TRUBNER'S 
 
 ORIENTAL SERIES 
 
BALLANTYNE, HANSON AND CO., EDINBURGH 
 CHANDOS STREET, LONDON 
 
TSUNI-IIGOAM 
 
 THE SUPREME BEING 
 
 KHOI-KHOI 
 
 THEOPHILUS HAHN, Ph.D. 
 
 CUSTODIAN OF THE GREY COLLECTION, CAPE TOWN ; 
 
 CORRESP. MEMBER OF THE GEOGR. S. DRESDEN ; CORRESP. MEMBER OF THE 
 
 ANTHROPOL. S. VIENNA, ETC. ETC. 
 
 LONDON 
 
 TRiJBNER & CO., LUDGATE HILL 
 
 1881 
 
 [All rights reservea\ 
 
TO 
 
 Hi, 
 
 HM 
 
 mi 
 
 /H4/M 
 
 erfjc iKEm0r2 
 
 THE LA TE 
 
 GEHEIMRATH HANS CONON VON DER GABELENTZ 
 
 OF POSCHWITZ 
 AND TO 
 
 PROFESSOR AUG. FRIED R. POTT 
 OF HALLE ON THE SAALE 
 
 247838 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The following pages must speak for themselves ; they 
 will, I trust, be welcome to the student of Comparative 
 Mythology, and to the Ethnologist and Anthropologist in 
 general. 
 
 The reader will be sometimes disappointed on finding that 
 my references to authorities are not always exact enough. 
 I had often to quote from memory, and had then to con- 
 fine myself to mentioning the names of the authors only. 
 I may, however, expect that the reader will be lenient 
 towards my failings on this point, if he puts himself in my 
 position. I live here in a country village, and am entirely 
 confined to my own small collection of books. The nearest 
 and largest Colonial Library is in Cape Town, where, I 
 am sorry to say, the standard works on Comparative 
 Philology, Ethnology, and Anthropology, as well as the 
 leading Journals and Periodicals of the Societies which 
 cultivate these sciences, are still desiderata. With regard 
 to Africa, and especially to South Africa, more and better 
 selected materials are found in the Libraries of Vienna, 
 Berlin, and London, than in the South African Public 
 Library in Cape Town. The blame, however, does not 
 attach to the Committee of Management, who indeed, 
 with the limited means in their hands, have tried to please 
 all parties. Colonists have still to he taught to look on 
 the South African Public Library as a National Institu- 
 tion, and ivith this view, in a true patriotic spirit, to 
 contribute voluntarily such boohs, records, and documents as 
 
VIU 
 
 hear specially on our country. Then, and then only, the 
 South African Public Library will thrive as a public 
 institution, and soon become the workshop and nursery of 
 South African science. With the spread of education, no 
 doubt the interest in " Our Library" will increase. The 
 name of Dr. Dale, the Superintendent General of Educa- 
 tion in this Colony, is a guarantee that education will 
 continue to advance with daily greater strides ; and thus 
 we may hope that, ere long, Colonial youths will aspire to 
 distinguish themselves in historical and purely philoso- 
 phical studies. 
 
 For the orthography of the Hottentot and Bantu words, 
 I employed, with slight modifications, the excellent 
 Standard Alphabet of Professor Lepsius, which proves, 
 after all, the most serviceable, as far as South African 
 languages are concerned. 
 
 The words and names quoted from travellers are given 
 in their own orthography ; in a few instances, however, I 
 considered it necessary to substitute for their spelling that 
 introduced by Professor Lepsius, in order to render the 
 phonetic composition of words more transparent, and, 
 consequently, their etymology more evident. The clicks, 
 which are of vital importance for the etymologist, are very 
 indiscriminately treated by most travellers, with the 
 sole exception of Professor Dr. Gustav Fritsch. 
 
 Travellers and missionaries who wish to serve the cause 
 of South African Philology should be well acquainted with 
 the principles of Phonology before they venture to write 
 down texts of illiterate languages. No missionary should be 
 sent to the heathens without having acquired as thorough 
 a knowledge of Phonetics as he has of the Gospel, and he 
 should be taught to respect every vowel, every accent,, 
 every consonant ; in fact, " every jot and tittle in any, even 
 the most barbarous, dialect he may hereafter have to analyse"'^ 
 Comparative Philology is entirely based upon phonology, 
 and if the laws of phonology for a group of languages are 
 
 * Max Miiller, " Lect." ii. p. 42, ed. 1868. 
 
IX 
 
 once correctly established, tlie natural offshoot will Le a 
 true scientific etymology. This science is the telescope 
 with which, where all other records fail, we can draw pre- 
 historic times into our immediate view, and which allows 
 us a look far back into " the very dawn of man's life." 
 
 It is an urgent want for us here in South Africa that a 
 Standard Orthography for the Native Languages should be 
 introduced in all of&cial, educational, and public depart- 
 ments. The task is not as difficult as it may appear at 
 first sight, and where there is a will, there is a way. 
 
 In the present Standard Orthography we write the 
 clicks as follows : — 
 
 The Lateral ||, 
 
 Mia, 
 
 -Una, 
 
 MIkha, 
 
 ' llga, 
 
 The Cerebral 1, 
 
 Ma, 
 
 ' hia, 
 
 ' Ikha, 
 
 ' !ga, 
 
 The Palatal %> 
 
 ^ta, 
 
 '» ina. 
 
 " i|:kha. 
 
 -fea. 
 
 The Dental |, 
 
 '' la, 
 
 " Ina, 
 
 '' Ikha, 
 
 '« Iga. 
 
 The importance of the clicks will be best illustrated by 
 giving the meanings of these words here at once, thus, 
 ^ to wash, 2 to drop, ^ to be able, * to split, ^ to fall, ^ to light, 
 '' to bore, to perforate, ^ to serve, ^ to wash, ^° to pour, ^^ to 
 refuse, ^^ to plant, ^^ to be sharp, ^* to filter, ^^ with, ^^ iso- 
 lated, separated, thin, &c., dotted. 
 
 Those who wish to inform themselves about the nature 
 of these clicks and their bearing on the phonology of the 
 Hottentot language, I refer to Henry Tindall's excellent 
 " Grammar and Vocabulary of the Namaqua-Hottentot 
 Language," and to my " Sprache der Nama." 
 
 In Tindall's book, however, and in my own no men- 
 tion is made of a harsh faucal sound peculiar to the old 
 Cape Hottentot dialects — of which Witsen and Leibniz 
 have supplied some materials — to the jKora-Hottentot 
 and to the Bushman languages of the iKham, jAi, jNuni, 
 jKoang, Hei:{:guis, Matsanakhoi and jGabe. I write 
 this consonant, which most resembles a forcibly produced 
 short croaking sound — ^just as if a person is endeavouring 
 to get rid of a bone in the throat — with the Hebrew 
 
^ (ajin). The very fad that this sound is produced hi/ 
 expiration and not hi/ inspiration places it among the 
 consonants proper, and not among the clicks* 
 
 Most of the materials contained in this treatise have 
 steadily accumulated during the last nine years. Aware 
 of the responsibility resting upon me, I have been careful 
 to adduce such facts only as I can with full confidence 
 declare to be genuine productions of the Khoiivhoi mind. 
 
 The following pages were written down in their present 
 sha]De in the months of August and September last year, 
 as is known to Professors Max Miiller, of Oxford, and 
 Friedrich Miiller, of Vienna, and other friends to whom I 
 either wrote or spoke on the subject at the time.f 
 
 I mention this the more as to-day a copy of the 
 Ausland, February i6, 1880, comes to my hands, in 
 which an article. Die Eeligion der sogenan ten Wilden, 
 reviewing G-ustav Eoskoffs book, "Das Eeligionswesen 
 der rohesten Naturvolker," Leipzig, 1880, contains views 
 and opinions coinciding so strikingly with those expressed 
 by me, that the reader could easily be led to believe that 
 either I must have perused Professor Eoskoff's work, or that 
 he had corresponded with me. This, however, is not the 
 case, and therefore this peculiar coincidence may serve as 
 a striking evidence of what I say, towards the conclusion 
 of the third chapter, about the psychical identity of the 
 human mind. At the same time it is a great satisfaction 
 and encouragement to find that one does not stand alone 
 with his views, and that there are comrades and fellow- 
 labourers in the battle-field, where one least exj)ected 
 them. 
 
 I desire to inscribe these leaves to the memory of the 
 late Herr Geheimrath Hans Conon von der Gabelentz, 
 and to Professor August Friedrich Pott, of Halle. These 
 scholars will always be mentioned first in the history of 
 
 * Vide Theoph. Hahu, " Sprache der Nama," § 2, &c. 
 t The full manuscript was read over to my friends Profs. Walker 
 and Marais of Stellenboscli. 
 
XI 
 
 South African Philology, as the pioneers who laid the 
 foundation-stone of the Comparative Grammar of the Kafir- 
 Congo or Bantu Languages.* Whatever has been written 
 afterwards on Bantu Grammar,. is based on the researches 
 of these twin-stars in the realm of the Science of Language. 
 In availing myself of this opportunity I simply pay a debt 
 of gratitude. I was so fortunate as to have Professor 
 Pott as my master and foster-father in the Science of 
 Language for nearly four years, while I studied at the 
 University of Halle, and my holidays were often spent at 
 Poschwitz, the castle of Herr von der Gabelentz, where I 
 had free access to his excellent African library. 
 
 Last, but not least, I have to tender my sincere 
 obligations to Professor Max Miiller for undertaking so 
 kindly to see this treatise through the press. 
 
 Theophilus Hahn. 
 
 Stellenbosch, Cape of Good Hope, 
 March 24, 1880. 
 
 * Pott, Die Sprachen vom Kaffer und Kongostamme, in Zeil- 
 schrift der D. M. Gesellschaft, \\. ^-2^, 129-15S; and H. C. v. d. 
 Gabelentz, in the "Proceedings" of the same Society, i. 241, seq. 
 
TStJI-IIGOAB. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The /ads of language, Jwwever 
 small, are historical facts. — 
 Max MiJLLER. 
 
 INTRODUCTOKY REMARKS ON THE ETHNICAL CONDITION OF 
 THE KHOIKHOI IN PREHISTORIC TIMES, BASED ON THE 
 EVIDENCE OF LANGUAGE. 
 
 The Khoikhoi form a branch of tlie most peculiar and, 
 doubtless, of the most interesting race of all the repre- 
 sentatives of mankind on our continent. These Khoi- 
 khoi generally go by the name of Hottentots, a term to 
 which I must object, as up to this moment it has been 
 the cause of gross misunderstanding and heartburning, 
 especially to ethnologists, when they had in view the 
 classification of the South African races and nations. 
 
 In order to introduce to the reader the worshippers of 
 Tsui-llgoab and to lay a secure basis for the study of the 
 Science of Eeligion as regards the ^Khoikhoi branch, I 
 shall endeavour in a short sketch to delineate their pre- 
 historic ethnical condition. 
 
 When the first European navigators, especially the 
 Dutch, became acquainted with the Cape of Good Hope, 
 they found a yellowish race of men, who possessed large 
 herds of ^cattle, sheep and goats, and were on the whole, 
 even after they had received a very provoking treatment 
 at the hands of the Europeans, peaceably and ^hospitably 
 
 B 
 
;incM,ne9: iQ\\aiai?-stVangers. On account of their curious 
 language abounding in harsh faucal sounds and clicks, 
 the Dutch called them Hottentots. Hottentot or ^Hvitten- 
 tiit means in Frisian or Low German a quack, and 
 therefore the old Dutchmen, who were so much puzzled 
 and did not know what to make of such an unheard-of 
 language, more akin to the chat of a parrot than to 
 human speech, called it Hottentot — i.e., a mere gibberish. 
 They very little knew that they had before themselves a 
 highly-developed language, so highly, indeed, that the 
 ingenious Martin Haug supposes that its higher and more 
 refined constituents must have been acquired by contact 
 with a civilized people. 
 
 The old Dutch also did not know that their so-called 
 Hottentots formed only one branch of a wide-spread 
 race, of wliich the other branch divided into ever so many 
 tribes, differing from each other totally in language, and 
 having only a phonetic relationship, as regards certain 
 peculiar sounds, of which the clicks formed the essential 
 part. This other branch differed also entirely in language 
 from those the Dutch had met first. While the so-called 
 Hottentots called themselves Khoikhoi (men of men, i.e., 
 men par excellence), they called those other tribes Sa, 
 the Sonqua of the Cape Eecords. 
 
 This yellow race, consisting of these two branches, 
 inhabited in ancient times the greater part of South 
 Africa, at least the territory south of the rivers ^ Kunc'ne 
 and Zambesi. 
 
 The appellation Hottentot is now en vogue, and rs 
 Goethe has it : — 
 
 " Wo die BegrifFe felilen, 
 Da stellt ein Wort zur rechten Zeit sich ein." 
 (For there precisely, where ideas fail, 
 A word comes in most opportunely.) 
 
 It is useless therefore to extirpate it, for the custom of 
 more than two centuries has sanctioned its use ; and all we 
 can do is to define it more accurately. We should apply the 
 
term Hottentot to the whole race, and call the two families, 
 eacli by the native name, that is the one, the Khoikhoi, 
 the so-called Hottentot proper ; the other the Scm (Sd) or 
 Bushmen. 
 
 In the Nama language, one of the Khoikhoi idioms, 
 the Bushmen are called Sa-n (com. plur). The meaning 
 of this term is not quite intelligible, and I frankly con- 
 fess that, after nine years, of which I have spent nearly 
 seven amongst the Khoikhoi, I did not succeed in arriving 
 at a quite satisfactory etymology, and I must still adhere 
 to the interpretation which I first gave in the Globus, 
 1870, where I traced the word Sa-(b) to the root SA, 
 to inhabit, to be located, to dwell, to be settled, to be quiet. 
 Sa(n) consequently would mean Aborigines or Settlers 
 proper. TJiese Sa-n or Sa-gu-a, Sonqua or Soanqua, &c. 
 (obj. plur. msc.) as they are styled in the Cape Records, 
 are often called Bushmen — the Bossiesman, Bosjesman, 
 Bosmanneken of the Colonial Annals, a name given to 
 them to indicate their abode and mode of living. 
 
 The word Sa,(b) has also acquired a low meaning, and 
 is not considered to be very complimentary. The Khoi- 
 khoi often speak of j Uri-Sdn (white Bushmen) and 
 mean the low white vagabonds and runaway sailors who 
 visit their country as traders. One also often hears, 
 " Khoikhoi tamab, Sab ke" he is no Khoikhoi, he is a Sa, 
 which means to say, " he is no gentleman, he is of lov: ex- 
 traction, or he is a rascal." A Nama will say of a man 
 wdio is very proud and reserved in his manners, who only 
 mixes in good society, " KhoiJchoisen ra aob kc," the man 
 niakes-a-Rhoikhoi-of -himself, that is, he stands very much 
 upon his dignity, and also, he keeps himself very much to 
 himself 
 
 Those who desire to have information on the natm'al 
 and physical condition of the Khoiklioi and Sa-(n), I 
 refer to Dr. Gustav Fritsch's standard work, " Die Einge- 
 borencn Siid-Africas," and to three Essays published 
 by me, Die Namas, and Die Euschmanuer, in the 
 
 B 2 
 
Globus, 1868 and 1870, and Beitrage zur Ktmde der 
 Hottentoten, in Jahrcshericht des Vereins fur JSrdkunde, 
 Dresden, 1868 ; not to forget the chapter on the Hotten- 
 tots in Friedr. Miiller's excellent work "Allgemeine 
 Ethnographie." 
 
 It is enough meanwhile to say, that the Bushmen lead 
 the life of a Pariah, and that they are hated and chased 
 by all otheF nations of South Africa, having to suffer 
 most, however, from the hands o-f their own nearest kith 
 and kin, the Klioikhoi, whom I have, on more than one 
 ox3casion, seen manifesting more charity for a dog than for 
 a starving Bushman. 
 
 The Ivlioiklioi are generally called, as I have already 
 said, Hottentots, a term to whicb I would not object, were 
 it not for the confusion it generally brings in its train, as 
 far as ethnological, anthropological or linguistic termino- 
 logy is concerned. Sometimes they are called the Hotten- 
 tots proper in our Colonial language. But very often, 
 again, our Khaikhoi in the Colony, or more particularly 
 those remnants of the tribes formerly occupying the 
 vicinity of Cape Town, are called Hottentots, Hottentots 
 propter or Ceipe Hottentots, while on the other hand the 
 inhabitants of Griqualand West, of the South Kalihari, 
 ©f Great Namaqualand are called by their tribal names, 
 Griquas, Namaquas, jKoras or Koranas, just as if they 
 were not Hottentots as much as the Khoikhoi tribes of the 
 Cape Colony. It would be as absurd for us to call only 
 the Prussians, Germans, and apply to all the other tribes 
 of Germany their tribal names, Bavarians, Suabians, 
 Hessians, &c., denying to them the attribute German; or for 
 Londoners to claim for themselves the title of Englishmen, 
 while excluding theiSTorthumberlandand Sussex men from it. 
 
 This is my reason for protesting emphatically against 
 the indiscriminate and superficial use of the term Hotten- 
 tot, and therefore I have taken the liberty of taxing the 
 patience of my readers by dwelling at some length on 
 this subject.. 
 
5 
 
 While tlie Bushmen are hunters, the Khoikhoi are 
 nomads, cattle and sheep farmers ; and while the Bush- 
 man family has with the Khoikhoi, linguistically speak- 
 ing, only the clicks and some harsh sounding faucals and 
 a few roots of words in common, the various Bushman 
 languages hitherto recorded, differ among themselves, as 
 much as they differ from the Khoikhoi idioms. This 
 difference and variety in speech is mainly due to their 
 wandering habits and unsettled life. The wild inacces- 
 sible mountain strongholds and the arid deserts of South 
 Africa, where nobody can follow them, are their abode ; 
 constantly on the alert, constantly on the move, constantly 
 on the path of war, either with other tribes, or with the 
 wild animals, no inducement is given to th«m for a settled 
 life, the necessary condition of the development of a 
 more articulate speech and a higher intellectual culture. 
 
 The Khoikhoi, or Nomadic Hottentots, have all the 
 same language, which branches off in as many idioms 
 and dialects as there are tribes. The idiomatic peculiari- 
 ties, however, are not very prominent, indeed not so 
 striking, as to hinder a Geillkhau or :j:Auni or ilHabobe 
 of Great Namaqualand, and the :^Niibe of Ovamboland, 
 or the Gei^inam of the North Western Kalihari, convers- 
 ing easily with the inhabitants of the Khamies Bergen 
 (North Western Colony), and with the jKoras and Griquas 
 of Griqualand West and the Orange Free State. 
 
 A prominent feature in all the Khoikhoi idioms is the 
 strict monosyllabism of the root, ending in a vowel, and 
 the use of pronominal elements as suffixes for the purpose 
 of forming derivatives. The Khoikhoi language is entirely 
 void of prefixes, nay, our prepositions are postpositions. 
 The pronominal elements have in the course of time 
 crystallized, and sometimes melted together into one, and 
 in this new shape accepted the office of classifiers and 
 registrars of substantives or substantified expressions, so 
 that some of our most eminent philologists did not hesi- 
 tate to consider them homogeneous with the article of 
 
Plur. 
 
 Fern. 
 
 Com. 
 
 s (si) 
 
 i 
 
 sa 
 
 (ia) e 
 
 ra 
 
 ra 
 
 ti 
 
 n 
 
 te (tia) 
 
 na 
 
 otiier sex-denoting languages, chiefly of the Semitic and 
 Hamitic class. But I am convinced tliat a more careful 
 investigation will lead to the result, that the Klioikhoi 
 language is not sex-denoting in the sense of Aryan or 
 Semitic grammar. The so-called "article" is not an article 
 in the sense of grammar, because the root of the Khoikhoi 
 article is not the same throughout the genders, nor through- 
 out the numbers. The following Table will at once explain 
 what I mean r 
 
 Masc. 
 „. i Subjective b (bi), m (mi) 
 
 °' ( Objective ba, ma 
 Dual. Subj. and obj. kha 
 ( Subjective gu 
 ( Objective ga (gua) 
 
 In saying this I do not for a single moment deny that 
 the - so-called article was en route to develop into the 
 meaning and sense of the Aryan article, when by the 
 destructive contact with other races — the Eantu from 
 the North, and the European from the South — this 
 development was suddenly checked. 
 
 We may therefore safely, until a more appropriate 
 term for this way of classifying is established, call those 
 particles which serve as classifiers of the three classes of 
 the substantives, Articles. 
 
 The Bushman languages, as far as I had an opportunity 
 of becoming acquainted with them, have no such deriva- 
 tive and formative elements ; at least, if they had, such 
 l>ave now entirely disappeared, or are distorted to such a 
 degree, that they defy every analysis. Sometimes one is 
 tempted to believe that there are embryonic indications of 
 such elements ; sometimes again one is strongly inclined 
 to take such would~be-suJBfixes, for dilapidated remnants of 
 pronominal elements. The present Bushman languages 
 bear nearly the same relationship to the Khoikhoi as, 
 among the lado-European languages, English holds to 
 
Sanskrit. As to the dictionary of Khoikhoi and Bushman, 
 there remains no more doubt as to tlieir primitive relation- 
 ship. The t'ollowing list will convince the greatest 
 sceptic : — 
 
 Khoikhoi. 
 
 
 
 \K hmn-Bushmaoi, 
 
 Tooth 
 
 llgiib 
 
 
 
 llgei-llgel 
 
 Intestines 
 
 [guin 
 
 
 
 Iklioiij-jkhoin 
 
 Male, man 
 
 J ^au (iKora) 
 \ au (N'ama) 
 
 
 yau 
 
 Mast^sr 
 
 gao-^au- 
 
 b(!K( 
 
 3ra) 
 
 gao-_iUu 
 
 Itope 
 
 jhatib 
 
 
 
 Jhan 
 
 Elephant 
 
 :j:k)^oab 
 
 
 
 ik^oa 
 
 
 jubu-s 
 
 
 
 Jubu and juiten 
 
 Fish 
 
 lloub 
 
 
 
 iloii 
 
 White 
 
 luri 
 
 
 
 luiten and ju 
 
 Star 
 
 ( Igomrob 
 
 (jKora) 
 
 Jkoaten 
 
 
 \ Igamirob 
 
 (Nama) 
 
 
 Plain 
 
 loub 
 
 
 
 jougen 
 
 Strong 
 
 Igeixa 
 
 
 
 Igeiya 
 
 Weak 
 
 4:k^abu 
 
 
 
 :^k^oba 
 
 Eich 
 
 jkxu 
 
 
 
 Ik^ou 
 
 Buchu 
 
 sab 
 
 
 
 tsa 
 
 Beads 
 
 jurin (l^^uri) 
 
 
 |_yuri 
 
 Other 
 
 Ikhara 
 
 
 
 Ikhara 
 
 Selfsame 
 
 llel 
 
 
 
 llei 
 
 To walk 
 
 da 
 
 
 
 tai 
 
 Claj 
 
 :J:goa-b 
 
 
 
 ijigoai 
 
 Sea 
 
 liuri-b 
 
 
 
 luiri 
 
 Interrog. 
 
 tari 
 
 
 
 tari 
 
 Or if we like to glance 
 
 at the lAi-Bushmau on the North- 
 
 west Kalihari, we shall 
 
 come 
 
 to the same conclusiom 
 
 
 KhoUchoi. 
 
 
 
 \Ai- Bushman. 
 
 Man 
 
 khoi-b 
 
 
 
 khoe 
 
 Male 
 
 3;aore khoi-m 
 
 (JKora) 3;au-klioe 
 
 Child 
 
 Igoa-'i 
 
 
 
 Igoa 
 
 Father 
 
 llgu-kbo: 
 
 ib 
 
 
 <|gii-khoe 
 
KhoikJioi. 
 
 Cattle 
 
 Calf 
 
 Sheep 
 
 Goat 
 
 Lion 
 
 Dog 
 
 Hare 
 
 Hartebest 
 
 Nose 
 
 Mouth 
 
 Tooth 
 
 Ear 
 
 Arm 
 
 Neck 
 
 Leg 
 
 Tree 
 
 Beard 
 
 Hard 
 
 Black 
 
 White 
 
 To run 
 
 To drink 
 
 To eat 
 
 To die 
 
 To give 
 
 To catch 
 
 Cap 
 
 Pot 
 
 Jackal 
 
 Bull 
 
 rish 
 
 Snake 
 
 Eain 
 
 Eoad 
 
 Fat 
 
 go-ma-i" 
 tsau-b 
 gu-i 
 biri-i' 
 ^a-mi 
 ari-b 
 joa-i 
 
 flkhama-i" 
 tgui-s 
 
 ^am-s (jKora) 
 llgu-b 
 tgeis 
 lloa-b 
 
 !;raub (jKora) 
 te-b 
 hei-i 
 jnum-s 
 jgari 
 inii 
 juri 
 ■gu 
 
 yo, (jKora) 
 a (Nama) 
 
 ta 
 
 llo_ 
 
 ma 
 
 jkho 
 
 Igaba-s 
 
 su-s 
 
 Igiri-b 
 
 llgo-b 
 
 llou-b 
 
 ^yau-b (jKora) 
 
 tu-s 
 
 dao-b 
 
 llnui-b 
 
 {1 
 
 \Ai- Bushman. 
 goe 
 tsau 
 gu 
 biri 
 
 arigu 
 |oa 
 
 llkhama 
 tgui 
 ^am 
 llgu 
 1=ge 
 lloa 
 !j;au 
 te 
 hii 
 Inom 
 jgadi 
 :fnu 
 ju 
 
 ^a 
 
 tu 
 
 llo 
 
 mame 
 
 !kh5 
 
 Igaba 
 
 sii 
 
 Igiri 
 
 ligo 
 
 Ilou 
 
 |_j;au 
 
 tii 
 
 dao 
 
 llnui 
 
9 
 
 Khoihiioi. 
 
 \Ai 
 
 -BiisTiman. 
 
 Milk 
 
 bi-s 
 
 
 bi 
 
 Honey 
 
 dani-s (diiii-s) 
 
 
 dini 
 
 Fly 
 
 Igiua-a 
 
 
 Igini 
 
 Light 
 
 subu 
 
 
 subu 
 
 To laugh 
 
 ^ai (jKora) 
 
 
 ^al 
 
 To see 
 
 mu 
 
 
 mu. 
 
 To kiss 
 
 lloa 
 
 
 Ilobe 
 
 It is of vital importance that the roots, especially in 
 the first syllables and cHcks (Anlaut), should agree ; and 
 this is here the case. 
 
 A prominent feature in all Khoikhoi dialects is a 
 strict monosyllabic tendency, and all roots end with a 
 vowel, and chiefly with a, i, u ; e and o are contractions 
 of the three primitive vowels. As regards the roots in 
 the Bushman languages, they appear more or less poly- 
 syllabic, although a great number is monosyllabic. They 
 end generally in a vowel, very often also in a very strong 
 nasal '^, which I believe is an old crippled suffix, originally 
 having a vowel at the end. For instance, jgu, to go, is by 
 some pronounced jgun (Igung) ; this n, as can be proved, 
 is contracted from nige or ni-ge-ni. These vowels, how- 
 ever, have gradually worn off. Those roots which appear 
 to be polysyllabic, very likely after a more careful study 
 will prove to be compounds of radical elements. 
 
 While the Khoikhoi dialects all agree in having the 
 same suffixes for the forming of three distinct numbers, 
 (sing., dual, plur.) the Bushman languages show great 
 irregularities and departures from the rule in this 
 respect. In the |Kham language (Northern Colonial 
 Border about Kenhardt and Zakrevier) — mirabile clidu — 
 the words man \kui goal, and woman \kui \aiti, differ 
 even in the root enthely from the plural men, \ega tngen, 
 and icomen \ega \gdgm. They can therefore not be 
 styled plurals in the general sense of the word. 
 
 Then again the plural will be formed simply by 
 reduplication ; but it also must be said that some indi- 
 
10 
 
 viduals of the same tribe do not form a plural at all 
 from the same word, where another individnal would do 
 so. There is also a goodly number of substantives, which 
 are not used in the plural, because they are of a collective 
 nature. A dual exists only for the first personal pronoun. 
 
 As regards the numerals, it seems that the Bushmen 
 languages have not developed them beyond two ; some 
 , travellers speak of three ; but this is evidently derived 
 from the Khoikhoi word jnora or Inona for tliose. 
 
 The jAi-Bushmen, however, who inhabit the North 
 "Western Kalihari in the neighbourhood of Xaitses, (west 
 from Lake Ngami or NUgami) count up to twenty, and 
 for the sake of completeness I give these numerals here, 
 as I have written them down from the mouth of three 
 individuals of the lAi tribe. 
 
 \Ai 
 
 -Bushman. 
 
 Khoikhoi. 
 
 One 
 
 Iguii 
 
 Igui 
 
 Two 
 
 Igam 
 
 Igam 
 
 Three 
 
 jnona 
 
 jnona 
 
 Four 
 
 geiii 
 
 haga 
 
 Five 
 
 Iguim tsoum 
 {i.e., one hand) 
 
 gore 
 
 Six 
 
 Iguisa 
 
 Inani 
 
 Seven 
 
 Igamana 
 
 hu (hugu) 
 
 Eight 
 
 jnonadi 
 
 1 Ikhaisa 
 
 Nine 
 
 luitai I Igam 
 
 khoisi 
 
 Ten 
 
 1 l^aiiko 
 
 disi 
 
 Eleven 
 
 tamkhumtsu 
 
 disi Igui Ikha 
 
 Twelve 
 
 lgaman(3 
 
 55 Igam „ 
 
 Thirteen 
 
 Inonane 
 
 „ jnona „ 
 
 Fourteen 
 
 1 Ikheisa 
 
 , haga „ 
 
 Fifteen 
 
 tsuba ||T7ae 
 
 &c. &c. 
 
 Sixteen 
 
 Igui naha ^^gana 
 
 
 Seventeen 
 
 Igam naha :j:gana 
 
 
 Eighteen 
 
 jnona naha ijigana 
 
 
 Nineteen 
 
 Igamsaragcisara 
 
 
 Twenty 
 
 tsutsarukoha 
 
 
II 
 
 T was so struck witli the novelty of this discovery, in 
 finding a Bushman tribe which could count beyond 
 three, that I repeatedly cross-examined those individuals 
 separately. I however still maintain the suspicion that 
 this system of numerals is not genuine Bushman counting, 
 but that we have to ascribe it to the influence of the 
 neighbouring Bakoba tribes of the Tonga Eiver, or to tlie 
 influence of the Mashona of the Lake n||Ganii, who often 
 used to extend their hunting expeditions westward as far 
 as Xaitses (Ghanze of Galton) and even to the jungles of 
 iKhunobis (Tunobis of Galton and Anderson). 
 
 A remarkable feature of the Khoikhoi language is the 
 -decimal system of counting ; a system not adopted from 
 the Europeans, but which was established long before the 
 Khoikhoi or Nomadic Hottentot branch split into tribes, 
 and spread over the various parts of South Africa, as will 
 be seen from the following schedule taken from various 
 authors who lived and travelled among the different 
 Khoikhoi tribes at different times : — 
 
 Witsai. Cape. 
 
 1 69 1. 
 I. K'qui 
 II. K'kam 
 111. K'ouna 
 lY. Hacka 
 Y. Kro 
 YI. Nanni 
 YII. Honcko 
 YIIL K'hyssi 
 IX. K'geessi 
 X. Guissi 
 
 Kolh. Cape. 
 
 1719. 
 
 I. G'kui 
 
 II. K'kam 
 
 III. K'ouna 
 
 Leibniz. Collect. 
 1717. 
 
 t ? amma 
 
 houna 
 
 haka 
 
 koro 
 
 nani 
 
 honko 
 
 k ? heissee 
 
 guissi 
 
 gissi 
 
 Barroia. Eastern. 
 1797. 
 quai 
 kam 
 gona 
 
 Valcnt?jn. Cape. 
 1705. 
 kchui 
 k-ham 
 n bona 
 hoka 
 koarou 
 nanni 
 honku 
 kheyssi 
 ghesi 
 gissi 
 
 Liechtenstein. \Kora. 
 1805. 
 t'koei 
 t'kam 
 t'norra 
 
13 
 
 Koll. Cajje. Ba. 
 
 rroiv. Eastern. Li 
 
 '.cchtenstcm. \Kora. 
 
 1719. 
 
 1797. 
 
 1805. 
 
 IV. Hakka 
 
 haka 
 
 hakka 
 
 V. Koro 
 
 gose 
 
 kurruh 
 
 VI, Nanni 
 
 — 
 
 t'naui 
 
 VII. Honko 
 
 
 honko 
 
 VIII. Khyssi 
 
 
 t'kaissee 
 
 IX. K'liessi 
 
 
 t'goissee 
 
 X. Gyssi 
 
 
 diissi 
 
 
 Alexander. 
 
 Kniidsen. 
 
 ScJimclen. 
 
 Great 
 
 Great 
 
 North-west Colony. 
 
 Namciqncdand. 
 
 Namaqualand. 
 
 1814. 
 
 1834. 
 
 1842. 
 
 I. Goei 
 
 'kooe 
 
 •gui 
 
 II. Kam 
 
 'tarn 
 
 •gam 
 
 III. Nona 
 
 'oona 
 
 "nona 
 
 IV. Haka 
 
 haka 
 
 haka 
 
 V. Kore 
 
 kore 
 
 gore 
 
 VI. Nauni 
 
 'nanee 
 
 "nani 
 
 VII. Hu 
 
 hoo 
 
 *hu 
 
 VIII. 'Kysa 
 
 'keisa 
 
 'khaise 
 
 IX. Koisi 
 
 koiise 
 
 khoise 
 
 X. Disi 
 
 deesee 
 
 disi 
 
 Vollmer. 
 
 Tindcdl. 
 
 Th. Halm. 
 
 Great Nctmagualand. 
 
 N.E. Namaqualand. Cape Town. 
 
 Red Nation. 
 
 Wesley Vcde. 
 
 VKora Captive 
 
 1856. 
 
 1852. 
 
 1871. 
 
 I. iGui 
 
 ckui 
 
 Igui 
 
 11. iGam 
 
 ckain 
 
 Igama 
 
 III. tNona 
 
 qnona 
 
 juoua 
 
 IV. Haga 
 
 haka 
 
 haka 
 
 V. Goro 
 
 kore 
 
 koro 
 
 VI. tNani 
 
 qnani 
 
 jnani 
 
 VII. Hii 
 
 hu 
 
 hougu 
 
 VIII. IIKhaisa 
 
 xkhaisi 
 
 1 Ikhaisa 
 
 XI. Khoisi 
 
 goisi 
 
 k^^oisi 
 
 X. Disi 
 
 disi 
 
 dyisi 
 
13 
 
 Th. Hahn. 
 
 Th. 
 
 Halm. Bcrgdamara, 
 
 Oudtshoorn, E. Prov. 
 
 JS 
 
 'urth Namaqualancl. 
 
 1871. 
 
 
 1875. 
 
 I. iKiii 
 
 
 Ikui 
 
 II. iKam 
 
 
 |kam 
 
 III. iXona 
 
 
 jnona 
 
 lY. Haka 
 
 
 liaga 
 
 V. Koro 
 
 
 gore 
 
 VI. jNani 
 
 
 Inani 
 
 VII. Hugii 
 
 
 iiu 
 
 VIII. IIKhaisi 
 
 
 llkhaisa 
 
 IX. Khoisi 
 
 
 klioise 
 
 X. Disi 
 
 
 disi 
 
 A ifNiuvi-Namaqua from the Kaoko veldt counted in 
 the same way as the Great Xamaquas. 
 
 This much we know of the time when the numerals 
 were formed, that' it must have followed the period when 
 the Khoikhoi family had left the isolating stage, and 
 their language availed itself of the aid of pronominal 
 elements in order to form derivatives |Gui, Iga-m, 
 Ino-na, ha-ga, go-re, jna-ni, hu-gu or hu-ni-gu, ||khai-si, 
 khoi-si, di-si, all have the derivative-pronominal-suffixes, 
 i, m, na, ni, gu, ga, re, si. We also know that the Khoi- 
 khoi could not have invented the numerals before their 
 domestic and social condition made counting and taxing 
 necessary. As long as they were hunters, there was 
 nothing worth counting, but when they had taken 
 to breeding cattle and sheep, they had to count (Igoa) 
 their flocks, and the richest man was the most honoured 
 man. Hence it is that \goa, to count, is also used in the 
 meaning, to honour, to respect, and \godb means not only 
 the member, but also the honour, the respect, the regard. 
 " iGoahe tamata ha," will a Khoikhoi indignantly say, 
 " I am not counted," that is, " I am not looked at," if he 
 thinks that he is unfairly treated. 
 
 The meanings of some of these numerals are very 
 clear. \GHi, one, is the single, the lonely one. For 
 
^4 
 
 instance, to know whether a man is by himself, one would 
 ask, iG^iiriseb ha ? Is he alone ? 
 
 \Gam, two, I derive from the root |ka, Ikha, Iga, or l^a, 
 which is originally a post-position, meaning ivith, " added," 
 " contributed," in connection -with. 
 
 \JVona, three, comes from \no-na-s or \no-ma-s, the 
 7'oot, the o^adix of a tree. In every plant the central root 
 is the radical and strongest root. The same, the middle 
 linger of every hand being the root-finger, it is obvions 
 that this finger should have provided the name for the 
 number three, because the natives count with the aid of 
 the fingers ; and whether they commence with the thumb 
 or with the little finger, the central or middle finger always 
 will turn out to be the third finger, and thus this finger 
 became the symbol of the abstract number three. 
 
 JIaga, four, I cannot venture to explain. 
 
 More interesting again is the derivation of gore, Jive, 
 which means nothing else than the palm of the hand. 
 The word goreh, for palm of the hand, is antiquated but 
 still in use. I once told a girl to take a dish of food to 
 her mother in return for milk which I had received, and 
 told her to be careful and not to break the dish. She 
 answered, " Goreb jna ta ni tani" (I will carry it in the 
 palm of my hand). This is the way in which the 
 Khoikhoi girls always carry their milk-vessels. ''Goreh 
 is also the Euphorbia candelabra, and shows at the dis- 
 tance the profile or appearance of a vertically stretched 
 arm with the open hand. It is certain that both the 
 number gore and the gorc-ime have derived the name 
 from goreb (also koreb), the open hand. It is also 
 certain that the number gore and the tree kore both are 
 of the same age. The bark of this gore-tree has served 
 from the earliest times as the chief material for the 
 manufacturing of the quiver. Places have received their 
 names from the abundance of these trees. There is a 
 Kore^as in the North-western Cape Colony ; a jKora 
 told me that he was born at Kore^i^as in the Free State : 
 
15 
 
 another Kore^as is in the lGami-:j:nus territory in 
 Southern Namaqiialand,and another Kore^as in the Nortli- 
 western Kalihari, between Gobabis and Ghanze. It is 
 well known that the Euphorbia candelabra shows the most 
 beautiful and gigantic forms in the Khalamba Mountains 
 and in Sekukuni's country and the Hoogeveldt (High- 
 lands) of the Eastern Transvaal. Erom this we may 
 conclude, as the gorc-tvee does not grow in flats, but 
 is, in very few exceptions, almost entirely confined tu 
 mountainous territories, that the Khoikhoi before they 
 separated lived in a mountainous country. This circum- 
 stance allows us to account for the higher development 
 which they received before their cousins, the Bushmen. 
 It also points out to us the primordial " fatherland" of the 
 Khoikhoi. 
 
