " small See also:man," the See also:title of one See also:group. This Khuai has, however, been translated as the Bushman word for tablier egyptien (see below), adopted as the racial name because that malformation is one of their See also:physical characteristics. The See also:Kaffirs call them Abatwa, the See also:Bechuana Masarwa (Maseroa). There is little See also:reason to doubt that they constitute the aboriginal See also:element of the See also:population of South Africa, and indications of their former presence have been found as far See also:north at least as the See also:Nyasa and See also:Tanganyika basins. " It would seem," writes See also:Sir H. H. See also:Johnston (British Central Africa, p. 52), " as if the earliest known See also:race of man inhabiting what is now British Central Africa was akin to the Bushman-Hottentot type of See also:negro. Rounded stones with a hole through the centre, similar to those which are used by the Bushmen in the south for weighting their digging-sticks (the graaf stock of the Boers), have been found at the south end of See also:Lake Tanganyika." The dirty yellow See also:colour of the See also:Bush-men, their slightly slanting eyes and prominent cheek-bones had induced See also:early anthropologists to dwell on their resemblance to the Mongolian races. This similarity has been now recognized as quite superficial. More recently a connexion has been traced between the Bushmen and the See also:Pygmy peoples inhabiting the forests of Central Africa. Though the See also:matter cannot be regarded as definitely settled, the latest researches rather tend to discredit this view. In fact it would appear that the two peoples have little in See also:common See also:save diminutive proportions and a nomadic and predatory See also:form of existence. Owing to the See also:discovery of steatopygous figurines in See also:Egyptian See also:graves, a theory has been advanced that the Egyptians of the early dynasties were of the same See also:primitive pygmy See also:negroid stock as the Bushmen. But this is highly speculative. The physical characteristics of Egyptian skulls have nothing of the Bushman in them. Of the primitive pygmy negroid stock the See also:Hottentots (q.v.), once considered the See also:parent See also:family, are now regarded as an offshoot of mixed See also:Bantu-Bushman See also:blood from the See also:main Bushman race.
It seems probable that the Bushmen must be regarded as having extended considerably to the north of the See also:area occupied by them within the memory of See also: The area in which the Bushmen are now found sporadically may be defined as extending from the inner ranges of the mountains of Cape See also:Colony, through the central See also:Kalahari See also:desert to near Lake See also:Ngami, and thence north-westward to the districts about the Ovambo See also:river north of See also:Damaraland. In See also:short, they have been driven by See also:European and Kaffir encroachments into the most barren regions of South Africa. A few remain in the more inaccessible parts of the See also:Drakensberg range about the See also:sources of the See also:Vaal. Only in one or two districts are they found in large See also:numbers, chiefly in See also:Great Bushman Landtowards the See also:Orange river. A regularly planned and wholesale destruction of the Bushmen on the See also:borders of Cape Colony in the earlier years of European occupation reduced their numbers to a great extent; but this cruel See also:hunting of the Bushmen has ceased. In See also:retaliation the Bushmen were See also:long the See also:scourge of the farms on the See also:outer borders of the colony, making raids on the See also:cattle and See also:driving them off in large numbers. On the western See also:side of the deserts they are generally at enmity with the Koranna Hottentots, but on the eastern border of the Kalahari they have to some extent fraternized with the earliest Bechuana migrants. Their See also:language, which exists in several dialects, has in common with Hottentot, but to a greater degree, the See also:peculiar sounds known as " clicks." The Hottentot language is more agglutinative, the Bushman more monosyllabic; the former recognizes a gender in names, the latter does not; the Hottentots form the plural by a suffix, the Bushmen by repetition of the name; the former See also:count up to twenty, the latter can only number two, all above that being " many." F.C.See also:Selous records that Koranna Hottentots were able to converse fluently with the Bushmen of See also:Bechuanaland. The most striking feature of the Bushman's physique is shortness of stature. Gustav Fritsch in 1863–1866 found the See also:average height of six grown men to be 4 ft. 9 in. Earlier, but less trustworthy, measurements make them still shorter. Among 150 measured by Sir See also: The See also:teeth are not like badly cut See also:ivory, as in Bantu, but See also:regular and of a See also:mother-of-See also:pearl See also:appearance. In See also:general build the Bushman is slim and lean almost to emaciation. Even the See also:children show little of the See also:round outlines of youth. The amount of See also:fat under the skin in both sexes is remarkably small; hence the skin is as dry as See also:leather and falls into strong folds around the See also:stomach and at the See also:joints. The fetor of the skin, so characteristic of the negro, is not found in the Bushman. The See also:hair is weak in growth, in See also:age it becomes See also:grey, but baldness is rare. Bushmen have little See also:body-hair and that of a weak stubbly nature, and none of the See also:fine down usual on most skins. On the See also:face there is usually only a scanty See also:moustache. A hollowed back and protruding stomach are frequent characteristics of their figure, but many of them are well proportioned, all being active and capable of enduring great privations and fatigue. Considerable steatopygy often exists