tional reason for giving it being derived from their often shooting at game, or at an enemy, from this retreat. Whoever travels over this treeless country, can scarcely forbear laughing at the mistake of many translators, who have made of this word bosje, a wood, or perhaps, forest, and called these people Wood-Hottentots; or, as some of the French translators have it, Hommes des forêts.

The holes in the ground above mentioned, which sometimes serve these people as beds, are only a few inches deep, of a longish round form, and even when they are to serve for a whole family, not more than five or six feet wide. It is incredible how they manage to pack together in so small a space, perhaps, two grown persons and several children: each is wrapped in a single sheepskin, in which they contrive to roll themselves up in such a manner, round like a ball, that all air is entirely kept from them. In very cold nights they heap up twigs and earth on the windward side of the hole; but against rain they have no other shelter than the sheepskin. In the hot season of the year, they are fond of lying in the beds of the rivers, under the shade of the mimosas, the branches of which they draw down to screen them from the sun and wind. In this situation were they found by Patterson, who has pretended to give a sketch of what he saw, but it is defective on the side of accuracy; nor is it difficult to discern, that the sketcher has introduced a great deal of his own imagination into his picture. Household utensils they have none, unless that

name may be given to shells of tortoises, of ostriches' eggs, and of gourds. Some of those who inhabit the neighbourhood of the more civilized Caffre tribes, of the Beetjuans, for instance, have knives, but they are not at all a necessary to them, since they generally eat their flesh raw, and chew it very little. If they dress it, they scarcely make it hot through, and bite it with their teeth the moment it is taken out of the ashes. The incisive teeth, therefore, of the old Bosjesmans are commonly half worn away, and have one general flat edge. They drink out of the rivers and streamlets, lying down flat on their bellies, even when the bank is very steep, so that they are obliged to support themselves in a fatiguing manner with their arms, to avoid falling into the water. The Caffres, on the contrary, and many of the savage Hottentot tribes, have a way of crouching down to the water, and throwing it into their mouths with the forefingers of both hands. I do not recollect ever to have seen any of the different savages of Southern Africa drinking out of the hollow of their hands.

As the Bosjesman lives without a home, and without property, he must be without the great medium of moral refinement, the social union. A horde commonly consists of the different members of one family only, and no one has any power or distinction above the rest. Every difference is decided by the right of the strongest; even the family tie is not sanctioned by any law or regulation: the wife is not indissolubly united to the husband; but when he gives

her permission, she may go whither she will, and associate with any other man; nay, the stronger man will sometimes take away the wife of the weaker, and compel her, whether she will or not, to follow him: I must, however, add, that such instances are not common. The atmost instinctive love of the parents for their common children unites the far greater part for their whole lives, and habit makes them inseparable companions. Infidelity to the marriage compact is, however, not considered as a crime: it is scarcely regarded by the offended person. I have, on a former occasion, in my remarks upon the languages of these savages, observed, as a thing worthy of notice, that they seem to have no idea of the distinction of girl, maiden, and wife; they are all expressed by one word alone. I leave every reader to draw from this singular circumstance his own inference, with regard to the nature of love, and every kind of moral feeling among them. As little is the son considered as bound to the father, the brother to the brother; every one leaves his horde, and attaches himself to another, entirely at his own pleasure.

Very little intercourse subsists between the separate hordes; they seldom unite, unless in some extraordinary undertaking, for which the combined strength of a great many is required. For the most part, the hordes keep at a distance from each other, since the smaller the number, the easier is a supply of food procured. So trifling is the intercourse among them, that the names of even the most common objects are as vari

ous as the number of hordes. Their language is disagreeably sonorous, from the frequent clacking of the teeth, and the prevailing croaking in the throat; and it is extremely poor, no less in words than in sounds; they understand each other more by their gestures than their speaking. No one has a name peculiar to himself, though they distinguish themselves as a people by a general name.