 We come now to the number [ncmi, six, where I am 
 not able to give a satisfactory explanation. 
 
 Ifu or hu(/u (originally hunigu) mean tlie " mixed 
 ones," the " amalgamated ones," from Inini, to stir, to 
 amalgamate. Eor instance, if milk is thrown into cofiee, 
 a man says, " Hunire eibe ots ni jgilise a." " Stir at first " 
 (that is, mix the coffee with the milk), " and you will drink 
 nicely." Whether here the seven colours of the rain- 
 bow gradually flowing into one another originated the 
 idea of the number seven I cannot tell, but I think it 
 possible. 
 
 WKhaisi or \\kliaisa, cii/ht, is very clear from the root 
 Wkkai, to turn ; thus ||khaisi means " turning number" — i.e., 
 four is turning back again. 
 
 Khoisi, nine, is not intelligible. All I can say is, that 
 it has with Ichoib, man, the root khoi in common. 
 
 Bisi, ten, from di, to do, would give us the meaning 
 " done," "finished." And the Khoikhoi now continued 
 eleven, disi-lgui-lkha ; twelve, disi-lgam-lkha — that is, 
 ten-one-with, ten-two-with, &c. &c., or simply with 
 striking off disi, ten, Igam-|kha, two-with, and so forth. 
 Twentv is Isarn disi, two tens ; thirty is Inona disi, three 
 
i6 
 
 tens, &c. Hundred, disi disi, ten tens, or gei disi, great 
 ten. For thousand, |oa gei disi, full-great- ten, is now 
 in use, but I am not in the position to decide whether 
 it is of very recent date or not. 
 
 If we had nothing else but these numerals, it would be 
 enough to excite our admiration for the intellectual achieve- 
 ments of the pre-historic Khoikhoi. These numerals are 
 the oldest records of philosophical thinking among the Eed- 
 inen, and rank their inventors with the ancestors of our 
 own Aryan race as far as mental 'ipower is concerned. But 
 fortunately there are some more fragments and relics 
 wliich open to us a clear view into the social, domestic, 
 and religious daily life of the primitive Khoikhoi. He 
 was a Nomad, and possessed large herds of cattle and 
 sheep. The cattle (gomdn) and sheep (gun) were his 
 riches (x^'m). A rich man (gou-aob) was a fat man; he 
 could afford to be fat (go2isa), he could anoint himself 
 with fat (goub). Therefore the word gou-ao5, fat-man, is 
 identical with iJchu-aoh, rich-man, and both have now 
 become the words by which rulers, kings, chiefs, masters, 
 and lords are addressed ; gou-aob, or gao-aub, being 
 generally used for chief or king, and jkhu-aob for master 
 or lord, sometimes simply jkhiib, in which form it is 
 also used for the " Zord in heaven." 
 
 Naturally the richest man had the largest family, he 
 could afford to buy wives as many as he liked ; to love, 
 to court, is ||a, originally \\ama, which fuller form is 
 still in use for to luy, to barter. This shows that the 
 Khoikhoi bought their wives, and there must have been 
 a remembrance of that custom still, when they first came 
 in contact with the black Bantu races ; for the Zulus 
 have the same word llama for marrying — viz., buying a 
 wife, a word which, from its click, shows the Khoikhoi 
 origin. 
 
 It is now clear that the richest man became the most 
 influential man, and gradually rose to the station of a 
 chief. He could buy as many wives as he liked, and thus 
 
17 
 
 raled tliroagli tli3 uuniher of relations and such admirers 
 who had to live on him. It is now still expected that 
 a Khoikhoi chief must have an open hand and an o])en 
 house ; and the worst that can be said of a chief is, that 
 he is gei-\ \are — i.e., greatly-lcfthandcd or stingy. It happens 
 sometimes, that another man is made chief, who is 
 expected to be more liberal 
 
 It was a great event in the history of the Hottentot 
 language, when \Guri-Khoisib, the ancestor of the pre- 
 sent nomadic Hottentots called himself the " Only-man," 
 or hhoikhoih, the man of men — i.e., man par excellence ; 
 when he formed from the root Iclioi such abstract words 
 as Jdioisi, friendly, human ; Ivhoisis, humanity, friendli- 
 ness, kindness, friendship, or khoiy^a and khoiyasis, kind 
 and kindliness ; klioisigagus, marriage, intimacy, friend- 
 ship ; khoiyakhoib, most intimate friend, or, as we say in 
 German, Herzcnsfrcund. 
 
 There is, indeed, a great and striking difference between 
 the feelings and ideas of a Bushman and a Khoikhoi. 
 
 This word Khoikhoi opens to us another page of the 
 records of the pre-historic Hottentots. It proves that 
 besides the San or Bushmen, there were no other nations 
 known to the KhoikhoL The present Bergdamaras are 
 called Dama, the conquered people, and also IHaukhoi, 
 the strange people, or foreigners — i.e., people of another 
 nation or tribe. The very fact that the word Da-ma is 
 a derivative, while Khoikhoi and Sa are not, shows us 
 that the word Sa and Khoikhoi were formed some con- 
 siderable time before Dama — that is, before the time the 
 Khoikhoi came in contact with black races. For instance, 
 all the names of the Khoikhoi tribes are derivatives, as 
 can be seen from the following enumeration |Ko-bi-si, 
 :J:Au-ni, ::j:Isru-be, !Ko-ra, jGo-na, jGo-ra-^^a, ||Ha-bo-be, 
 IGa-mi-ijinu, Ou-te-ni-, &c. This indicates that these 
 tribes came into existence only after the agglutinative 
 character of the Khoikhoi language was fully estab- 
 lished, and perhaps most of them after the primitive 
 
 c 
 
Khoiklioi family had separated. Here I may add tliat 
 the Khoikhai name for Betyiiana is Bri or Biri (Briqua 
 of the Cape Eecords), and this appelLation is generally 
 derived from hiri, goat ; thns the Tyuana are the Goat 
 2)co2')lc. But I am more inclined to derive the word 
 Biriqvin, from ha--5m, or ha-Pedi, or ba-Beli, a Tyuana 
 tribe, who formerly lived more to the South, in the pre- 
 sent Free State, and are of Suto (Basuto) extraction, ^^•ho 
 form again a sub-family of the Tyuana. 
 
 Before the Khoikhoi left their primordial " Fatherland," 
 the various degrees of relationship were already estab- 
 lished. Father as genitor was i \g'ii-'b ; as protector i-h; as 
 master sauh ; as friend cib, tatah, ahoh and aho-lb. Amongst 
 many other names for mother was that suggestive expres- 
 sion ei-gos, the one vjJio looks upon — ^viz., the child (from ei 
 upon, and go to look, to see). Strange enough, uncle and 
 grandfather, or ancestor, were called ||naub ; the son-in-law 
 was ||nu-ri-b, and he had to spend his first years like 
 Jacob in the service of his father-in-law. He Avas the 
 old mans companion in the hunting-field as well as in the 
 war. Polygamy was customary, as we can see from tlie 
 appellations gei-ris, the elder wife, the great-'ivife, and 
 \d-ri-s, the younger vnfe. As we shall see in the follow- 
 ing chapter, Heitsi-eibib, their great-grandfather, had a 
 second wife. And the laws of succession and inheritance 
 are now-a-days the same among the surviving tribes as 
 they were before their spj)aration. LaAv, :J:hanub means 
 what is right, straight, what is in a straight line, A great- 
 mans, or, to speak more familiarly, a gentleman's, word was 
 a true ivord {amah), and it was a disgrace to a " great- 
 onan" to speak untruth, or to %lmmi or gcira. Boys 
 when they became of age were told not to lie, not to steal 
 |a, and not to ill-treat the other sex, not to commit rape. 
 The vendetta, Wkliarab, was in practice, which means the- 
 doing-in-rcturn. Sin, guilt, and wickedness was expressed 
 by the word ||o-re-b, evidently derived from the word |!5, 
 to die ; lloreb thus means what makes liable to death, and 
 tlore)^a wicked, sinful. 
 
 I 
 
19 
 
 All tlie Klioiklioi tribes use tlie expression Tar as for 
 woman. We have still the name of Traduinv — i.e., Tara- 
 daoh — for a mountain-pass not far from Swellendam. 
 Taras is the woman, as ruler of the house, the mistress ; 
 it is exactly the Middle -High-German vrotaoe. The root da 
 or ta means to conquer, to rule, to master, and the suiSx ra 
 expresses a custom or an intrinsic peculiarity. Taras is also 
 a woman of rank, a lady. In every Khoikhoi's house the 
 woman, or taras, is the supreme rider ; the husband has 
 nothing at all to say. While in public the men take the 
 prominent part, at home they have not so much power 
 even as to take a mouthful of sour milk out of the tub, 
 without the wife's permission. If a man ever should try 
 to do it, his nearest female relations will put a fine on 
 him, consisting in cows and sheep, which is to be added 
 to the stock of the wife. In the house the wife alM'ays 
 occupies the right side of the husband and the right side 
 of the house. 
 
 If a chief died, it often happened that his energetic 
 wife became the gau-tas (contracted from gautaras), the 
 ruling woman — i.e., the queen of the tribe — in place of the 
 son who was not of age. Thus, the name of an old 
 queen, Xam|has, who ruled the Cauquas (iKhauas) at the 
 time of Simon van der Stell, in the present Worcester 
 district, in the valleys of the Breede river, has been handed 
 down to us, and her descendants now live on the outskirts 
 of the Kalihari, where they still rule the tribe, who left 
 the Colony seventy years ago. I mean the Xam|ha, or 
 so-called Amraal-family, ruling the Gei-|Khauas of 
 Gobabis. Here I must mention a peculiar old custom 
 common to all Khoikhoi tribes, and which proves how well 
 the conjugal ties were already established before the 
 Khoikhoi separation. ^All the daughters are called after the 
 father and all the sons after the mother. Thus, if the father 
 is Xa7n\Jm-h and the mother is "^Aoises, the sons are — 
 
 1 . 4^Ariseb geib — i.e., ::j:Arise the big one, or the eldest 
 4:Arise. 
 
 C2 
 
20 
 
 2. iJiAriseb ^^khami, ^^Arise the younger one. 
 If there are three sons, then the following appellative 
 or cognominal distinctions are made : 
 
 1. ijlAriseb geib. 
 
 2. :(:Ariseb jnaga-mab — i.e., ^lArise the-lower-standing, 
 i.e., the second. 
 
 3. ::|:Ariseb ijikhami. ^^Ariseb the younger one or 
 the youngest. 
 
 If there are four sons, the denomination runs thus : 
 
 1. :|:Ariseb geib. 
 
 2. iJiAriseb jnaga-mab. 
 
 3. 4^Ariseb :j:khami. 
 
 4. 4^Ariseb jnaga-ma-:f;khami. 
 
 If there are five sons, the denomination is like the 
 preceding, where there are four ; the fifth one is called 
 jgaob, and if it is a daughter [gaos, which means the 
 " cut off." And if there are more than five sons, mere cog- 
 nornina such as ::):nub, the dark one, |haib, the fawn-coloured 
 one, lawab, the red one, Inubub, the short one, ga;>^ub, the 
 tall one, &c., are used. 
 
 In exactly the same way the daughters are c ailed after 
 the father ; for instance, Xam-|hab being the father, 
 the sultix s of the feminine gender is simply put in 
 place of the masculine h and we thus receive : — i. 
 Xam-|has geis. 2. Xara Ihas jnaga-mas. 3. Xam 
 |has :|:khams, &c. This custom will guide us, when in 
 the sequel we have to explain the relationship of mytho- 
 logical persons. There is, for instance, jUrisib, the son 
 of Heitsi-eibib, Our old storyteller did not give us the 
 name of the wife of jUrisiS. But from knowing her son's 
 name to be jUrisib, we quite correctly infer that her 
 name certainly was jUrisi-s. 
 
 The eldest daughter was highly respected ; to her was 
 entirely left the milking of the cows. This was in 
 accordance with the respect shown to the female sex in 
 general. There is a nice charming little song illustrating 
 this. 
 
21 
 
 Ti yamsc ! My lioness ! 
 
 IGaihista \aote ? Art thou afraid that I will hewitcli 
 thee ? 
 
 Gomasa kc \ausi WganUomsai ! 
 
 Thou milkest the cow with a flesliy hand — i.e., with a 
 soft hand. 
 
 Natere ! Bite me — i.e., kiss me ! 
 
 \Gabi-\kliatcre ! Pour for me (milk) ! 
 Ti y^amse ! My lioness. 
 
 Gei Jchoits uase ! Great man's daughter. 
 
 The uncle always calls his niece, the brother's or 
 sister's daughter, " Ti yamsc" my lioness. 
 
 The highest oath a man could take and still takes, was 
 to swear by his eldest sister, and if he should abuse this 
 name, the sister will walk into his flock and take Ms 
 finest cows and sheep, and no law could prevent her 
 from doing so. A man never can address his own sister 
 personally ; he must speak to another person to address 
 the sister in his name, or in absence of anybody, he says 
 so that his sister can hear, " I wish that somebody will 
 tell my sister that I wisli to have a drink of milk," &c., 
 &c. The eldest sister can inflict even punishment on a 
 grown-up brother, if he omits the established traditional 
 rules of courtesy and the code of etiquette. 
 
 The art of making mats (Igaru-ti) and of bending poles 
 (jhana-gu) for their beehive-shaped mathouses was com- 
 mon to all Khoikhoi ; and pottery, and the manufacture 
 of milk vessels (||hoe-ti), and wooden dishes (loreti), and 
 wooden basins and bowls (a-^u-ti or Igabi-ti), must also 
 have been established before their pre-historic migration 
 took place, for the substance of which their pots are 
 made is the same, clay and ground-quartz. I liave frag- 
 ments of pots dug from the shores of the Southern Cape 
 Colony, and fi-om the outskirts of the Kalihari, which 
 in shape and substance show no difference ; and tlie 
 Nam aquas of the present day still make pots in the old 
 style, though traders sell to them ii'on pots very cheap 
 
22 
 
 (pot su-s, to boil, to cook sai). Food, especially meat, is 
 always well boiled, and not underdoue, as our gourmands 
 prefer it. 
 
 We must also conclude that the process of melting 
 ore was known to the Khoikhoi before their general 
 separation ; for \urth is the word for iron or any other 
 metal used by all clans and tribes, and is derived from \il, to 
 separate (intransitive and transitive), German ausschciden. 
 They also manufactured knives, spears (goagu), and 
 metal rings both of copper and iron, as ornaments for 
 arms and legs. (Eings [ganugu, literally meaning the 
 ties, from Igai to bind.) From the invention of iron 
 tools, such as knives and axes and spears, it was only a 
 short step to the fabrication (|ihoe-;)(^oa-jna) of wooden 
 vessels in which they could keep their milk and fat. 
 
 But iron and copper tools were, on account of the diffi- 
 culty of manufacturing them, as yet too valuable ; conse- 
 quently the stone implements of the more primitive age 
 were not entirely abandoned. That a Stone Age must have 
 existed among the Hottentots is proved by the fact that 
 the priest (jgai-aob) up to this day never uses an iron 
 knife, but always a splint of a sharp quartz, when he has 
 to perform the rite of making a boy a man, or if he has 
 to make an operation, or if a sheep or cow is slaughtered 
 as an offering to the deceased or to the Supreme Being. 
 
 Oxen were broken in for the purpose of carrying and 
 riding (Igabi), and men and women both were experts in 
 the art of riding, much unlike the Kafir, who will ride 
 Avhile his wife and children have to trot alongside of 
 him. Van Eiebeeke's journal in the Cape Archives of 
 1658 speaks of 2^0-ck-oxen ; and also Vasco da Gama, when 
 he came to Mosselbay, saw * women riding on oxen down 
 to the Bay to see the new comer (the ship of da Gama). 
 
 It speaks well for the refined taste of the ancient 
 Khoikhoi, that they were fond of perfumes (sa-b or bu^u). 
 
 * " Their brides on slow-paced oxen ride leliind." — Cajioex.*, The Lusiad. 
 Book V. 
 
The most costly present lovers could Livlsh oii each other 
 was huxu, and these sweet aromatic herbs of a certain 
 Diosma were also sprinkled on those cairns which 
 still are objects of worship, and where they assembled to 
 offer prayers to the deceased or to the Supreme Being 
 Tsuillgoab. We know that in the earliest times a large 
 trade was carried on (Hamab, trade, ||amagu, to trade, to 
 exchange, to barter), not only with pottery, dishes, spears, 
 and knives, but chieHy witli Bu;(u. And the leaves of 
 the Diosma growing on the Khamies Bergen, tlie Lange 
 Zwarte Bergen (ijiNu-Hkhara, a name still remembered 
 by the old men of the jAnias tribe), and of the iKhomab 
 Mountains in Great JSTamaqualand, and of :j:Xu-lhoas 
 opposite Sandwich harbour, were known all over the 
 Khoikhoi territory. 
 
 That the eyes of the ancient Khoikhoi were early 
 directed towards the sky, we shall see from a myth in tlie 
 following chapter. The stars too were an early object of 
 contemplation to them, as is evident from the number of 
 names for the stars. Certain it is that the \Khuseti (|Khu- 
 uuseti) or Pleiades, the Belt of Orion or \goregu the 
 Zebrtis, a Orionis yanii, the Lion, a Tauri (Aldebaran) aob, 
 the husband, were known to all the Khoikhoi before the 
 separation. There was a star-mythology, and things in 
 the blue vault went on in the same way as here on earth. 
 
 The ancient Khoikhoi were a brave and warlike people, 
 and it characterizes their wars that women and children were 
 spared. War was toroh, from toro, to hore, to perforate ; thus 
 war means the perforator. Bravery was highly admired, 
 and girls used to meet the victorious heroes (Igari-b, llgob, 
 je-aob) who returned to the kraals laden with booty, sing- 
 ing their praise. Such heroes had then to undergo a 
 ceremony. The priest or jgaiaob cut certain marks on 
 the chest of the brave man with a flint stone, and he 
 received then on such an O'lcasion a cognomen as Xama- 
 jgamteb, Lion-killer, HOtsatamab, The One who cannot 
 die, Aogullob, Destroyer of heroes, &c, Names of places 
 
24 
 
 and rivers up to tliis day tell us of battles once fonglit, 
 such as \KJiami and \Khams, Battlefield, \K]io-\\oa-tes, 
 " You cannot catch me ;" \Kliotoas, the last one caught ; 
 :J:Z"i^t^«s, peace ; \IIaritcimas, " I am not afraid." Other 
 names again hear testimony to the love for dancing and 
 singing, like \Gm\\nais and \Gai\\nc(iy^as, "Good, pleasant 
 singing," ^^A^ais, " Eeed-dance." And even sentimental 
 feelings seem to he as characteristic of them as of the 
 writers of fashionable novels now-a-days. IMIios, " Dying 
 from love," has probably been the scene of a very tragical 
 love affair. 
 
 Prophets (gebo-aogii, i.e., seers) could tell to new-born 
 children as well as to heroes their fate, and this impor- 
 tant institution was in tlie hands of the greatest and 
 most respected old men of the clan. We shall see here- 
 after that Heitsieibib, Tsu-||goab and the Moon, all 
 were endowed with the power of prophecy. 
 
 I have already shown in the forms derived from JJioi, 
 that the Khoikhoi are able to form a.bstract words. 
 
 This distinguishes them most favourably from all tiie 
 Bushmen tribes, and proves how high their mental de- 
 velopment must have been before they emigrated from 
 their primitive territory. 
 
 I shall give only a few specimens. XEi, to think, from 
 Xani to cut to j^ieces, to slaughter, hence, if^cis {X'^niis), 
 the thought ; X'^l-Xci-sen, to consider, to tliink over again ; 
 %ei-\cl-scn-s, the result of one's own consideration, idea, 
 percej^tion. 
 
 /, to appear, to shiiae ; isil), form, shape, likeness, ap- 
 pearance ; Isa and t^^a, full of form, beautiful, pretty, 
 handsome. 
 
 Si, to come, to arrive ; si (from sini), to cause to arrive — ■ 
 i.e., to send; sise^t, to send oneself — i.e., to worlx ; German, 
 sich anscJiicken. 
 
 A, yes ; ama, true ; amab, truth ; amasib, truthfulness, 
 loA'e of truth. 
 
 iXams, love, fondness ; nam|namsa, fond, dear; !nam, to 
 love. 
 
25 
 
 lAmo, eternal, encllesSj laniosib, eternity. This |amo is 
 derived from |a to be sharp, to be pointed ; hence |anio, 
 the end, the point ; o is used as the a jprivativum in 
 Greelv, and means without. Tlius |amo, what is without 
 end, 
 
 iKhom, to have mercy; Jkhoms, mercy. 
 
 |u, to forget ; lu, to forgive — i.e., to forget the hatred. 
 
 :|:Kha, to refuse ; :|:khaba, stubborn, wicked ; \kha- 
 hasib, wickedness, badness. Why missionaries have com- 
 mitted the absurdity of forming from a Hebrew root tlie 
 word eloyorcsa — i.e., being without elohim — is to me a 
 riddle, when we have a very pregnant Khoikhoi word to 
 express wicked and wickedness. 
 
 Tsd, to feel; ^.sa&, the feeling, taste, sentiment ; tsd\l']ia, 
 to feel with — i.e., to condole ; tsa-lkhasib, condolence 
 (German Mitgefilhl). 
 
 \Anu, clean, neat; but anv, sacred, pure, refined, hand- 
 some, beautiful ; also cmu-^rc ; anusib, holiness, sacredness, 
 purity. 
 
 To show what tlie Khoikhoi mean by anu and anuyj(, 
 I may give the following conversation I once had with 
 an old Namaqua. A girl, a niece of liis, used to bring 
 daily some milk to my camp. Her lovely face and the 
 pure expression of the eyes had struck me repeatedly, 
 and I could not help being complimentary to the old 
 man. It was indeed one of those faces 
 
 " Which tell of days in goodness spent, 
 A mind in peace with all below, 
 A heart whose love is innocent." 
 
 I used in my conversation the word isa (beautiful), when 
 the old man almost indignantly said, " No, every girl can 
 be Isa, but such an appearance as hers we call anuya 
 (full of purity)." This was amongst Khoikhoi who had 
 no missionary yet, and who still lived in national primi- 
 tive independence. 
 
 Nothing, however, is more convincing of the abstract 
 power of the Khoikhoi language than the great number 
 
26 
 
 of names for the various divisions and subdivisions of 
 colours. The colour itself is isib — i.e., appearance. It 
 must be remembered that the colours named in the fol- 
 lowing are not all which are known to the Khoikhoi, 
 whicli must surprise the more if we recollect that they 
 have been collected in the most barren territory of South 
 Africa, in Great N'amai:}ualand. For this reason we need 
 not doubt that, among the other tribes, not only the same 
 words were in existence, but that also more subdivisions 
 were known. Be this however as it may, we are 
 told that Demokritus knew only of four colours, and that 
 in China the number of colours was originally five, while 
 we shall learn from the following tliat the Khoikhoi dis- 
 tinguished very strictly between Muri. white, " ^^nii, black, 
 ^lam, green, "'lawa (|aua, lava), red, ^ijlhoa, blue, ^|hai, 
 fawn-coloured, Hhuni, yellow, ^^^gama, brown, ^Ikhan, 
 grey, '"Inaiijiu, ''Igaru, dotted. Then we have the fol- 
 lowing subdivisions — -^luri-jlinni, whitish-yellow, "jurisi, 
 whitish, ^:j:nu-|ho, black-patched, ''^^nu-lgaru, black- 
 dotted, ^::J:nu-:|:ura, black-shining (German, scJiwarz- 
 schillernd), ''lava-ijiura, red-shining, '|ava-::j:gani, with white 
 and red patches, *|awa-Iho or Igi-lho, chestnut-colour, 
 ^lavara or lava^^a, reddish, "jam-:J:ura, green-shining (for 
 instance, the colour of the Naja Haje) ; ":j:gama-|ho, brown- 
 dotted, ^-:}:gama-Igaru, the same, '^:^gama-:J:hoa, brownish- 
 blue (the colour of Bucephalus Capensis); ^^:(:gama-:|:ura, 
 brown-shining, like the Vipera Cornuta. The colour of 
 the rainbow is always jam, green ; only in two cases I 
 heard that it was considered to be \ava, red. The name 
 of the rainbow is tsawirub and dabitsirub. In Bible 
 translations of missionaries we read \avi-\hanab. This 
 is very incorrect, and nothing else but a verbal transla- 
 tion of rain-how. As to tsawirub, the etymology is not 
 quite clear ; tsawib is the ebony-tree, which much re- 
 sembles in appearance the weeping willow ; the leaves are 
 dark green, l^nu-kim, and tsahaya bile-coloured, from 
 tsabab, the bile. Now it is difficult to say Avhether the 
 
27 
 
 ebony-tre3 has b33u called after the green colour of the 
 bile, and also whether the rainbow, tsatvinch, received ita 
 name from isahah. lUri is a derivative from the original 
 III, and certainly has with lichits, egg, the root hi in com- 
 mon ; consequently luri means egg-coloured, and the egg 
 par excellence, the ostrich egg, is white. The same root 
 for white and egg we had in the lAi Bushman languaire. 
 jAm, green, means originally sprimjing up, or shootinfj 
 forth, like in German ausschlagend, used for the fresh 
 green leaves ; ja, to hit, :|:noii-la, and :j:noii-jan, to beat 
 — to hit, German, ^n;^6'?i ; ||naii-Ia and ||naii-jan to hear 
 — to hit, i.e., to understand ; mu-la and mu-!an, to see 
 or to look — to hit, i.e., to observe, to perceive, to 
 acknowledge, |Ava, red, is nothing else but |aua, blood- 
 coloured, from lau, to bleed, or |au-b, blood. jHiini is 
 yellow, that is, the colour of clay or ground, from jhu-b, 
 ground, earth, clay. ijiGama, brown, is the colour of 
 i^gab, originally ^^gamab, the colour of a vlcy ; the vley 
 is a water-pond, which is dry in the winter, and then the 
 bottom shows a brown colour. Ilvhan, grey, is the 
 colour of the Ikhani, Bos elaphus. jNai-^lu is the 
 colour of the jnaib, giraffe and also of the zebra. |Garu 
 is dotted like a leopard, hence this animal is called 
 Igariib. The other name of Igarub, leopard, however, is 
 more significant ; he is also called ^^oasaiib, the mark — 
 scratcher, from ^oa to scratch, and sail to mark, to im- 
 print. 
 
 I cannot conclude this chapter without adding some 
 remarks on Khoikhoi poetry, and on the so-called "llccd- 
 dance," ^ab, to which in the following chapters repeatedly 
 reference will be made. 
 
 The Khoikhoi have two kinds of poetry, sacred and 
 profane. The sacred hymns, as well as the profane 
 songs, are sung accompanied by the so-called Eeed-music 
 or Eeed-dancers. The sacred hymns are generally 
 prayers, invocations, and songs of praise in honour of 
 Tsu||goab,Heitsieibib,and the Moon; and such sacred songs, 
 
28 
 
 and the performance with dancing is called \gcib while 
 the general profane songs are called \\nai-tsanaii, and to 
 perform them with a dance on reed-pipes, or better, bark- 
 pipes, is '^aba ■^airc. The profane reed-dances or reed- 
 songs are of a very different nature. Either the fate of 
 a hero who fell in a battle or lost his life on a hunting 
 expedition, is deplored ; and on such an occasion a per- 
 formance is connected with it. In such a case the per- 
 formances have much in common with the mediaeval 
 German " Singspiel." We can also compare them 
 witli our modern operas. If an illustrious stranger visits 
 a place, he is often welcomed with a reed-dance while 
 entering the place. Thus the first Moravian missionary, 
 George Schmidt, who came to the HHeisiqua Hottentots 
 in the Calodon district, was received with a reed-dance. 
 The Dutcli Governor van der Stell, on his journey to the 
 Copper Mountains, the present Copper mines, was 
 honoured in the same way. Hop, a Ixirgher of Stellen- 
 bosch, who in Governor Eyk van Tulbagh's time went on 
 an expedition to Great Xamaqualand, received the congra- 
 tulations of the IIHabobes at the foot of the IIKharas 
 mountain in a grand reed-dance performance. Alexander 
 received tlie same honours from his Nam aqua host, the 
 famous Jonker Afrikaner |Haramub ; and up to this time 
 the traveller, if he only understand how to fraternize 
 with them, will gladly be admitted to witness their 
 simple merry-making. 
 
 If chiefs have become unpopular by some whimsical 
 or despotic orders, very soon the tongue of the women — 
 of whom a Khoikhoi proverb says " that they cannot be as 
 long quiet as it takes sweet milk to get sour ■" — will lecture 
 him in a sarcastic reed-song. Once I saw a chief sitting 
 by, when the young girls sung into his face, telling him 
 " that he was a hungry hyena and a roguish jackal ; that 
 he was the brown vulture who is not only satisfied with 
 tearing the flesh from the bones, but also feasted on 
 the intestines." On another occasion, a very old 
 
29 
 
 man had married a veiy young girl, and her friends 
 sung : 
 
 The geiris (first wife) is dismissed, his only great 
 thought is the jaris (second wife); or, as we should say, 
 "Age does not prevent a man making a fool of himself." 
 
 Other songs again are of a very simple character : 
 " Don't, please, kill my antelope, my darling antelope ; my 
 antelope is so poor ; my antelope is an orphan," — and 
 are simply an instance of the thrift of poetical produc- 
 tiveness. Or they are of a comical nature, sympathizing 
 with a patient who suffers from gripes : 
 
 Poor young HKharis got into a fright. 
 
 She is suffering from gripes, 
 
 And bites the ground like the hyena which ate poison. 
 
 The people run to see the fun I 
 
 They all were very much frightened I 
 
 And still they say — oh, it is nothing/ ! 
 
 This reminds one very much of the style of Heinrich 
 Heine ; and even more of the way of the Middle-High-Ger- 
 man poet, Mthart. I saw tliis play, " The Gripes," per- 
 formed, and honestly confess that I laughed until the tears 
 came. Helmerdino- could here have found his match in 
 caricaturing people. 
 
 Every larger kraal has its bandmaster, ci-\Qun-aob, the 
 leader. He teaches the young boys how to perform and 
 to play on the pipes, and if a boy should remain out of 
 class, he is sure to get the whip severely. Also the girls, 
 if they are too lazy and do not pay attention enough, 
 receive now and then the whip, but then generally on the 
 kaross, merely to make a noise and to frighten them. The 
 reed-music sounds exactly like the playing on a harmonium. 
 It is very pleasant indeed to hear it at a distance. Boys 
 who perform well, are petted by the girls, and this kind of 
 petting is called \kho-\kha, to touch the hody, which means, 
 " to praise a person in a song." 
 
 Such was the culture of the Khoikhoi before they 
 migrated from the grave of iGurikhoisib, and such was it 
 
still at tlie time when Bartolorneo Diaz discovered tlie 
 Cape, and when Governor Jan van Eiebeeke hoisted the 
 banner of the Netherlands at the foot of Table Mountain, 
 below the old Khoikhoi kraal 1|Hu-jgais. And such we 
 find it still to be amongst the tribes of Great Xamaqualand, 
 and the remnants of the jKora and the so-called Cape 
 Hottentots. 
 
 The orthography of the few specimens of the old Khoi- 
 khoi language of the Cape Colony, given by Witsen, Kolb, 
 Yalentyn, Ludolf, Leibniz, Thunberg, Spaarman, Le 
 Vaillant, Barrow, Liechtenstein, Burchell, &c., is very much 
 distorted, when compared with that of the excellent pub- 
 lications of Schmeleii, Knudsen, Vollmer, and Tindall. 
 Nevertheless, the language of the Khoikhoi tribes, such as 
 the Kochoquas, Charigurunas, Hessaquas, Outeniquas, 
 Attaquas, now swept from the face of the earth, and the 
 present living idioms of the Namaquas, jGonaquas, 
 iKhauas, jAmas, and jKoras, and few" remnants of the 
 Chrichriquas, the present Griquas, show the same structure, 
 the same sex-denoting tendency, the same agglutinative 
 peculiarity, the same decimal system of counting, and an 
 equal abundance of abstract ideas and expressions well 
 fitted to interpret the most sublime and sacred feelings 
 of the human heart. 
 
 An unmerciful fate has overtaken the Khoikhoi ; the 
 most powerful tribes have been annihilated, and with 
 them their traditions, sacred as well as profane. Those 
 still extant have lost so much of their national peculi- 
 arities by contact with civilization, and have adopted such 
 a number of Indo-European beliefs and customs ; and 
 the Christian ideas introduced by missionaries have 
 amalgamated to such a degree with the national religious 
 ideas and mythologies, that for this reason I have in the 
 following pages preferred to give less than I could give, lest 
 I should be accused that from a certain natural interest 
 in, and sympathy with, the Khoikhoi, I had been 
 carried away to assign to them a higher station in the 
 
31 
 
 scale of culture than tliey are entitled to claim. I wanted 
 to represent the religious ideas of the Khoikhoi and the 
 worship of their Supreme Being in its true light, and had 
 therefore to leave out every legend or myth, whicli, 
 although it may be genuine, gives to the foreigner reason to 
 believe that it savours too much of missionary influence. 
 
 A friend of mine the other day in Cape Town, when 
 we were speaking about the traditions of the South 
 African races, told me in a blunt way that these stories 
 were insipid, and some even very repulsive ; no sensible 
 and educated man would look at them ! 1 had to remind 
 my friend that, as to the repulsiveness, he simply showed 
 that he was very little acquainted with Greek mythology, 
 and as to the charge of being insipid, the same was said 
 at the beginning of the ISTursery Tales collected by Grimm, 
 which are now translated into Dutch and English ; and 
 that men of world-wide experience are haj)py to fill up their 
 leisure hours with reading those simple tales over again, 
 which, in their childhood, were heard from the lips of 
 some old nurse. 
 
 To the man of science, these so-called insipid and repul- 
 sive stories have the same interest as the Bathybius 
 Haeckelii has to the biologist, and a common lichen to 
 the botanist, who would perhaps pass unnoticed a famous 
 race-horse, or a gigantic cabbage. 
 
 NOTES TO THE FIEST CHAPTEE. 
 
 1 Tsui-llgoab, &c. On the title-page I have written 
 Tsuui-llgoam, because this is the reconstructed original 
 form. The nasal " was originally an n or m ; thus we 
 have still the forms |liu%-khoib and |hu-khoib, ijl^m'sa- 
 ijigaobeb and iji^fsa-i^gaobeb, XGama-Xu,ov\h and 
 :j:Gri-:j:gorib, \Khuni and \Kliui, &c. As to the suftix 
 m in ||goa7?i, it is more primitive than h. Some Cape 
 Dialects, and especially the IKora, have preserved m 
 
wliere the jSTama uses h; thus, jKora ilkham, Nama 
 llkhab; jKora [gam, Xama Igab ; jKora mum, Naraa 
 mub, &c. &c. Vide Th. Hahn, " Die Sprache der Kama" 
 (Leipzig, 1870), p. 67, 3 ; also p. 29, sub Dritte Per- 
 son, and p. 65, ijlgfu 
 
 ^ As to the prehistoric condition of the Hottentot race, 
 vide Th. Hahn, "The Graves of Heitsi-eibib," in the CajM 
 Monthly Magazine (May, 1878), and Friedr. Muller, 
 " AUgemeine Ethnographic" (Wien, 1879), pp. 78 and 
 93, &c. 
 
 ^ Cattle, sheep, and goats. All the records of the 
 Dutch and English and Portuguese navigators agree on 
 the point that the Khoikhoi they met with at St. Helena 
 Bay, Saldanha Bay, the Cape, Mossel Bay, Algoa Bay, 
 were rich in cattle and sheep. The Hottentot sheep is 
 particularly known for its long tail and hair in place of 
 wool. We are led to believe that the Central African 
 natives originally had no sheep. Certainly the Kafir, the 
 Zulu, the Tyuana, the Herero (Damara), and Mbo 
 had no sheep ; and the present Herero sheep is the true 
 type of the old Hottentot sheep. The Herero come from 
 tlie heart of Africa^ from parts where no sheep are to be 
 met with. 
 
 ^ Of the hospitality and kind-heartedness of the 
 Khoikhoi, Kolb and Valentyn give some striking proofs. 
 It is also a prominent feature in the character of the 
 Klioikhoi that they are not inclined to steal. 
 
 ^ In the " Idioticon Hamburgense," p). i o i , by Michael 
 Eichey (Hamburg, 1755), there is the following remark : — 
 " Hiittentiith, Schimpfwort auf einen unnlltzeii Artzt, 
 welch er beim gemeinen Mann heisset: Doctor Hiittentiith, 
 de den Liiden dat water besliht." Then again, " Bremisch 
 MedersachsischWorterbuch" (ii. p. 6'/^) : — " Hiittentiit, so 
 nennt der gemeine Mann in Hamburg einen Stumper in 
 der Arzney Kunst." Both remarks evidently show that 
 the word Hlitentiit, or Hottentot, means something 
 irregular, something which is out of order, something 
 
33 
 
 extraordinary and confused. Dapper, in his excellent work, 
 " UniLstandliche und Eigentliche Beschreibung von Africa" 
 (Amsterdam, 1670), p. 626, expressly says that the name 
 Hottentot has been given by the Dutch to the natives 
 they found at the Cape of Good Hope, on account of the 
 curious clicks and harsli sounds in that lansuaee, and 
 " that the Dutch also apply as a reproach the word 
 Hottentot to one who stammers and stutters too much 
 with the tongue." Sutherland, therefore, in his " Memoir 
 respecting the KafFers, Hottentots, and Bosjemans of South 
 Africa" (Cape Town, i 846), ii. p. 2, footnote, in what he 
 says about the origin of the word Hottentot is wrong. " It 
 appears," says this author, "that the term Hottentot is either 
 an original native appellation, belonging to some tribe farther 
 north or north-east (which tribe is apparently lost), and 
 applied to the inhabitants of the neighbourhood of the 
 Cape by the early Portuguese settlers on the coast ; but 
 the meaning of the term it would seem almost impossible 
 to trace, as hitherto its roots have not been found either 
 in the Portuguese, the Dutch, the Hottentot, the Arabic, 
 or the Sichuana languages, although sought for by some 
 learned persons who have taken much interest in the 
 research. Yet the Arabic word ootc, to strike with a club, 
 and again the word toote, a missile or projectile of any 
 kind, referring to the well-known weapon of the Hottentot 
 as well as of the KafFer, may favour the idea of its Arabic 
 origin, to which the Dutch might have added the Holland, 
 for it is sometimes found Hollandootes. — ( Where ?) — 
 Hence, perhaps, the corruption Hottentootes. Hollon- 
 dootes would thus mean, of course, a peojile struck dow7i 
 — conquered by Holland." 
 