among the women, who See also:share with the Hottentot women the extraordinary prolongation of the nymphae which is often called " the Hottentot See also:apron" or tablier. Northward the Bushmen appear to improve both in general See also:condition and in stature, probably owing to a tinge of Bantu blood. The Bush-man's clothing is scanty: a triangular piece of skin, passed between the legs and fastened round the See also:waist with a See also:string, is often all that is worn. Many men, however, and nearly all the women, See also:wear the harass, a See also:kind of See also:pelisse of skins sewn together, which is used at See also:night as a wrap. The bodies of both sexes are smeared with a native ointment, See also:buchu, which, aided by accretions of dust and dirt, soon forms a coating like a rind. Men and women often wear sandals of hide or plaited bast. They are fond of See also:ornament, and decorate the arms, See also:neck and legs with beads, See also:iron or See also:copper rings, teeth, hoofs, horns and shells, while they stick feathers or See also:hares' tails in the hair. The women sometimes stain their faces with red pigment. They carry See also:tobacco in goats' horns or in the See also:shell of a See also:land See also:tortoise, while boxes of ointment 872 or amulets are hung round neck or waist. A See also:jackal's tail mounted on a stick serves the See also:double purpose of See also:fan and handkerchief. For dwellings in the plains they have low huts formed of See also:reed mats, or occupy a hole in the See also:earth; in the See also:mountain districts they make a shelter among the rocks by See also:hanging mats on the windward side. Of See also:household utensils they have none, except See also:ostrich eggs, in which they carry See also:water, and occasionally rough pots. For cooking his See also:food the Bushman needs nothing but See also:fire, which he obtains by rubbing hard and soft See also:wood together. Bushmen do not possess cattle, and have no domestic animals except a few See also:half-See also:wild See also:dogs, nor have they the smallest rudiments of See also:agriculture. Living by hunting, they are thoroughly acquainted with the habits and movements of every kind of wild See also:animal, following the See also:antelope herds in their migrations. Their weapon is a See also:bow made of a stout bough See also:bent into a See also:sharp See also:curve. It is strung with See also:twisted See also:sinew. The arrow, which is neatly made of a reed, the thickness of a See also:finger, is See also:bound with See also:thread to prevent splitting, and notched at the end for the string. At the point is a See also:head of See also:bone, or See also: No Bush-man tribe south of Lake Ngami is said to carry spears. A See also:rude See also:implement, called by the Boers graaf stock or digging stick, consisting of a sharpened spike of hard wood over which a stone, ground to a circular form and perforated, is passed and secured by a See also:wedge, forms°part of the Bushman equipment. This is used by the women for uprooting the succulent tuberous roots of the several See also:species of creeping See also:plants of the desert, and in digging pitfalls. These perforated stones have a See also:special See also:interest in indicating the former See also:extension of the Bushmen, since they are found, as has been said, far beyond the area now occupied by them. The Bushmen are famous as hunters, and actually run down many kinds of See also:game. Living a See also:life of periodical See also:starvation, they spend days at a See also:time in See also:search of food, upon which when found they feed so gluttonously that it is said five of them will eat a whole See also:zebra in a few hours. They eat practically anything. The See also:meat is but half cooked, and game is often not completely See also:drawn. The Bushman eats raw such See also:insects as lice and ants, the eggs of the latter being regarded as a great delicacy. In hard times they eat lizards, snakes, frogs, See also:worms and caterpillars. See also:Honey they relish, and for vegetables devour bulbs and roots. Like the Hottentot, the Bushman is a great smoker. The disposition of the Bushman has been much maligned; the See also:cruelty which has been attributed to him is the natural result of equal brutalities practiced upon him by the other natives and the early European settlers. He is a passionate See also:lover of freedom, and, like many other primitive people, lives only for the moment. Unlike the Hottentot he has never willingly become a slave, and will fight to the last for his See also:personal See also:liberty. He has been described as the " anarchist of South Africa." Still, when he becomes a servant, he is usually See also:trust-worthy. His courage is remarkable, and Fritsch was told by residents who were well qualified to speak that supported by a dozen Bushmen they would not be afraid of a See also:hundred Kaffirs. The terror inspired by the Bushmen has indeed had an effect in the deforestation of parts of Cape Colony, for the colonists, to guard against stealthy attacks, cut down all the bush far roundtheir holdings. See also:Mission-See also:work among the Bushmen has been singularly unsuccessful. But in spite of his See also:savage nature, the Bushman is intelligent. He is See also:quick-witted, and has the See also:gift of imitating extraordinarily well the cries of See also:bird and beast. He is musical, too, and makes a rough See also:instrument out of a See also:gourd and one or more strings. He is fond of dancing; besides the See also:ordinary dances are the special dances at certain stages of the See also:moon, &c. One of the most interesting facts about the Bushman is his See also:possession of a remarkable delight in graphic See also:illustration; the rocks of the mountains of Cape Colony and of the Drakensberg and the walls of caves anciently inhabited by them have many examples of Bushman drawings of men, women, children and