When a horde has taken any thing in the chace, or by plunder, it is concealed as much as possible from all the others; since whoever learns that there is something to be eaten, comes without any ceremony, or waiting for an invitation, to partake of it. As every thing is common property, the booty cannot be withheld, or a part of it at least, from any one who requires it. Thence the incredible voracity with which they immediately devour whatever they catch in the chase, thence their avoiding the possession of living animals,- thence the inefficacy of every attempt which has been made to keep them quiet, by pay ing them a tribute of sheep and cattle,-thence the fruitlessness of all endeavours to accustom them to milder and more civilized habits. I cannot find any other ground than this envy and jealousy, this fear of being obliged to share what they get with others, for one of the most odious and revolting features in their character, their passion for destruction. Every thing that comes in their way, which they cannot appropriate on the spot to their own use, is destroyed, that it may not be of advantage to others. If they discover an ostrich's nest, and cir

cumstances do not permit their continuing on the spot till all they find there is consumed, they eat as much as they can, but the rest of the eggs are destroyed. Do they meet a large flock of springbocks, they wound as many as possible, although six or eight are sufficient to last them several days: the rest are left to die, and rot on the ground. I have already related, that when they fall upon any of the herds or flocks belong ing to the colonists, they will rather destroy every one, though they cannot possibly carry them away, than leave any for the owner.

CHARACTER OF THE AFGHAUns.

(From the Hon. F. Elphinston's

account of Caubul.)

The manners of the Afghauns are frank and open. Though manly and independent, they are entirely free from that affectation of military pride and ferocity, which is so conspicuous in their descendants the Pitans of India. When their address is bad, it is rustic, but never fierce or insolent: the Indian Pitans seem to have copied the peculiar manners of the Eusofzyes, to whom a haughty and arrogant carriage is natural. About towns, the Afghauns are in some degree polished, and shew respect to superiors, but in many parts of the country they are plain, and make little distinction of ranks; they all, however, shew great reverence for old age.

Though the Afghauns have that ease of manner which strikes every observer, in comparing the

behaviour of Asiatics with that of Europeans, yet it is not uncommon to find them bashful; a defect which I have never witnessed in any other Asiatic. Except on formal occasions, they use a good deal of gesture, but it is always of a grave kind, such as stretching out the arm, and bending forward the body. They have, perhaps, more of this kind of action than the Persians, though not near so lively a people; but they by no means equal the gesticulation of the Indians.

They are also free from that puerility which is, perhaps, the distinguishing characteristic of the last-mentioned people. I found their conversation and their inquiries, though not enlarged, always rational, and they did not seem much delighted with those baubles which generally form the most acceptable presents in India.

The Afghauns are accused by the Persians of ignorance and barbarism; stupidity is indeed the proverbial reproach of all Khorassaun. They certainly have neither the refinement nor the subtlety of their western neighbours, and their want of much intercourse with foreign nations, undoubtedly narrows their views, and, on some subjects, contracts their understandings; but from their state of society, in which every man is obliged to protect his own rights, and where he is, at the same time, of some importance to the community, their faculties must be a good deal exerted and improved; and accordingly the bulk of the people are remarkable for prudence, good. sense, and observation. They have also a degree of curiosity

which is a relief to a person habituated to the apathy of the Indians. They always shewed a desire to be informed about the state of countries at a distance from their own, and some were very anxious to improve themselves by acquiring a knowledge of our sciences. I gave a short account of the Copernican system (which was published in Persian by Dr. Hunter), to a Moollah who accompanied me to Calcutta, and two years after his return I received a list of queries addressed to the Newtonianaun English (English Newtonians), requiring an explication of some parts of the system which had embarrassed the learned at Peshawer.