 ^ Ku-nene, means nothing else than the Great Eiver, 
 from the adjective nene in the Mbo language, meaning, 
 great, big, large. The derivation of Zambesi is not quite 
 clear, but so much we know, that this river was known 
 by that name already to the early Portuguese. On a very 
 old coloured map of Africa, from about the year 1600, 
 
 D 
 
34 
 
 we find the Eiver Zambcre ; on tlie map attaclied to Dap- 
 per's work the Zamhcre is also marked. Valentyn, in his 
 admirable work on the Dutch East Indian Colonies, gives 
 a map, on which also a part of South Africa is sketched, 
 and where the said river is pretty fairly laid down with 
 the two names Zamhesi and Eitvpondo. The Kunene's 
 name is also to be found with the c[uite correct transla- 
 tion " Groote Eivier." 
 
 ^ Gorch. — That the Khoikhoi transferred other names 
 of certain parts of the body, or utensils and furniture, to 
 plants, is quite evident from the following examples : — 
 I loab, arm and branch of a tree ; ^^geigu, the ears, and 
 the leaves of the trees and plants ; | Iharan, the flowers, 
 or little pockets from ||has or ||h5s pocket, bag. We, 
 for instance, call a certain flower in Germany Fantoffd- 
 hlumc — i.e., the slipper-flower. 
 
 ^ All the daughters are called after the father. — Mr. G. 
 Theal, our excellent South African historian and custo- 
 dian of the colonial archives, who spent many years 
 among the frontier Kafirs, Nlgika and |Galeka, informs 
 me that they have adopted the same way of name-giving 
 from the Khoikhoi, and that this custom is still in vogue 
 at the present day. Here we have also, as in so many 
 other instances, an evidence that the Khoikhoi exercised 
 an influence on the Kahr. 
 
 ^ \\Hti-\gais. — This is the name by which Cape Town 
 is known wherever the Khoikhoi tongue is spoken. 
 This name consists of two words, llhii the root of a 
 verb, meaning "to condense,^' hence |ihu-s, an old word 
 for cloud, the word is still used ; | |hus is also a game, and 
 especially the game where iGurikhoisib, who is also 
 called ijlEi x^alkhal Inabiseb, or lightning, loses all his 
 copper beads. This is metaphor; and ||hus or the ||hus 
 game is the game, battle, or fight in the clouds — the 
 thunderstorm. In the thunderstorm :j:Ei^a|kha||nabiseb 
 loses the lightning, which falls down to the earth; jgai 
 is to bind, to surround, to tie, to envelop. IIHu-lgais 
 
35 
 
 consequently means " veiled in clouds." And, indeed, 
 every inhabitant of Cape Town will admit tliat tliis is a 
 very siguiiicant name for " Table-mountain." We still 
 say, if the clouds envelop the top of " Table-mountain," 
 he has liis " tablecloth " on. 
 
 D 2 
 
36 
 
 CHAPTEE 11. 
 
 The religious instinct slwuld he 
 honoured even in darh and con- 
 fused mysteries. — Schelling. 
 
 SACKED FEAGJIEXTS AXD RELICS. 
 
 In tliis chapter I propose to give extracts from the 
 accounts of former travellers as much as my own obser- 
 vations, reserving for my next chapter the inferences I 
 have drawn from them. 
 
 Worship oj Hciisi-eihih. 
 
 Corporal Miiller, travelling witJi the Hottentot inter- 
 preter Harry along the False Bay, east of the Cape, in 
 October, 1655, says : 
 
 " We were marching generally in a S.E. direction ; 
 after marching half an hour one morning we saw a 
 strange proceeding of the Hottentot women on the side 
 of OUT path, where a great stone lay. Each woman had a 
 green branch in her hand, laid down upon her face on the 
 stone, and spoke words, whicli we did not understand ; 
 on asking what it meant, they said, ' Hette hie' and 
 pointed above, as if they would say, ' It is an offering to 
 God.' " — ("Sutherland Memoir respecting the Kaffers, Hot- 
 tentots, and Bosjesmans," vol. ii. p. 88.) 
 
 As will be seen from the sequel of this chapter, the 
 word " Hette hie " is only a distortion of " Heitsi-eihib," 
 and the form of worship, described here at the cairn, is 
 nothing else but the Heitsi-eibib worship, as it is practised 
 still up to this day all over Great Namaqualand and in 
 
37 
 
 jKoranaland, wliere Heitsi-eibib lias changed names, and 
 the worship is offered to iGarubeb or Tsni-llgoab. 
 
 Worship of Tsui-\\goab (Dawn), \\Ivhah {Moon) and 
 Hcitsi-cibih (Dawn-tree). 
 "Dapper, as early as 1 671, speaking of the Khoikhoi 
 at the Cape of Good Hope, says : 
 
 " They know and believe that there is One, whom they 
 call hiimma or su7nma (i.e., in Nama or jKora \honii, 
 heaven), who sends rain on earth, who makes the winds 
 blow, and who makes the heat and the cold 
 
 " Tliey also believe that they themselves can make 
 rain, and can prevent the wind from blowing 
 
 " It appears also that there is a certain superstition 
 about the new moon. For if the moon is seen again (the 
 new moon) they crowd together, making merry the whole 
 night, dancing, jumping, and singing ; clasping their 
 hands together, and also murmuring some words (singing 
 hymns) 
 
 " Nay, their women and children are seen to kneel 
 before erected stones and bow before them." — (0. Dapper, 
 " Umbstandliche und Eigentliche Beschreibuiig von 
 Africa." Amsterdam, 1 671, pp. 626, 627.) 
 
 Hcitsi-eihib, or Tsui-\\goab, Worship). 
 
 Nicolas Witsen, burgomaster of Amsterdam, commu- 
 nicates to his learned friend Jobst Ludolf, in Germany, 
 the following interesting letter, dated Cape of Good Hope, 
 February 19, 1691, forty years after the landing of 
 Governor Jan van Riebeeke at the Cape : 
 
 " Nobilissimus vir miscebat sermonem cum aliquot 
 Hottentottis, qui pro sua erga ipsum familiaritate docebant 
 nihil dissimulando ' ' se adorare Deiim certumi aliqiiem ' 
 cuius caput manus sen pugni magnitudinem haberet ; 
 grandi euudem esse et deducto in latitudinem corpore ; 
 auxilium vero eius implorari tempore famis et anonae 
 carioris aut alterius cuiuscunque necessitatis. Uxores 
 
38 
 
 suas solere caput Dei conspergere ten^a rubra, (torob) 
 Buchu et aliis suave olentibus herbis, oblato quoque eidem 
 sacrificio non uno. Ex quo clemum intelligi coeptuni est, 
 Hottentottos colere etiam aliquem ^ Deum ! 
 
 Tsiti-Wgoah, \G-uru-h, and \\Gaunab, 
 Valentyn, a very trustworthy authority, who was a man 
 of high, education and of a classical training, and who had 
 an eye to observe what many others overlooked, tells us 
 in the fifth volume of his great work " Keurlyke Be- 
 schryving van Choromandel, &c. &c., vol. v. p. 109 : "I 
 heard from the chieftains and various others that they 
 call ' GocV in their language not only the ' Great Chiefs in 
 saying, if it thunders, the Great Cliief is angry with us ; 
 but they generally call ' God' in their language Tlnikwa 
 or Thik-qua (Tsui-Hgoab) ; but the Supreme Buler they 
 call Khourrou ; the Devil, Dangoh and Damoh ; a Spectre 
 whom they fear very much, somsoYiicC And p. 158 
 our author continues : " I must say, that I really ob- 
 served many things amongst them which looked like 
 
 religious worship 
 
 " It is certain, when the new moon reappears, they 
 have that Avhole night a great merry-making and clasping 
 of hands. They also, ten or twelve of them, sit on the 
 banks of a river together, and throw some balls or dump- 
 lings, made of clay, into the water It also is 
 
 certain that I often heard them speaking of a Great 
 Chief who dwells on high, whom they call in their 
 own language Tliiki'M or Thnkum, and to whom they 
 showed respect, especially during great storms of thunder 
 and lightning. They also know of a Devil, wliom they 
 call Damoh, a black chief, who does much harm to 
 them ; they avoided speaking of him, as he often persecuted 
 them ; but in carefully examining this, it is nothing else 
 but their somsomas and spectres. Some of them also call 
 the Supreme, Lord (Nama jKhiib) from which it is evident 
 that they believe in more than one ^ Khourrou." 
 
39 
 
 * Yalentyn then continues telling ns that lie had a con- 
 versation with a Hottentot who had been trained by the 
 Dutch clergyman van Kalden, and he (Valentyn) found 
 the man so well informed about the Cliristian religion 
 and discovered in him such an understanding of religious 
 matters that it was quite a pleasure to hear him speak- 
 ing. As to Valentyn, lie touched on his return voyage 
 from the East Indies, in 1705, at the Cape, He ha( 
 been a minister of the gospel in Amboina, &c., for moi' 
 than twenty years, and took a great interest in native 
 customs and manners, of whi(;h he had acquired a great 
 knowledge. 
 
 \\KMh, the Moon, and iKliuh, tlu Tjord, 
 The missionaries Pliitschau and Ziegenbalg, sent by 
 the King of Denmark, Frederic IV. to India in the 
 commencement of the eighteenth century, touched at the 
 Cape, where they had an opportunity of intercourse with 
 the Hottentots (Khoikhoi), 
 
 Pliitschau saw how the natives danced in the moon- 
 light, singing and clasping their hands together. The 
 missionary asked whether they worshipped the Moon ? 
 The answer was, that they could not exactly say this, but 
 it Avas the old custom of their ancestors to do so. They 
 worshipped a Great Chief, — (W. Germann, Ziegenbalg 
 und Pliitschau, Erlaugen, 1868, pp. 62,) 
 
 WKhah, the Moon, and \Khuh, the Lord. 
 Another traveller of the seventeenth century, Wilhelm 
 Vogel, tells us about the KhoikJioi he met at the Cape : 
 "Of God and His nature they know very little or nothing, 
 although one can observe that- they have, some worship of 
 the moon. At new moon they come together and make 
 a noise the whole night, dancing in a circle, and while 
 dancing they clasp their hands together. Sometimes they 
 are seen in dark caves, wdiere they offer some prayers, 
 which, however, a Em'opean does not understand. While 
 doing this they have a very curious behaviour, they tiu'u 
 
40 
 
 their eyes towards the sky and one makes to the other a 
 cross on the forehead. And this is, perhaps, a kind of 
 religious worship." — (Wilhelm ,Vogel, " Ostiudianische 
 Eeise," p. ^T^) 
 
 WKliah, the Moon ; Tsfd-\\goab, the Daian ; [Khuh, the 
 Lord; \\Gaunab, the Destroyer. 
 
 We now come to the worthy German Magister, Peter 
 Kolb, whose reports have been repeatedly doubted by 
 European writers, but witliout any good reason. Any 
 traveller or missionary who is well acquainted with the 
 manners and customs of the Bergdamaras, a black tribe in 
 Great Namaqualand, which entirely has adopted Namaqua 
 manners and language, and which preserved these elements 
 even much better than the Namaquas themselves, will 
 endorse the greater part of Kolb's book on the Hottentots. 
 The good and kind-hearted old Magister bore no hatred 
 against the natives, and he is a great admirer of their 
 simple and unvarnished manners. He has paid special 
 attention to the religion and worship of these savages, 
 and his observations on this subject deserve well to be 
 noticed. Kolb quotes first from other authors, and gives 
 last, but not least, his own observations : — 
 
 " Saar, an officer of the Dutch Government (p. i 5 7), 
 distinctly says : ' One does not know what kind of religion 
 they have, but early, ^ tvhen the day dawns, they assemble 
 and take each other by the hands and dance, and call out 
 in their language towards the heavens. From this one 
 may conclude that they must have some idea of the God- 
 head.' " — (Peter Kolb, p. 406. German edition. Nurem- 
 berg, 1 7 19.) 
 
 From Father Tachard, Kolb also quotes : " These people 
 know nothing of the creation of the world .... nothing 
 of the Trinity in the Godhead .... hut they 'j}ray to a 
 God" — (Kolb, p. 406.) 
 
 The contemporary of Kolb and Ziegenbalg, was also a 
 Danish missionary, Boving, who sa}'s : ''' There are some 
 
41 
 
 rudera and traces of an idea {perception) of a God. For 
 they hiow, at least the more intelli<jcnt among them, that 
 there is a God, who has made the earth and heavens, who 
 causes thunder and rain, and who gives them food and 
 skins for clothing, so that also of them may be said what 
 St. Paul says, Eom. i. 1 9." — (Kolb, p. 406.) 
 
 Kolb's own experience runs thus : " It is obvious that 
 all Hottentots believe in a God, they know him and con- 
 fess it ; to him they ascribe the work of creation, and they 
 maintain that he still rules over everything and that he 
 gives life to everything. On the whole he is possessed of 
 such high qualities that they could not well describe 
 
 him Then our author continues, that nobody has 
 
 given better information on the subject than the above- 
 mentioned Boving. 
 
 " Because the station of a chief is the highest charge, 
 therefore they call the Lord ^ Gounia, and they call the 
 moon so, as their visible God. But if they mean the 
 Invisible, and intend to give him his true name, they call 
 him Gounia Tiqiiaa — i.e., the God of all gods. He is a 
 good man and docs not do any harm to them, and therefore 
 they need not be afraid of him ?" Kolb affirms that his 
 own experience, gathered during a long residence among 
 the natives, is, "' that the Khoikhoi give the moon the name 
 of the Great Chief P He had observed how they performed 
 dances in honour of the new moon, and how they address 
 the moon in singing : " Be welcome, give us plenty of 
 lioney^ give grass to our cattle, that we may get plenty 
 of milk." In offering this prayer they look towards the 
 moon. 
 
 After our author has described the whole performances, 
 and all the rites connected with the religious worship of 
 the Hottentots, he exclaims : " And who now dares to 
 deny that this dancing, singing, and offering invocations 
 at the time of the full moon and new moon, is not a 
 religious worship?" (P. 412.) 
 
 I need not quote any more authorities on this subject. 
 
42 
 
 It may suffice to state, that I liave oLservecl the same 
 dancing and singing towards the moon, 8nd that I fully 
 can endorse Kolb's statements. As will be seen in another 
 page of this essay, the moon really is considered to be a 
 deity, ivho promises men immortality. 
 
 But to return to our w^orthy M agister, he speaks also 
 of another being, whom he calls the other Captain of less 
 power, from whom some of the natives (the sorcerers, 
 jgai-aogu) have learnt witchcraft. He never does gooel to 
 men, but always harm. They, therefore, must fear him., 
 shov) respect to him, and serve him. 
 
 This coincides, according to my own experience, with 
 the IIGauna w^orship of the ijiAuni tribe, close to Wale- 
 fish Bay and Sandwich Harbour, who offer prayers to 
 IIGauna, although they call him an evil-doer, who even 
 kills them when they are out hunting. If Ivolb says the 
 name of this being is Toncpuoa, then he is mistaken ; he 
 has simply misunderstood his informer. 
 
 On pages 416,417, and 418, Kolb speaks of the 
 worship of the Mantis insect. This has been doubted by 
 various authorities. But from what I often had occasion 
 to observe, Kolb's remarks are quite correct. The Nama- 
 quas believe that this insect brings luck if it creeps on a per- 
 son, and one is not allowed to kill it. Strange enough, they 
 call it also UGaunab, as they call the ''enemy of Tsiii-ll goab. 
 
 At the conclusion of his remarks on the religion of the 
 Khoikhoi, Kolb supplies us with some valuable informa- 
 tion about the places of worship. He says : " These Hot- 
 tentots have neither churches nor chapels, made with tlie 
 hands of men, but they consider in their mind that 
 certain places are sacred, because their ancestors have 
 received great luck at such spots. Those places are to be 
 found in the deserts, and consist of stone heaps, others 
 are rivers, .... and they never pass such a deserted 
 spot or hill without offering worship to the saint who, 
 according to their belief, inhabits the place, and who has 
 done so much good to so many of them." (P. 418.) 
 
" Once on an occasion," says Kolb, " a Hottentot 
 IlKamma, whom I canght in the act of dancing and sing- 
 ing ronnd such a spot, told me, that he, on a journey, 
 slept at this place, and was not devoured by a lion who 
 approached him during the night at a few yards distance 
 only. He, the Hottentot, could not help thinking tliat a 
 saint (ghost) inhabited the spot, and had protected him, 
 and he considered it his duty not to forget this *" kindness." 
 (P. 419.) 
 
 Tsui-\\(foah, and \Kkunuscti, the Pleiades. 
 
 The first Khoikhoi missionary, George Schmidt, was 
 sent in 1737 by the Moravian Mission to the Cape. 
 He settled amongst the Hessaquas, a tribe inhabiting 
 the present Caledon district, on the banks of the Zonder- 
 einde Eiver. The place formerly called Baviaanskloof, 
 now Genadendal, is still occupied by the United Brethren. 
 
 " At the return of the Pleiades," says Schmidt, " these 
 natives celebrate an anniversary; as soon as these stars 
 appear above the eastern horizon mothers Vvill lift their 
 little ones on their arms, and running up to elevated 
 spots, will show to them those friendly stars, and teach 
 them to stretch their little hands towards them. The 
 people of a kraal will assemljle to dance and to sing 
 according to the old custom of their ancestors. 
 
 " The chorus always sings : ' Tiqua, our Father 
 above our heads, give rain to us, that the fruits (bulbs, 
 &c.), uientjes, may ripen, and that we may have plenty 
 of food, send us a good year.' " — (^ Easier Ifagazin, 
 1 83 1, p. 12, and Burkhard's " Missionsgeschichte,'^ 
 Africa, vol. ii. p. 9.) 
 
 TsuiAlgoah. 
 
 In the Appendix to his Travels, De Jong, commander 
 of a Dutch vessel, who spent a considerable time at the 
 Cape, quotes from George Schmidt's reports, and says : 
 " They have no religion or rites, and tb.ey only believe 
 
44 
 
 that there is a Lord, whom they call Tui'qiia. They also 
 believe in a devil, to whom they give the name 'Gaima, 
 but they do not care much about him." — (De Jong, 
 " Eeisen nacli dem Vorgebiirge der guten Hoffnung,'"' 
 Hamburg, 1803, vol. i. p. 274.) 
 
 WRhdh, the Moon, mid \Khiib, the Lord. 
 
 By order of the Dutch Governor, Eyk van Tulbagh, 
 an expedition w^as undertaken to the Great Namaqnas, 
 Avhich reached as far as the Kamob river, about lat. 27°. 
 In the ^° Journal of Hop, the commander of that expedi- 
 tion, we find the following remark : " Their (the Nama- 
 qua) religion chiefly consists in worshipping and praising 
 the new moon. The men stand in a circle together and 
 blow on a hollow pipe or similar instrument, and the 
 women, clasping hands, dance round the men. They 
 continually sing in a praying manner, that the last moon 
 had protected them and their cattle so well, and they 
 hope the same from this new moon. The Cabonas (very 
 likely the HHaboua or ||Haboben) whom we met, praised 
 the moon, particularly that he (m Hottentot the moon is 
 masculine) had brought them into contact with a nation 
 from whom they had received so much kindness. Although 
 these were the only rites, we also observed that they had 
 some idea of a Sujjrcme Being, whom they call Chuyn (the 
 Nama jKhub or jKhunib), and who is great and power- 
 ful. For if they w^ant to express that something is beyond 
 their conception, then they say it is a work of 'Chuyn." — 
 ("Hop's Journal," pp. 88, 89.) 
 
 Ileitsi-cihih, \\Gaunah, and [Garni). 
 
 We should have expected that the Swedish travellers, 
 Thunberg and Sparrmann, men of great learning, would have 
 been able to give us more particular information about the 
 religion of the Khoikhoi. It, however, appears that their 
 great learning on the one side made them underrate the 
 natives. On the other hand, the natives, as sensitive as 
 
45 
 
 cliildren to the thinly disguised contempt of the foreigners, 
 rendered fruitless all attempts to gain deeper insight into 
 their religious ideas, partly through a natural shyness and 
 fear of ridicule, but chiefly through a stubborn unwil- 
 lingness, based on a fear of ill-treatment, which still 
 characterize the Khoikhoi. These travellers utterly 
 failed to get into the confidence of the natives. In 
 justice to our travellers, however, I shall relate what they 
 have recorded. 
 
 " By the side of the road," says Thunberg, wdio tra- 
 velled in the Eastern Province of our colony, " I observed 
 a heap (stone heap) covered with branches and shrubs, 
 on which each of our Hottentots, in passing by, " threw 
 some branches. Asking them for their reason in doing 
 so, they answered that a Hottentot was buried there. 
 (Thunberg, German edition, i. p. 84, Berlin, 1792.) 
 " Of a certain kind of greyish grasshopper (mantis fausta) 
 the people here believe that the Hottentots offer prayer 
 to it." — (Thunberg, vol. i. p. 68.) 
 
 Sparrmann, again, is very doubtful whether the Hotten- 
 tots after all believe in a Supreme Being. He informs 
 us that, according to the statement of the Khoikhoi them- 
 selves, they were too stupid to understand anything, they 
 never heard of a Supreme Being. This, however, does 
 not entitle our author to infer that the Khoikhoi had no 
 God or religion. My experience would lead me to explain 
 what Sparrmann relates. It is a striking feature in the 
 nature of every savage, especially of a Khoikhoi, to pre- 
 tend the greatest ignorance, though, for all that, one 
 knows that he is very well informed on the subject. It 
 is very trjdng and annoying indeed to a traveller. 
 
 But myths, tales, legends one seldom will get out of a 
 native by questioning. He must be a very intelligent 
 native, with an unprejudiced mind, who will answer at 
 once questions of that kind to an inquisitive stranger, 
 especially if he shows any hauteur. 
 
 Our author, however, did not believe in his own state- 
 
46 
 
 ments. He very soon turns against himself, by stating 
 that the Khoikhoi must believe in a Supreme, but very 
 povi^erful and fiendish Being, from whom they expect rain, 
 thunder, lightning, cold, &c. ; and he adds that various 
 Colonists had told him that the Khoikhoi curse at the 
 thunder, calling liim '^ "Gutseri and UGaunazi," and 
 'Hhrowino- somethino; at the lightning and thunder. — 
 (Sparrniann, German edition, p, 196. Compare in the 
 S3(iuel the hymn to the Thunder and to the Lightning 
 with this statement.) 
 
 Sparrmann also makes mention of those mysterious 
 cairns. He describes their size to be three to four feet 
 in diameter. This is the general size of those Heitsi- 
 eibib cairns we meet with in Great Namaqualand. He 
 searched in vain in one of those stone heaps for cu- 
 riosities and antiquities ; all he found was a few pieces 
 of wood (p. 549). 
 
 The Graves 0/ Ileitsi-eihib. 
 
 The learned Dr. Liechtenstein, who travelled in 1803 
 with the Dutch Commissioner de Mist through the 
 Colony, gives a few but very valuable remarks. Liech- 
 tenstein and party were travelling in the Eastern Province 
 Outeniqualand, and the field cornet Eademeier was with 
 them to show the road. " The well-informed Eademeier," 
 says Liechtenstein, " who had offered himself to show us 
 the road for some distance, drew, not far from the road, 
 our attention to the grave of a Hottentot, who, according 
 to the general tradition of this people, long before the 
 Christians had immigi'ated into these parts of the world, 
 had been considered to be a great doctor and a wise 
 man, and whose memory was lionoured by the custom, 
 that each Hottentot who passed by threw a fresh 
 blanch of flowers on the grave. We actually saw some 
 half-dried branches which might liave been thrown there 
 only a few days ago. The grave consisted of a heap of 
 stones about twenty to thirty yards in circumference. 
 
47 
 
 It is interesting tliat this circumstance, which had not 
 been " observed by former travellers, serves as a proof 
 of the higher culture to which the Gonaquas had 
 developed before the other Hottentots, because it was 
 in their country to wdiicli this territory belonged. After- 
 vrards we often found such graves towards the borders of 
 Kalirland, but never have I met with anything of the 
 kind in other parts of Africa."- — (Liechtenstein, German 
 original edition, p. 349.) 
 
 Afterwards the travellers came to the Camdeboo, and 
 Bruintjeshoogte, and Liechtenstein continues his journal, 
 saying : " Before it became dark we passed a narrow 
 spot in the mountain, wdrich is called the ' Israclitische 
 kloof (the Pass of the Israelites), Here are various 
 large grave-mounds which are heaped up with stones, 
 and the first colonists in their pious simplicity believed 
 that these were monuments left by the children of Israel 
 who passed here on their wanderings through the desert 
 to ^° Canaan." 
 
 Liechtenstein again, speaking of the Ama-| |khosa-Kafir, 
 says: "Amongst the MKhosa there is no trace of a 
 religious worship. They believe in a Supreme Being, 
 who has created the world ; but, according to Dr. van der 
 Kemp's assertion, there is no name for it in their language. 
 But they have '® adopted a name from the Gonaquas (a 
 Khoikhoi tribe) and they call God now ThilxO. The 
 Gonaquas, however, call him TUciikc, which word, accord- 
 ing to van der Kemp, means ' the one wlio inflicts jpain,' 
 and from some Kafirs I heard it also pronounced 
 T/iauqua" — (Liechtenstein, vol. i. p. 410.) 
 
 To this T may add, that Edmund Sandilli, the son of 
 the late Sandilli, who is now a prisoner at the convict 
 station in Cape Town, told me that they use u-Ti \\go for 
 God, a word they borrowed from the Hottentots. 
 
 The Kafirs evidently have also taken over the custom 
 of which Liechtenstein speaks, p. 4 1 1 : " There are 
 spots which nobody will pass without adding a stone, a 
 
48 
 
 branch, or a liaudful of grass. Tliey themselves do not 
 know the reason of this practice ; hut these spots are 
 very likely the graves of persons of high reputation, 
 whose bodies pious superstition desires to protect from 
 being injured by wild animals ; and therefore every one 
 who passes by enlarges the stone heap by adding new 
 stones and branches," 
 
 Tsui-\ \goab. 
 
 Van der Kemp, a missionary, who died at Bethelsdorp 
 (Eastern Province) about i 8 1 1 , has published a Cate- 
 chism in the Hottentot language. Uiifortunately nothing 
 but the title of it, which was written in the Eastern 
 jGonaqua idiom, has been handed down to us ; and 
 in this title appears the word Thuichwe, for God, un- 
 doubtedly the same as -^'Tsuillgoab of the Nama, Tsu- 
 llgoam of the jKora, and Tuiqua or Tigoa and Tanquoa 
 of the Cape Hottentots. 
 
 Further, Appleyard in his Kafir Grammar, p. i 3, gives 
 a short outline of the jKora language, and notes the 
 name God in Khoikhoi, as follows : 
 
 '^ Hottentot : Tsoei'koap, 
 
 Namaqua : Tsoei'koap. 
 
 Koranna : Tshu'koab, and says in a footnote : " This 
 is the word from which the Kafirs have probably derived 
 their u-Tixo, a term which they have universally applied, 
 like the Hottentots, to designate the Divine Being, since 
 the introduction of Christianity. Its derivation is curious. 
 It consists of two words, which together mean the wounded 
 knee. It is said to have been originally applied to a 
 doctor or sorcerer of considerable notoriety and skill 
 amongst the Hottentots or Namaquas some generations 
 back, in consequence of his having received some injury 
 in his knee. Having been held in high repute for extra- 
 ordinary powers during life, he appeared to be invoked 
 even after death, as one who could still relieve and protect ; 
 
49 
 
 and hence in process of time he became nearest in idea 
 to their first conceptions of God." 
 
 Tsiii WgoaTj and WGavnah. 
 
 Leonhardt Ebner, a missionary who had worked amongst 
 the famous Afrikander tribe or '^ ||Ei\a-||ais, as they style 
 themselves, whose chief was at that time Jager Africaner 
 |Hoa-larab (Catrib), in South ISTamarpialand, gives for 
 God the expression Suquap; he says it also means a " sore, 
 knee" (p, 340). The following are the results of Ebner's 
 researches concerning their religious ideas : — " They did 
 not know of a God, but they believed in a devil, v/hom 
 they called Gauab {i.e. IIGaunab). This UGaunab fights 
 with an old man, who is much more clever and wiser than 
 himself. Because this old man could not bear any longer 
 the wickedness of IIGaunab, he made a deep hole and 
 planted sharp-pointed sticks at the bottom of it And 
 one day this old man challenged jjGaunab for a figdit to 
 this hole; and because IIGaunab was not as strong as this 
 wise old man, the old man threw him into the hole, 
 where he perished. Eejoicing over this victory, tlie 
 people slaughtered a big fat sheep." — (Ebner, " Eeise 
 nach Slid Africa," Berlin, 1829, p. 237.) 
 
 Here I may say that the Eev. Schmelen, missionary 
 of the London Missionary Society amongst the Namaquas, 
 married a pious half-caste Hottentot '° woman, who assisted 
 him in translating the four Evangelists and a Catechism. 
 For God he always employs, like Van der Kemp and 
 Wuras, the expression Tsoeikwap (^.c., Tsui Hgoab), and 
 for devil 'Kauaap {i.e., JlGauab, or IIGaunab). This is 
 a clear proof that Schmelen, who spoke the ISTamaqua 
 language fairly, must have clearly understood from liis 
 wife and other natives that, according to their idea, 
 Tsiti Wgocib was tiie Supreme Good Being, and that \\Gavnab 
 was his opponent, nay, the Supreme Bad Being. We must 
 most sincerely regret that Schmelen has not left some 
 notes on the Hottentot religion to future generations. 
 
 E 
 
50 
 
 My father was an intimate friend of his, and often told 
 me how well acquainted Schmelen was with the customs 
 and manners of the Namas. In fact, he was a white 
 Nama. He was an enthusiastic and zealous missionary, 
 without suffering from fanaticism as so many missionaries 
 do. I believe there is still a manuscript Hottentot 
 dictionary of his somewhere in existence. He himself 
 told my father that he had worked out a comprehensive 
 dictionary with the aid of his wife. 
 
 We come now to the worthy Dr. Moffat, the Nestor 
 among the still living old missionaries. He commenced 
 his work in about 1815 amongst the above-mentioned 
 Afrikander tribe, and he also undertook a journey 
 towards the centre of Great Namaqualand. 
 
 In his " Missionary Labours and Scenes in South 
 Africa" he says : — " While living among the Namaquas I 
 made many inquiries respecting the name they had to 
 denote the Divine Being, but could not come to any 
 satisfactory conclusion on the subject, though I had the 
 assistance of Africander (the chief) in my researches. 
 The name they use is Tsui||kuap, or as some tribes 
 pronounce it UtihuapP .... In my journey to the 
 back parts of Great Namaqualand I met with an aged 
 sorcerer or doctor (Igaiaob) who stated that he had 
 always understood that Tsui-Hgoab was a notable warrior 
 of great physical strength ; that in a desperate struggle 
 with another chieftain he received a wound in the knee ; 
 but having vanquished his enemy, his name was lost in 
 the mighty combat which rendered the nation inde- 
 pendent ; for no one could conquer the Tsui-llgoab 
 (wounded knee). Wlien I referred to the import of the 
 word, ' one wJio injlicts pain,' or a sore knee, manifesting 
 my surprise that they should give such a name to the 
 Creator and Benefactor, he replied in a way that induced 
 a belief that he applied the term to what we should call 
 the devil, or to death itself ; adding, that he thought death, 
 or the power causing death, was very sore indeed. To 
 
51 
 
 him, as to many others, this Tsui-Hgoab was an object 
 neither of reverence nor love. During tremendous 
 thunderstorms which prevail in tliat quarter, and which 
 it might be supposed speak to the mind of man Mdth 
 an awful voice, I have known the natives of Namaqua- 
 land " shoot their poisoned arrows at the lightning in 
 order to arrest the destructive fluid." (Compare the 
 foregoing quotations from Sparrmann.) 
 
 It is exceedingly to be regretted that men like Van 
 der Kemp and Moffat, who had an education superior to 
 their brethren, did not succeed in collecting sufficient 
 detailed accounts on the religious ideas of the Khoikhoi. 
 It is painful to think that a certain religious narrow- 
 mindedness prevented them from seeing the spark of 
 true religion and faith which was still left in the 
 heathen's heart. It is indeed advisable for all mission- 
 aries to learn from St. Augustine, '^ " Wliat is now 
 called the Christian religion has existed among the ancients, 
 and was not absent from the beginning of the human 
 race until Christ came in the flesh : from ichich time the 
 true religion ivhich existed already, began to be called 
 Christian." 
 
 Missionaries are too apt to treat the religions of 
 heathens as devil's tvork, as inspirations of Beelzchub, and 
 they do not hesitate to express this to their converts ; 
 nay, they even "* ridicule and expose their superstitions 
 and religious manifestations. Hence the fear of a savage 
 to communicate the sacred feelings and yearnings of his 
 heart, especially to a man who is sent to destroy them. 
 
 Moffat tells us that he had the chief, Africaner, to 
 assist him, and still he could not arrive at a satisfactory 
 result. Africaner was a convert, and how now, if he 
 himself felt ashamed of communicating what he was 
 bound to consider a foolish and absurd superstition. He 
 was a chief, and did not like to make an unfavourable 
 impression ; at least, he took very good care not to make 
 a fool of himself. 
 
 E 2 
 
52 
 
 Meitsi-cihih \\Khab, XGavia-\gorih, Tusib and \Auh, 
 the Serpent. 
 
 Captain James Alexander, later Sir James Alexander, 
 had, no doubt, a very fascinating way of gaining the 
 confidence of the natives. The Namaquas even now 
 speak of him in the highest terms, and praise his social 
 and familiar habits. An old Namaqna said to me of 
 him " lAva-khoii khemi ko tsa |hub ke," — That man had 
 the flavour of a Eedman, — meaning to say that the 
 English traveller knew how to fraternize with them. 
 
 Alexander's observations, therefore, we must consider 
 very valuable. He was the first to supply us with 
 specimens of Khoikhoi folk-lore. In these pages we can 
 only reproduce his notes on the mythology and religion 
 of the Namaquas : — 
 
 " These Namaquas," says Alexander, " thought that 
 they came from the East. In the country there is 
 occasionally found (besides the common graves covered 
 with a heap of stones) large heaps of stones on which 
 had been thrown a few bushes ; and if the Namaquas 
 are asked what these are, they say that Heije Eibib- — their 
 great father — is below the heap. They mutter, ' Give us 
 plenty cattle.' " — (Alexander, " Expedition of Discovery," 
 i. 167.) 
 
 " There is a strange story about the moon wliich is a 
 little better than their usual ignorant notions. '" The 
 moon, they say, wished to send a messenger to men, and 
 the hare said that he would take it. ' Eun, then,' said the 
 moon, ' and tell men that as I die and am renewed, so 
 shall they also be renewed.' But the hare deceived men, 
 and said, ' As I die and perish, so shall you also perish.' 
 Old Namaquas will not therefore touch hare's flesh ; 
 but the young men may partake of it — that is, before the 
 ceremony of making them men is performed, which merely 
 consists in slaughtering and eating an ox or a couple of 
 sheep." 
 
53 
 
 On the 3rd of August the waggon went on to Aneip 
 (|An-:{:eib) or Wetfoot, and I went out of the way, with 
 Jan Buys and two or three men, to see a hole which was 
 supposed to be inhabited by Heije Eibib, or the Devil, and 
 was the wonder of the country." — (Alexander, vol. ii. 
 p. 250.) 
 
 Again : " This water-place was called Kuma Kams 
 (Goma-llgams), or the water of the beast tribe, and near 
 it was a heap of stones, eight yards long by one and a 
 half high, in a deft hdwecn two eminences, which the 
 Namaquas said was a heap over their deity Heije Eibib 
 (Heitsi-eibib) 
 
 " I turned aside to get water at the fountain, 'Ahuas, or 
 blood (|Aus). In this was said to dwell a snake, which 
 guarded it ; but, strange to say, when the fountain 
 was reached it was found to be dried up, and a water- 
 snake, about six feet long, brown above and yellow below, 
 lay dead beside it. The Namaquas immediately cried out, 
 ' Some one has killed the snake of the Fountain of Blood, 
 and it is therefore dried up.' Not far from the Fountain 
 of Blood a young Bushman and his wife was met, and 
 the woman accused her husband of having committed a 
 great crime. She said that the day before they had drank 
 at 'Ahuas, and the Bushman, seeing the snake there, 
 killed it. He excused himself by saying that he was a 
 stranger in that part of the country, and did not know 
 that the snake he had killed at the edge of the water was 
 the snake of the fountain. 
 
 " 'Ahuas was not the only fountain in Namaqualand 
 which was supers titiously believed to be preserved by a 
 snake. It was singular enough that it should have dried 
 up immediately ^® after the death of the snake. 
 
 " -' Numeep, the Bushman guide, came to me labouring 
 under an attack of '^ dysentery, and said that he was about 
 to die ! I asked him what had occasioned the disease ; 
 and he said it was from having dug for water at the place 
 called Kuisip, in the bed of the Kuisix^ Ptiver, near our 
 
54 
 
 last watering-place, without first having made an offering, 
 and that therefore he was sure to die unless I could help 
 him ; and I asked him what he meant by saying that he 
 had made no offering at Kuisip. 
 
 " ' Before any Bushman/ said ijiNumeep, ' digs for water 
 at Kuisip, he must lay down a piece of flesh, seeds of 
 the '^jnaras, or an arrow, or anything else he may have 
 about him and can spare, as an offering to Toosip, the 
 old man of the water.' I asked Numeep if he had ever 
 seen Toosip. 
 
 " ' No ; I have never seen him, nor has anybody else that 
 I know of, but we believe that he is a great ^" Eedman, with 
 white hair, and who can do us good and harm. He has 
 neither bow nor assegai, nor has he a wife.' 
 
 " ' Do you say anything to him when you put- down 
 your offering at the water place ?' 
 
 " ' We say. Oh ! great father, son of a Bushman, give 
 me food ; give me the flesh of the rhinoceros, of the 
 gemsbock, of the zebra, or what I require to have ! But I 
 was in such a hurry to drink this morning that I scratched 
 away tlie sand above the water and took no notice of 
 Toosip ; and he was so angry, that if you had not helped 
 me I must have died.' " — (Alexander, vol. ii. p. 125.) 
 
 Here we have the most open-hearted confession of a 
 Namaqua (Khoikhoi) who was in great anxiety. The 
 human heart is always more communicative when in 
 sorrow and troubles, especially among savages, whose 
 manners, like those of children, are still very simple and 
 natural, and not dictated by the rules of an absurd etiquette 
 and fashion. 
 
 Heitsi-eihib , Kabib, Heigeib, and ^Gama ^gorih. 
 
 About the year 1842, the missionary work amongst 
 the Namaquas was commenced more vigorously, chiefly 
 by missionaries of the Ehenish Mission. The Eev. 
 Knudsen has left us a translation of St. Luke, up to 
 this date unsurpassed in style and correctness by any 
 
55 
 
 other missionary who attempted ^^ the difficult task of 
 transhiting the Bible into Khoikhoi. 
 