animals characteristically sketched. Their designs are partly painted on See also:rock, with four See also:colours, white, black, red and yellow ochre, partly engraved in soft See also:sandstone, partly chiselled in hard stone. Rings, crosses and other signs drawn in See also:blue pigment on some of the rocks, and believed to be one or two centuries old, have given rise to the erroneous See also:speculation that these may be remains of a hieroglyphic See also:writing. A discovery of drawings of men and women with antelope heads was made in the recesses of the Drakensberg in 1873 (J. M. Orpen in Cape Monthly See also:Magazine, See also:July 1874). A few years later Selous discovered similar rock-paintings in Mashonaland and Manicaland. Little is known of the family life of the Bushmen. See also:Marriage is a matter merely of offer and See also:acceptance ratified by a feast. Among some tribes the youth must prove himself an See also:expert See also:hunter. Nothing is known of the See also:laws of See also:inheritance. The avoidance of parents-in-See also:law, so marked among Kaffirs, is found among Bushmen. See also:Murder, See also:adultery, See also:rape and See also:robbery are offences against their See also:code of morals. As among other See also:African tribes the social position of the women is low. They are beasts of See also:burden, carrying the children and the family See also:property on the journeys, and doing all the work at the halting-See also:place. It is their See also:duty also to keep the encampment supplied with water, no matter how far it has 'to be carried. The Bushman mother is devoted to her children, who, though suckled for a long time, yet are fed within the first few days after See also:birth upon chewed roots and meat, and taught to chew tobacco at a very early age. The See also:child's head is often protected from the See also:sun by a plaited shade of ostrich feathers. There is practically no tribal organization. Individual families at times join together and appoint a See also:chief, but the arrangement is never more than temporary. The Bushmen have no See also:concrete See also:idea of a See also:God, but believe in evil See also:spirits and supernatural interference with man's life. All Bushmen carry amulets, and there are indications of See also:totemism in their refusal to eat certain foods. Thus one group will not eat See also:goat's flesh, though the animal is the commonest in their district. Others reverence antelopes or even the caterpillar N'gwa. The Bushman cuts off the joints of the fingers as a sign of See also:mourning and sometimes, it seems, as an See also:act of repentance. Traces of a belief in continued existence after See also:death are seen in the See also:cairns of stone thrown on the graves of chiefs. Evil spirits are supposed to hide beneath these sepulchral mounds, and the Bushman thinks that if he does not throw his stone on the mounds the spirits will twist his neck. The whole family deserts the place where any one has died, after raising a See also:pile of stones. The See also:corpse's head is anointed, then it is See also:smoke-dried and laid in the See also:grave at full length, stones or earth being piled on it. There is a Bushman belief that the sun will rise later if the dead are not buried with their faces to the See also:east. Weapons and other Bushman treasures are buried with the dead, and the hut materials are burnt in the grave. The Bushmen have many animal myths, and a See also:rich See also:store of beast legends. The most prominent of the animal mythological figures is that of the See also:mantis, around which a great See also:cycle of myths has been formed. He and his wife have many names. Their adopted daughter is the See also:porcupine. In the family See also:history an See also:ichneumon, an See also:elephant, a See also:monkey and an See also:eland all figure. The Bushmen have also See also:solar and lunar myths, and observe and name the stars. See also:Canopus alone has five names. Some of the constellations have figurative names. Thus they call See also:Orion's See also:Belt " three she-tortoises hanging on a stick," and See also:Castor and See also:Pollux " the cow-elands." The See also:planets, too, have their names and myths, and some idea of the astonishing See also:wealth of this Bushman See also:folklore and oral literature may be formed from the fact that the materials collected by See also:Bleek and preserved in Sir See also:George Grey's library at Cape See also:Town form eighty-four stout MS. volumes of 3600 pages. They comprise myths, fables, legends and even See also:poetry, with tales about the sun and moon, the stars, the See also:crocodile and other animals; legends of peoples who dwelt in the land before the Bushmen arrived from the north; songs, charms, and even prayers, or at least incantations; histories, adventures of men and animals; tribal customs, traditions, superstitions and genealogies. A most curious feature in Bushman folklore is the occurrence of the speeches of various animals, into which the relater of the See also:legend introduces particular " clicks," supposed to be characteristic of the animals in whose mouths they are placed. See G. W. See also:Stow, The Native Races of South Africa (See also:London, 1905) ; See also:Mark See also:Hutchinson, " Bushman Drawings," in Jour. Anthrop. Instil., 1882, p. 464; Sir H. H. Johnston, Jour. Anthrop. Inst., 1883, p. 463; Dr H. Weicker, Archiv f. Anthrop. xvi. ; G. See also:Bertin, " The Bushmen and their Language," Jour. R. Asiat. See also:Soc. xviii. See also:part i.; Gustav Fritsch, See also:Die Eingeborenen Siidafrikas (See also:Breslau, 1872) ; W. H. I. Bleek, Bushman Folklore (1875); J. L. P. See also:Erasmus, The Wild Bushman, MS. See also:note (1899); F. C. Selous, African Nature Notes and Reminiscences (1908), See also:chap. xx.; S. Passarge, Die See also:Busch-manner der Kalahari (See also:Berlin, 1907). 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