While in Calcutta, I carried a great many Afghauns, of all ranks, from Moollahs to grooms, to see the arsenal, to visit ships, and to some other sights which were new to them, and it was extremely pleasing to see the interest they took in every thing, and the gratification they received. One of the Moollahs, however, was greatly disappointed in not finding the wheel used for boring cannon turned by steam, as he had read in the travels of Meerza Aboo Taulib, was the case in England. I have often seen natives of India at spectacles of the same nature, and though they always were polite enough to express much admiration, they did it with a calmness that showed how little they were interested, while the questions which they sometimes asked, were of such a nature as to leave no doubt that their only object was to keep up conversation.

All communication with the Afghauns is rendered agreeable,

by the dependance which can be placed on what they say. Though they are far behind Europeans in veracity, and would seldom scruple to deceive both in statements and promises, if their own interests were to be promoted by their dishonesty, yet they have not that in difference to truth, and that style of habitual and gratuitous falsehood which astonishes an European in natives of India and Persia; a man of the first nation seems incapable of observing any thing accurately, and one of the second of describing it truly; but unless some prejudice can be discovered to mislead the observer, or some motive is apparent for misrepresenting the truth, one may generally rely on the Afghauns both for correctness and fidelity.

All the Afghauns are remarkably hardy and active. From the nature of their country, they are exposed to the necessity of enduring cold and heat, and accustomed to the exertion of climbing mountains, making long journies on foot and on horseback, and swimming broad and rapid torrents. Nor is this confined to the lower orders, or to men in the vigour of youth. As there is no easier conveyance in the country than a horse, all ranks acquire these habits: so that old Meerzas (or secretaries), who seem hardly able to sit on horseback, will ride at a good pace up and down the steepest and roughest passes, or along the edge of precipices, where one is almost afraid to walk. Almost all of them are, however, impatient of hot climates; and, when on campaigns in India, the approach of summer used to thin

their armies by desertions, even in the vigorous reign of Ahmed Shauh. This is the more surprising, when it is remembered how much of the Afghaun country is in a hot climate.

They are industrious and laborious, when pursuing any object of business or pleasure. No people are more diligentin husbandry, and many of them are indefatigable in the chace; but when not so excited, they are indolent.

The love of gain seems to be their ruling passion; most of the Dooraunee chiefs prefer hoarding up their great but useless treasures, to the power, reputation, and esteem, which the circumstances of the times would enable them to command by a moderate liberality. The influence of money on the whole nation, is spoken of by those who knew them best, as boundless, and it is not denied by themselves.

Their love of independence has already been noticed as influencing their government; it appears in some shape in most of their opinions and transactions. Their highest praise, in speaking of a well-governed country, is, that every man eats the produce of his own field," and that "nobody has any concern with his neighbour."

This love of personal independence is, however, very remote from selfishness. The nature of their society, where power consists in the number of a man's relations, produces a very strong attachment between members of the same family, and there is no Afghaun who would not shew his devotion to his clan, if he saw it engaged in any contest. I must

except from what I say of family attachment, the rivalry which the election of chiefs occasion in the heads of families: the force of blood is never much felt among kings; and the chiefship of a little tribe is as elevated a station in the eyes of those who contend for it as a crown among great princes. This does not indeed happen among brothers, but it is so remarkable in more distant relations, that Turboor, which literally means a cousin, is now the common word in Pushtoo for a rival. I have already shewn how their clannish spirit diminishes their general patriotism, but they all take a lively interest in the Nung du Pooshtauneh, or honour of the Afghaun name; and they are extremely attached to the country that gave them birth, and to the scenes of their early pleasures. A native of the wild valley of Speiga, north-east of Ghuznee, who was obliged to fly his country for some offence, was once giving me an account of his travels: he concluded by enumerating the countries he had visited, and by comparing them with his own: "I have seen all Persia and India, Georgia, Tartary, and Belochestaun, but I have seen no such place as Speiga in all my travels."

They are all very proud of their descent; a great part of their histories is taken up by genealogies: they will hardly acknowledge a man for an Afghaun, who cannot make his proofs by going back six or seven generations; and even in their ordinary conversation, they often stop to enumerate the forefathers of any person who happens

to be mentioned.

They are all kind to their im