 Knudsen, however, changed the Khoikhoi Tsui-Hgoab 
 into Elob, taking it from the Hebrew Elobim ; while for 
 Devil he left the name of the evil-doer ||Gauab. The 
 word Elob is now generally used wherever the Gospel is 
 j)reached in Great ISTamaqualand, but it has not supp)lanted 
 yet the old Tsui-llgoab. 
 
 Knudsen possessed a great natural talent both for 
 languages and ethnology. To this it is due that he has 
 provided us with some very remarkable legends, which 
 give us a good insight into the religious ideas of the 
 Khoikhoi ; and his notes are of great value, not only 
 because they confirm what has been stated by former 
 travellers and missionaries, but because they have been 
 collected amongst Khoikhoi (the jAmas, or jAmaquas, of the 
 " Cape Eecords") who lived in the immediate neighbour- 
 hood of the Cape, from Berg river all along the west coast 
 to the mouth of Olifants river. When Knudsen came amongst 
 them they had ^"left the colony just twenty-seven years. 
 The tribe during that time could hardly have exchanged 
 the old Cape idiom for the Namaqua, as, with very few 
 exceptions, they had not intermarried with Namaqvia women. 
 
 I am therefore justified in saying, that in the following 
 notes we have some religious relics of the so-called Cape 
 Hottentots. Knudsen's account now runs thus : " Heit- 
 sieibib or Kabib was a great and celebrated sorcerer 
 among the Namaqua. He could tell secret things, and 
 prophesy what was to happen afterwards. Once he 
 was travelling with a great number of people, and an 
 enemy pursued them. On arriving at some river he said, 
 ' My grandfather's father, open thyself that I may pass 
 through, and close thyself afterwards.' So it took place 
 as he had said, and they went safely through. Then 
 their enemies tried to pass through the opening also, but 
 when they were in the midst of it, it closed again upon 
 them and they perished." 
 
56 
 
 '' Heitsi-eibib died several times and came to life again. 
 When the Hottentots pass one of his graves, they throw 
 a stone on it for good luck." 
 
 " Heitsi-eibiu could take many different forms. Some- 
 times he a2:)peared handsome, very handsome, or his hair 
 grew down to his very shoulders ; at other times it was 
 short again." 
 
 " At first they were two (Heitsi-eil)ib and X Grama- 
 ^iGorib). One (^^Gama-ijiGorib) had made a large hole 
 in the ground and sat by it, and told passers by to throw 
 a stone at his forehead. The stone, however, rebounded 
 and killed the person who had thrown it, so that he fell 
 into the hole. At last Heitsi-eibib was told that in this 
 manner many people died. So he arose and went to the 
 man, who challenged Heitsi eibib to throw a stone at him. 
 The latter, however, declined, for he was too prudent ; but 
 he drew the man's attention to something on one side, 
 and while he turned round to look at it, Heitsi-eibib hit 
 him behind the ear, so that he died and fell into his own 
 hole. After that there was peace, and people lived 
 happDy." 
 
 TJie Death of Heitsi-eibib. 
 
 It is said that wiien Heitsi-eibib was travelling about 
 with his family, they came to a valley in which the 
 raisin-tree was ripe, and he was there attacked by a severe 
 illness. Then his young (second wife, laris) wife said, 
 " This brave one is taken ill on account of these raisins ; 
 death is here at the place." The old man Heitsi-eibib, 
 however, told his son jUrisib (the whitish one), " I shall 
 not live, I feel it ; thou must therefore cover me, when 
 I am dead, with soft stones." And he further spoke, 
 " This is the thing which I order you to do. Of the 
 raisin-trees of this valley ye shall not eat, for if ye eat 
 of them I shall infect you, and ye will surely die in a 
 similar way." 
 
 His young wife said, " He is taken ill on account of the 
 
57 
 
 raisins of this valley. Let us bary him quickly and let us 
 go." 
 
 So he died there and was covered flatly with soft 
 stones, according as he had commanded, Then they went 
 away from him. When they had moved to another place, 
 and were unpacking there, they heard always from the 
 side whence they came a noise as of people eating raisins 
 and singing. In this manner the eating and singing 
 I'an : — 
 
 " I, father of jUrisib, 
 Father of this unclean one, 
 I who had to eat these raisins and died, 
 And dying live." 
 The young wife perceived the noise came from the side 
 where the old man's grave was, and said, " jUrisip, go and 
 look !" Then the son went to the old man's grave, where 
 he saw traces which he recognized to be his father's foot- 
 marks, and returned home. Then the young wife said, 
 " It is he alone ; therefore act thus : — 
 
 Do so to the man who ate raisins to the windward side, 
 Take care of the wind, that thou creepest upon him 
 
 from the leeward, 
 Then intercept him on his way to the grave. 
 And when thou hast caught him do not let him go." 
 He did accordingly, and they came between the grave 
 and Heitsi-eibib, who, when he saw this, jumped down 
 from the raisin-trees and ran quickly, but was caught at 
 the grave. Then he said : — 
 
 " Let me go ! for I am a man that has been dead that 
 I may not infect you !" But the young wife said, " Keep 
 hold of the rogue !" So they brought him home, and 
 from that day he was fresh and hale.^^ — (Vide Bleek, 
 " Eeynard the Fox," p. 80.) 
 
 The evidence of Francis Galton and Charles Anderson 
 on the subject corroborates what has been given in the 
 foregoing, but contains nothing new. I therefore make 
 no quotations from them. During my wanderings 
 
58 
 
 amongst the Namaquas, I took much trouble to add to 
 these fragments. Of what I found I shall give the most 
 important instances as condensed as possible, 
 
 Ts&i-Wgoab. 
 
 This name is also pronounced Tsu-||goab; this form, 
 however, is the most worn off, Tsu-llgoab, Tsui-llgoab, 
 and Tsuni-llgoab in Namaqua ; and Tsu-llgoam, Tsui- 
 llgoam, Tsui-llkhoab and Tsui-||goab amongst the jKora, 
 are forms which have preserved more the original feature 
 of the name. This Tsu-||goab is still invoked almost in 
 the same words as George Schmidt heard it at Baviaans 
 Kloof in 1737. The following hymn is still sung among 
 the IGami-^inus in the liKharas Mountains, amongst the 
 IIHabobes or so-called Veltschoendragers (sandal- wearers) 
 in the North-east HKharas, and by the Gei-||Khous, 
 ||0-geis, and the ^^Aunis of the iKhomab Mountains 
 East of Sandwich harbour. At the time when the 
 Pleiades first appear above the eastern horizon the people 
 gather for a |gei — i.e., a religious dance — and sing the 
 following : — 
 
 ^* Tsui-Wgoatsc ! 
 
 Thou, oh Tsui-llgoa! 
 
 Aho-itse ! 
 
 Thou Father of the Fathers — i.e., All Father ! 
 
 Sida Use ! 
 
 Thou our Father ! 
 
 \Nanuha \avire ! 
 
 Let stream — i.e., let rain — the thunder cloud ! 
 
 En ^'^x'Mut Hire I 
 
 Let please live (our) flocks ! 
 
 JiJda sida uire ! 
 
 Let us (also) live please ! 
 
 "^Khahuta gum goroo ! 
 
 I am so very weak indeed ! 
 
 WGcis x«o ! 
 
 From thirst ! 
 
59 
 
 \As xao ! 
 From hunger ! 
 
 Eta ^^ x'^"'*'^^ amrc ! 
 
 Tliat I may eat field fruits ! 
 
 Setts gum xave sida Itsao ? 
 
 Art tliou then not our Father ? 
 
 Aho Itsao ! 
 
 The father of tliO fathers ! 
 
 Tsui-\\(/oatse ! 
 
 Thou tsui-llgoa! 
 
 Eda sida gangantsire ! 
 
 That we may praise thee ! 
 
 Uda sida \\khava \kliaitsirc ! 
 
 That we may give tliee in return (that is, that we 
 may bless thee). 
 
 Abo-Use ! 
 
 Thou father of the fathers ! 
 
 Sida \Kliutse ! 
 
 Thou our Lord ! 
 
 Tusi-Wgoatee ! 
 
 Thou, oh, Tsui-llgoa ! 
 If a heavy thunderstorm is approaching, and the 
 country is resounding from the roaring of the thunder, 
 and the liglitnings disperse the darkness, they also assemble 
 for a \gci, and, while dancing, sing the following : — 
 
 \Gurub di \Gcis. 
 The Hymn of the Thunder. 
 \]S[anumatse ! 
 
 Son of the Thundercloud ! 
 \GaTi-hhoi, IGumtse ! 
 Thou brave, loud-spealdng [Guru ! 
 ^Ofisc gohare ! 
 Talk softly please ! 
 \IIavie fam u-hd-tamcto ! 
 For I have no guilt ! 
 I Uhatcre ! 
 
6o 
 
 Leave me alone ! (Forgive me !^ 
 
 '!^Outago \uige ! 
 
 For I have become quite weak — i.e., I am quite 
 stunned, I am quite perplexed. 
 
 \Giirutsc ! 
 
 Thou, oh [Guru \ 
 
 \Nanus oatse ! 
 
 Son of the Thundercloud ! 
 Another song-dance I saw performed in the following 
 manner : — There was a solo, sung by a person who played 
 the part of the lightning ; the other part being represented 
 by the inhabitants of a kraal, of whom a member was 
 supposed to have been killed by the lightning. 
 
 \Nabas di \geis. 
 The dance-song of the Lightning. 
 
 Chorus : \Aihe \\nuris \nanuse ! 
 
 Tliou Thundercloud's . daughter, daughter-in-law of 
 
 the Fire. 
 Ti \gaba go \gamse ! 
 Thou who hast killed my brother ! 
 \Galscs gum fd) \na \\goco ! 
 Therefore thou liest now so nicely in a hole ! 
 
 Solo : \ Gdisc ta go sa \gaha a \gam. 
 
 (Yes), indeed, I have killed thy brother so well ! 
 
 Chorus : j Gdises gum ah hia | \gocd. 
 
 (Well) therefore thou liest (now) in a hole. 
 
 ^^ '^Gorob khemi go Utsense. 
 
 Thou who hast painted thy body red, like :J:Goro ! 
 
 ^' Som~\aid)a l^naha tmjiase ! 
 
 Thou who dost not drop the " menses." 
 
 ^^ '^Eiyj:(\]cha\\nahisc'b aose ! 
 
 Thou wife of the Copper-bodied man ! 
 
 An old I IHabobe-lSTama, by the name of :|:K^arab, who 
 had great-grand-children, and told me that he had big 
 grown-up children when the JMission Station, Warmbad, 
 
6i 
 
 was destroyed, 1 8 1 i , by Jager Afrikaner |Hoa|arab, 
 said to me : "Tsiii-llgoab was a great powerful chief of 
 the Khoikhoi ; in fact, he was the first Khoikhoib, from 
 whom all the Khoikhoi tribes took their origin. But 
 Tsuillgoab was not his original name. This Tsiiillgoab 
 went to war with another chief, llGaunab, because the 
 latter always killed great numbers of Tsui||goab's people. 
 In this fight, however, Tsuillgoab was repeatedly over- 
 powered by llGaunab, but in every battle tlie former 
 grew stronger ; and at last he was so strong and big that 
 he easily destroyed JlGaunab, by giving him one blow 
 behind tlie ear. While llGaunab was expiring he gave 
 his enemy a blow on the knee. Since that day the 
 conqueror of llGaunab received the name Tsiiillgoab, 
 " sore hicc," or " wounded knee." Henceforth he could 
 not walk properly, because he w^as lame. He could do 
 wonderful things, which no other man could do, because 
 he was very wise. He could tell what would happen in 
 future times. He died several times, and several times 
 he rose again. And whenever he came back to us, tliere 
 were great feastings and rejoicings. Milk was brought 
 from every kraal, and fat cows and fat ewes were 
 slauglitered. Tsui| Igoab gave every man plenty of cattle 
 and sheep, because he was very rich. He gives rain, he 
 makes the clouds, he lives in the clouds, and he makes 
 our cows and sheep fruitful." 
 
 " Tsui Igoab lives in a beautiful heaven, and j IGaunab 
 lives in a dark heaven, quite separated from the heaven 
 of Tsui Igoab." 1 could not for a long time understand 
 what was meant by the two heavens, and could not help 
 thinking that we had here some Christian ideas trans- 
 ferred into the Hottentot mythology. But the worthy 
 Eev. "VVuras, of Bethany, Orange Free State, Superinten- 
 dent of the Berlin Mission, who has been now more than 
 fifty years amongst the jKoras, writes to me in a letter, 
 dated Bethany, Orange Free State, July 9, 1879, that the 
 Koranas always told liim Tsui\ \fjoal lived in the Bed Sky 
 
62 
 
 and WGaunam in tlie Blach Shy, and tliose two Beings 
 fought together in former times, and Tsiiillgoab received a 
 blow at his knee from UGaunam. Tsiiillgoam was a 
 great chief and sorcerer among the jKora, and possessed 
 numbers of cattle. Mothers also used to tell their chil- 
 dren to beware of HGauna, as he is a great evil-doer, who 
 could kill them. 
 
 In the following chapter, where we will trace all the 
 names back to their workshop, we shall see what Tsiii- 
 llgoab has to do with the Red Shy. The Koranas again 
 say that Tsiiil Igoab made the first man, and that the snake 
 was together with the first man on the earth. The person 
 from whom the Eev. Wuras heard this was a man far 
 over hundred years of age. Although this note savours 
 much of the second chapter of Genesis, I repeat it here 
 because throughout the Khoikhoi territory the belief is 
 extant that in every fountain is a snake.^^ 
 
 To return to Tsuiljgoab, I have to remark that, where- 
 ever I met colonial Khoikhoi or Namaqua, whether 
 Christians or heathens, the word Tsui-\\goatse is used 
 interjectionally, as we say, " good God," or simply " God, 
 what tuill become of me ?" &c., either as an expression of 
 surprise or anxiety — viz., " Tsu-\\goatse,who will help me .?" 
 or " Tsn-\ \goatse, what have I done, that I am so severely 
 2)unished ?' But it is also used as a formula of impreca- 
 tion, thus: — " Tsu-ljgoatse, sats jguitsa ijian, Ihaviota 
 ha jkheie,^' "Oh, Tsu-||goa, thou alone kno west that I 
 am without guilt," or " ^iEits ta khemi dire, ^avets ni Tsui- 
 llgoaba ij: an," " Do what you think, but you will know — i.e., 
 find out Tsui-I Igoab" [that he will see your doings, that he 
 will punish you]. Here we have a very clear instance that 
 Tsu-| Igoab is looked at as the avenger, similar to the Dawn, 
 Saranyu in the Vedahs. In the following chapter we sliall 
 discuss this point more closely, when we enter on the 
 original meaning of the name Tstiil Igoab. 
 
 Here it may not be out of place to mention an inci- 
 dent I experienced on a joiu-ney in Great Namaqualand. 
 
63 
 
 We were on the outskirts of tlie Kalihari, about latitude 
 26°, and wanted to go to a ]\Iission-station in westerly- 
 direction. The distance to our next water was calcu- 
 lated three days' hard riding with the ox-waggon. 
 We, however, had made the calculation without the host, 
 because, after three days, we found ourselves still another 
 twelve hours from the water. We had only for ourselves 
 a little water in a cask, which, however, was almost con- 
 sumed. In the night before the fourth day we lost our 
 road, and it was only after some hours that we discovered 
 our mistake. If we had to pass another twenty-four hours 
 like this, not one of us would have seen the next day. 
 Even in the night the air appeared to come from a hot 
 oven. I scolded the guide, a raw heathen from the 
 llHabobe tribe, angrily for his carelessness, and asked, 
 " AVliat have you done ? to-morrow we will be eaten by 
 the jackals and vultures. Who will now help us out of this 
 trouble ?" The man coolly answered: " Tsui-llgoab gum 
 ni huidao" — " Tsui-llgoab will help us." I : " What non- 
 sense, you and your Tsui-llgoab are both stupid fools !" 
 He : " Amase ti Ihiikhoitse, lleib ni hui," — " Truly, Master, 
 he will help." In the morning, about nine o'clock, we 
 reached the water. After we had quenched our thirst, 
 and were relishing a cup of coffee and a pipe, and talking 
 over our troubles, laughingly, my guide said, " Ti Ihiitse 
 llarits ke ko jgamte-ijigao ha, ^aveb ke Tsui||goaba ko 
 ijikhatsi, tsi lleib ko nesiri hui jkheisa mu-jants ko 
 llnai !" — " My dear Master, yesterday you could almost 
 have killed me, but the Lord refused you (to do so), but 
 have you nowconvinced yourself that the Lord has helped ?" 
 
 We require no further evidence to see what the rawest 
 Namaqua, with all his heathendom, means by Tsili-jlgoab. 
 
 But still it may not be uninteresting to hear the 
 evidence of another Hottentot. 
 
 The famous jNanib, who fell so bravely in the battle 
 of :|:Hatsamas, when surrounded by the treacherous tribe 
 of the lIGau-lgoas, who simply out of spite made common 
 
64 
 
 cause witli the Damaras against their own fiesh and blood, 
 before he received the finishing stroke, was called upon 
 to turn a Christian, and answered, "Never ; my TsCiiHgoab 
 is as good as your Christ." He w^as strongly opposed 
 to missionary work, and considered the missionaries to be 
 a set of mischief-makers. His brother, |Haigu;^ab or 
 4lArisimab, the present chief of the IIHabobes, is as 
 bitter an enemy of the missionaries as he was himself. 
 With this younger brother I had once a conversation 
 about the origin of his tribe, when he told me : " That 
 very thing, the HHabobe, has been made by Tsui-||goab 
 in this country, and jKliub has made us, and given us 
 this country. He gives to us the rain, and he makes 
 the grass grow ; and if we ask payment for our grass 
 and water, we do the same what you white people do in 
 asking payment for your lead and powder." 
 
 As to Tusib, about whom I quoted from Sir James Alex- 
 ander in the preceding pages, I have the following from 
 a Namaqua, an old :|:Auni. Very heavy thunder-clouds 
 were towering above the horizon. We both looked with 
 great enjo}'ment towards the clouds, calculating that in 
 a few hours' time the whole country ought to swim in 
 water. " Ah," he said, " there comes Tsiti Wgouh in his 
 old manner, as be used to do in the times of my grand- 
 fathers. You will see to-day rain, and very soon the 
 country will be covered by Tusib." I asked him what 
 he meant by Tusib ? He answered, " ^^len the first green 
 grass and herbs come after the rain, and in tlie morning 
 you see that green shining colour spread over the 
 country, we say : Tusib he Viuba ra \gu. Tusib covers 
 the earth." This reminds one of 2 Samuel xxiii. 4, 
 " And he shall be as the light of the morning, when 
 the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds ; as the 
 tender grass springeth out of the earth by clear shining 
 after rain or the sjjlcndour of the rain." 
 
 A second good Being who bears all the characteristics 
 ascribed to TsUil I goab is Heitsi-eibib. He is adored 
 
6s 
 
 and worslni)ped up to this very moment by the inliabi- 
 tants of Great iS^amaqiialand and the North-western 
 Cape Colony. 
 
 Every Nama from whom I inquh-ed told me that this 
 Heitsi-eibib is their great-grandfather, and a great power- 
 ful rich chief. He lived originally in the East, and had 
 plenty of cattle and sheep. Therefore they make the doors 
 of their huts towards the East, where the sun and moon 
 rise. This custom is so peculiar to them that those who 
 possess waggons always put these vehicles alongside of 
 their houses, with the front towards sunrise. All the 
 graves are directed towards the East, and the face of the 
 deceased is also turned to that direction. Heitsi-eibib 
 conquered and annihilated all his enemies, who killed 
 his people. He was very clever and wise, and could 
 foretell what was going to happen in future. Amongst 
 the Bundle-Zwart, or jGamiijinus, I heard the following 
 story, which I afterwards traced, more or less varied, 
 among the HHabobes, jKharagei-khois, and ||0-geis. 
 
 Heitsi-eihih's battles ivith '^Gama-^gorib \Hau-\gai-\gaib, 
 '^Amab and the, Lion. 
 
 Heitsi-eibib lived on one side, but :J:Gama-::J:gorib, 
 iHaii-lgai-jgaib and the Lion lived on the other side, on 
 three roads, in the middle (between him and his people). 
 There were also people living in the neighbourhood. And 
 these people were Heitsi-eibib's people. Heitsi-eibib sent 
 for them, but he waited in vain. At last he heard a 
 rumour why they did not come. He then started to look 
 after them, and came first to the place of ijiGama-^^gorib. 
 But he passed and did not call, as a Khoikhoi generally 
 does when he is travelling (and passes a kraal of another). 
 :j:Gama-:(:gorib sent his messenger the Hare to call Heitsi- 
 eibib. But the latter gave no answer. Again the Hare 
 was sent, and Heitsi-eibib, following the invitation, said to 
 :j:Gama-:j:gorib : " I have come to look after my people." 
 But on the place of :j:Gama-±gorib there was a hole, and 
 
 F 
 
66 
 
 all the people who passed this place were thrown by 
 4:Gama-4:gorib into this hole, and so they perished. 
 :|:Gama-4;gorib challenged Heitsi-eibib, and said : " Come, 
 let us play the '^"iJiHi-game." 
 
 And first Heitsi-eibib was thrown into the hole. But 
 he spoke to the hole, and said : " Hole of my ancestors, 
 heave up your bottom a little, and give me a lift^ that I 
 can jump out." The hole obeyed, and Heitsi-eibib jumped 
 out, and iijlGama-^lgorib could not prevent it. TJiey 
 played a second match, and Heitsi-eibib was again pitched 
 into the hole, but 4^Gama-::j:gorib was exhausted. Again 
 Heitsi-eibib said : " Hole of my ancestors, give me a lift 
 that I may jump out." The hole heaved up, before 
 ijiGaraa-ijlgorib could prevent Heitsi-eibib from jumping 
 out. And they played a third match, and Heitsi-eibib 
 pitched ::(:Gama-:j:gorib into the hole, by giving him a 
 dead blow behind the ear, and the air resounded jap ! 
 
 ' And :|:Gama-4;gorib perished there. And Heitsi-eibib 
 spoke again to the hole : " Hole of my ancestors, heave 
 up your bottom, that my children may come out." And 
 the hole raised the bottom, and all the children of Heitsi- 
 eibib came out. And Heitsi-eibib cursed the Hare : " From 
 this very day I curse thee ; thou slialt not carry any more 
 messages ; thou shalt not eat during the daytime ; thou 
 slialt only be allowed to eat during the night, and then 
 only will your voice be heard." 
 
 Thus he cursed the Hare, and the Hare ran away into 
 the field, and still runs up to this day."" 
 
 Heitsi-eibib started for jHau-lgai-lgaib's kraal. He 
 arrived there, but he did not greet the master, and passed 
 on. And he was called by the messenger, and that mes- 
 senger's name was ^^Amab. But Heitsi-eibib refused. 
 And he was again called. The second time he went up 
 to the kraal of jHau-lgai-jgaib. Heitsi-eibib greeted the 
 man and sat quietly down. And the man said : " What 
 is the news ?" Heitsi-eibib answered : " I have no news." 
 Again, jHaii-jgai-lgaib said : " Where art thou going to ?" 
 
 1 
 
67 
 
 And he answered : " I am going in search of my people." 
 And on the place of IHau-lgai-lgaib there was also a 
 hole. And jHaii-|gai-jgaib had a stone on his forehead. 
 This stone he always gave to people passing his place, and 
 telling them to throw the stone at him ; and if they 
 threw the stone at this man's forehead, it jumped back 
 from there, and struck the man who threw it, so that he 
 fell into the hole and perished, Heitsi-eibib was very 
 clever, and knew all this, for he was a great sorcerer. 
 The other then told him to take the stone and throw it. 
 But Heitsi-eibib said : "Shut thine ej^es, and I will throv/." 
 And when the other shut his eyes, Heitsi-eibib, instead of 
 throwing the stone at the man's forehead, hit him with it 
 behind the ear, and killed him at once. The man fell into 
 the hole and perished. And Heitsi-eibib cursed the mes- 
 senger 4:Amab, and after he had given him a good flogging 
 he said : " From this day thou slialt not be any more a 
 messenger." 
 
 Fvova here Heitsi-eibib started for the place of the 
 Lion, who lived on a tree. He arrived there, but was 
 not called. He passed, and then returned to the tree and 
 asked tiie white Vulture (jUrikoras), who looked after 
 the house of the Lion : " Where is thy Lord the Lion ?" 
 jUrikoras said : " I do not know ; perhaps he has gone 
 this way to hunt.". The Lion, however, lived on the tree, 
 where he had his nest. So Heitsi-eibib took the fire-drill 
 (doro-heib), and made fire and destroyed the tree. And 
 he said : " From this day the Lion shall not live any more 
 on a tree ; he shall now walk on the ground. And thou, 
 white Viilture, thy voice shall not be heard any more from 
 this day." And the Lion had no messenger from that day. 
 The end of this story is told by the iJlAunis, in the 
 following version : — -The Lion and Heitsi-eibib were, in the 
 commencement, on very good terms. And the Lion's 
 son one day came to the water, where Heitsi-eibib's 
 daughter was, to fetch water. And he insulted the girl. 
 The girl went to the father and complained, Heitsi-eibib 
 
 F 2 
 
68 
 
 said : " I am now tired of the iiiij)udence of tlie Lion and 
 his chikben, and I am not going to suffer from them any 
 more. They have killed enough of my people. The Lion, 
 however, had ^^ wings, and he used to fly high into the 
 air, and when he saw game or people, he came down like 
 lightning from the sky and killed all the cows, and 
 feasted on them the whole night. In the morning he 
 tried to fly home, but on account of being too lazy and 
 lieavy from feasting on the meat of the game, he could 
 not fly, and had to walk home through a narrow pass in 
 the mountain. Here Heitsi-eibib lay in ambush, and 
 waited for him, and came unexpectedly down from behind 
 the rock, and cut his wings off. Prom that day the Lion 
 is without wings, and lias to walk on the ground. And 
 since that day there is enmity between Heitsi-eibib's 
 people and the Lion's children. 
 
 Ileitsi-cidih's Birth. 
 
 There was grass growing, and a cow came and ate of 
 tliat grass, and she became pregnant, and she brought 
 forth a young bull. And this bull became a very large 
 bull. And the people came together one day in order to 
 slaughter him. But he ran away down hill ; and they 
 followed him to turn him back and to catch him. But 
 when they came to the spot where he- had disappeared, 
 they found a man making milk tubs (Hhoeti). They 
 asked tliis man, " Wliere is the bull that passed down 
 here?" He said, " I do not know; has he then passed here?" 
 
 And all the while it was he himself who had again 
 become Heitsi-eibib. 
 
 Another Legend of Heitsi-cihih. 
 
 On another occasion people shxughtered a cow. And 
 Heitsi-eibib became a pot. And the people filled the pot 
 with meat and fat, and made a fire. But the pot absorbed 
 all the fat ; and when they took out the meat there was 
 no fat in the pot. 
 
69 
 
 Heitsi-eihib's Graves. 
 
 His graves are generally to be met with in narrow- 
 passes, between two mountains, on both sides of the road. 
 Those who pass by throw pieces of their clothes, or skins, 
 or dung of the zebra, or flowers, or twigs of shrubs and 
 branches of trees, and stones, on those graves. And this 
 they do to be successful on their way. They generally, 
 if hunting, mutter the following prayer : — 
 
 Oh, Heitsi-eibib, 
 
 Thou, our Grandfather, 
 
 Let me be lucky, 
 
 Give me game, 
 
 Let me find honey and roots, 
 
 That I may bless thee again, 
 
 Art thou not our Great-Lirandfather ? 
 
 Thou Heitsi-eibib I 
 
 Sometimes honey and honey-beer is left as an offering at 
 his graves. The Namaquas say that if he returns from 
 his walks over the *^ vddt, in the evenino,', he is oiad to 
 see that they still honour him. 
 
 He gives the Khoikhoi good advice, and tells them how 
 to kill the Lion's children and other wild animals. He 
 also jjrevents danger befalling men, if they honour him. 
 
 Another Legend of IleUsi-eihib's Birth. 
 
 On another occasion young girls went out to fetch 
 firewood, and one girl took a |hobe-I ga (a kind of juicy 
 sweetish grass), chewed it, and swallowed the juice. And 
 she became pregnant from this juice, and she was delivered 
 of a son, who was very clever, and she called that boy 
 Heitsi-eibib. And all the other young women came and 
 helped her to nurse the child, and he soon became a big 
 man. 
 
 Hcitsi-cihih and his llother. 
 
 Once on an occasion the mother and other friends of 
 hers were travelling. And her boy was very nauglity 
 
70 
 
 •and fretful, and his mother had to stoji, while her friends 
 were going on. She went on again and carried him, 
 when he again was naughty, and dirtied himself and his 
 mother. And she had to clean him. In this way he 
 went on, until the other women were out of sight. Then 
 lie suddenly became a big man, and forced his mother to 
 
 the ground, and committed incest (In Khoikhoi 
 
 the word is Xai-si, cum matre coiit.) After this he again 
 became a baby, and when she came to her mother, she 
 put him down on the ground, and did not take any 
 notice of him. At last her mother said : " Don't you 
 liear your child crying ? " The daughter said : " I hear ; 
 but let big men hel^i themselves, as big men do." 
 
 \GurikIwisih's or Heitsi-eibib' s fight ivith the Lion. 
 
 The first man, whose name is :j:Ei;^alkha||nabiseb, 
 came with all the animals together on a flat rock in the 
 :|:,Goii||gami Eiver to play the ^''IIHus-game. :|:EiT|^alkha- 
 llnabiseb had lost all his beads, and said to the Baboon, 
 " Go thou, and fetch all my copper beads which I have 
 in reserve at liome." The Baboon went, and when he 
 came to the house of zjiEivalkhallnabiseb the dogs attacked 
 hiin, and pulled him to the ground. There was the 
 ^uoiher of the man, the mistress of the house, but she did 
 not care to interfere, and the Baboon nearly fainted. 
 After a wliile she called the dogs, and took the Baboon 
 into tlie house, and put herbs on his wounds, and healed 
 him. She also ga\'e him milk and '^''iiientjcs. He sat 
 awhile and looked round and saw the skulls of various 
 nnimals as trophies fastened on the poles of the hut. Then 
 4:Eixa|kha|jnabiseb's mother gave to the Baboon copper 
 beads, and he brought them to the man who played the 
 llhus with the Lion. There was the Leojiard, there was 
 the Golden Jackal, there was the Hyena, there was the 
 Eed Cat, there was the Wild Dog, and there were all the 
 Snakes. All looked at the game. The Baboon delivered 
 the copper beads, and ran away and sat on the top of a 
 
71 
 
 rock, and cried down to all the animals, " In :|:Ei;i^a!klia 
 llnabiseb's house I have seen the skulls of all the 
 animals." 
 
 " What bitch's son," said iGurikhoisib, " has the 
 courage to drink the thunder-rain-water of '"^jKhubitsaos? 
 To^\•ards the side of jKhubitsaos I see the thunderstorm 
 raining." The Lion said : " I shall run towards jKhubit- 
 saos, and I should like to see who will prevent me from 
 drinking it ?" "I will," said ^^Ei^alkhal Inabiseb. And 
 both parted in anger. When it became dark the man 
 arrived at his mother's kraal, and he put his weapons in 
 order ; he poisoned his arrows with fresh poison, and he 
 sharpened his spears. And his mother anointed him with 
 butter which had been melted over the fire ; she took it 
 from the sacred tub, and she sprinkled sweet-smelling 
 Buchu on her son, and *'gare-ed him, to encourage him. 
 The next morning he went to IKhubitsaos, where the 
 Lion lay waiting for him under a large mimosa tree. At 
 first he let the dogs drink. After they had done drinking 
 he told them to keep w^atch on the movements of the 
 Lion. And he kneeled down, and he washed at first the 
 sweat off his brows and out of his eyes, in order to see 
 clearly, and then he drank of the water, throwing it with 
 two fingers into the mouth, so that he also could watch 
 the Lion. Since that day all Namaquas "i^lien in the 
 veldt, drink the waters of the ponds and fountains in this 
 manner. Eixa|kha||nabiseb got up, took his arrows, and 
 drove them into the Lion ; he took his spears, and drove 
 them into the Lion ; he shouted at his dogs, " Ari jkho, 
 Ari jkho," and the dogs attacked the Lion and pulled 
 him down. The Lion was exhausted, and could hardly 
 breathe ; he was half dead from the loss of blood, which 
 also soiled the water. The Man at last called his dogs, 
 collected his spears and arrows, and went home. And 
 his mother''^ took the calabash with sour milk and poured 
 for him, and she smeared him with fresh-roasted butter, 
 and gare-ed him : 
 
72 
 
 Gei khois oatse ! 
 
 Gomas kliema gdtse, 
 
 Gei llgana Hnau^atse, 
 
 |Ava llgotse, 
 
 Gei- lava-llgos oatse ! 
 
 Ti claie- go atse ! 
 
 :}:Ouse ta go claisi tamatse ! 
 
 Thou son of a great woman, 
 
 Thy body looks like a ^^cow's body ; 
 
 Thou big acacia with large branches, 
 
 Thou red Bull, 
 
 Thou son of a red she-Bull {i.e., of a heroine)! 
 
 Thou who drankest my milk ! 
 
 Thou whom I did not give the breast slowly {i.e., thou 
 
 wliom I nursed very carefully, and gave much 
 
 milk). 
 
 And she sprinkled him with sweet-smelling Buchu. 
 
 And the Lion's mother sat up late until the evening- 
 star had set. And she sent her messenger, the Jackal, 
 to ask at | Gurikhoisib's kraal after her son. And the 
 Jackal went, and when he approached the kraal he heard 
 from afar the melodies of the reed-dance, and the girls 
 singing and praising the deeds of :|:Ei^alkha||nabiseb. 
 
 Til la^^atse, 
 
 Gei 4^nuvisa ijigomtetse ! 
 
 My sweetheart, 
 
 Thou daring one ! 
 " Aise !" said the Jackal, " there are great rejoicings ! 
 One can smell the fat dropping into the fire ; the smell 
 and smoke of the flesh of fat ewes lies over the kraals. 
 And 4=Ei;)(^alkha||nabiseb's dogs can eat fat, and I must 
 tie the belt round my empty belly." 
 
 He went back to the mother of the Lion, and told her 
 what he heard, and she said : " Call the Leopard and the 
 Hyena, and let us be off to jKhubitsaos. Let them take 
 digging-sticks to dig a grave for my child." And they 
 
73 
 
 went ; and towards tlie dawn, when they came near the 
 pond of jKhubitsaos the Lion awoke, and he was shiver- 
 ing from the cold, and he raised his A'oice : 
 
 "Aise'! tu',tiitu',tu tu'tii,tu' dere ||Khu- 
 
 jnoniab ke ta-te, ta-te, ta-te, ta-te ha." 
 
 " Ahis ! tu " (imitation of the Lion's voice) 
 
 " the Son of the Mimosa" (or, Mimosa- root) " has 
 con — - — quered me !" (again imitation of the Lion's 
 voice). 
 
 He said it with a mournfnl and tremnlous voice, like 
 one who is expiring. His mother said : " Hark ! that is 
 the voice of my son." And she went and found him in 
 the agony of death, and his eyes were broken. 
 
 And she wept : 
 
 " Did I not tell thee, my son, 
 Beware of the one wdio walks quite straight. 
 Who has sharp spears and poisoned arrows. 
 Whose dogs' teeth are like poisonous arrow-heads ? 
 Thou son of the short-eared one, 
 Thou yellow child of the Liontail, 
 
 Why didst thou not listen to what thy mother told 
 thee ?" 
 
 And there he died, and they buried him. And they 
 returned again to jAa asab ; and when they jijassed 
 the kraal of iGurikhoisib, he shouted : " Has the son of 
 the short-eared one not drunk enough of the water of 
 jKhubitsaos, that his mother walks alone over the fields ?" 
 And the girls of iGurikhoisib's kraal said : " jSTo ; he has 
 become ill on account of drinking too much of the water 
 at jKliubitsaos. It is no water for jackals ; only big men 
 can drink that water without taking ill." 
 
 Since that day all Khoiklioi will kill the Lion's 
 children wherever they meet them ; and the Lion also^ 
 if he finds a man unawares, will kill him, to '"revenge the 
 death of his oreat-arandfather. 
 
74 
 
 The ^^ Orion Myth, or the Curse of the Women. 
 
 The iKliuniLseti (Pleiades) said to their husband, "Go 
 thou and shoot those three Zebras for us ; but if thou 
 dost not shoot, thou darest not come home." And the 
 husband went out only with one arrow, and he sliot with 
 his bow. But he did not hit, and he sat there because 
 his arrow had missed the Zebras. On the other side 
 stood the Lion and watched the Zebras, and the man 
 could not go and pick up his arrow to shoot again. And 
 because his wives had cursed him he could not return ; 
 and there he sat in the cold nitjlit shivering and suffering 
 
 o o o 
 
 from thirst and hunger. 
 
 And the iKhunuseti said to the other men : " Ye men, 
 do you tliiniv that you can compare yourselves to us, and 
 be our equals ? There now, we defy our own husband to 
 come home because he has not killed game." 
 
 What an old Mimaqica told me of WGatmah. 
 
 Some people say thus : The Eainbow (Tsavirub) has 
 been made by UGaunab. The Eainbow is a lire which 
 he has kindled. My grandfather also called the Rainbow 
 " \Aib" (i.e., fire). He said that UGaunab deceives tlie 
 people, and leads them into that fire, and there they die. 
 And my grandfather said that then people are called 
 ||Gauna-||o-khoin {i.e., devil-dying-people. These ||Gauna- 
 llo-khoin we also call Sobo-khoin or |Hai-lnun (i.e., people 
 of the shadow, or ghosts, fawnfeet, people with a fawn- 
 colour). Tormerly the Namaquas used to leave old and 
 aged people in the kraal with some food and water ; and 
 they shut the kraal, that no wild animals could enter, 
 and there the peo23le died the devil's death (||gauna-||6). 
 And such people were not buried, but were devoured by 
 the vultures. Even rich people, who had food enough, 
 getting afraid of the witchcraft of which they supposed 
 aged people to be possessed left them behind in the 
 kraal. 
 
75 
 
 Tl^at the same old K/toikhoi told mc cJjnut the Pleiades. 
 
 If tlie Pleiades set in a tliundercloud — i.e., covered by a 
 thundercloud— then they call this cloud the juii-jauib 
 Inanub. jNub is a certain mythological Being, who 
 makes in the winter the hoar-frost, and this hoar-frost they 
 call IKub di ^ouba, the excrement of jNub. 
 
 Saperstitions and Charms. 
 
 In giving the fragments of the Khoikhoi religion and 
 mythology our chapter would be incomplete if we omitted 
 what we know of the superstitions of the Khoikhoi. No 
 religion is without superstition, and there is hardly a 
 man, be he the most radical freethinker, who, if he only 
 carefully observes himself, would not find that on more 
 than one occasion he has been influenced by superstitious 
 fear. If anything proves that we are linked in an un- 
 broken chain to primaeval men, and that our religious 
 ideas are rooted in the past, this fact, that the most culti- 
 vated mind cannot rid itself of superstition, should con- 
 vince us of such a connection. 
 
 Goethe, who makes Faust say : 
 
 " From faith ber darling miracle hath sprung," 
 
 certainly speaks from experience. Superstitions, no doubt, 
 are like belief in miracles, because they do not explain 
 events naturally. And as long as man exists on this 
 earth, and hearts crave for an explanation of the 
 wonderful works of the Invisible, so long will there be 
 religious faith with superstition as her darling child. 
 Even where the religious ideas have been developed to 
 the purest conceptions of the Invisible, the heart clings 
 stubbornly to some old superstition, because we imbibed 
 it with the mother's milk : " ISTo nation has yet completely 
 purified itself from superstition — that is to say, from the 
 remnants of earlier religious notions." 
 
 And where the religious sentiments of a race are still 
 
76 
 
 in an nndeveloped state, there superstition will manifest 
 itself in gloomy and direful forms. This is actually the 
 case with the Bantu race, where a tyrant rules despoti- 
 cally with an iron rod, by the aid of a wicked set of de- 
 moniacal sorcerers. The true religious sentiments in this 
 case are nipped in the hud. 
 
 Here, one day, the writer of a History of Culture 
 and Civilization in South Africa, wdll, I am sure, justify 
 the policy of the greatest statesman who ever came to 
 our shores, which policy consists in breaking the power 
 of the chiefs, and opening to the individual a prospect of 
 sharing in the blessings of civilization. Those who at 
 present cry down this policy, either to gain their own 
 selfish object, or who, from a certain faint-hearted feeling 
 — the so-called Exeter Hall philanthropy — advocate the 
 right of barbarism and heathendom, will for ever lie 
 stained with the mark of Cain as traitors to the cause of 
 civilization in South Africa. To train the savage to eat 
 his bread in the sweat of his brow ; to teach him to 
 submit to the law, not out of fear fur punishment, but 
 for the sake of moral principle ; to teach him to respect 
 his neighbour and to love him as the brother who has in 
 common with him the one " greal-grandfather" — this is 
 true religion and true philanthropy. It is a w^ork which 
 can be done only in the course of centuries, and not in one 
 ilay. If it could be done in one day, we should not meet 
 with sorcery, witchcraft, and superstition in native com- 
 munities, even those that parade in the mission reports 
 as model congregations from whom we civilized Christian 
 races could learn. 
 
 Here I give some specimens of superstitious as I found 
 them on mission stations, as well as in the veldts among 
 the heathens. It is a curious fact, while the ancient 
 myths may be forgotten and the heathen form of rehgion 
 may be abandoned, superstitions easily transplant them- 
 selves' like spores on the new creed, and carry on another 
 parasitical life. 
 
77 
 
 1. At a cliikrs Lirth a fire is made in the house 
 with the firedrill (dorob). No steel or flint or matches 
 are allowed. This fire is to be maintained nntil the 
 navel of the child has healed, and the ^"umbilical cord 
 has fallen off. Nothing may be cooked or roasted on 
 that fire. If these points be not strictly observed, the 
 child will die. 
 
 2. If a Khoikhoi go out huntino- his wife will kindle 
 a fire. She may not do anything else but watch the 
 fire and keep it alive. - If the fire should be extinguished, 
 the husband will not be lucky. If she does not like to 
 make a fire, then she must go to the water and commence 
 throwing it about the ground. If she is tired, her 
 servant must continue pouring water about. If this be 
 neglected, the husband ^^■ill not be successful. 
 
 3. J. Campbell, visiting v. d. Kemp's mission station, 
 Bethelsdorp, in the eastern province, in 181 2, says : — 
 ' They (Hottentot women) likewise gave me a piece of 
 something like rosin, which is found on the sea-shore. 
 Before their husbands w^ent to hunt they used to set 
 this on fire, and while the fire ascended they prayed to 
 the Great Being for their success. 
 
 4. I have already mentioned that throughout Great 
 Namaqualand it is believed that in each fountain lives 
 a snake, and if that snake leave the fountain or be 
 killed, the fountain will dry up. This snake is called 
 the ^Gcibcb, " the one which lives in a hole." 
 
 5. If before the commencement of the rainy season 
 snakes move about more than usually, the Khoikhoi say 
 there will be abundance of rain that year. 
 
 6. Capt. Alexander tells us in his admirable book, 
 " Expedition of Discovery to the Country of the 
 Namaquas, &c.," vol. i. 115: " Hares I found plenty of at 
 the Orange Eiver mouth ; there is also the large eland- 
 buck to be found here ; and an immense snalcc is occasionally 
 seen, whose trace on the sand is a foot broad. The natives 
 say that; if coiled up, the circumference of this snake is 
 
78 
 
 equal to that of a waggon wheel ; and when it visits the 
 Orange River mouth, it is a sign of a, good season for rain." 
 
 The name for snake is |f«t-& (sing, masc), and for 
 fountain \au-s (sing. fern). Blood is also Xau-l) ; bloody, 
 full of blood, saturated with blood, \au-ya. According to 
 Khoikhoi custom, as I pointed out in the first chapter, the 
 daughter is always named after the father. It is there- 
 fore obvdous that the fountain water \au-s, is considered to 
 be the daughter of |au-b the snake. But \au originally 
 means to flow. And \au-l), the snake, or \aii-s, the foun- 
 tain, is notliing else than saying, he floios or she flows. 
 The suake, however, is the one who flows over the ground, 
 and in German we say, "Der Fluss oder der Bach schldngelt 
 sich durch das Thai''" {i.e., the river or the brook sneaks 
 through the valley — i.e., it moves like a snake, ivinding). It 
 is now quite transparent that the original meaning of 
 \au-h, snake, was the one who flows, and was identical with 
 |au-b, blood, which also meant that which flows, the 
 "flow-err It does not require an explanation why the 
 blood flowins; throuQ-h the veins should be called the 
 'flow-cry A similar idea connects in the Teutonic lan- 
 guages, hint, Uood, hloed, blSd, Moth, plitot, blicot, with the 
 Latin flitvius, and fluitare and flutare, although the change 
 of consonants does not appear to be quite in accordance 
 with Griunn's law. ( Vide Weigand's "Deutsches WiJrter- 
 buch, Blut.") 
 
 The streaming and flowing of the cloud — that is, the rain 
 — is also derived from the root |au. |Au-ib, or, as it is 
 generally written by the missionaries, lawib (it should at 
 least be |avib), is the rain ; to rain, is |au-i or |avi — that 
 is, to be streaming, to be flowing. |Au signifies also to 
 bleed, and consequently to be angry, to have an ill feeling. 
 Thus one often can hear, |Autsi-ra khoib ke. That man 
 bears an ill-feeling against thee — i.e., that man has been 
 hurt by you, he bleeds, he feels sore, and craves for satis- 
 faction. This phrase ex^tresses extreme pain. We say also. 
 My heart bleeds. 
 
79 
 
 The colour red, lava, also takes its origin from |au, to 
 bleed ; hence lava or laua, Llood-like, blood-coloured — i.e., 
 red. 
 
 And at last, to milh is also \an — that is, to cause to flow, 
 to make streaming — viz., the milk. 
 
 To return now once more to la«b,snake,and \aus, fountain, 
 we see how both words were predicative expressions, saying 
 lie or shcjlows or streams — viz., the water, which inlvlioikhoi 
 can be either masculine llgami, or feminine I Igams, according 
 to the emphasis of the speaker ; afterwards these words be- 
 come appellatives, meaning the flow-er. And as these words 
 came from the same root, |au, the object which made the 
 greatest impression on the human mind — and this was 
 certainly the poisonous fiery snake, whose bite caused pain, 
 and sometimes immediate death — became masculine ; and 
 the soft cooling water, which refreshed the exhausted 
 wanderer, and nursed the trees, and gave life to the plants 
 and herbs, received the feminine suffix. Then, when the 
 original meaning of to jioxD and to stream was forgotten, 
 mythology got hold of {aiib and \aus, and made sure that 
 in every fountain lived a snake. 
 
 In German, or, better, in the whole realm of Indo- 
 European folk-lore and mythology, we see, all over, the 
 serpent and the water brought into connection. When 
 AViukelried kiUed the Dragon, " a rividct suddenly streamed 
 out of the hole of the Dragon." All legends of dragons and 
 serpents have their origin on the banks of lakes or rivers. 
 We refer to Hercules, who killed the Lernaic Hydra. 
 Apollo kills Python close to a fine flowing fountain, as one 
 of the Homeric hymns tells us : — 
 
 dyyjav bl Kfji^vt] KoXippooq, tv'^a ^puKaivav 
 KTtiviv a)'a^ /S.10C, v'loq, aVo Kparepoio (iiolo' 
 At the fountain of Ares watched a dragon, who refused 
 water to Kadmos and his followers. In Switzerland, if 
 rivers break down from the mountains after a thunderstorm, 
 the people say : "A dragon has come out." In Denmark 
 Mlillenhof found a legend, " that in the spot where once 
 
So 
 
 a Lindwurm's {i.e., a dragon's) trail was to be seen, now a 
 brook is *^vinding. Beowulf kills the dragon who lives in 
 the lake. Acheloos, the Eiver-god, became a sei'pent when 
 Hercules fought for Deianeira. Siegfriet kills the dragon in 
 the cavern on the Ehine ; and many more instances too 
 numerous to mention. (See on tliis subject, Schwartz, 
 " Ursprung der Mythologie," Berlin, i860, especially pp. 
 58, 59, L^c. ; Peschel, " Eaces of Man," p. 252 ; "On Ser- 
 pent Worship," Lubbock, "Origin of Civilization," pp. 186, 
 &c. ; Mllller, " Americanische Urreligiouen.") 
 
 So much as to the Serpent and Fountain superstition 
 among the Khoikhoi. I have eagerly searched, but in 
 vain, for indications of a serpent worship among the 
 Namaquas, as we find among the Kafir tribes, especially 
 the Ama-Zulu. What I heard and saw with my own eyes 
 amongst the natives may here find place at once. 
 
 Not so many years ago a sorcerer died. When he felt 
 his end approaching, he whistled, and all at once snakes 
 of all sizes and of all descriptions came and assembled 
 round their master, and crept over him, so that the eye- 
 witness from whom I have this, and other people who 
 were in the hut, cleared out as fast as their feet could carry 
 them. The same person told me that he had a dispute 
 once with that sorcerer about the power he exercised over 
 the snakes, when the man told him that, if he doubted 
 his witchcraft, he would call as many snakes as he wished 
 to see. Upon which he whistled, and snakes of every 
 kind approached from all directions, and the sorcerer took 
 them from the ground and put them round his neck. 
 
 In January, 1872, I was on the mission station Warm 
 Bath (or Nisbet Bath), in Great Namacjualand. I offered 
 payment to the value of three and four shillings for large 
 snakes, especially for very poisonous animals. No sooner 
 was this know^n than a young fellow, of about twenty- 
 two years of age, came to me and said he would bring as 
 many as I liked, but he wished a goat for each pair. I 
 agreed, and after some hours he returned with a pair of 
 
yellow cobras. Not seeing tliem, I asked, " Where are the 
 snakes ?" And he opened the shirt over his chest, where 
 I saw the lieads of the two dangerous animals. He took 
 them each by the neck, and I applied a dose of toljacco- 
 oil with a brush to the mouth and nose of each, when 
 they immediately fainted, and were secured in large 
 bottles. Afterwards the same fellow brought me ever so 
 many other snakes, all alone. 
 
 On another occasion we were travelling, when a large 
 yellow cobra moved towards the waggon with the inten- 
 tion of attacking one of my bullocks. I immediately 
 grasped the shot-gun, and jumped down from the waggon, 
 when the snake took to flight. I, however, gave her a 
 very good charge in the neck and head ; and in her agony 
 she flung herself a distance of more than thirty yards 
 into the bushes. It struck .me that my ])eople after this 
 treated me with a certain awful respect, and telling each 
 other, " |gai-aob ke, jgai-aob ke," he is a sorcerer — he 
 is a sorcerer, kept always at a respectful distance. I 
 had some trouble afterwards to convince them of the 
 contrary. 
 
 Snakes are also said to be very fond of millc They 
 go at night to the cows in the kraal and suck there, or 
 even to women in the house. And if a woman refuses 
 they bite her. The same thing happens when a cow kicks 
 them off. 
 
 Another snake, the jGanin-jgub, is said to have geni- 
 tals, and while women are asleej) this snake tries to have 
 connection with them. I was once at a kraal, and the 
 people were in great excitement, and sate up the whole 
 night, because a girl while milking had seen the jGanin- 
 jgub approaching lier. Not a single woman was to be 
 persuaded to go to sleep, and everybody had some weapon 
 to defend himself against the jGanin-jgub. 
 
 Another kind of snake, the HHuitsibis, is said to live 
 on the forehead of the eland-antelope. 
 
 7. To proceed in our account of superstitious customs 
 
 G 
 
82 
 
 and manners, Dapper, in his description of Africa, p. 621, 
 tells us : — " Some of tliem wear round the neck roots, 
 which they find far inland, in rivers, and being on a 
 journey they light them in a fire or chew them, if they 
 must sleep the night out in the field. Tliey believe that 
 these roots keep off the wild animals. The roots they 
 chew are spit out around the spot where they encamp 
 for the night ; and in a similar way if they set the roots 
 alight, they blow the smoke and ashes about, believing 
 that the smell will keep the wild animals off. 
 
 I had often occasion to observe the practice of these 
 superstitious ceremonies, especially when we were in a 
 part of the country where we heard the roaring of the 
 lions, or had the day previously met with the footprints 
 of the king of the beasts. 
 
 8. The Korannas also have these roots as safeguards with 
 them. If a Commando (a warlike expedition) goes out, 
 every man will put such roots in his pockets and in the 
 pouch where he keeps his bullets, believing that the 
 arrows or bullets of the enemy have no effect, but that 
 his own bullets will surely kill the enemy. And also 
 before they lie down to sleep, they set these roots alight, 
 and murmur, " My grandfather's root, bring sleep on the 
 eyes of the lion and leopard and the hyena. Make them 
 blind, that they cannot find us, and cover their noses, 
 that they cannot smell us out." Also, if they have 
 carried off large booty, or stolen cattle of the enemy, they 
 light these roots, and say : " We thank thee, our grand- 
 father's root, that thou hast given us cattle to eat. Let 
 the enemy sleep, and lead him on the wrong track, that 
 he may not follow us until we have safely escaped." 
 
 9. Another sort of shrub is called \dbib. Herdsmen, 
 especially, carry pieces of its w^ood as charms, and if 
 cattle or sheep have gone astray, they turn a piece of it 
 in the fire, that the wild animals may not destroy them. 
 And they believe that the cattle remain safe until they 
 can be found the next morning. 
 
I o. The root of a slirub called \Kharao is taken and cut 
 to pieces, and minced on stones. If one is liungiy, he 
 takes the dust and goes to his neighbour's house, where 
 he throws it into the fire, expecting that food will be 
 offered to hira. This kind of charm is called the Iw'^.Tiks, 
 or food-finder, food-provider. 
 
 1 1 . The roots of a slirub '^abus are also taken and thrown 
 into milk, in order to cause the death of the person who 
 drinks of it. The root is not poisonous at all, and still 
 it is believed to cause the death of a person. 
 
 I 2. Another class of sorcerers, who in former times must 
 have been very numerous, but since the introduction of 
 Christianity are only met here and there on the kraals 
 of the heathen tribes, are chiefly occupied in making 
 rain. Having a great practical knowledge of the meteor- 
 ology of their country, they pretend to have power over 
 the clouds and to bind them. Thus they sprinkle their 
 urine into a burning fire, being convinced that it soon 
 will rain. They also cut the nails of their fingers, and 
 throw them into the fire for the same purpose. They 
 catch a kind of caprimulgus (^igal Igoeb), and burn the 
 bird to ashes, which are strewn about, in order to produce 
 clouds and ashes. These sorcerers naturally take good 
 care not to display their tricks of witchcraft if there are, 
 according to their own practical experience, no sufficient 
 indications of certain rain. 
 
 Throughout the Khoikhoi territory, as far as I could 
 ascertain, the northerly breezes are called tu:jioab — i.e., 
 rain- wind — showing that in the remotest ages the obser- 
 vation was made that the northerly wind was the bearer 
 of rain. 
 
 I 3. Also, if the goats commence to shake their heads and 
 rattle with their ears, it is believed that it will soon rain. 
 It is a matter experienced by every one, that when the 
 weather is very close, the mosquitoes and a smaller kind of 
 Hies are very numerous and troublesome. In summer the 
 easterly wind is very close, and as soon as the wind turns 
 
 G 2 
 
84 
 
 to tlie nortli it generally rains. Hence tlie origin of this 
 superstition. 
 
 1 4. Hunters, especially, have superstitions of their own. 
 If a hare crosses a hunter's path, the hunter will immediately 
 return home ; but if the hare runs in the same direction 
 as the hunter's path lies, it is considered a good sign. 
 
 15. If a certain kind of chameleon (laroxab) creeps on a 
 hunter or his weapons, or on anything belonging to him, 
 where he is resting on the road, he is believed to be 
 successful. 
 
 1 6. Also, if the Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnop- 
 terus), which we already met in Heitsi-eibib's light with the 
 Lion, follows a hunting party, and always rests where the 
 party has rested, they are sure to be luck}^ On the 
 whole, this vulture seems to be a prophetic bird, and its 
 sagacity is well known from the following story, which I 
 heard dozens and dozens of times all over Great Nama- 
 qualand : — If the jackal has discovered an ostrich nest, 
 he will look for the white vulture, and then scream out. 
 The bird now follows him, and as soon as they come to 
 the nest, covered by the ostrich hen, the vulture takes a 
 stone and goes into the air vertically over the nest, from 
 where he drops the stone on the breeding-hen. The 
 ostrich, startled from the sudden cutting pain, runs off. 
 Then reynard approaches, and breaks the eggs, and both 
 he and the vulture have a grand feasting in the most 
 amicable manner. 
 
 I myself have never seen it, but I have been assured 
 by very respectable and truthful old ISTamaquas, and I, for 
 my part, believe it. 
 
 1 7. The Korhaan (Otis Kori), if it does not fly far from 
 the hunter and soon again sits down, is believed to give 
 luck, but if it continues to fly far away the hunter had 
 better return. 
 
 18. If a hunter has shot game, and if the bullet does 
 not cause immediate death, the man will throw a handful 
 of sand, taken from the footprints of the game, into the air 
 
which, according to his belief, will soon bring tlie animal 
 down. A hunter also may not sleejD on his back, and pull 
 his legs up, so that his knees stand bent up into the air. 
 If he has done so he is sure to have bad, luck. 
 
 19. About a future life there are certain indications, 
 from the following sayings : — " That the " Stars are the 
 eyes of the deceased," and also that the Stars are the souls 
 of the deceased. The Khoikhoi appear to connect " eye" and 
 " soul" in the same way, as is expressed in German, " Das 
 Auge ist der Spiegel der Seele." The eye is the reflector 
 of the soul. There is also a form of imprecation : " Thou 
 happy one, may misfortune fall on thee, from the Star of 
 my grandfather." This proves, beyond doubt, the belief 
 in a life after this. 
 
 20. Ghosts and spectres have various names. IIGaunagu 
 (msc. plur. ), |Hai|nugu (msc. plur.), Sobokhoin (com. plur,), 
 and iHai-khoin (com. plur.). There is a saying: IINaua 
 llgauna ta ni — i.e., I will hear it, if I am a Ugauna — this 
 means, if I am a ghost, then I will have a better insight 
 into things, which I now do not understand. 
 
 Also, if a person has lost something and cannot find it, 
 they say : |Hai|nub ke |a, Fawnfoot has stolen it 
 
 2 I . These ghosts and spectres are believed in dark nights 
 to leave the graves and come to the kraals. They make 
 a rattling noise as if they were dragging skins over rocks 
 and stones in order to frighten the people. This kind of 
 spectres goes by the special name of jhausan. They are 
 very mischievous, and their greatest pleasure is to beat 
 people almost to death. 
 
 Here we have the key to the original meaning of 
 the word IIGaunab. He was at first a ghost, a mis- 
 chief-maker and evil-doer, whose greatest aim was to 
 harm people and to destroy (llgau, llgou) them. Some 
 people are said to die from the influence of this evil 
 spirit, and these are called llgauna jlora khoin — i.e., 
 people who died the llgauna death, or devil's death. 
 Especially if people are not buried, but devoured by 
 
86 
 
 vultures and hyenas, they are also considered Ugauna 
 llora. A man who is killed as a criminal, or who is 
 slain according to the rules of the vendetta, or a slave 
 killed by the master, or enemies killed in the battle — 
 all are left to the animals of the desert to be feasted 
 upon, so that they will he entirely annihilated, they are also 
 considered Ugauna ||ora khoin. 
 
 There is also a cruel custom among the Khoikhoi, of 
 which I have convinced myself — that is, to leave elderly 
 people to their fate ; some food and water is left with 
 them, and the younger folks remove to another spot. 
 Inquiring into the reason of this so repulsive practice, I 
 was told that it sometimes was done by very poor people, 
 who had not food enough to support the aged parents. 
 But sometimes, even if there was food enough, and if 
 people, especially women, who had cattle and milk-cows of 
 their own, gave suspicion that they were under the influence 
 of I IGaunab, and did secretly mischief by practising witch- 
 craft, they were left to die from starvation. The people, 
 awe-stricken, were almost compelled to fly from them. 
 
 It is, therefore, not strange that I IGaunab, the evil- 
 spirit, is also invoked. They promised him offerings so 
 as not to provoke his anger, as is the case among the 
 ^lAuni-ISTama, in the Walefish Bay territory. I am 
 almost certain that, before the Khoikhoi tribes separated, 
 this bad Being, | IGaunab, was generally worshipped, and 
 is of much older date than Tsuillgoab and Heitsi-eibib. It 
 is strange that the jGabe-Bushmen, the jAi-Bushmen, 
 the iNunin, and especially among these the Hei:j:guin (or 
 wooden noses), all know UGauna, whom they fear as an 
 evil-doer, while we find no trace of the name Tsiiillgoab 
 or Heitsi-eibib. For these reasons I am of opinion that 
 the llGauna was an evil demon, known already to the 
 primitive Hottentot race, before there was a distinction 
 between San and Khoikhoiu. Tsuillgoab, however, was a 
 secondary Being, the national God of the Khoikhoi 
 branch. 
 
87 
 
 2 2. Anotlier custom, common to Klioiklioi, Bushmen 
 and Berg-Damara — of whom the latter have entirely adopted 
 the Khoikhoi language and manners — is the practice of 
 cutting off a finger. This is done even to new-born 
 children who are not a day old. As all sicknesses are 
 expected to come from UGauna, or from bis servants, the 
 practitioners of witchcraft, it appears that this custom is a 
 kind of sacrifice or offering to HGuana; and we are entitled 
 to conclude that, in very remote times, human sacrifice 
 must have been practised by the Hottentot race. 
 
 23. If aw^oman's or young girl's breasts itch, they say : 
 "My son, my cousin, or some near relation, will soon arrive." 
 
 24. If a cow, during the night commences to groan in 
 her sleep, the next morning she is caught, and a piece of 
 skin, just above the nose, is cut, so that it hangs down in 
 the shape of an ear-ring or ear-drops. If this be neglected, 
 the owner of the cow soon will die. 
 
 25. If a girl becomes of age, or if a wedding is to be 
 celebrated, nothing but cows and sheep-ewes may be 
 slaughtered; and if any other cattle is killed the couple 
 is sure to live unhappy. The fattest cow or the finest 
 3^oung heifer is chased about the place by the young men, 
 and thrown with stones and beaten with clubs, until she 
 is so exhausted and trembling with fear that she allows 
 everybody to come near and touch her. If she still should 
 kick and show fight, it is a sure sign that the marriage 
 will be a continuation of fights and quarrels between 
 husband and wife. 
 
 26. The girl or girls who have become of age must, after 
 the festival, run about in the first thunderstorm, but they 
 must be quite naked, so that the rain which pours down 
 washes the whole body. The belief is that they will get 
 fruitful and have a large offspring. I have on three 
 occasions witnessed this running in the thunder-rain, when 
 the roaring of the thunder was deafenincj and the whole 
 sky appeared to be one continual flash of lightning, Tbis 
 was among the jGami:^nus, on the banks of the Geijab 
 
88 
 
 river, among the Gei iKliauas at IINuis, and among the 
 llOgeis, on the banks of the jKham river. 1 am, how- 
 ever, assured that even young converts, if they have 
 become of age, absent themselves to outlying places 
 away from the mission stations, to have their bodies 
 washed by the waters of the thunder-clouds. 
 
 27. Also, if a woman during her pregnancy eats of the 
 meat of the lion or leopard, her child will have the character- 
 istics of these animals — ferocity, celerity, swiftness, and 
 strength. They also consider tlie drinking of lion and 
 panther blood as having influence on the nature of a person 
 or on the child in the mother's womb. A woman lost her 
 temper, and was very cruel to her slave. I spoke to her, 
 and asked whether she did not, as a mistress (lady, geitaras), 
 feel ashamed of herself. She said, she could not help it ; 
 I must scold her mother, who once drank panther blood in 
 order to get ferocious children. 
 
 28. A great influence is also attached to the power of an 
 imprecation or curse. If one had a quarrel with a Klioi- 
 khoi, there is nothing more painful to him than not to be 
 talked to. He will come repeatedly and apologize, until 
 he hears the word " lutago," I have forgiven ; and to 
 show his gratitiide, he will bring a present— be it a sheep 
 or a cow or whatsoever he may a.fford to give. 
 
 I once had a very unpleasant quarrel with a ISJamaqua ; 
 perhaps he was more in fun, and it >A'as a misunderstanding 
 on my side. Anyhow, I got vexed, and said : " I shall 
 never forget what you have done, and mind what you are 
 about. I will have my day, too ; do not think that, because 
 1 am the only white man here, that you will get the best of 
 me !" He laughed, and thought that I was in fuu. I, how- 
 ever, left. A year after he met me on the road in another 
 part of the country ; and when he saw that I greeted his 
 friends but did not notice him, he at once borrowed from 
 one of his mates a cow, and said to me : " Take this, and 
 forgive me; but don't be angry anyfurther — I can't bearit." 
 I accepted his fipology, and told him to keep the cow. But 
 
89 
 
 he insisted upon my accepting it ; because lie believed 
 that, as long as I refused to accept his cow, I had not for- 
 given him. I afterwards made him a present of ammuni- 
 tion, and, as anxious as a Nama is to possess that most 
 precious material, he said : " No ; you want to pay my 
 cow, and I shall not accept it." 
 
 My father was missionary of the Ehenish Mission 
 Society in Bethany, Great JSTamaqualand. The year 
 1848 was a very lucky year; the desert was a flower- 
 garden, and honey was brought by waggon-loads to the 
 station ; but honey-beer (Ikharis) was also made in 
 immense quantities, and the new converts very soon had 
 too much of a good thing. The following Sunday my 
 father expressed his indigntion at their drunkenness, 
 and said : " I wish, after you have made such bad 
 use of what the heavenly Father has given you to enjoy 
 moderately, that He never again will give you a year so 
 rich in honey !" Strange enough, up to this date there 
 has never again been an abundance of honey. When, a 
 few years ago, I asked the old chief, llNai^ab of 
 Bethany, quite accidentally, if he could get me some 
 honey, he answered : " What, you ask me for honey ? and 
 your father has cursed the bees not to make honey. Tell 
 him, at first, to take back his curse and you will again eat 
 honey." 
 
 29. The eclipse of the moon is always considered a bad 
 omen. Hunting parties, or an expedition of war, will 
 certainly return home, and they say, "llGraunabi ge dahe 
 ha," Vi'e are overpowered by UGauna. They commence 
 to cry aloud, and say, " torob ni ha, | |o ge ni," war is ap- 
 proaching, we are going to die. The same is said at the 
 appearance of the Aurora australis, or if the awful tail of 
 a comet is seen in the blue vault. 
 
 There are some superstitions of a very recent 
 date, which show that the mythological power is still 
 alive. 
 
 30. If the cold westerly sea breeze (huri- ijioab) is blowing, 
 
90 
 
 the Namaquas say : " | Hub ke ni lia/' or " Smaub ni ha," the 
 white man is coming, or the trader is coming. 
 
 31. If a cock stands before the door of a house and 
 crows into the house, visitors are expected. 
 
 32. If hens try to crow they are caught and killed or 
 chased to death. If this be neglected, the owner is sure 
 to die. 
 
 33. If a party goes out on a warlike expedition a crow's 
 heart is burnt and pounded and loaded into a gun. The 
 gun is fired into the air, and they believe tliat as this 
 jDounded heart is blown into the air, in the same manner 
 the enemies will liy and become faint-hearted, and they 
 will disperse like timid crows. 
 
 34. Another most powerful charm is the Duba, a sub- 
 stance of white colour, and of the size of a fowl's egg. 
 This duba is generally found in ant heaps. The duba is 
 pounded and mixed with tobacco, and then put into the 
 pipe. If a girl smokes this mixture she will fall in love 
 with the fellow who offered her the pipe. 
 
 That these superstitions are of a very recent date is 
 obvious from the fact that the Khoikhoi, only through 
 the white people, have become acquainted with fowls, pipes, 
 guns, and ammunition. Therefore such superstitions in 
 which things, brought from foreign countries, are men- 
 tioned, cannot be considered to be common to all Khoi- 
 khoi tribes. 
 
 In this respect each clan has its own superstition. It 
 is curious to observe that the Khoikhoi have not accepted 
 anything from the Bantu nations, while as regards lan- 
 guage and religion, and even customs, it cannot be denied 
 that the Bantu nations, who came in contact with the 
 Khoikhoi, have adojDted much which had an improving 
 effect on their original condition. That the I Gona -Khoi- 
 khoi in the East greatly influenced the Ama-||khosa ; that 
 these people became less ferocious than the Zulus ; that 
 the rule of the chiefs among the | IKhosa was no longer so 
 despotical as it generally is among the rest of the Bantu 
 
91 
 
 tribes — wlio could deny ? Nay, even tlie short time that 
 tlie Bandieru, a branch of the Herero, stood under the 
 sway of the tribe of the Gei|Khaua, has left an impression 
 on those natives which manifests itself in softer manners 
 and a kinder disposition towards strangers, if compared 
 with the manners of the more northerly Hereros towards 
 the Ivaoko and Ovamboland. 
 
 NOTES TO THE SECOND CHAPTEE. 
 
 ^ There must have been a peculiar-shaped stone 
 fetish, such as Wangemann describes in " Ein Eeisejahr 
 in Siid-Afrika," Berlin, 1868, p. 500: "In a great 
 channel, worked by the rain, we found a big granite block, 
 about six feet in diameter and as round as a ball, which 
 rested on a basis of a softer material. This stone the 
 Basuto worship as their God. They dance round it on 
 one leg, and at the same time spit at it. The place's 
 name is Cha Ratau, close to Sekukuni's stronghold. 
 
 ^ The honourable gentleman had a conversation with 
 some Hottentots, who were on the most friendly and 
 confidential terms with him. Tliey informed him that 
 they worshipped a certain god, whose head was as large 
 as a hand or fist, who had a hollow in his back, who 
 was possessed of gigantic proportions. To him they 
 prayed for assistance in times of famine, scarcity, or in 
 any other calamity. It was a custom that their wives 
 spread on the head of tliis deity a red kind of earth, 
 buchu, or other sweet-smelling herbs, this being not one 
 of their offerings only, but one of many. From this it 
 can he seen that the Hottentot worship also a god. 
 
 ^ Almost verbally the same said a Namaqua, who 
 never had come in contact with missionaries, and who 
 led a Bushman life in the mountains west of Gei\aits 
 (about latitude 24^25', and longitude 16°). He said : 
 " iGuru'irao ogu ge IKhub ta goba, tira mi khoiga ; 
 
92 
 
 Igabeliegu goma ra." The people say, if it is thundering, 
 the Lord is speaking ; He is scolding them. 
 
 * As to Valentyn's authority, I may add that he 
 refers to certain documents of the Governor, Simon van der 
 Stell, and to the very learned Secretary of the Dutch 
 Government at the Cape, Grevenbroek, who had written 
 a Latin essay on the Hottentots ; all these documents 
 were also put at Valentyn's disposal. 
 
 * This is nothing else but the Tsili-\\goctb worship, 
 as I have identified in the third chapter Tsui-\\goab, with 
 the Dawn. It is still the way of the Aborigines of 
 Great Namaqualand to leave their huts with the first 
 rays of the dawn, and to implore Tsui-\\goab. 
 
 " Gaunia, evidently from the verb gou or gao, to 
 rule. I am, however, suspicious that Kolb, who often 
 is careless in expressing the clicks, has understood 
 WGaunia — i.e., \\Gauna, the Bad Being, the demon who 
 is opposed to Tsid-Wgoah. 
 
 ^ The evil-doer, who fights against Tsiii-Wgoah, is 
 WGaunah, and that insect Mantis fatista, is also called 
 WGaunah, both derived from a root llgau. As will be 
 more minutely explained hereafter, WGaunah means the 
 destroyer, from the root | Igau, to destroy ; and Mantis is 
 called WGaunah, from the root llgau, to show, and is the 
 " one toko shoivs luck." Here we have an instance that 
 the same word spoken in a different tone will have a 
 different meaning. — Vide Theoph. Halm, "Die Sprache der 
 Nama," p. 23. The same instance we have in the 
 language of the Mandengas, Steinthal, " Mandeneger 
 Sprache Berl.," 1877, ^ 34; and in Siam, vide Bastian, 
 " Monatsbericht der Kongl. Preuss. Akademie in Berlin," 
 Jan. 1867, p. 357. 
 
 ^ To this I could add, from experience, that I have 
 often observed true gratitude shown to me by Namaquas 
 whom I had helped in troubles either with food, 
 ammunition, or medicine. This convinced me beyond 
 doubt, and will also convince the greatest sceptic, that 
 
93 
 
 the Klioikhoi know how to be thankful, and are very 
 sensible of kindness bestowed upon them. 
 
 " The Easier Magazine of 1816, p. 366, offers some 
 remarks on the Eeligion of the Klioikhoi, quoting 
 Adams' " View of Eeligions/' But when comparing 
 Adams with Kolb, whose remarks we have given above, 
 there is no doubt that Adams, who never was at the 
 Cape, must have drawn from Kolb. 
 
 '" This journal is contained in " Meuwste en beknopte 
 Beschryviug van de Kaap der Goede-Hoop, nevens een 
 Dagverhaal naarhet binuenste van Afrika, door het land 
 der kleine en groote N"amaquas," Amsterdam, 1778. 
 The Expedition started from the Cape of Good Hope on 
 the 1 6th of July, 1761, and returned safely to the Cape 
 on the 27th of April, 1762. According to p. 50 of 
 that Journal, the most northern latitude they reached 
 was latitude 26° 18'. As their instruments were not 
 very exact, we cannot expect a great correctness 
 of observation ; and as every one who is acquainted 
 with the territory in question can learn from Hop's 
 Journal, the most northern spot they reached was the 
 " Ford of the Xamob Eiver," about twenty miles 
 south of the present Ehenish mission-station, Keet- 
 manshoop or Zwartmodder (latitude 26° 32'), thus the 
 corrected latitude of Commander Hop's most northern 
 point should be 26° 50'. Seventy years afterwards 
 Captain Alexander, later Sir James Alexander, 
 who managed to reach Walefish Bay by land, took 
 almost the same route, and crossed the Xamob Eiver at a 
 place :j:Xanebis, only a few miles below the above- 
 mentioned ford. The grandson of one of the members 
 of that expedition. Jacobus Coetsee, is now a wealthy 
 farmer at Llisklip, at the foot of the Vogelklip Mountain, 
 the most northerly station of Sir Thomas Macclear's astro- 
 nomical survey ; and the descendants of Eieter Marais, 
 another member of the same Expedition, are wealthy, 
 and much respected farmers in the town of Stellenbosch. 
 
94 
 
 " I must remark, that from what I oLserved and could 
 gather, on the graves of Heitsi-eibih branches are thrown 
 only, and not on any other. 
 
 '^ Tgutscri is nothing else hut \gutscrc, the imperative 
 form of [gil, to go, and therefore means, " Go — thou — 
 please," i.e., " Get away, be off !" Tgaunazi is the 
 interjectional form, or, as we should say, vocative of 
 WGauna, formed by the suffix tse or ze (msc. 2 pers. pron.) ; 
 tluis \\Gamia-tse means Wgaimci, thow — i.e.. Oh ! \\Gauna; 
 and \gutscre WGaunatse is, " Be off \\Ga21na," or, in Biblical 
 language, " Get thee henee, Satan." 
 
 ^^ The ISTamaquas nowadays still shoot with arrows at 
 the lightning, and tell him to be off, 
 
 " Tlie learned Doctor shows by this remark simply 
 that he had not carefully enough studied the wxtrks of 
 former travellers, like Dapper, Kolb, Thunberg, Sparrinann, 
 as can be seen from the foregoing pages, wdiere 1 quoted 
 from them. It will appear from the following pages that 
 we meet these graves (Heitsi-cibcga) all over South Africa, 
 wherever in pre-historic times the Hottentot race had lived, 
 and that the multitude of these cairns in the East corro- 
 borates the opinion, stated by traditions and customs, that 
 the nomadic Khoikhoi, to whom this stone-worship is 
 peculiar, had spread over South Africa, coming from the 
 East. The very fact that those graves are heaps of stones, 
 and not of earth, also serves as a proof that the pre-historic 
 Khoikhoi lived in a mountainous, rocky country, and not 
 in sandy flats like the Bushmen. And the word IHo, 
 rock, which appears in names like \IIoa)^a\nas, " Fountain 
 in the rock," or ^JShcUwas, " Black rock " and \Ava\hoas, 
 " Eed rock," or jho-ab, a single conical granite hill, and 
 jho-mi, mountain (rock), is conanon to all Khoikhoi 
 tribes, and shows that it was in existence before they 
 separated ; while in the jAi Bushmen (North-west Kali- 
 liari) the \Koan of the Okavango Dorstveldt, there is no 
 word for stone, because there are no stones to be met 
 with. An \Ai Bushman, to whom I showed a stone, and 
 
95 
 
 asked for the word in his tongue, said : " The i^Tamaquas 
 call it |ui, but we have no name for it, because yon will 
 not see stones in onr conntry." 
 
 '^ This is not a bad specimen of the geographical notions 
 of the Sonth African Boers. A Boer once said that he 
 should like to go to England, but he did not exactly 
 know the Oidspaii, or halting- places, on the road. 
 
 ^° How this name may have has been introduced to the 
 Kafirs I have, I think, clearly shown in an essa}', The 
 Graves of Heitsi-eibib, Cape Monthly Magazine, May, 
 1878, p. 263, where I say: "The Kafirs, however, on 
 the east coast, who mnst have made their inroads and 
 encroachments on the Red man's territory at least two 
 thousand years ago, had even a friendly intercourse with 
 the Hottentots ; they intermarried with each other, 
 as is evident by the present remnants of the Igonas or 
 jgonaqna tribe." And I can add that every anthropologist 
 at first sight, if he mnsters a nnmber of JSTjgika, iGaleka, 
 and IIKliosa, easily will discover Khoikhoi blood in their 
 veins. 
 
 Women, on the whole, are said to be more religiously 
 inclined than men ; they are the guardians of the language 
 and of the religion of their tribe. The children imbibe 
 with the mother's milk the first accents of the lansiuao-e 
 of the tribe, and with the language the religious ideas. 
 The Germans have the pregnant and beautiful expression, 
 " MiMersprache" mother's language. We speak of " Vatcr- 
 land " but not of " Vatersprache" and we are well aware 
 why. 
 
 The Kafirs are renowned polygamists, and we can well 
 imagine that after having been victorious in a battle, they, 
 according to their custom, may have killed tlie men, but 
 certainly spared the female prisoners, with the view of 
 increasing the number of their wives, as it is considered a 
 great honour and a sign of wealth amongst them to have 
 a large family. 
 
 Now, it will be clear how it was possible that the 
 
96 
 
 children, as tliey are entirely left during their infancy to 
 the care of the mother, were the medium through which 
 the Hottentot clicks got introduced into the Kafir idioms 
 (Zulu, I IKhosa, &c.) ; and with these elements they in- 
 troduced the mothf.n-'s religious ideas and the name of the 
 Supreme Being, Tsiillgoab." 
 
 '' Vide Theoj)h. Halm, Der hottentotische Tsui-||goah 
 und der griechische Zeus : Zeitschr. d. Ges. fur Urdhundc, 
 Berlin, 1870, p. 452. 
 
 ^* Here we have a specimen of the blundering I spoke 
 of in the beginning of the first chapter, where I protested 
 against the indiscriminate use of the word Hottentot. It 
 is obvious that after the word Hottentot has become so 
 deeply rooted it would be difficult to annihilate it. But it 
 must be used either to designate the whole race, Bushmen 
 and Khoikhoi, or it must be simply applied to the 
 Nomadic Hottentot or Khoikhoi. Or, from the Khoikhoi 
 words for Bushmen and Nomadic Hottentot, Sa- and 
 Khoikhoi, we should form, analogous to our "Indo- 
 Germanic," a word Satsi-Khoikhoi, to be applied to the 
 whole race. Missionaries, who live among the natives, 
 and the superintendents of missions at least, should not 
 commit any blunders as regards the ethnological nomen- 
 clature. Thus, we read in a mission tract. Written for 
 general edification : " Along the west coast are distributed 
 the various tribes of the Hottentots, Namaqua, Hcrcro, 
 Bamra."- — -Vide Dr. Wangemann, "Maleo und Sekukuni, 
 Ein Lebensbild aus Siid Africa," Berlin (1868), p. 53. 
 That the Herero, a Bantu nation, suddenly were trans- 
 formed into clicking Hottentots I had to learn from Dr. 
 Wangemann. 
 
 '^ ||Ei^a||ais .... This tribe is a branch of the 
 jAmas (the Amaquas of the Cape Eecords) who formerly 
 inhabited the country between Bergriver and Olifants river. 
 The jAmas again were a branch of the iKhauas (Cauquas 
 of the Eecords) whose head-quarters were in the Worcester 
 district, the present Goudini. It appears that the greater 
 
97 
 
 number of the so-called Cape Hottentots were tribes wlio 
 were more or less connected with the iKhauas, and ac- 
 knowledged that tribe as the paramount tribe, as about 
 fifteen or twenty years ago the Gei||khous of Great 
 Namaqualand had the supremacy over all the Nama 
 tribes. Certain it is that the Gei||klious once ruled from 
 the borders of Ovamboland to the mouth of Olifants 
 river, and that all the tribes of Great and Little Namaqua- 
 land sent annually a tribute to the paramount chief, 
 generally consisting of a heifer, buchu, spears, and copper 
 or iron beads, and milk- tubs. The last tribute of that 
 kind was paid in 1863 ; and in 1856, even from Koran- 
 naland the chief Poffadder came to do homage to HOasib 
 on:|:Hatsamas, acknowledging that his tribe, the " Spring- 
 bucks,^' were a branch of the Gei||khous. 
 
 To retm^n to Jager Afrikaner and his tribe, the I lEi^a- 
 llais, they formerly occupied the valleys of the Upper 
 Olifants river and the Upper Breede-Eivier, in the vicinity 
 of the Witsenberg, a mountain named after Witsen, 
 the famous burgomaster of Amsterdam. Early in the 
 Cape Eecords, in Simon van der Stell's time, we meet 
 a chief of that vicinity by the name of Harramac, 
 which is |Hara-mub, as no name or word in Khoikhoi 
 ends in c or k. And we meet this name again among 
 the chiefs of the I |Ei^a| |ais. This justifies the conclusion 
 that the Harramac of the Cape Eecords was an ancestor 
 of the I lEii^al lai-chiefs. The following names have still 
 come down to us: Tsau_^ab, about 1720; jGaru^^ab, 
 about 1750 ; jGaru^amab, about 1780; iHoalarab geib, 
 1 790-1 82 3 ; iHaramiib geib, 1 82 3- 1 86 1 ; and |Hoalarab 
 
 or Jan Jonker, 1861 It appears that their love 
 
 for freedom was the reason that they left their native 
 hills and dales, under the rule of the old chief jGarui^amab, 
 and went to the north as far as the jHantam, where they 
 in some way or other came under the sway of a Boer 
 Pienaar, living on the Groot Doornberg farm, near the 
 present Calvinia. Pienaar's unjustice, however, was so 
 
 H 
 
98 
 
 provoking that he was killed by the Afrikaners, as the 
 I lEi^^al lais were styled by the Boers ; and under the 
 guidance of jGaru^amab's son, Jager Afrikaner |H6a|arab, 
 they fled with the Boer's flocks and ammunition towards 
 Griqualand, and from there again all along the Orange 
 Eiver to South Namaqualand, where they settled at IIHamis 
 or Blydeverwacht. Here the German missionaries, the 
 brothers Albrecht, and afterwards Moffat and Ebner, 
 came in contact with the tribe, who embraced Chris- 
 tianity. Jager Afrikaner died in 1823, and his second son, 
 iHaramub, the famous Jonker Afrikaner, called by the 
 then paramount chief of Great Namaqualand, Gameb, 
 started with one part of the tribe towards the north, 
 against the Herero, who encroached upon the Namaquas, 
 and, with few exceptions, conquered and enslaved them. 
 With Jonker iHaramub's death, however, the late 
 Andersson and Green, and other Europeans, were the 
 cause that the Herero rose, and in a war of nearly 
 ten years, reconquered their freedom. The present chief 
 is |Hoa|arab, son of the late |Hara|mub. Since 1842, 
 after the visit of Captain Alexander, with a short inter- 
 ruption, they had a permanent mission station at |Ai||gams, 
 at the foot of the gigantic Auas mountains in North 
 Namaqualand, Space does not allow us here to go into 
 particulars, but this much we can say, that the history 
 of this ||Ei^a||ais tribe would fill the most interesting- 
 pages of South African history, not lacking in romance, 
 and recording deeds of which our mediteval knights need 
 not be ashamed. 
 
 "" Half-caste Hottentot women. — The title of this valu- 
 able translation is : " Annoe Kayn hoeaati Nama-KoAvapna 
 gowayhiihati. Diihiiko Hoekays na Kaykoep Bride- 
 Mrk, kipga. i 8 3 i ;" or, written with the letters of the 
 standard alphabet, jAnu jgai:|:hoati Nama gobab jna 
 ;j^oahehati. Holy good news, ISTama language in they 
 have been written. Diheko HHulgais [na geijKhub 
 Bridekirkib ^a. Printed Capetown in, great-man {i.e.. 
 
99 
 
 Mr.) Bridekirk by, 1 8 3 i . When this pious woman had 
 just looked over the last proof-sheets, she said, " My task is 
 done, I feel my end is near." She returned with her 
 husband, Mr. Schmelen, to her country. Little Namaqua- 
 land. They were, however, not far from the Cape, in the 
 neiglibourhood of Melks farm, close to the river Berg, when 
 she was taken suddenly ill and died. Her grave is not far 
 from the western slopes of Piquetberg. 
 
 ^^ I am afraid that Moffat has allowed himself to be 
 misled, by saying that some called God U-tigoah. He 
 appears to have heard something of the Kafir ?7-Ti||go, 
 where U is the prefix masc. The Khoikhoi language 
 does not employ prefixes. 
 
 ^" Shoot their poisoned arroivs. — -The Urjangkut, a tribe 
 belonging to the black Tatars, used to scold at the thunder 
 and lightning to drive it away. — A. Bastian, Zcitschrift 
 ^iXr Ethnologic, 1872, p. 380. 
 
 "^ August. " Eetr." i. 13. " Res ipsa quae nunc religio 
 Christiana nuncupatur, erat apud antiques, nee defuit ab 
 initio generis liumani quousque Christus veniret in car- 
 nem, unde vera religio, quae jam erat, coepit appellari 
 Christiana." — Max Miiller, " Chips," vol. i. xi. 
 
 -^ They even ridicule. — The following extract, taken 
 from a German Mission Tract by Dr. Wangemann, Super- 
 intendent of the Berlin Missionary Seminary, will serve 
 as a specimen of the information given to the European 
 public concerning the religious emotions of the savage, 
 and how prejudice is excited against him : — " The Bible, 
 the word of the Almighty Lord, is so full of wisdom, 
 beauty and truth, that a simple child and the greatest 
 savant will find satisfaction and pleasure in it. But it is 
 different with the legends of all the heathens. They are 
 full of absurdities and silliness, and also so full of filth 
 and dirt, that one soon sees they only say what man in his 
 stupidity tliought to be nice and agreeable, and what he, in 
 his sinful ideas, invented about a self-made god. Thus it is 
 with the fables of the Basutos. They are not loorth hioiving." 
 
 H 2 
 
lOO 
 
 — Dr. Wangemanii, "Lebensbilder aus Slid Afrika," vol. i., 
 p. 82, Berlin, 1871. 
 
 If the heathens were as black as they are painted here 
 by Dr. Wangemann, there would be no base of operation 
 for the missionaries in the heart of the savage, and all 
 that they boast of the progress of the Gospel among 
 the heathens would be untrue. Does the prophet not say : 
 " Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his 
 spots ? then may ye also do good that are accustomed 
 to do evil? Jeremiah xiii. 23. And how will our 
 author then explain to us what St. Paul says to the 
 Eomans i. 19: " Because that which may be known of 
 God is manifest in them ; for God hath showed it unto 
 them ?" 
 
 We hardly can believe that Dr. Wangemann is as 
 ignorant about the savages as he, according to the above 
 statement, appears to be. If this be the case, the 
 sooner he cedes his position to a more enlightened man 
 the better. But if he is well informed, and we have 
 no reason to doubt this, we must presume that he black- 
 ened the heathens simply to make the success of his 
 mission work appear in a whiter light. It is very 
 painful to us to charge Dr. Wangemann with this stratagem, 
 which, Pharisaical as it is, does not do credit to a 
 director of Missions. 
 
 ^^ There is an almost du^ect coincidence between this 
 Khoikhoi myth of the moon and one among the Fijians, 
 which is very strange. And still we are not justified in 
 concluding that the one nation has borrowed it from the 
 other. " Two gods," the Fijians relate, " disputed whether 
 eternal life should be conferred upon mankind. Ea-Vula, 
 the moon, wished to give us a death like his own ; that 
 is to say, we were to disappear and then return in a 
 renewed state. Ea-Kalavo, the rat, however refused the 
 proposal. Men were to die as rats die, and Ea-Kalavo 
 carried the day." The temptation is great to explain the 
 coincidence of decisive strange customs and peculiar 
 
lOI 
 
 legends, by supposing tliat the people among whom they 
 are found descended from a common ancestry in primordial 
 times. But such coincidences merely corroborate the old 
 maxim that among different varieties of men, in different 
 regions, and at different times, the same objects have 
 given rise to the same idea. — Peschel, " Eaces of Man," 
 London, 1876, pp. 461 and 462. 
 
 ^® After the death of the snake. — I shall hereafter, in 
 the third chapter, come back to this superstition, and 
 only now mention that the words, lau-b snake, lau-b 
 blood, |au-s fountain, lau to bleed, |au to flow, |au to 
 bear ill-feeling, |avi (from |aui to stream) to rain, lava 
 red, are all derived from the root lAU to flow, to stream, 
 and we shall see why it is that in every fountain there 
 is a snake. 
 
 ^'' Alexander is mistaken if he calls :f Numeep a Bush- 
 man. The name of this so-called Bushman proves 
 sufficiently that he was a Khoikhoi, The ^^Auni tribe 
 live in the territory here spoken of. The poor ISTamaquas 
 are also called by the others, Bushmen, especially when 
 they are servants, or if they lead a Bushman's life, and 
 have no cattle and sheep. 
 
 "^ Lahouring under an attack of dysentery. — Sometimes 
 the brackish water works so strongly on the bowels that 
 one who drinks it is immediately taken ill. 
 
 ^ hiaras. — This fruit is a Cucurbitacea, almost as 
 large as a newborn child's head. The flesh of it is eaten 
 raw, and the seeds are kept for the dry season, when 
 there is no fruit. The seeds taste almost like almonds, 
 and are at present to be got from confectioners in Cape 
 Town. The Topnaars or :j:Aunis of Walefish Bay and 
 Sandwich Harbour, and all the Bushmen tribes along 
 the coast of Great Namaqualand, live partly on this fruit. 
 It is to be met with from the Orange Kiver mouth as far 
 as latitude twenty-one degrees : but it grows only on the 
 sandy coast. 
 
 ^^ Redman, or |Ava-khoib, is identical with Khoikhoib, 
 
I02 
 
 while the Europeans are called jUri-khoin, wliite men, 
 and the Bantu ijiNu-khoin, black men. Tor Toosip, or 
 Tusib, see the third chapter. 
 
 ^' The difficult task of translating the Bible. — I mention 
 this the more, as I had not long ago the opportvmity of 
 convincing myself that a missionary, in a farewell circular, 
 had assured to his brethren, that " he was the only man 
 who was destined hy the Lord to give the Khoikhoi the 
 Bible in their language." What I have seen of the 
 ]3ublication of the said missionary does not corroborate 
 this opinion, and I can state that his publications 
 require much polishing in style and grammatical 
 correctness. 
 
 ^^ They had left the colony. — The mission station, 
 Bethany, in Great Namaqualand, was founded by the 
 Eev. Mr. Schmelen in 1 8 1 4, who left with about three 
 hundred jAmas the station Bella in Bushmanland, and 
 trecked north until they came to the beautiful fountain 
 |Ui:j:ganis on the banks of the ||Goa|gib River, The 
 jAmas bought the rights of this place and neighbourhood 
 from the then paramount chief of Great Namaqualand, 
 Gameb, for axes, knives, iron spears and tinder-boxes ; 
 and Schmelen gave the place the new name, Bethany. 
 Amongst the leaders of the jAmas were the Xamlha 
 (Lion tail) and |Hoa|ara (Cat rib) families, or, as they 
 are now styled, the Amraals and Boois. Then- language 
 is the one in which Knudsen's St. Luke is translated, 
 and we have in this way an excellent specimen of the 
 old Cape Hottentot idioms. In 1850 they told my 
 father that they were called upon by the Dutch 
 Government in 1805 to fight against the English. The 
 Namaqua, according to the Cape Eecords, lived in 1665 
 as far South as the Ohfants river. They have always 
 been, and still are, by far the most powerful tribe among 
 all the Khoikhoin. 
 
 ^^ At first sight this myth shows some resemblance to 
 the words of the Lord to Adam : " Of every tree in the 
 
103 
 
 garden thou mayest freely eat : but of the tree of the 
 knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it ; for 
 in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die," 
 Genesis ii. 1 6, 17; and Adam still partaking of the 
 forbidden fruit, died, I heard the same myth on the 
 outskirts of the Western Ivalihari, where I met ostrich 
 hunters from the ||0-geis tribe who never had a mis- 
 sionary, and almost every ^^Auni of the iKlioma Moun- 
 tains and every Gei||khau knows it too. I myself have 
 eaten of the fruit of the so-called wild raisin tree, or 
 ^ious, and the consequence was that I had an attack of 
 dysentery. The natives having no medicine often succumb 
 to such attacks. It is besides a well-known fact, that 
 the flowers and herbs at a certain time of the year prove 
 detrimental to cattle and sheep. Various diseases break 
 out, known by our colonists as galziekte and blocdzickte. 
 Sometimes cattle suddenly swell up and die, and the 
 natives then remove to more healthy spots. 
 
 ^^ This hymn of Tsuillgoab, compared with George 
 Schmidt's statement, which we gave in one of the pre- 
 ceding pages, shows us that Tsuillgoab was invoked by 
 all Ivhoikhoi with the same prayer, in the same way as 
 we now a days all over the world invoke " the Father in 
 Heaven " with the " Lord's Prayer," which Christ taught 
 his disciples. At the same time this hymn confirms the 
 fact, " that a poetic form is more easily remembered than 
 a prose form, and that it is better adapted for securing 
 the strict accuracy of historical myths." I am of opinion 
 that the greater part of the Khoikhoi myths, especially 
 those which tell us of the heroic deeds and fights of 
 Heitsi-eibib and Tsuillgoab, were all in a poetic form, of 
 which such verses as are here and there interwoven in the 
 prosaic parts of the present myths are fragments. For 
 the last fifteen years these epical myths have been sung 
 and performed exactly in the same way as the " Songs 
 of Sanaxab and Geilaub," men who distinguished 
 themselves in the late jSTamaqua and Damra war. 
 
104 
 
 I was present at one of these ceremonies, and an old 
 Namaqua told me tliat^ in his young days, Heitsi-eibib 
 and Tsuillgoab were honoured in the same way. 
 
 One sees the whole fight, in which dancers and 
 pipe-blowers are actors. We see the cows and sheep 
 driven ojEf by the horsemen, and we see them retaken ; at 
 last the daring and plucky 6ei|aub receives a mortal 
 wound by a bullet of the enemy. They strip him naked, 
 and leave him a prey to the vultures, which soon approach 
 and commence to devour the body. At last, the friends 
 having slain the enemy, return and collect his bones in a 
 grave, and sing a very doleful burial song, 
 
 ^^ Xurina, xuna , . . x^^i'iii^' (plur. com. obj.), from the 
 singular form x^^i'i ^'^^ roots, berries, honey, and bulbs, 
 food which is found in the field. The bulbs are called 
 also jhani, and a long mountain range in Central Nama- 
 qualand is called after the jhan, the jHan-:[:ami 
 Mountains, — i.e., the Bulb Mountains. In Colonial Dutch 
 these bulbs are called Uientjcs. The jHan-iJiami or 
 jHanijiama Mountains are the same which Captain 
 Alexander wrongly spells 'Unuma. Xuua (plur. com. 
 obj.), however, from singular x^h means simply things, 
 and in this case it means cattle and sheep ; in Colonial 
 Dutch, vce, groot vce, and klein vee. x^^^''^^ ^^^ X'^^^ evi- 
 dently have the same root, xu, which means "something" a 
 thing which has a concrete substantial origin, while jklieis 
 is abstract, and means matter, German Umstand, Sache. 
 
 ^^ 4^Gorab is ochre, red clay. 
 
 ^^ Som-|aub is the " menses." 
 
 ^^ 4^EixaIkha|inabiseb is the other name of |Guri- 
 khoisib, the Khoikhoi Adam. :|:Eixa, from 4^ei, co23per, is 
 copperlike, full of copper, copper-coloured, brass-coloured. 
 Ikhab is body and Unabiteb is the backbone {BUckgrat 
 in German). The thunder-cloud has often a brazen colour, 
 a sulphur tint. Here one can see how mythology and 
 ancestor- worship flow into one another. Here ^^Eixalkha- 
 
105 
 
 llnabiseb is identical with |Nanub, the thunder-cloud — 
 i.e., with Tsuillgoab ; and in another myth he changes 
 names with iGurikhoisip, the ancestor of the Khoikhoi. 
 We shall have to recur in the third chapter to these 
 names again. 
 
 ■'^ We shall see more particularly in the third chapter that 
 |aub the snake, and lavib the rain, come from the same 
 root |au, to flow. If there is plenty of rain, the fountains 
 will flow very strongly. In every fountain again there is 
 said to be a snake, hence the natives say, if the snakes go 
 much about — that is, if the fountains flow very abundantly 
 — then it will be a good year. Tsui Igoab, the ancestor of 
 men, the creator of the Khoikhoi, lives in the thunder-cloud, 
 where he causes the cloud to \au, to stream — that is, he 
 causes the water-snake to come down. Thus the jKora 
 say, that the snake and the first man originally lived 
 together. Here I may at once add a note, which I forgot 
 to give in the text. This remark very likely also comes 
 from Wuras : — 
 
 " There is hardly a trace of religion to be found among 
 the Korana ; but the old people say that they have heard 
 from their grandfathers that Tsui-koab had made two 
 persons, a man Kanima, ostrich feather, and a woman, 
 Hau na Maos, yellow copper. He gave them cows, whose 
 milk they should drink, a jackal tail to wipe the perspira- 
 tion off the brow, a staff with a club (kiri), a quiver with 
 arrows, and a bow, and a shield. From Tsu| Igoab they 
 expect all the good things. He lives at the other side of 
 the blue sky, in a light sky. They also talk of a Kau- 
 naam, who is an evil-doer. They fear him very much." 
 ( Vide Burkhard, " Die Evangelische Mission," vol. ii. 
 p. 7 1) Bielefeld, 1 860. It should be noticed that we have 
 here again Yellow Copper, which is identical with iNabas, 
 or iNanus, the wife of 4^EiT^alkha||nabiseb. 
 
 ■*" The 4^Hi-game is an old kind of duel amongst the 
 Khoikhoi. If a man takes offence, he challenges the 
 
io6 
 
 other man by taking a handful of dust, and holding 
 it out to his adversary. The enemy then beats the 
 challenger on the hand, so that the dust falls to the ground,, 
 and the challenge is accepted. If the other is a coward, 
 he will not beat the dust to the ground, and then the one 
 who made the challenge throws the dust into his face. 
 In duelling together two men try to kick each other, or to 
 knock each other down by fencing with knobkirris, or to 
 throw each other with spears, covering themselves the 
 meanwhile with their shields. This kind of duelling was 
 called 4^higu. 
 
 ^' For this reason the Namaquas pretend not to eat the 
 flesh of the hare. The fact, however, is, that they believe, 
 by eating hare-flesh, they will become as faint-hearted 
 as a hare. They, for instance, eat the flesh of the lion, or 
 drink the blood of the leopard or lion, to get the courage 
 and strength of these beasts. The same custom we find 
 among the Malays, Polynesians, and Indians of America, 
 and other savages who drink the blood of wild animals or 
 slain enemies, in order to become ferocious and courageous 
 as they are. 
 
 ■*■ The lion, hoivcvcr, had vnngs. — Ctesias, "De Eebus In- 
 dicis," speaks of griffins in the following way : — " There is 
 also gold," he says, " in the Indian country, not found in 
 the streams and washed, as in the river Pactolus ; but there 
 are many and great mountains, wherein dwell the griflins, 
 four-footed hirds of the greatness of the wolf, hut with legs 
 and claws liJce lions. — Ctesias, " De Eebus Indicis," 1 2 ; ac- 
 cording to Tylor, " Early History of Mankind," p. 3 1 8, 
 Herodotus rejpeatedly mentions these griffins (Tpvxp), iii. 
 ii6; iv. 13, 27, 79, 152. 
 
 ■"^ Veldt, or, in proper Dutch, veld, means the fields, the 
 uncultivated grounds, the grazing-grounds and sheep-walks. 
 
 ''^ llHus-game literally translated is the cloud-game, 
 from Ijhus, an antiquated word for cloud. This ||hus 
 game is also called jkhoros, a kind of dice. Why 
 is the jkhoros called | |hus ? Here we have again 
 metaphor. When the battle in the clouds is fought 
 
107 
 
 between Tsiiillgoab and HGamiab, or :|:Eix^alklia||nabiseb 
 and the lion, we see the Hghtnings — i.e., the dice of Tsiii- 
 llgoab thrown to the earth. And this phenomenon in 
 Nature, the lightnings dropping to the earth, have after- 
 wards given rise to the story of iGiirikhoisib or 4^Ei;>^a- 
 |kha||nabiseb playing at dice with the lion. In our 
 legend the thunderstorm is expressly mentioned. 
 
 *'" Uientjcs, the Colonial Dutch expression for the various 
 kinds of eatable hulls. It means onions. 
 
 '' jKhubitsaos — lat. 23° 2 9', long. 16° 28^ I have 
 been to the spot. It lies on the southern slopes of the 
 jKhoma Mountains of the highlands of North Namaqua- 
 land. There is a pond of about fifty yards in length and 
 fifteen in breadth. On the banks of the pond grow 
 mimosa bushes ; and on the south corner, about five 
 yards from the water, is a very old mimosa tree. I had 
 a man of the Geijjkhau tribe with me, by the name of 
 Dousamab. It was quite interesting to see how he 
 pointed the spot where the lion lay, where iGurikhoisib 
 kneeled and cooled his face with water, where the dogs 
 made the first attack on the lion, &c. The good fellow 
 got quite excited and warm when he saw that I took 
 a great interest in the matter ; the more so when he 
 afterwards saw me taking observations in order to fix the 
 place on my maj). In jKhubitsaos, or, as it also is 
 pronounced, jGubi-tsoas, we have again the root jgii, to 
 cvoer. In the third chapter the meaning of jgurub will be 
 found, according to this root, to signify the coverer 
 (Sanscr. Vritra). 
 
 ^^ Garcs is an extemporized love song ; Khoikhoi 
 mothers, or nurses, are in the habit, while washing or 
 anointing a child, suddenly to extemporize a song of 
 praise, and this way of praising is called gare. 
 
 *^ Took the calabash with sour milk. — Calabash, from 
 calehasse, Sp. calahaza, Sicilian cara vazza, Portg. calabccga 
 and cabaga, from the Arab garah, a kind of gourd, and 
 ailas, f. aihasah, dry, so that it signifies a dry gourd scooped 
 
io8 
 
 ont, in which 7nilk and other drinkables are carried. 
 The Khoikhoi use the calabash also for churning purposes, 
 and produce butter by shaking the calabash. In 
 Namaqua the calabash is abas ; the root is a, to drink, 
 consequently abas, the tub for drinkables, German 
 Triiikgescliirr. One place is called Ahahis, on account of 
 calabashes growing there in abundance. In Spain these 
 calabashes serve as wine vessels, and are called either 
 calabaza or calahacino. 
 
 *^ Thy lody looks like a coto's hocly, means thou hast 
 a beautiful, fine, fat body. 
 
 °° How strong the belief is among the Khoikhoi that 
 animals even are revengeful, can be seen from the following- 
 historical fact : — When the jAmaquas had settled at 
 Bethany, they went out to shoot the Hereros or Cattle 
 Damaras, and to rob them of their cattle. Once they 
 had a wholesale massacre amongst the Damaras. 
 One man especially distinguished himself by extra- 
 ordinary bloodthirstiness and cruelty. They had re- 
 turned home, when after some time a black lion came 
 and took that man out of his hut, tore him to pieces 
 and killed him. The distance from Bethany to Damara- 
 land is about 250 miles. Still up to this day the 
 jAmas believe that that black lion was a Damara who 
 had taken the shape of the beast, and had come that 
 distance in order to revenge his people. Also of 
 elephants and snakes, especially of the so-called dassies- 
 adder, it is said that they can detect the criminal 
 among hundreds of people, and kill him, without turning 
 their ire on anybody else. 
 
 ^^ I have called this legend the Orion myth, because 
 most of the stars belonging to the constellation Orion 
 act a certain part in it. 
 
 In the sequel of the third chapter I shall give an ex- 
 planation of the names and the meaning of this myth. 
 The Aldebaran, or a Tauri, is the aob of the myth, and 
 iKhunuseti, or the Pleiades are his wives. His bow is 
 
I09 
 
 IT TT Orionis ; his saudals, | lliaron, are £ and S of the Hyades ; 
 his kaross is 3 and -y of the Hyades ; 3, c, ^ Orionis, are 
 the zebras, jgoregu, Leo is the hon. The arrow :j:ab is 
 marked by i, d, c, Orionis, of which again it is called 
 linaus, the arrowhead, and c is the opposite end, where 
 jams, the feather is fixed. It is very strange indeed that 
 the Pleiades, the rainstars of the Khoikhoi, stand so close 
 to the Hyades, the rainstars of the ancient Greek. And 
 that Orion among the Greeks, as well as among the 
 Khoikhoi, served as a base for a myth of a hunter. 
 Certain it is that the Hottentot myth is of very old 
 date, as the jKora, for instance, had still, in Burchell's 
 time, the same names iKhuseti for the Pleiades, and 
 jgoregu for Orion. And another Khoikhoi tribe, the 
 Geilkhauas, who formerly lived in the immediate neigh- 
 bourhood of the Cape, have still these names and the 
 same version of the above-mentioned legend. 
 
 The Namaquas call the stars the eyes of the deceased. 
 One star is Igoaros, the little daughter ; a and j3 Centauri 
 are called mura, the two eyes. (Whose eyes ? certainly 
 of some being ; and here we have a remnant of an old 
 myth.) Then yu i and 2 Scorpionis are called Xami di 
 mura,-'i.c.,.the eyes of the lion. There seems to be another 
 lion in the Orion myth. Venus has various names, 
 one is 4^onob, the man with the fingers cut off. The 
 New Zealanders believe the Pleiades to be men with 
 one eye (Bastian). And in Australia, according to 
 Eidley, the Pleiades are called worrul — i.e.. Ices nest. In 
 Greenland the Pleiades represent dogs chasing a bear 
 (Bastian). And among the Bambaras, Bapedis, and 
 Amal Ikhosa, the Pleiades are the messengers of the rainy 
 and planting season. The Indians of North America 
 believe these stars to be dancers. 
 
 '^ It is interesting to see how widespread is the super- 
 stition connected mth the umbilical cord of a child. 
 After the cord has fallen off the New Zealanders place it 
 in a mussel — that is to say, in the same shell with which 
 
no 
 
 it liacl been separated from the mother — and put the um- 
 bilical cord with the mussel on the water of a river. If 
 these things remain above the water and do not sink the 
 child will be lucky ; if, however, the mussel capsizes it 
 means early death, &c, (Hooper, in Journal of the Ethno- 
 logical Societij, 1869-72). The Alfurus in Celebes keep 
 the umbilical cord, with great care, as a charm (F. W. 
 Diedrich). The Kalmoucks in Asia use it as a charm in 
 lawsuits (E. Krebel " Volksmedicin," p. 56). In Ger- 
 many the umbilical cord is pulverized and given to a sick 
 child as medicine (M. E. Buck, " Medic, Volksglauben 
 aus Schwaben," 1 865, p. 56). And Fischhart says in " Gar- 
 gantua," cap. 39, of the cowardly soldiers who took to 
 flight : " Etliche zogen ihre Kinderpelglin herfiir, meinten, 
 also dem Teufel zu entfliehn." For more contributions 
 on this subject, vide Ploss, " Die Gliickshaube," &c., in 
 Ethnolog. Zeitschrift, 1872, iii. 
 
 ^^ In Syria also, at the spot where Typhon went into 
 the ground, the river Orontes took its origin : (^cktI Se 
 TV-KTOfXcVov TOig Kcpavvoiq {^lvnl Se SpaKovra, namely, 
 Typhon) (pivynv Kara cvaiv ^rirovvra roig /LLiv o\koiq 
 iVTE/Linv Ti]v yi^v Kai TTonjrrai to pucpov rov iroTajLiov, 
 Karacm'Ta Of tic yv^ avappi]6,ai rriv 'Kr)yr\v, ek oe tovtov 
 
 ytvea^ai Tovvo/xa rw iroTafxc^' Strabo, C. 75 I; 6. 
 
 Vide Schwartz, "Ursprungder My thologie," Berlin, i860, 
 p. 5 9. " We heard now why the Christians were impri- 
 soned. They had refused to contribute money towards the 
 su]3erstitious customs which the Chinese observe in times 
 of great droughts ; they then pray to the dragon of the rain 
 
 for wet weather On each house pieces of paper 
 
 are fixed containing prayers, and also the likenesses of the 
 
 dragon of the rain Also images of this dragon 
 
 made of wood or paper are carried in procession. And 
 if it does not rain, the dragon is smashed. 
 
 Under the rule of KiaKing there was a great drought. 
 The dragon would not send rain. The emjDeror 
 banished the poor dragon to the province of Torgot. 
 
Ill 
 
 But all the mandarins prayed for his return, when at 
 last the emperor ordered him to he brought back," — ■ 
 Vide Hue und Gabet, "Wanderungen durch das 
 Chinesische Eeich," bearbeitet von Karl Andree, 1867, 
 p. 6y. 
 
 The ancient Egyptians represented Knuphis, the god 
 of the snakes, holding a jug, out of which a stream of 
 water flows. — Vide Schwartz, " Ursprung der Mythologie," 
 p. 61. 
 
 In the Old Testament we have also the water and ser- 
 pent brought into connection. Thus in Amos ix. 3, the 
 Lord says, " And though they be hid from my sight in 
 the bottom of the sea, thence loill I command the serpent." 
 A similar idea to that expressed in the quotation from 
 Strabo is contained in the words of Ezekiel xxix. 3 : 
 " I am against thee, Pharaoh, King of Egypt, the great 
 dragon that lieth in the midst of his rivers, wliicli hath 
 said, My river is mine oion and I have made it for myself ." 
 Also Ezekiel xxxii. 2, in the prophecy against the same 
 king : " Thou art as a wliale in the seas ; and thou 
 earnest forth with thy rivers." And in Isaiah xxvii. i, we 
 read : " And he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.' 
 
 " In Germany there is a belief that at the birth of 
 every child a new star appears in the sky. If a person 
 dies, his star falls down from the sky to the earth. 
 Among the Indians of CaTifornia the Pleiades are said to 
 be women who went to heaven. The aborigines of Peru 
 believed that every animal had a representative amongst 
 the stars. The Yurucares-Indians believed the same. — 
 Bastian, Zeitschrift fur Ethnologic, 1872, p. 357. The 
 Kirghiz also transfer then' deceased to the stars, from 
 where, if invoked, they can come to the earth. — Bastian, 
 " Beitrage zur vergleichenden Psychologic," 1868, p. 89. 
 The Caribs of the West India Islands saw their immortal 
 heroes in the constellations of the stars. — Peschel, 
 "" Kaces of Man," p. 261. 
 
 But even if we had not these proofs of a future life 
 
112 
 
 among the Khoikhoi, we should come to the conclusion 
 of the existence of such a belief, from the custom that 
 they bury their dead with the face towards the east. To 
 them also our " Ex oriente lux" had a deeper meaning. 
 Peschel, in his " Eaces of Man/' p. 259, correctly remarks : 
 " Again, if we knew no further details as to the opinions 
 of the intellectually gifted Hottentots, formerly so greatly 
 underrated, it would be enough that, previous to burial, 
 they place the body of the deceased in the same position 
 which it once occupied as an embryo in the mother's 
 womb. The meaning of this significant custom is, that 
 the dead will mature in the darkness of the earth in pre- 
 paration for a new birth." The graves are covered with 
 stoneheaps and branches of thorns to prevent the hyenas 
 devouring the bodies. 
 
 That the pre-historic myth-makers thought very much 
 about the riddle of a future life, we have seen in the 
 myth of the Moon, who sent the Hare to men with the 
 message of immortality. 
 
 This feeling of a future life is not as dim as some 
 ethnologists and travellers and missionaries like to repre- 
 sent it. I shall refer to what I experienced myself. 
 
 Once I met on the outskirts of the Kalihari a party of 
 Namaquas in an ox waggon, which belonged to a woman 
 of rank (Geikhois), who was with the party. I knew her 
 very well, for she had treated me very hospitably when I 
 once stayed at her kraal. I was very much surprised to 
 find her so far away from her home, and asked : " What 
 brings you into these waterless hunting grounds ; since 
 when are women going to shoot game ?" 
 
 " My dear friend," she said, " don't make fun, I am in 
 great distress ; we lost a great number of sheep and cattle 
 through the drought and the Bushmen, and I am going to 
 the grave of my father, who died in the hunting fields ; I 
 am going to pray and weep there ; he will hear my voice, 
 and he will see my tears, and he will give luck to my 
 husband who is now out ostrich-hunting, so that we can 
 
113 
 
 buy again milk-goats and cows, that our little ones may 
 live." 
 
 " But your father is dead'" I said ; " how will he hear ?" 
 
 " Yes, he is dead," she answered, " but he only 
 sleeps ! We Khoikhoi always, if we are in trouble, go 
 and pray at the graves of our grand-parents and ancestors ; 
 it is an old custom of ours." 
 
 Is there a difference between this woman and Napoleon 
 III., who, like the old kings of France, was so eager to 
 play the part of the Eldest Son of the Church, and who was 
 certainly addicted to ancestor worship, if the recently pub- 
 lished will of April 1 4th, 1875, is genuine ? " We must 
 remember," writes the Emperor, " that those we love look 
 down upon us from Heaven and protect us. It is the soul 
 of my great uncle which has always guided and supported 
 me. Thus will it be with my son, also if he proves 
 worthy of his name." — (Allgcmeine Zeitung, 1875); Vide 
 Peschel, " Eaces of Man," p. 261.) 
 
 Another custom, which also proves that the Khoikhoi 
 believe that the person in the grave is not quite dead, is 
 that of throwing water on the grave shortly after the burial. 
 When asked why they do this, they say, in order to cool the 
 soul of the deceased. The grave is also called ||aus — i.e., 
 " the unhappy, discontented ;" | |au signifies " dissatisfied." 
 If, for instance, an ox is slaughtered, the cattle can be seen 
 to hold a gathering at that s]3ot, throwing up dust with 
 their horns and feet, and the bulls especially commence 
 roaring like lions. Then the Khoihoi say : Goman ta I |au, 
 the cattle are dissatisfied — Ic, they protest against the death 
 of their comrade. Another word is Hauam, which also 
 means, to protest, but in a very energetic way. 
 
114 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 I shall indeed inter'pret all that I 
 can. But I cannot interpret all 
 that I should like. — Grimm. 
 
 COMMENTARY TO THE PREVIOUS CHAPTER, AND ANALYSIS 
 OF THE MYTHOLOGICAL NAMES. 
 
 I HAVE endeavoured to give a collection of the fragments 
 of a very old mythology, in which are contained the rem- 
 nants of a primseval religion. I am sure that a good 
 number of my readers are disappointed because they 
 missed that high flight of ideas, and that beautiful but 
 deceptive charm which poetry adds to the mythology of 
 the Aryan, and even to that of the Polynesian races. As 
 I said in the first chapter, this collection will be con- 
 sidered very insipid and tasteless, and I shall not be sur- 
 prised if some will find fault with me for not employing 
 my time in researches concerning a worthier object. I 
 am fully aware of such objections ; nay, I hear similar 
 expressions daily ; but the more I hear, the more I am 
 alive to the difficulty of my task. 
 
 I do not reproach those who, comparing these myths 
 with our Indo-Aryan mythologies, find them very insipid. 
 My readers are Aryans, they belong to that race of man- 
 kind which in science, arts, and religion will for ever serve 
 as a standard to all other races on the surface of the 
 earth. 
 
 The characteristic of true science always has been 
 to draw objects of the most simple nature and the 
 most simple organization \mder its microscope, in order 
 
115 
 
 to discover the origin of the object, and the mutual 
 connection and reciprocal working of tlie various powers 
 in Nature, 
 
 If we look at the jjresent standard of zoology and 
 biology, it was the study of the most simple organisms 
 which led to results which the wildest imagination of our 
 greatest philosophers never could have dreamt of. The 
 theory of evolution has become an established fact, and 
 there is no science, at present, which could deny its invigo- 
 rating and propelling power on all the other sciences, and 
 on itself. A short glance at the controversial literature 
 on Darwinism — a literature which, by itself, is sufficient to 
 fill a magnificent library — shows that the cudgels were 
 taken up j?ro and contra, by the very best men on both 
 sides ; but after a hard and severe contest, the theory of 
 evolution carried the day. If our anatomists and zoolo- 
 gists would have been satisfied with the investigation of 
 the structure and organization of the most developed 
 animals only, they never would have arrived at such 
 astonishing facts, whose full importance is beyond human 
 conception, and only can be dimly guessed. 
 
 The same with the science of comparative mythology, 
 and its mother, comparative philology. What has been 
 achieved by this science for the knowledge of the condition 
 of our pre-historic races, we admire in the works of Wil- 
 helm von Humboldt, Bopp, Pott, von der Gabelentz, Kuhn, 
 Grimm, Schwartz, and Max Milller. But all those men 
 had cliiefly as their object of investigation the Aryan 
 races ; very little or nothing, comparatively, has been 
 done in the realm of the languages of the Great Dark 
 Continent, with the exception of the Hamitic languages. 
 The science of language and the science of religion are, as 
 regards South Africa, entirely in an embryonic state. Pott 
 and von der Gabelentz, famous through their discoveries 
 in the Aryan realm, were the first to draw an outhne 
 ^sketch of the Kafir-Congo, or so-called Bantu languages ; 
 and a few years before them, Norris, in Pri chard's "Natural 
 
 I 2 
 
ii6 
 
 History of Man," was the one to analyse the Khoikhoi 
 idioms, and to show them their place among the tongues 
 of the world. 
 
 Then followed the late Dr. Bleek, who succumbed under 
 the gigantic work he had begun to give to us, after the model 
 of Bopp, a comparative grammar of the South African 
 languages. Bishop Callaway has commenced to collect 
 materials for the foundation of a comparative mythology 
 of the South African races, but nothing of any importance 
 has been done since. The fact of the matter is, that there 
 is a great lack of that truly scientific idealism, which will, 
 uninfluenced by public opinion and newspaper criticism, 
 pursue its course with an indomitable spirit, fully convinced 
 that it is done in the service of the elevation of mankind. 
 There is no Chair as yet for Comparative Ethnology and 
 the Science of Language in our colleges, where the younger 
 generations could be made acquainted with the natural 
 and mental condition of the aborigines. Our native policy 
 will remain a fruitless experiment as long as we do not 
 know our coloured brethren. And the great stumbling- 
 block to carry out a fruitful native policy is the mutual 
 hatred between the Europeans and aborigines. There is 
 such a hatred, and it is dangerously increasing. Who can 
 deny that nine-tenths of the white population of South 
 Africa look down upon the aborigines as a superior kind 
 of the baboon tribe. And still we pretend to be good 
 Christians, and call ourselves " Christenmenschen." We do 
 not see how paradoxical and pharisaical we are. If we only 
 knew more about the way of thinking of the natives, if we 
 only could imagine that there is in those black bodies a 
 religious sentiment which craves for a sight of the Un- 
 known, as our own heart yearns for the Invisible, we 
 would soon drop our self-conceit. 
 
 This ill feeling can only be removed if Ethnology and 
 Comparative Philology will form one of the subjects in 
 our code of higher education, and I should think that, 
 after twenty years, the stumbling-block in the progress 
 
117 
 
 of civilization in our colonies will be removed. Only a 
 sound study and an unprejudiced knowledge of the 
 native mind will qualify us to produce a sound and safe 
 native policy. 
 
 We will learn to appreciate in the native what is 
 good, and be anxious to bring the good qualities to a 
 harmonious development. For his faults and vices our 
 education and training will supply the necessary remedy. 
 This would be the practical value of the study of Ethno- 
 logy, under which heading I comprise the theoretical 
 study of the South African languages^ for the purpose of 
 learning the prehistoric condition of the Aborigines, and 
 their present natural condition, customs, manners, and 
 religion. 
 
 When Bopp, Pott, and Grimm laid the foundation-stone 
 of that glorious work, the Comparative Grammar and 
 Comparative Mythology of the Aryan races, we should 
 not forget that more than twenty centuries had contri- 
 buted towards the bricks and mortar and tools with which 
 that magnificent temple was erected. And here, in South 
 Africa, what have we to boast of ? Since Sir George 
 Grey left our shores, and Dr. Bleek is not more 
 amongst us, it almost seems that the work, so energeti- 
 cally commenced, is going to collapse. We cannot yet 
 think of constructing such an edifice, which could stand 
 a comparison with that grand temple erected by Bopp, 
 before all the materials are prepared and their collection 
 is secured. Our task, and that of the next generation, 
 is to collect every possible and reliable material ; and 
 what already is collected should be thrown on the market, 
 to be moulded and shaped into bricks. The linguistic and 
 ethnological world, both of Europe and America, daily ask, 
 Quid novi ex Africa ? The foundation-stone is well laid, 
 but where are the languages, the myths, and legends of 
 those nations, of whom we had some dim idea, and 
 whose existence has been confirmed by the discoveries of 
 Cameron and Stanley ? And in the most southern part 
 
ii8 
 
 of our continent — that is, British South Africa, a vast 
 territory bordering in the north on the hanks of the 
 Kunene and Zambesi rivers — there lives a most unique 
 race, represented in two peculiar branches of the Hottentot 
 race, by the Khoikhoi and Bushman family. Wliat 
 may I ask, has been done to secure the necessary materials 
 for a comparative study of their languages, mythologies, 
 customs and manners ? There are sundry translations 
 of parts and extracts of the Bible, but more or less 
 in one and the same Khoikhoi dialect. Twelve dialects, 
 spoken in Great- Namaqualand, are still unrecorded. 
 The little we know of the jKora, which bears the most 
 ancient type of the Khoikhoi, like Sanscrit among the 
 Indo-European languages, is very insufficiently known, 
 and this tribe is now on the point of dying out. Of the 
 old Colonial Khoikhoi, the so-called Cape Hottentot, we 
 know little or nothing. The few words recorded by 
 Witsen, Ten Ehyne, Hervas, Kolb, Valentyn, Leibniz, 
 Spaarmann, Thunberg, Barrow, Liechtenstein, and Le 
 Vaillant, and few others, are written in such unintelli- 
 gible and distorted orthography that they are useless for 
 comparative purpose. Even the student who is well 
 acquainted with a Hottentot dialect is hardly able to 
 use these specimens with any success. 
 
 Eour years ago a man of the tribe, to whom the Mora- 
 vian missionary, George Schmidt, brought the Gospel, 
 died at Bredasdrop ; eight months ago, another old Cape 
 Khoikhoi died at Moddergat, Stellenbosch district ; 
 another last year close to the Paarl ; and six years ago 
 one in Cape Town, who all spoke their old language. 
 
 The late Dr. Bleek therefore was misinformed when 
 he stated that the old Cape type had entirely died out. 
 There are at this moment some alive, and it is of vital 
 importance that our Government slwuld grant a small 
 sum for the purpose of searching for such individuals, 
 and collecting from their lips these long-forgotten 
 dialects. 
 
119 
 
 I said ethnology should be taught at our colleges, and 
 I have also pointed out the practical result it would 
 have for a sound and just native policy. If this could 
 be done, and a warm enthusiastic interest for these 
 studies be instilled into our rising generation, the eyes 
 of the scientific world would look with admiration 
 towards the Cape. 
 
 But our students must be taught, " what to observe, 
 and how to observe.'" To draw the public interest 
 towards these studies we require an ethnological museum, 
 after the model of the ethnological museums in Berlin, 
 Leipsic, and London. What we possess in this respect 
 at the Cape is not beyond the appearance of a curiosity 
 shop. But before we can expect valuable contributions 
 towards such an institution, we must have men who 
 understand the importance of this science; such men, 
 however, we must educate up to the mark. And have 
 we not got in Cape Town, close at hand, all that we could 
 wish for ? There is the Breakwater Convict Station, with 
 natives from almost every tribe in South Africa. There 
 are at present cliiefs from whose lips valuable informa- 
 tion of the history of their tribes and wanderings could 
 be collected; of the customs, of the manners, and of the laws 
 of inheritance and relationship. Instead of that, we are 
 treated by newspaper writers with fruitless controversies 
 about our right to locking up savage tyrants and allow- 
 ing them a smaller number of wives than they had been 
 accustomed to. Is there a place in the whole of South 
 Africa where, with so little expense, anatomical measure- 
 ments and studies for anthropological purposes could be 
 carried on ? — results for which our Darwins, Huxleys, 
 Haeckels, Weissbachs, Vogts, J'ritschs, and other anthro- 
 pologists beg and crave ; and still, it seems, there is no 
 ear to hear them ! Is there a better opportunity for our 
 Cape Colleges to demonstrate anthropology, ad ocidos, 
 than at the Breakwater ? — where the method of anato- 
 mical measurement could be taught with greater success ? 
 
120 
 
 And if the Cape Government has no eye and ear, or no 
 means for the establishment of such an anthropological 
 institute, is there no influential savant who would raise 
 his voice to induce the various Governments of the 
 civilized world to co-operate in founding an " Inter- 
 national Anthropological Institute at the Cape of Good 
 Hope ?" 
 
 Most of our young college students become public 
 men. They enter the civil service ; some become field- 
 cornets, judges of the peace, members of Parliament, and 
 magistrates or magistrate's clerks ; others, again, farmers 
 and merchants. Every one almost will come in contact 
 with natives. Our college students come from every 
 part of South Africa. Does it not lie in the power of 
 our Government, in connection with the Educational 
 Board and the Philosophical Society, to organize and to 
 encourage the collecting of linguistic and mythological 
 materials, which materials should be published under the 
 superintendence and editorship of an enthusiastic and 
 competent scholar ? In this way only should we be able 
 to supply the scientific market in Europe, where hundreds 
 of hands stand ready to coin the ore thus pro- 
 duced. This would not only give to all comparative 
 sciences — especially to comparative psychology (VolJccr- 
 psycliologic) — a new stimulus, but it would be the most 
 expedient and cheapest way of furthering the progress of 
 comparative sciences in our country. 
 
 The fragments recorded in the preceding chapter are, 
 if we read them without a commentary, on the whole not 
 very poetical — -nay, some are of a repulsive character. 
 As soon, however, as we put them under the microscope 
 of the etymologist, we shall find that these myths are not 
 more meaningless than the germs of those mythologies 
 which have filled with deep devotional feelings the hearts 
 of our own Aryan ancestors, before they migrated to tlie 
 South, North, East and West. 
 
 But to come to a clear understanding the reader 
 
121 
 
 should be careful not to mix up terms of such essential 
 difference as religion and mythology. Many an educated 
 man we hear expressing the idea that mythology and 
 religion, as far as heathens and savages are concerned, are 
 synonymous. They seem not to know that there is only 
 one religion commou to all mortals, and that this rehgion 
 is based on faith. Mythology, however, is a secondary 
 element in the history of the development of the human 
 mind ; wherever religion crops up, mythology will serve 
 as a cloak to disguise her true beautiful form ; and in 
 the same way as the cloak sometimes adopts the form of 
 a statue, or of the human body, in the same way 
 mythology often copies in a bewildering manner from 
 religion. 
 
 If we want to understand the original meaning of a 
 myth, we have to trace it back to its fountain. We 
 have to study the history of the names of the persons who 
 act a part in a mythological tale back to its origin, by 
 stripping off all garments, which time and every new 
 generation have added to it, until we arrive at the naked 
 root and original meaning of tlie word. The com]3arative 
 philologist, in a certain sense of the word, works like the 
 Bushman, who, with a keen eye, well acquainted with 
 the habits and — may I use the expression — the way of 
 thinking of the game, follows on their track and examines 
 every pebble turned in their hasty flight. Sometimes 
 the footprints are very clear, where the soil is very soft. 
 Sometimes they disappear altogether on rocky ground ; 
 and here it is where the hunter has to call in his practical 
 knowledge of the nature of the game and the topographical 
 condition of the country. So the mytliologist with the 
 honest endeavour to feel and think like a primaeval man, 
 with an almost childlike way of expressing himself, and 
 at the same time well trained in the method and practice 
 of comparative philology, has to follow up the history of 
 a mythological name, until he arrives at the true meaning 
 of it. He always must bear in mind " that language is 
 
122 
 
 always language — it always meant somcthioig originally," 
 and " that it is the essential character of a true myth, that 
 it should he no longer intelligible." — Max Miiller. 
 
 " The facts of language, however small, are historical 
 facts, and require an historical explanation." Therefore, 
 I shall try in the sequel of this chapter to give for each 
 mythological name a rational and etymological explana- 
 tion, inasmuch as I do not care to have these myths 
 considered a conglomerate of meaningless and insipid 
 tales. 
 
 In the growth and change of the Khoikhoi mythology 
 we find an analogy to the growth and change of mytho- 
 logy among the Aryan nations. Amongst the Khoikhoi 
 also, as amongst the Aryans, there was a " tendency to 
 change the original conceptions of divine powers, to 
 misunderstand the many names given to those powers, 
 and even to misinterpret the praises given to them. In 
 this manner some of the divine names were changed into 
 the half-divine." " 
 
 TsUi] \goah. 
 
 I shall beo'in with that name which calls forth 
 even to-day the deepest feelings of devotion and 
 reverence in the heart of a Khoikhoi. TsaiWgoah, 
 originally TsuniWgoam, was the name by which the 
 ^Eedmen called the Infinite. Modern translators and 
 interpreters, such as serve on mission stations, generally 
 explain it, "Sore or wounded hnee" from tsu or tsUi, 
 wounded, sore, and ligoab or ||khoab, the knee. And I 
 myself, some ten years ago, have in a controversial paper,"* 
 " Der Hottentotische Tsuil Igoab und der Griechische 
 Zeus," been in favour of tliis explanation. After a more 
 careful study of the matter, however, I have now good 
 reason to discard my former opinion, and to replace it, 
 as I hope, by a more reasonable explanation, based on 
 the method of sound etymological investigation. For if 
 the former translation w^ere correct, and if this name by 
 
123 
 
 which the Infinite is invoked were so transparent as to 
 demand such an interpretation, Tsiiillgoab could not be 
 a mythological being, but simply a person who acts a 
 part in some common fable. Let us therefore try a new 
 analysis. 
 
 The word is composed of two independent roots,. 
 tsu and \\goa. \\Goa means to walk, to go on, to 
 approach, to march on, to come on. Now in Khoikhoi it 
 is exactly the same whether I say, mu-h or mic-m, 
 seeing-he, he-sees, or mu-h, mu-m, the-eye — i.e., the-seer, 
 the-seeing-one. The same, there is no difference whether 
 I say, Wgoa-b, ||^oft-m, coming-he, approaching-he — i.e., 
 he comes, he approaches — or whether I say, | \goa-h, \ \goa-m, 
 the-approaching-one — viz., day, or the morning, the 
 dawn; or if I say, Wgoa-h, \\goa-m, the-going-one, the- 
 walking-one — i.e., the knee. 
 
 We have in Khoikhoi the following words : — WGoa-l), 
 the morning, the daybreak ; I \goa-b, the knee ; I \goara,. 
 the day dawns, it dawns, it is dawning. Metaphorically 
 Wgoa means also "to ;pray" because it is an old Khoikhoi 
 custom to go out away from the house as soon as the 
 first beams of the dawn shoot up in the East, and to 
 kneel behind a bush to pray. The original " Wgoatara, 
 \gore ta niga," " I go out to pray" (Igore or Igure, to 
 pray), has dwindled down into " I \goatara" — i.e., " I go," 
 I pray, just as our " / loish you a good morning," has col- 
 lapsed into " Good morning," and even " Morning." 
 
 It is now obvious that Wgocdi in Tsui\\gocd> cannot be 
 translated with hiee, but we have to adopt the other 
 metaphorical meaning, the approaching day — i.e., the 
 dawn. 
 
 We come now to the root Tsu. It meant originally 
 " what is sore, what is wounded, what is hurt, what is 
 painfvil." Derivative forms were ts^mi, tsui, and tsii. Now,, 
 among the Nama-tribe generally, tsu and tsUi, mean " sore, 
 wounded, hurt, affected with a wound, or with pain ;. 
 while tsu, a more dilapidated form of tsuni, has a 
 
124 
 
 metaphorical meaning, " unpleasant, difficult, troublesome, 
 painful." This, however, is not the case in all Nama 
 dialects ; sometimes the two words are promiscuously pro- 
 nounced and applied. From this tsu, by reduplication, 
 is formed a verb, tsu-tsu, to hm-t a person, and ^inou-tsu- 
 tsu, to hurt a person by beating, or, as we say, to teat a 
 person Hack and hhte. 
 
 The colour of a wound is red, especially of a fresh 
 wound received in a battle, and thus tsu can signify red, 
 just as \ava or \aua, " red," meant originally Uoody, blood- 
 coloured {{ciu-h, Uood). TsuWgoah or TsuiWgoao therefore, 
 verbally translated, is thc-red-morning, the-red-daybreak — 
 i.e., the daion. 
 
 This etymology is strengthened by the following cir- 
 cumstances : — First, I have said in the second chapter 
 that the jKoras believe TsfdWgoam to live in the Eed- 
 Heaven or Eed-Sky. Then, in the next pages will be 
 proved that '\.Ei-^a\k]ia\\na'bisc'b and TsuiWgocib are iden- 
 tical, and in the Hymn of XEi^\k]ia\\nahiseb is said of 
 him, " tlwu who painteth thyself with red oehrer And, 
 third, when the day dawns the Khoikhoi go and pray, 
 with the face turned towards the East : " Oh, Tsu| Igoa, 
 All-Father." We are also told that the Khoikhoi, 
 especially their women, paint themselves with red ochre, 
 if they offer prayers at the cairns of Heitsi-eibib (Dapper, 
 Witsen). 
 
 Here, as it often happens in mythology, as well as in 
 our daily life, a person is often called after the abode or 
 place he inhabits. We have in our Colony names as van 
 Breda, van Gent, &c., meaning originally certainly nothing 
 else, but the man of Breda, the man of Gent. In the 
 same manner the ancient Khoikhoi in their yearning after 
 the Infinite transferred the name of his supposed abode 
 upon Him who thrones on high. Hence the origin of 
 the name TsuiWgoah for the Supreme Being. 
 
 The myth now tells us that TsuiWgoah is the avenger 
 of men, and that he kills IIGaunab, the evil-doer. He 
 
125 
 
 also can see what is going to happen in future ; he is a 
 seer, a prophet. In the Vedic mythology Saranyu, the 
 Dawn, is also the avenger, and can also predict what will 
 happen. The Germans have still the proverbial say- 
 ing :— 
 
 Es ist uiclits so feiu gesponnen, 
 
 Es kommt doch endlich. an der Sounen. 
 
 (Nothing is so finely spun, 
 
 It must come before tlie sun.) 
 
 The Sanskrit Saranyu or Dyaus has etymologically cer- 
 tainly notliing to do with the Khoikhoi TsfdWyoah, and 
 certainly the one is not derived from the other. And 
 still, in a certain sense, Dyaus or Saranyu, and TsfiiWyoab 
 stand in very close connection, according to the maxim 
 that the human mind all over the world is the same, and 
 consequently will use certain striking phenomena in 
 Nature as a base for the same figure of speech. 
 
 Other names for the Infinite among the Khoikhoi are 
 \Rhuh, Tusih, {Nanuh IGhiruh, Jleitsi-eihih, \\Khab, iji^iT^a- 
 \kha\\na'biscb, and \Gurikhoisib. Of these we shall treat 
 hereafter. As Tsui-\\goah is always mentioned in con- 
 nection with his opponent, or better with the demon 
 WGaunab, we shall have at first to deal with him, and to 
 analyze his name, and then we shall see how mythology 
 set to work, generation after generation, until it pro- 
 duced the legend with the variations recorded in the 
 preceding chapter. 
 
 WGaimam. 
 
 If the name of Tsni-Hgoab only fills the mind of a 
 Khoikhoi with joy, gratitude, and veneration, the name 
 of WGaunah always confers to him the idea of pain, 
 misery, and death. The root IIGau means to destroy, 
 to annihilate, to mangle ; from this we have the derivative 
 ||oaur^, bad, sj)oiled, worthless, infected; llgaub, destruc- 
 tion, ruination, annihilation; hence WGaunah, the destroyer, 
 the one who annihilates. 
 
126 
 
 Who "vvas now, according to the idea of the ancient 
 Khoikhoi, the destroyer ? Certainly nohody else but the 
 night, Tswyjih. We have the root \\o, and from this the 
 following derivatives: — ||o, to die; Horn, to sleep; ||o-b, 
 death, illness, disease, I |om-s, sleep, I loreb, guilt, sin, what 
 is liable to death, crime; !|ore;)^a, wicked, sinful, guilty, 
 criminaL Now, the night makes the people fall ^asleep 
 or to die {\\d Worn), to be in a death-like state. The 
 Khoikhoi say that HGaunab lives in the black heaven or 
 black sky. The night sky, however, is the black sky. 
 Consequently the black sky, at whose approach men \\o, 
 die, or ||om, sleep, is the night sky — that is, \\Gcmnah, 
 the destroyer. 
 
 It will now be obvious that originally the words \\Gauna 
 and TsuiWgoa were intended for nothing else than to 
 illustrate metaphorically the change of day and night. 
 Then the words Tsuillgoa and llGauna came down to the 
 following generations, whilst their original meaning was 
 lost. Mythology and religious sentiment stepped in at 
 once and set to work. There was the belief of a power 
 which sends its blessings to the earth to benefit men. 
 Man died every evening, and the dark night covered him; 
 the approaching dawn opened his eyes to new life, he felt 
 refreshed. He turned his eyes towards the East, and saw 
 the sky red, blood-red, sore like a fresh battle- wound. Blood 
 had been spilled, a battle had taken place ; so he fancied in 
 his simple puerile way of thinking ; and as he came to 
 life with the dawn, what was more natural than that his 
 mythological instinct invented the story of a battle 
 between WGatcnah, who lives in the black sky, and Tsui 
 llgoab, who lives in the red sky, in the dawn ? Tsuillgoab 
 was now a hero, who had received a ivound at Ms hnee. 
 The rosy dawn was exchanged for a lame, broken knee. 
 
 Every tribe, every clan, every family, naturally has 
 an ancestor, and if his name is lost, the myth-forming 
 power very soon will invent one. Such ancestor, 
 naturally enough, is a hero, who does wonderful things. 
 
12/ 
 
 Tsui-llgoab, the giver of all blessings, the Father on high, 
 All-Father, the avenger, who fought daily the battle for his 
 people, thus was identified with the ancestor of the tribe 
 whose name was forgotten. Hence we have the ancestor- 
 worship growing together with the worship of the Infinite 
 — that is, vice versa, TsuiWgoab, the dawn, became the 
 mythical ancestor of the Khoikhoi. 
 
 Each tribe afterwards ascribed to this hero such 
 qualities as were peculiar to, and popular among, them- 
 selves. And as there are other powers in Nature which 
 also bestow blessings on men, like the rain, the thunder- 
 storm, the moon, the wind (especially the rain, wind, the 
 sun, the clouds), and as these powers also have been 
 personified, it was only quite natural that they are either 
 identified with the Supreme Being, or that they are con- 
 sidered as emanations or relations of his. Therefore it 
 is that this Being must have a wife, jUrisis ; a son, 
 jUrisib, like every human father, grandfather, and hero. 
 Hence we find, not only among the Khoikhoi, but among 
 all other, especially the higher, mythologies, a real 
 Olympian genealogy. 
 
 \Kliub. 
 
 TsuiWgoab is also called \Khub. This is the general 
 term with which a chief, a ruler, a rich man, a master, is 
 addressed. If TsiiiWgoal is the father and ruler of the 
 Khoikhoi he must be rich {\Khu) and powerful. jKhub 
 signifies the Lord, and is derived from the root \Khu, to 
 be laden with something. A pregnant woman is a 
 \khui or \khuni taras — i.e., a laden, a burdened woman. 
 A rich man has always been an influential man, a ruling 
 man ; hence it is that \Khu has adopted the meaning 
 to rule, to be a lord. TarieWnaba ra \khu ? (who is 
 king there ? or, who rules there ?) has become identical 
 with Tarie \ \naha ra gao-ao ? (gao-ao-h, king, chief). 
 
 This brings us to the next point, to show how, in the 
 
128 
 
 capacity as \Khub, TsiliWgoctb is identical with \Nanu'b, 
 the thunder-cloud, and \Cruru'b, the thunder. 
 
 \Nanu'b. 
 
 \Nami.l) is in Khoikhoi the tliundcr-doud, and shows 
 the root \7ia, to filter, to stream. It means especially 
 that kind of streaming which a man can observe if he digs 
 for water in the sand of a periodical river. That filtering 
 and streaming together of the water from various sides is 
 \nd. Therefore, \Nanu'b is the filterer, the pourer, or, to 
 speak in South African Dvitch, " ®de Zuiverwater," an 
 expression which well applies to the nature of the rain- 
 pouring cloud. 
 
 j Guruh. 
 
 jGrnail), on first sight, makes the impression of being an 
 onomatopoeticon, imitating the sound of the thunder ; 
 but this is only a delusion. The root of |gurub is jgu, 
 which means to cover, to envelop (in German, umhiillen, 
 verhiillen, bedecken). The following wdll plainly show 
 what the Khoikhoi understand by the word \gu. I once 
 had bought ostrich eggs, some of which were already on 
 the point of breaking open and producing chickens. I 
 did not like to destroy the rest, and asked the Namaqua 
 who had given them to me how to hatch tliem, when he 
 said: \Giri- :^7iams \khats ni \gute (You must cow?' them 
 with a jackal caross). Also the skin or cloak which the 
 women wear round the lower body for the purpose of 
 covering it, is called '^\guhih, the coverer. From this, \gu 
 again, two mountains in Great Namaqualand are called 
 Geitsi-lgubih (Great jGubib), and ^^Kharisi-lgubis (Little 
 jGubis). The Geitsi jgubib is a crater-shaped mountain, 
 without being of volcanic origin. IGiirith therefore 
 means the coverer, and was one of the names of 
 the thunder-cloud \Nanu'b, which covers the sky. A 
 savage believes, that if it thunders, somebody is speak- 
 ing out of the cloud, or the cloud itself is speaking. 
 
129 
 
 In tlie same way as the Infinite was called the Dawn, 
 Tsiiil Igoab, now the Thunder, in the same manner, accepted 
 the name of the thunder-cloud, for his abode, and hence he 
 was called \G^i7'ub. In the Eigveda the cloud is also called 
 vritra — i.e., the coverer — and Vritra is also the name of 
 the demon slain by Indra. Here, quite independently 
 from the Khoikhoi, the ancient worshippers of Dyaus have 
 developed almost the same idea. In the Eigveda, it says, 
 that Indra with the Maruts (winds) fights Vritra, who 
 keeps the sunlight from the earth, — ( Vide Eenf ey, 
 " Sanskrit Dictionary," p. 89 5 ; and Schwartz, " XJrsprung 
 der Mythologie," pp. 50, 95, i 32.) 
 
 One often hears the following sayings among the 
 Namaquas : — \Nanu'b ga \guruo, oh ge geise ni \ \na — that is» 
 if the cloud is covering (rising from the horizon, and tower- 
 ing one above the other towards the zenith), then it will 
 pour down very much. And again : iNanub ga jhomgu 
 ei llgoeo, on ge khoina, Inanub ge jhomga ra jgu-ljiga (or 
 jguruijiga), tira mi. If the thunder-cloud Kes on the 
 mountains, then the people say the clouds envelop the 
 mountains. And again: |Avi-||aib jnati ge Ikhunusete 
 Inanubi ra Iguru-^gahe. In the rainy season the Pleiades 
 are enveloped by the thunder-cloud. All these sayings 
 clearly show the true meaning of jGurub, that it origi- 
 nally meant the coverei' ; and only in the course of time, 
 when this first meaning was forgotten and lost, by the 
 agency of the myth-forming power, it assumed the 
 meaning, the thunderer. That there is still a recollection 
 of the first meaning is quite certain. An old Namaqua 
 said to me once, after a heavy thunderstorm had passed 
 over the country : " jGurub ke geise ko |avi," meaning, 
 " the thunder-cloud has rained very hard." 
 
 Here the original meaning crops up again. For \GuTub 
 ret \avi is generally said^ \Nanub ke ra \avi, or \Nanuh Tee 
 ra tu, the cloud is raining. The cloud, \Nanu'b, is often 
 implored thus: 
 
 iNanutsej 
 
 K 
 
130 
 
 Sida IKliutsej 
 
 I A.vire or |avi geire ! 
 
 (Oh Cloud, our Lord, let rain, or simply, rain then !) 
 And in the preceding chapter, jClurub is called, in a hymn, 
 \Nanumatse, thou son of the cloud. Consequently there 
 is no doubt left as to l"N"anub and jGurub. 
 
 Identity of TsuiWgoab and iGuruh and \Nanid). 
 It is not necessary now to enter into any further 
 analysis in order to identify iNanub and jGurub with 
 Tsuillgoab, lest we should become very tedious in our 
 explanations. I will briefly point out the most essential 
 parts of comparison and similarity. Tsuillgoab, iNanub, 
 and IGurub, are all in the same manner implored, " let 
 rain." jGurub especially is addressed, " not to speah too 
 angrily to men ;" who else, then, can he be than the All- 
 Father, Tsuillgoab, who scolds his children? Valentyn, 
 as we saw in the second chapter, also quotes both names 
 for the same god, Tuiqua (TsUiWgoah), and Gourrou 
 {\Gnruh). Leibniz ("Collectanea Etyraologica," Han- 
 nover, 1 717, p. 377), always uses the name Thoro, for 
 God, which is nothing else than jGuru ; t' generally 
 being applied by those ancient travellers and writers to 
 express the click, or a click with g, h, k. 
 
 WKhdh, Heitsi-eihib, yGaruheh and Tusih. 
 WEJiah, originally ||Khami, still in jKora, ||Kham, is 
 derived from the root ||^/;«, the same, agaifi ; for instance, 
 the pronoun Ijkhab, the same, and words like llkhaba or 
 llkhava, again, in return ; Ijkhara, to punish, to revenge 
 — that is, to do to a person the same that he has done to 
 others; Ijkharas, punishment, retaliation; jjkhai, to turn, 
 to bring back — for instance, j Ikhai gomaba, turn the ox ; 
 [jkha-llkha, to teach, to train — i.e., to turn over and over 
 again, to turn a person again and again, until he learns 
 to go the straight course ; all these derivatives come 
 from the radix, ||Kha. As I pointed out some pages back, 
 there is no difference in Khoikhoi if I say mii-b, he-sees, 
 ov *mub, the eye — i.e., the seer — and ||goa-b, he walks, or 
 
131 
 
 llgoa-b, the knee — i.e., the walker ; in the same way tliere 
 is no difference if we say "HKha-mi, ||Kha-m, or IIKhfi-b, 
 he-is -returning, or tlie return-er — that is, the moon. When 
 after a few dark nights the silver crescent of the moon 
 appeared again on the western horizon, the ancient Khoi- 
 klioi would say, " Ah, there he is again." And when, in 
 the course of time, the pronoun of the third person had 
 also accepted the office of a sex-denoting classifier or 
 article, then the predicative, ||Kha-m or ||Kha-b, he- 
 returns, he-is-there- again, became the appellative, HK^hab, 
 or IIKham, the returner j^ar excellence. When even this 
 meaning was lost, the next generation beheld | IKhab as a 
 nomen proprium of the moon. 
 
 The resemblances between HKham, the Moon, and 
 Tsuillgoam, the Dawn, are very striking. We said in 
 the second chapter that the moon promises immortality 
 to men, and when they were deceived by the hare, he is 
 also the avenger, punishing the latter. Tsui||goab every 
 morning gives life to men, and from the battle with 
 IIGaunam he received a woiuid; also the hare scratches 
 the moon's face. Of Tsuillgoab it is also said, like 
 the moon, that he often dies and rises again. He 
 (Tsuillgoab) being a person of supernatural powers can 
 take all kinds of shapes, he also can disappear, or become 
 suddenly invisible. It is the same again with the moon, 
 who assumes different shapes, and sometimes disappears 
 altogether. The disappearing of the moon is called jjo, 
 to die ; on the dying or disappearing of the moon, 
 especially if there be an eclipse of the moon, great anxiety 
 prevails. One would almost believe that a great calamity 
 has befallen a kraal, such is the disturbance on such 
 occasions. I have seen the people moaning and crying 
 as though suffering great pain. Those prepared for a 
 hunting expedition, or already hunting in the field, will 
 immediately return home, and postpone their under- 
 takings. Does it not sound to us as if we hear the old 
 Psalmist praying : — 
 
 K 2 
 
132 
 
 Have mercy upon me, God — 
 Cast me not away from thy presence ; 
 Eestore unto me the joy of thy salvation ! 
 
 That the Moon is identical with Tsuillgoab, as the 
 " Lord of Light and Life," can, after these explanations, be 
 no longer doubtful. And it is also obvious from the 
 antiquated and obliterated nature of the name itself, that 
 the Moon was already worshipj^ed as the Visible God of 
 the Khoildioi before their separation. 
 
 We come now to Heitsi-eibib. As to him, the 
 etymology of his name offers considerable difficulty. 
 Generally, interjoreters translate it " prophet," " foreteller," 
 " the one who can predict what will happen.' ' And this 
 translation or etymology is based on cutting Heitsi-eibib 
 up into two words — Heisi, to tell, to give a message, to 
 order ; and eibe, before, beforehand, previously. Con- 
 sequently Heitsi-eibib would mean the foreteller, the 
 prophet. Here, again, as we remarked in the analysis 
 of Tsuillgoab, if the word Heitsi-eibib is so transparent 
 as to be so easily explained, the whole mythology in 
 regard to him would collapse into a meaningless and 
 insipid fable. We therefore must look for a more 
 satisfactory and rational explanation. 
 
 To the linguist it will be quite clear that only two 
 roots, liei and ci, are contained in the word Hei-tsi-ci-hi-h ; 
 all the other syllables are suffixes. Hei means every- 
 thing that belongs to the ivood or shriih line, anything 
 that has a wooden nature. We have thus hei-b, a pole, 
 a stick, a staff, a collection of trees (German, Gehusch) ; 
 hei-s, fern., a tree, and hei-i, a tree in general, a piece of 
 wood, or a shrub. From this hei we have derivatives 
 like hei-xa, rich in wood, full of shrubs, full of trees ; 
 heitsi or heisi, wood-like, having the appearance of a tree, 
 (as adjective derivative), and heirab, the juice of the 
 mimosa tree (gum arabic). But there is also a verbal 
 derivative, hci-sl, to send a stick (from hei, stick, and si, 
 to send) — that is, to order, to send a message. This si, 
 to send, must not be mixed up with si, suffix pronominal 
 
00 
 
 and suffix adjective, which is identical with our ly. With si, 
 to send, the following compounds are formed : — Ad, to 
 cause to drink; asi gomana, bring the cattle to the water, let 
 the cattle drink ; daisi, to nurse, i.e., to cause the child to 
 drink, to put the child to the breast. Thus, to come 
 back to hcisl, it signifies, originally, to send a stick, 
 a staff, and then, to send a message, to order. Chiefs, 
 if they send a man with a summons to another person, 
 give the messenoer, as a credential, their staff, the emblem 
 of their power ; hence the name heisi-aob, the staff-bearing 
 man — i.e., the messenger. The man summoned is simply 
 touched with the staff and he has to follow immediately. 
 Here, however, we have not to do with the verbal 
 derivative hei-si, to order, but with the adjective deriva- 
 tive heisi or heitsi, wooden, wood-like, having a tree-like 
 appearance. For we have the form Heifei-eibib, and not 
 Heisi-eibib. Only the adjective suffix ^tsi can change 
 into si, and vice versa, but the verbal form si, to send, 
 could never change into tsi. Thus, we have Geifeijgubib 
 (masc. sing.), name of a mountain, and ::^Kharmlgubis 
 (f em. s ing.), also a name of a mountain ; | \gZ\tsi\ Igubib 
 (masc. sing.), the male frog; | |gus?| Igubis (fern, sing.), 
 the female frog; sirfe^jg^^bib (masc. sing.), the male bat; 
 sirsijgubis (fem. sing.), the female bat. But asi, to 
 cause to drink, or daisi, to cause to suck — i.e., to nurse, 
 or heisi, to send a message — could never be trans- 
 formed into dtsi, daitsi, heitsi, maintaining the same 
 meanings as verbs. Therefore Heitsi in Heitsi-Q^h\b is 
 the adjective derivative suffix for the masculine gender, 
 and the only correct translation therefore is, tree-like, or 
 similar to a tree. 
 
 The fact also that the other and shorter name of 
 Heitsi-eibib is Seigeib, Great- Tree (from hei, tree, and 
 gei, great), forces us to translate Heitsi into tree-like. In 
 the sequel we shall see that this Heitsi-eibih is identical 
 with XGurikhoisih, whose other name is 4^Ei;Y^lkha||nabi- 
 seb. And of this person the Lion, in our second chapter, 
 
134 
 
 s&ys : WKhuVtiomah, Mimosaroot lias killed me. And be- 
 sides, on the graves of Hcitsi-eihih, as we have had repeatedly 
 occasion to show, branches of trees, pieces of wood, and 
 flowers are strewn as an offering. 
 
 These evidences are strong enough to defend our posi- 
 tion against any insinuation in favour of the translation 
 " to send a message." 
 
 We have now to analyse the meaning of cihe or eihi. 
 Uis or eib means the surface — for instance, \huh-eih, earth's- 
 face, orbis terrarum ; eis or eib also means appearance, 
 likeness; for instance, ||eib eiha ta ho^lui tama, I do not 
 find out his appearance — i.e., I do not identify him, I do 
 not know him. Then we have the names See-eis, lITom- 
 eib, \Klioa-cib, Aoiixc^-cihih, all containing the root ei, 
 with the meaning face, appearance, likeness. Conse- 
 quently the only correct translation of Heitsi-cihib is, " the 
 One who has the appearance of a tree," and this tree is 
 tlie magnificent Dawn-tree. When, especially in our 
 latitudes, we look towards the East at daybreak, who, 
 if he has any love for the grandeur of Nature, does not 
 admire those beautiful beams and rays shooting up from 
 a central point like the gigantic branches of a magni- 
 ficent tree. 
 
 The points of comparison between Heitsi-eibib and 
 Tsuillgoab and ||Khab are here again very striking, and 
 leave no doubt as to their being identical. All three 
 come from the East, and this is why, as already stated, 
 the doors of the huts and the graves are found in 
 that directi(ju, The bodies of the deceased are also 
 placed towards the East, so that their faces may look 
 towards sunrise. Even those who possess waggons place 
 them in such a position, that the front is open to the morn- 
 ing sun. And the Khoikhoi, when asked for the reason 
 why they do so, always answer, " Our grandfather 
 TsuiWgoctb, or our ancestor Hcitsi-eibih, came from the 
 East." Both are invoked as " Father" or " All-Father." 
 Every prayer commences Sida itse, or Abo-itse. Both 
 
^35 
 
 are rich and possessed of plenty of cattle and sheep. 
 Tliey all promise immortality to men, and fight with the 
 bad beings ; they kill the enemies of their people. All 
 three can alter their shape ; they can disappear and 
 reappear. 
 
 Heitsie-ibib, however, is full of tricks, and his character 
 is not altogether blameless. The sacred legend accuses 
 him of the same crime as that for which Hippolytus and 
 (Edipus have become famous. 
 
 It is impossible to deny that the story of Heitsie-ibib 
 committing rape on his mother, taken in its literal 
 meaning, is very repulsive, and not at all in accordance 
 with the code of morals and decency among the Khoikhoi. 
 The laws and customs of the ISTamaquas are against incest 
 in any form. In the last thirty years only three cases, 
 and those among the so-called "* Orlam tribes, have hap- 
 pened. Here, certainly, we have the fact of the contact 
 with civilized races having proved fatal to the morals of 
 the Aborigines, When these cases happened there was 
 throughout Great Namaqualand a general outcry of indig- 
 nation against the criminals ; they were punished most 
 severely, thrown out of society, and a gloom was cast 
 over the whole tribe to which they belonged. 
 
 The myth of Heitsi-eibib and his mother is certainly not 
 of a recent date ; it could not even have been formed 
 at the time when those abstract words "humanity, 
 purity, truth, faith, self-respect, friendship, love, decency," 
 and many more of those beautiful abstract expressions with 
 which the Khoikhoi abounds, were formed. It is one of 
 the oldest mythological relics brought down to us, like an 
 erratic block, and shows that there was a period, below 
 the first layers of culture, when the feelings of morals and 
 decency among the Hottentots were still a tolvii wahohu, 
 similar to a period in the primitive history of our own 
 race. 
 
 The jSTamaqua, from whose lips I gathered that legend, 
 told me that when he heard it from his grandfather, the 
 
136 
 
 old man was of opinion that the story was a very repulsive 
 one. Such things were not done now. This shows us 
 that the story must be a very old one. But if we take 
 the trouble to divest it of the repulsive crust which 
 language and mythology in their natural decay have 
 formed around it, we shall find this old myth intelligible, 
 and discover a meaning in the most meaningless, and a 
 taste and a flavour in the most insipid. 
 
 A few pages back, I identified Heitsi-eihih with the 
 moon. If we now transfer this legend from the earth to 
 the sky, we shall soon discover that it is nothing else but 
 an illustration of what passes in the journey of the moon 
 from the first quarter until it is the full moon, and back 
 until it is the last quarter. 
 
 At first Heitsi-eibib is a baby, and his mother carries 
 him on her back in the Hottentot fashion. A look at the 
 evening sky, when the crescent disc of the moon appears 
 almost above, or on top of the sun, no doubt gave rise to 
 the idea of a mother carrying her child. He is dirty like 
 a helpless child, and the mother who carries him receives 
 a share of the filth. This we translate into our languaoe : 
 The sun sinks into the hazy horizon, into the banks of 
 mist, her face is no longer clear, it becomes dusk, even 
 small patches of clouds appear before her. Then, when 
 the other people are absent, Hcitsi-eihib gets big, and 
 throws his mother to the ground, and covers her. In our 
 modern style we should say : Every day the moon grows 
 bigger until we have the full moon ; the stars are not to be 
 seen, they are absent in the daylight. At the full moon, 
 when that planet has reached her greatest size, the sun 
 sinks immediately below the horizon, her light disappears, 
 and the glorious light of the moon rules now on earth, 
 where formerly sunlight ruled. 
 
 Heitsi-eibib then becomes small again, he resumes his 
 former childlike appearance, his mother does not take 
 notice of him, she throws him aside. This, again, every- 
 body can observe how, from full moon to the last 
 
137 
 
 quarter, the moon loses in size, until at last notliing of 
 JlKliab is to be seen. His mother, the sun, has thrown 
 him away. 
 
 I have, in the preceding pages, also drawn a comparison 
 between Tsili\ \gocib, the Dawn, and Heitsi-eihib. In Greek 
 mythology we meet with a similar interpretation of the 
 changes j)roduced in Nature by the rising and setting sun. 
 (Edipus marries Jocaste (the Dawn), after he has killed 
 his father Laios (the Night). Still more striking is the 
 similarity of ideas in the myth of Hippolytus and Phcedra, 
 when compared with Heitsi-eibib and his mother. Del- 
 briick has most ingeniously endeavoured to prove this 
 legend to be the explanation of the phenomenon we see 
 passing every month in the sky, between moon and sun. 
 
 The Khasias in North-western India have also brought 
 sun and moon into connection, accusing him of being 
 inflamed with love for his step-mother, the sun, who throws 
 ashes in his face. And for this very reason it is that we 
 see the s]3ots in the moon. 
 
 The Esquimo also accord to the moon an unnatural 
 love for his sister the sun, who smears some mud over his 
 face to frighten him away. 
 
 On the Isthmus of Darien we also meet with the 
 superstition that the so-called man in the moon is guilty 
 of incest with his sister. 
 
 The various ideas which different nations have 
 entertained about the moon, and also about the so- 
 called man in the moon, are very curious. It is 
 impossible to give here a survey of all the supersti- 
 tions and legends of this kind. The most interesting 
 may, however, here find a place. It is very peculiar 
 that the moon and the liare are brought into connection in 
 various parts of the world. Besides the Khoikhoi, the 
 Herero, a Bantu nation in South-west Africa, have a 
 superstition, that, if it is the last quarter of the moon, 
 Omueze uanos' ombi — that is, the moon — has burnt the 
 hare (Hahn, '' Hererogrammatik." p. 155). In Germany 
 
138 
 
 (Westfalia, Soester Borde) the country people say, that if a 
 hare screams in the daytime, he is asking food from tlie 
 moon. Adolf Eastian tells us somewhere that the Japanese 
 see in the moon a rabbit pounding rice in a mortar. The 
 late Hans Conon von der Gablentz, the great commentator 
 of Ulfilas, showed me a drawing of a Chinese coin, on 
 which was to be seen a hare sitting under a bush, and 
 the moon above it. 
 
 Benfey, in the " Panchatantra," relates an Indian fable^ 
 according to which Indra puts the hare into the moon 
 (Benfey, "Panch.," 1,348, 2,549). The Roman Catholic 
 missionaries. Hue and Gabet, travelling in Central Asia, 
 came to a city where the feast of the moon-cakes was 
 celebrated. Their host, a disciple of Buddha, gave to 
 each of them a cake on which the likeness of a hare and 
 the moon was imprinted. In the Hitopadesa, the hare 
 represents himself to the king of the elephants, as the 
 messenger of the moon. In fact, one of the Sanskrit 
 names of the moon is f«fm, " the one with the hare" 
 {vide Benfey, " Sanscrit-English Dictionary," qacin and 
 ^aqa-dhara). The god of the moon is often represented 
 sitting in a carriage drawn by two antelopes and having 
 a hare in his hand. The natives of Ceylon also pretend 
 to see a hare in the moon. In Saxony an old nurse told 
 me that a hare was to be seen in the moon. Also, if a 
 child is born with a split lip, or a so-called hare-lip, in 
 Northern Bavaria and in Westfalia, and in the neigh- 
 bourhood of Magdeburg, the nurses will ascribe it to the 
 influence of the moon. Shakspeare evidently must have 
 known also some of these superstitions regarding the 
 moon, Avlien Caliban says to Stefano, " I have seen thee 
 in the moon !" Be this enough. It would, indeed, fill a 
 small volume to enumerate all the various ideas each 
 nation entertains about the moon. 
 
 \Garubcb. 
 This name of Heitsi-eibib is a mere local appellation 
 
139 
 
 in use among the I Kora of the Middle Orange Eiver and 
 the Eiver of llHaintas. An old jKora at the convict 
 station, Cape Town, told me that iGaruLeb often died 
 and rose again ; that on his grave are strewn branches 
 and stones ; that he was a great chief, and possessed 
 plenty of cattle. The etymology of the name does not 
 offer great difficulty. \Garu means s2)oUcd, tufted. iGa 
 is grass ; |ga,ru, therefore, is what grows in tufts, like grass. 
 Here, in Sovith Africa, it is a characteristic of the grass 
 that it does not equally cover the whole ground, but that 
 it stands about in tufts. Evidently the word \gamiroh 
 comes from the same root, \ffa, from which Igarubeb, and 
 Igarub, the leopard (the spotted one), derive their origin. 
 Stars mean accordingly the dots, the points, those who stand 
 in t lefts. The myth says also that Heitsi-eibib's mother 
 became pregnant in swallowing the juice of a certain 
 grass. We can now either translate iGarubeb, the grass- 
 man, or the spotted-one. I am, however, more inclined to 
 adopt the latter interpretation, and that for the following 
 reason : — In the preceding pages I have shown the 
 identity of Heitsi-eibib with IIKhab, the Moon. A look 
 at the moon's spotted face explains easily the name, 
 Igarubeb, the spotted-one. Whether the ancient Khoi- 
 khoi saw in the spots of the moon a great many grass 
 tufts, I cannot say, but it is not impossible. 
 
 Tusih. 
 
 Tusih is also a local name for Tsiii-||goab, or, better, 
 iNanub. Tu means to rain. Tusih, therefore, the Eain- 
 giver, or the one who looks like rain, who comes from 
 the rain — that is, the one who spreads the green shining 
 colour over the earth [vide note in second chapter, 
 Tusib). 
 
 I Gurikhoisib and ^Ui^a\Jcha\ \nahtseb. 
 
 Like Heitsi-eibib, iGurikoisib, or, as he is also called^ 
 :j:Eixa|kha||nabiseb, defends the Khoikhoi against evil- 
 
140 
 
 doers, especially against the Lion. The etymology of 
 iGurikhoisib offers no difficulty. \Guri means single, 
 only, alone. Khoi-si-b derives from the root KHOI, 
 meaning man ; with the suf&x si it has a more collective 
 meaning, like mankind ; therefore, iGurikhoisib, means 
 the only man, the first man, primitive man. Here the 
 worship of the Supreme Being and ancestor- worship have 
 become amalgamated. 
 
 The name :j:Ei)(;alklia||nabiseb consists of three words 
 — 4^eixa (from ::j:ei), brass-like, |kha, body, and Unabiseb, 
 the back-bone ; thus the whole name conveys the mean- 
 ing : " The man whose body has a brass-coloured back- 
 bone." This is the lightning, who descends from 
 heaven (|homi), or from the cloud (Inanub) to the earth. 
 Here we have, perhaps, the explanation why the Khoikhoi 
 women on certain occasions anoint themselves with red 
 ochre, and also for the purposes of worship make marks 
 with red ochre (torob) on certain sacred stones and 
 cairns. 
 
 I remarked previously that we have reason to believe 
 that there was among the Khoikhoi also a period when 
 luiman sacrifices formed a part of their offerings. They 
 still cut off a finger. I shall not be surprised if continued 
 investigations corroborate the idea that the painting 
 of the sacred stones with red ochre was merely an act 
 to replace the cruel offering of human blood by a simple 
 symbolical ceremony. It may also be that the red 
 lightning, in killing a man, and thus demanding blood, 
 might in the commencement have led to human sacrifice ; 
 and that the red colour of the lightning and the bloody 
 sacrifice together afterwards introduced the use of red 
 ochre or other red paint into the worship of the Khoikhoi. 
 I have already quoted in the second chapter from 
 Ludolf's "Commentary," p. 228, '' Uxores solere con- 
 spergere caput dei terra ruhra." In place of this terra 
 rubra (red ochre, tornb), they also use frequently the red 
 tannic juice of the Acacia giraffte. 
 
141 
 
 The Ostiaks, when they kill an animal, rub some of 
 the blood on the mouths of their idols. Even this seems 
 at length to be replaced by red paint. Thus the sacred^ 
 stones in India, as Colonel Forbes Leslie has shown, are 
 frequently ornamented with red. So also, in Congo, it 
 is customary to daub the fetishes with red every new 
 moon. — Vide Lubbock, "Origin of Civilization," p. 270. 
 
 j Urisib and j Urisis, Tseh and Suris. 
 
 The myth tells us that j Urisib is Heitsi-eibib's son. 
 The root of this word is ju, as it is still preserved in the 
 jAi Bushman, where it originally means the egg, and 
 white. Certainly the word \u served, in the second 
 instance, to express the colour ivhitc, and the ostrich egg, • 
 of which the contents are eaten, of which the shell serves 
 as a water-cask, and of which the Bushman makes his 
 ornaments, is white. Here in our myth is j Urisis, the 
 Sun, the white one ; but as the shape of the Sun is round, 
 and as its colour is white, it is not unlikely that it was 
 originally called the egg par excellence. According to the 
 Khoikhoi custom of giving the son the name of the 
 mother, the son of jUrisis was \Urisih — i.e., Tseb, the 
 day, the daylight. [Urisis, the white one, however, is 
 again called Suris, the Sun. Suris gives the root su, to 
 broil, to be hot ; Soris or Suris, therefore, means the 
 broiling-one, the heating-one, the inflaming-one. 
 Derivative forms from su are sect, to boil, sits, the pot, or 
 the boiling instrument. Surcl or soreh (masc), sores (fem.), 
 the lover, the sweetheart, the one who is inflamed — viz., 
 with love, or who inflames with love ; Soregu, to court, 
 to fall in love, to be in love. 
 
 It is now obvious that j Urisis is Soris, the wife of 
 Heitsi-eibib Tsuillgoab, the Dawn, and that the son of this 
 marriage bond is j Urisib — i.e., Tseb, the Day, or Daylight, 
 The etymology of the word tse is very obscure, and will 
 never be unveiled. I have searched in vain for a satis- 
 factory explanation, and, failing in this, I addressed 
 
142 
 
 Mr. Kronlein, a missionary who pretends to have some 
 knowledge of the Khoikhoi. He told me that he derives 
 tse from gei, to grow, to develop. This is quite unscientific, 
 as there is not a single instance in the Khoikhoi idioms 
 of the g changing into ts. It seems that the original root 
 is quite lost, and so is its meaning. I shall, however, 
 make some suggestions of my own, that perhaps may lead 
 those who still labour among the Khoikhoi on some track. 
 We have numerous instances in Khoikhoi that ia con- 
 tracts into e; and we have also the fact that ts has 
 worn off into s ; again, we have the instance that c 
 and i, in forms like hi and he, or si and se, are pro- 
 miscuously used. If we now reconstruct tse we shall get 
 the form tsia; tsia then becomes tse or tsi ; and tsl becomes 
 si. Now we have in Khoikhoi the verb si, to come, to 
 arrive, to approach. I have, in the analysis of the name 
 Tsuillgoab, shown that llgoa means to come, to approach, 
 and here we have only in tseb another form, which in 
 meaning is identical with Wgoah, the approaching one — 
 viz., day. I wish, however, to be clearly understood ; 
 this derivation is a mere suggestion, and nothing more, 
 but I claim for it a greater possibility than one would 
 claim for such an etymology as is offered in tse from 
 gei. 
 
 \Gama\gorih. 
 
 Almost identical with \\Gaunah, the opponent of 
 TsuiWgoah, is :^Gamcc^gorih. The etymology of this 
 name offers great difficulty. iJiGama., from the root 
 ^gd, signifies to sink down, to fall down, to drop, by 
 sinking down to enter the ground ; but it is also transi- 
 tively used to throw down, to put into the ground, to 
 plant. "^Gori, again, fi'om the root ijigo, to go to one 
 side, to jump out of the way, to give road. For instance, 
 if a person meets another, the one will say to the other, 
 "^.go, make room, give way, go to one side ; therefore 
 ^iGama^Igorib is the one ivho in falling down, or throwing 
 
143 
 
 himself down, always moves to the side. This is certainly 
 nothing else but the lightning, whose nature it is never 
 to go in a straight line, but always to go out of the 
 original course. We previously stated that the |Guri- 
 khoisib was also called :|:Eixajkha||nabiseb, and we 
 interpreted this name with Lightning. iGurikhoisib is 
 a good Being, but 4^Gama:fgorib is a bad Being, and 
 so is llGaunam. 
 
 We need not be surprised at such idiosyncrasies 
 in mythology, and especially in the so-called loioer mytho- 
 logy. This is only a repetition of the maxim that 
 the religious sentiment of mankind originally saw in 
 Nature the working of demons ; and that only after a 
 higher state of culture the idea of a good Being is 
 developed. After the evidence produced, we must 
 admit that the Khoikhoi mythology, although it bears 
 in many respects comparison with the myths of Greece 
 and Eran, must be classified with the loiuer mythologies, 
 for the simple reason that the Khoikhoi language has not 
 yet left the agglutinative stage. 
 
 Ghosts and Spectres — \IIai\nun and Soho-khoin. 
 
 The ghosts and spectres are called |Hai|nun, fawn- 
 feet, or Sobo-khoin, men of the shadow. These words 
 are of a very simple etymology. As to fawn-foot, |Hai 
 Inub, we also say in German, ein fahlcs Gespcnst or fahl 
 wie ein Gespenst. 
 
 \Hau\gai\gaib, '^Amah and \pas. 
 
 IHaujgaijgaib and ijlAmab are also mythological per- 
 sons, but their derivation is not quite clear to me. The 
 same, joas, the hare, which certainly has nothing to do 
 with joa, to mourn, as some interpreters explain it ; 
 rather it may be derived from j5'a, to oppose, to go 
 against somebody, to meet. 
 
 \Khunuseti, the Pleiades. 
 
 It is not very easy to explain the original meaning of 
 
144 
 
 this name. |Gru, or |khu, or |go, and |klio, also |ko and 
 |kn, in the various Khoikhoi idioms of Great Namaqua- 
 land, mean close, next ; hence |khu or |gu, to come, 
 to heap, to cluster, to join ; Igu-khoib, the nearest man 
 — i.e., neighbour ; Igu-se, adv., closely ; Igure or Igore 
 to approach the gods — i.e., to pray, as we have in German, 
 Jcmandcn angehen ; in Latin, adire deos, adire regem. 
 From this |gu or |khu we have the derivative Igunub 
 (Ikhunub or |kunub), meaning both finger and reed, and 
 also joint of the finger and joint of the reed. Thus the 
 original meaning of finger is the one who closes himself 
 up to the other, the one who approaches the other, the 
 one who joins the other — i.e., the join-er, the link, the 
 branch, the twig ; and speaking and thinking in the way 
 of a primitive man or a child — nay, even in our own 
 phraseology— are not the fingers the twigs and branches 
 of the hand ? Hence, also, a shrub-like acacia, which 
 branches off like the fingers of the hand, is called in the 
 plural form jkunuti and |kunuseti. Here we have the 
 same name for the accacia and for the Pleiades, and I 
 think we are with this in the possession of the key to 
 unlock the original meaning of the name Pleiades. 
 iKhunuseti, or Ikunuseti, the Pleiades, mean exactly 
 the same as the Latin Vergilise — that is, the stars 
 of the offshoots, the stars of the branches (Jupiter 
 Viminius). As we have seen in the second chapter, at 
 the return of the Pleiades, Tsui||goab is particularly 
 invoked to give rain. After the rain, the earth shoots 
 forth herbs ; branches link to branches, and leaves join 
 to leaves. This is the one ex]Dlanation of iKliunuseti. 
 
 But iKliunuti is also applied in the meaning of branch,, 
 lineage, family. Thus, I once heard a man speaking of 
 the iKhunuti — i.e., families of a clan. In the Orion 
 myths we have iKhunuseti, the Pleiades, the daughters of 
 Tsuil Igoab ; and if they are the daughters, the Father's — 
 i.e. Tsuil Igoab's — name must have been iKhunusib. 
 Thus, we get IKhunuseti, the Offshoots, the primordia of 
 
145 
 
 the Klioikhoi. Now in Khoiklioi the clan or tribe is 
 never called after the father, but always after the mother; 
 the same with families. Thus we have the Nama-s, 
 lAmas, I iKhau.^, jGamiijinu.s, :j:Khaxa,s, never ISTama-^, &c., 
 in the masculine form as a tribal appellation. Thus 
 iKhunuseti means nothing else but primordium, Uran- 
 fang. This explanation is supported by the fact that the 
 Pleiades, like Tsuillgoab, the All-Father of the Khoiklioi, 
 come from the East, where the Khoiklioi say is their 
 " Fathciicuid." Very curious to say, in Zulu we have 
 Uthlanga — that is, reed. It is not impossible that, as so 
 many things and customs have been adopted by the 
 southern Bantu from the Khoiklioi, this Khoilvhoi word 
 alsOj \Khunusib or \Khimuscti, was misunderstood or, 
 better, misinterpreted in a one-sided way, which lay 
 nearest to the grasp of the Zulu mind ; and thus iKhunu- 
 sib Uthlanga was explained reed, while it meant offshoot. 
 Thus it is that the Zulus say they take their origin from 
 Uthlanga, the reed. Inquiring from the natives of Great 
 Namaqualand the true meaning of iKhunub and IKhunu- 
 seti, I received the following explanations : — 
 
 (i.) Those who stand together. 
 
 (2.) Those who are heaped. 
 
 (3.) Those who stand together like fingers. 
 
 (4.) Those who cluster together. 
 
 (5.) The thorn-stars. 
 This latter explanation again brings to our mind the name 
 the Lion gives to iKurikhoisib Tsuillgoab. He calls him 
 IlKhulnomab, Eoot of the Thorntree. 
 
 Now, I do not mean to say that my explanation is 
 absolutely right, but I can at least claim as much right 
 and notice for it as others claim for their explanation of 
 this name. My opinion is also supported by the fact that 
 the Khoiklioi calculate their time according to the rainy 
 season. With the setting-in of the rains commences their 
 year, a new turn of life. We can also now understand 
 the meaning if it is said of Tsiiijjgoab and Heitsi-eibib 
 
146 
 
 that they are possessed of plenty of cattle, The Pleiades 
 in a certain sense represent a flock. Dr. Callaway cor- 
 rectly remarks that the meaning of Uthlanga has heen 
 lost, while the word has come down to the present genera- 
 tions. And it is the same with the word iKhunuseti. 
 That the ISTamaquas have not borrowed this name from 
 the Bantn (Herero) is quite obvious, because they have 
 been too short a time in contact with the Herero, 
 who, besides, have no myth about Uthlanga, and also 
 have no clicks in their language. In IKora we have 
 the form kuseti (contracted from Ikunuseti), and in Cape 
 Hottentot we have Igoti and Ikuti (contracted from 
 Igonoti and Ikunuti). This confirms beyond doubt that 
 the Khoikhoi not only had the same name for the Pleiades 
 previous to their separation, but that, in those remote 
 days, there already existed among them a sidereal mytho- 
 logy and worship. In the second chapter we saw that 
 in George Schmidt's time, at the return of the Pleiades, 
 the same prayer was uttered which is still annually 
 heard among the heathen Khoikhoi of Great Namaqua- 
 land. 
 
 Among the Israelites ideas seem also to have existed 
 which connected the Lord with the Pleiades and Orion. 
 " Seek him," says Amos (v. 8), " that maketh the Seven 
 Stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into 
 morning, and maketh the day dark with night : that 
 calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out 
 upon the face of the earth : the Lord is his name." 
 
 And again, " Whicli maketh," says Job (ix. 9), "Arcturus, 
 Orion, and Pleiades." And the same author (xxxix. 3 i ) 
 asks : " Canst thou bind the sweet influences of the 
 Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion ?" 
 
 [This translation is not quite in accordance with the 
 Hebrew text. It should be, " Canst thou join the links of 
 the Pleiades ?"] 
 
 It is certainly to be considered of extraordinary 
 importance that the Pleiades and Orion are mentioned 
 
147 
 
 together; it cannot be merely accidental. And of the 
 Lord the same Prophet Amos says, " It is He that 
 buildeth His stories in heaven ?" And have we not heard 
 and seen, in the second chapter, how Tsiii||goab also 
 bnildeth his stories in heaven ? 
 
 As to the connection of the Pleiades with the religious 
 ideas of the various nations of the world, it is certainly 
 a strange coincidence that they, or, better, the brightest 
 of them, Alcyone, a star of the tliird magnitude, were 
 considered to occupy the apparent positions of the 
 central point round which our universe of fixed stars 
 is revolving. 
 
 We have also to note what Max Miiller says in his 
 " Lectures on the Science of Language" (London, i 866, 
 vol. i. 8), and especially the foot-note 5 : — " In the Oscan 
 inscriptions of Agnone, a Jupiter Virgarius (djorei 
 verehasioi, dat. sing.) occurs, a name wliich Professor 
 Aufrecht compares with that of Jupiter, who fosters the 
 growth of twigs (Kuhn's " Zeitschr." i. 5, 89). This ex- 
 planation is more analogous to the idea of the Khoikhoi, 
 where Tsuillgoab is invoked for rain, that the grass and 
 bushes may grow. 
 
 Professor Max Miiller certainly has his reasons for 
 deriving TrXttaSeg from TrXfw, but after what has 
 been explained in the preceding pages, I think no objec- 
 tion could be raised as to a derivation from the form 
 TrXuhiv (comparative) ; and thus TrXstaSec would mean, 
 " those who are in a heap, those who are many." The 
 irXua^zQ, or priestesses of Zeus at Dodona, sang, 
 " Zeus was, Zeus is, Zeus will be a great Zeus." Here 
 the Supreme Being of the Greeks, Zeus, is also brought 
 into connection with the Pleiades. We speak of a " Song 
 of the Spheres" {German, Sphdrengesang), and the Psalmist 
 says, " The heavens declare the glory of God." 
 
 Now, why were the priestesses called TrXtioSec, gene- 
 rally translated 2^Wons. Here, like Uthlanga and 
 IKhunuseti, the original meaning was lost, and the word 
 
148 
 
 only brought down to posterity. A certain kind of 
 pigeon was called ircXsiag. Pigeons are, as Plato would 
 say, Imo. TToXiTiKci ; they are always in numbers, in heaps. 
 In the woods around the Temple of Dodona were num- 
 bers of pigeons, which were under the protection of 
 Zeus. And when the original meaning of ttXeioSec (the 
 '•' heaped stars") was forgotten, the word -n-Xdag (pigeon), 
 derived also from the same root, was applied to the 
 priestesses who sang the "Hymns of the Spheres" and 
 were called pigeons. When this etymology was for- 
 gotten, the circumstance that at the rise of the Seven 
 stars on the eastern horizon the shipping season com- 
 menced, the phonetical coincidence of the root of Pleiades 
 and the word ttXhv (to navigate) led to the new expla- 
 nation, "the shipping stars." We may be almost certain 
 that the name irXeia^eg existed long before the Greeks 
 thought of crossing the Mediterranean and the stormy 
 Pontus Euxinus. 
 
 This explanation of mine is merely a suggestion, on 
 which I shall be glad to learn the opinion of competent 
 etymologists in the Indo-Germauic realm. 
 
 Conclusion. 
 
 My task so far is done. My intention was solely to 
 produce such evidence as to prove the strong, but 
 hitherto unjustly underrated, religious sentiment of a 
 race of men of whom it is generally believed that they 
 belong to the lowest of the low. Although, on the one 
 hand, these myths must be grouped among the loiver 
 m,ytJwlogy, it does not follow that the religious sentiment 
 expressed in them should not be strongly developed. 
 Before the Khoikhoi called Tsui \ I fjoah (the Dawn), 
 \\Khah (the moon), or Hcitsi-eibih (Dawn tree), Gods, it 
 was first necessary to form a clear idea of the Godhead. 
 And this they have done in a most emphatical way ; 
 the name |Khub, the Lord, the Ptuler, bears testimony to 
 that. Tliis name was formed long before the tribes 
 
149 
 
 separated to migrate to the right and left, and we are 
 correct in presuming that at that time their religious 
 ideas were much purer than we find tliem now, where 
 various circumstances have worked to accelerate their 
 annihilation. 
 
 If religion means faith in a " Heavenly Father" who 
 is near to his children in their troubles; if it expresses 
 the belief in an almighty and powerful Lord, who gives 
 rain and good seasons ; if it involves the idea of a " Father 
 of Lights, from whom cometh down every good gift and 
 every. perfect gift, with whom is no variableness, neither 
 shadow of turning ;" — if this father is an avenger, who 
 sees everything, and punishes the bad and the criminal, 
 and rewards the good ; if religion manifests that craving 
 of the heart after the Invisible, if not here on earth, then 
 in a better world to see Him face to face ; if it indicates 
 a sense of human weakness and dependence on the one 
 hand, and an acknowledgment of a Divine government on 
 the other; — we cannot for a single moment hesitate to 
 assign to the Khoikhoi the same place in Nature that we 
 claim for ourselves. The great gulf which separates man 
 from the animal kingdom is the gift to express the 
 feelings and yearnings of our heart in articulate speech. 
 This gift, in a very great measure, cannot be denied to 
 the Khoikhoi. 
 
 The time has passed when we could build up science 
 by lofty theories. What we require are positive facts. 
 Such facts as regards the Science of Eeligion in reference 
 to the Khoikhoi I have tried to produce. I only regret 
 that they are so few, owing to the difficulty a traveller 
 has to contend with, if he searches for those precious 
 jewels which are the most sacred and dearest to the lumian 
 heart, I shall, however, feel amply rewarded if, in the 
 shape offered, they Avill be of use to the student of the 
 Science of Eeligion, and if they have opened to us new 
 avenues into the pre-historic intellectual and religious 
 condition of the Khoikhoi. I have only produced the 
 
150 
 
 ore, and done my best to clean it ; the student must 
 mould it into shape. For the purpose of facilitating a 
 better understanding, I have now and then made an 
 excursional trip to other races, and pointed out the striking- 
 resemblances between those nations and our Khoikhoi. 
 If, however, somebody should be induced to infer from 
 this that I belong to that class of scholars who, for the 
 sake of upholding some biblical dogma, grasp at such 
 analogies, I beg herewith most emphatically to protest 
 against any such insinuations. It has not been done 
 to claim anthropological or ethnic relationship for the 
 worshippers of Tsui||goab and those of Dyaus or 
 Jehovah or Buddha. Nothing could be more opposed 
 to my scientific views, which in ethnological and mytholo- 
 gical matters may be condensed in the following words — 
 " The same objects and the same phenomena in Nature 
 will give rise to the same ideas, whether social or 
 mythical, among different races of mankind, in different 
 regions, and at different times." And if this be correct, 
 which I have no doubt it is, we have thus to explain 
 the psychical identity of human nature. 
 
 I hope that these pages may be an impulse to 
 missionaries to look deeper into the eyes of a Hottentot. 
 Perhaps they may discover some more sparks of the 
 primeval revelation. Missionaries, I regret to say, are so 
 apt to treat the heathen gods as demons or evil spirits 
 (Abgotter, Gotzen). It is also very wrong to teach 
 the heathen so eagerly, as is done by certain mission- 
 aries, our dogmas, and to tell them of the differences of 
 Calvinism and Lutheranism. There is something like 
 fanaticism in this — a zealotism which can never bear 
 fruit. To them, also, the poet gives the warning : 
 
 Gran, Freund, ist alle Theorie 
 
 Und ewig griin des Lebens goldener Batim. 
 
 (Grey, friend, is all theory, 
 
 And green the golden tree of life.) 
 
 The abode of true religion — I mean of the true yearning 
 
151 
 
 and craving after the Infinite — is our heart, which 
 becomes deaf and dumb as soon as it is surrounded by 
 the mist and clouds of dogmatism. The key-note of 
 true religion is love — a key-note which is never touched 
 in the fanatical controversies of our modern dogmatists. 
 
 What I have said I mean," without offence to any friends 
 or foes." I do not pretend that my comments and 
 inferences are absolutely infallible, so as not to admit 
 of the opinion of others. And I shall be glad to hear such 
 opinions, little concerned whether my own views be over- 
 thrown, as long as it will serve to solve one of the most 
 interesting, but at the same time most difficult, problems 
 — namely, the discovery of the Origin of Eeligion. 
 
 The greatest satisfaction to me, however, would be if 
 this little book will induce my countrymen to look with 
 a different eye at the natives, especially at the unjustly 
 cried- down Hottentots, the gipsies of South Africa. They 
 undoubtedly possess every disposition for social improve- 
 ment, but the dearth of water in South Africa, which 
 always compels its inhabitants to renew their wanderings, 
 has precluded any density of population, one of the most 
 necessary factors for the progress of civilization. We 
 should never forget that the social condition of our 
 Teutonic ancestors at the time of Cccsar was little better 
 than " that of the Khoikhoi, but their lan^uasje was even 
 then Aryan in dignity." " But as the Greeks had to learn 
 that some of these so-called barbarians possessed virtues 
 which they might have envied themselves, so we also 
 shall have to confess that these savages have a religion 
 and a philosophy of life which may well bear comparison 
 with the religion and philosophy of what we call the 
 civilizing and civilized nations of antiquity" (Max 
 MuUer, " Hibbert Lect.," 70). 
 
 To judge from the fragments we just had before us, 
 we can clearly see that the Khoikhoi very early, long- 
 before their separation, had an idea of the Supreme 
 Being, whom they all invoked by the name of Tsiu-Hgoab, 
 
152 
 
 just as the name Dyaus was used among the ancestors 
 of our own race, and has been handed down to us, to our 
 historical times. Certain it is, also, that hand in hand 
 came the decay of the nationality went a retrogression and 
 decay of the religious ideas. I do not speak too 
 boldly if I maintain that the Khoikhoi language, if its 
 makers would only have had the necessary inducement, 
 must have become an inflecting language. And then the 
 intellectual vivacity of the Khoikhoi, combined with 
 their mythopoeic power, undoubtedly would have produced 
 as charming and fanciful mythologies as we admire in the 
 myths of Eran, Hellas, and Thule. 
 
 NOTES TO THE THIED CHAPTEE. 
 
 ^ Confer Pott : Die Sprachen vom Kaffer und Kongo- 
 stamme, in Zeitschrift der dcutsclien morgcnldndischen 
 Gescllschaft, ii. 5~26, 129—158. Hans Conon von der 
 Gabelentz on the same subject in the same Proceedings, 
 i. 241. 
 
 2 Max Muller, " Chips," ii. 262. 
 
 ^ lAva-khoin — i.e., Eedmen — is a name which the 
 Khoikhoi often employ, chiefly in order to distinguish 
 themselves from the much-hated black races, whom they 
 sometimes call X'^'^^^ things, or more emphatically, an?i, 
 dogs. 
 
 '' Theopliilus Hahn, Der Hottentotische Tsuillgoab 
 und der Indogermanische Zeus : Zeitschrift der Gcsellschaft 
 fur Erdhxinde, Berlin, 1870, p. 452. 
 
 ® The Bushmen whom Livingstone met in the Kalihari 
 told him that death was sleep. Similarly Arbousset tells 
 us about the notions of the Bushmen of Basutoland, and 
 the same idea is entertained by the |Kham Bushmen in 
 the Northern Colony. 
 
 ^ Zuiver water is a corruption, for the correct word is 
 " Zyioelen" to filter. 
 
153 
 
 ^ In South African Dutch the Igubib is calLjd broek- 
 l^aros, the trouser-shaped cover or skin. The word 
 broek is Dutch, meaning trousers, and karos is a corrupt 
 form of the Khoikhoi kho-ro-s, a diminutive form of 
 khob, skin, hide. — Vide On the Formation of Diminu- 
 tives, Theoph. Hahn, " Sprache der ISTama," § 20, i. 
 
 ^ On the suffixes mi, m, bi, b, sec Theoph. Hahn, 
 " Sprache der Nama," p. 29. 
 
 ^ Suffix tsi, vide Theophilus Hahn, Beitrage zur Kunde 
 der Hottentoten, p. 45 im Jahresbcricht des Vcreins 
 fur Erdkunde, Dresden," 1868, n. 1869, vi. and vii. 
 
 '° Orlaiii. The meaning of this word is not quite clear. 
 At present this word signifies in South African Dutch a 
 shrewd, smart fellow. Thus they say, " Die kerel is banje 
 orlam" (that fellow is very shrewd). Those Hottentot 
 clans who left the Colony, and now live in Great 
 Namaqualand, call themselves Orlams, in distinction from 
 the aborigines, the Namaquas, and by this they mean to 
 say that they are no longer uncivilized. If, for instance, 
 they give a traveller a man as a servant, they say, " He 
 is very orlam ; he is not haar" (he is very handy ; he 
 is not stupid). In the North-western Colony, about the 
 mission station Steinkopf, lives a large family of the 
 Orlams. They manufacture stone pipes, and are Bastard 
 Hottentots, who say that a trader, by the name of Orlam, 
 came about a hundred years ago to Little Namaqualand, 
 and afterwards stayed amongst the Namaquas and 
 married a Hottentot girl. The truth is, that about 
 1720 there was a man at the Cape of the name of Orlam, 
 who had come from Batavia. He was a trader, and 
 visited chiefly Little Namaqualand and the Khamies- 
 bergen. Peter Kolb, in his " Caput Bonae Spei 
 hodiernum" (Nuremberg, 1 7 1 9, p. 818), explains Orlam 
 to be a corruption from the Malay Orang lami (old 
 people, people who have experience — i.e., shrewd people) ; 
 and Baaren, he says, is a corruption of Orang bari, 
 meaning " neio hands" without experience. Bari, how- 
 
 M 
 
154 
 
 ever, is a good Dutch word, which we meet with in 
 the various Teutonic languages ; thus English, bare (bare- 
 faced, barefoot) ; Anglo-Saxon, bar, boer ; Swedish, Danish, 
 and German, bar ; Dutch, baar ; 0. H. German, par ; 
 meaning uncovered, destitute, naked, raw, without any- 
 thing. A. Wilmot, in his " History of the Cape Colony" 
 (1869, p. 134), seems to have followed Kolb, because 
 he says (1727) there were two classes of people in the 
 service of the Company in India and at the Cape, named 
 Orlam-mcn and Baarcn — the former of whom consisted of 
 well-known persons who had served for several years, and 
 the latter of new-comers and comparative strangers, &c. 
 Then, in a foot-note : " From a corruption of two words 
 in the Malay language — Orang lami, an old person or 
 acquaintance ; Orang baru, a new person." 
 
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