a nation, or, more properly, two tribes in South Africa, called by Vaillant the Lefs and Greater Nimiquas.

The country of the Lefs Nimiquas extends in longitude from the mountains of Camis to the sea on the west, i.e., from 1° 25' to 18° 25' east from London, and in latitude from 28° 12' to 29° 36' south. From the information which our author could collect, he thinks that the number of inhabitants throughout the whole of this tract does not exceed 6000 souls. Even this number is annually diminished by the frequent attacks of Boishmen, and the aridity of the soil. Of the Boishmen we have already given such an account as can leave no doubt of the destructive nature of their incursions; and the soil must be arid indeed, if it be true, as Vaillant affirms us, that in the country of the Lefs Nimiquas rain never falls except when it thunders; and that thunder is so rare as frequently not to be heard for the space of a whole year.

For this want of rain our author accounts in a satisfactory manner: "The country (he says) having neither forests nor lofty mountains to arrest the clouds, those which come from the north pass freely over it, and proceed on to Camis, where they burst and fall, either in rain in the valleys, or in snow on the summits of these mountains, which are the loftiest throughout the fourth of Africa." The country is of course not fruitful, and its sterility obliges the inhabitants frequently to change their residence, so that they are the most wandering of all the Hottentot tribes. In this barren region the Dutch colonists suppose that gold mines may be found; but our author discovered among the hordes no traces of this metal, though he found many indications of rich copper mines.

The Lefs Nimiquas, though of tolerable stature, are not so tall as their neighbours to the eastward; and indeed Vaillant affirms, that the people to the east in the southern part of Africa are much superior to those of the west both in moral and physical qualities, while the animals are far inferior. The Lefs Nimiquas are great believers in witchcraft; and our author gives a ridiculous account of an interview that he had with an old witch named Kokos, who had a complete ascendancy, not only over the whole horde, but also over the savage Boishmen. These robbers, he says, never attempted to plunder the territory where he took up his residence; and she has been known, when their thefts came to her knowledge, to proceed alone, and unguarded, to their retreats in the midst of the woods, to threaten them with her vengeance, and thus compel them to a restitution of the stolen property. All her influence, however, over her own tribe, could procure for our author and his attendants only six sheep.

The women of the horde received his Hottentots with great kindness, and permitted them to discover very singular charms, of which it is needless here to infer a description. Among this people he saw abundance of bracelets, necklaces, and ear-rings of copper; and some of these ornaments were so well made and finely polished, that they must have been manufactured in Europe, and the fruits of an intercourse with the whites. But he saw several others, which, from their grotesque shape and rude workmanship, evidently showed that they were fabricated by the savages themselves.

"These ornaments (says he) are worn by the Nimiquas in the same manner as by the other savages; yet I observed among them some whimsical peculiarities. I have seen persons with six ear-rings of the same shape in one ear, and none in the other: I have seen some with bracelets from the wrist to the elbow on one arm, while the other arm was bare: I have seen others with one side of the face painted in compartments of various colours, while on the other side both the colours and figures were different. In general, I observed great propensity to ornaments among the Lefs Nimiquas; for their kroffes and all their garments were plentifully covered with glass and copper beads, strung on threads, and fastened on every part of their dress. They even wore them in their hair, which was plastered with grease in the most disgusting manner. Many had their heads covered with a reddish incrustation, composed of grease and a powder resembling brick dust, with which their hair was so pasted together, that you would have sworn it to be a cap of red mortar. Those who had it in their power to display this luxury of dress, were as proud as are our petits-maîtres, when they can make a head loaded with powder, perfume, and pomatum. The nuykroet, or short apron, of the women, was adorned with rows of glass beads hanging down to their feet; in other respects they were dressed like the other Hottentots.

The country of the Greater Nimiquas is placed by the author in nearly the same longitude with that of the Lefs, and between 25° and 28° south latitude. It is barren like the other; but the people are much taller, being generally about five feet ten inches high. The men are dull and stupid, but the women are lively and extremely amorous; and both men and women are comparatively handsome and of a slender make. Extravagantly addicted to smoking tobacco, the young girls bartered their favours for a single pipe; and as Vaillant was chief of the caravan, a white, and possessor of tobacco of much better quality, many advances were made to him. "I have no doubt (says he) but I might have formed, for a few pipes only, an alliance with every family in the horde. I was even pressed to closely, as to be obliged to employ some resistance; but, at the same time, I must confess, that my refusals were given in such a way as not to offend; and they who, in consequence of their advances, had been exposed to them, having soon found other arrangements to make, did not shew me the least friendship. I must here add, that the girls alone appeared to me thus free; while the married women on the contrary were modest and reserved. This is a characteristic difference, which distinguishes the Greater Nimiquas from the Hottentot people in general; as likewise does the low cringing air they assume when they have anything to ask."

It has been said by Kolben, that the Nimiqua women, when they bear twins, destroy one of the infants; but Vaillant assures us that this is a falsehood, as is likewise another tale which is current in the colony. It has been said that the fathers, to shew what affection they bear their children, feed their eldest in a particular manner, as being of right the first object of paternal care. For this purpose they put him in a coop as it were; that is, they shut him up in a trench made under their hut, where, being deprived of motion, he loses little by perspiration, while they feed and cram him in a manner with milk and grease. By degrees the child fattens, and gets as round as a barrel; and when he is come to such a state as not to be able to walk, but to bend under his own weight, the parents exhibit him to the admiration of the horde; who from that period conceive more or less esteem and consideration for the family, according as the monster has acquired more or less rotundity.

Such was the account given to our author by a man who affirmed that he had been an eye-witness of this mode of cramming the heir-apparent; but whenever any questions were asked on the subject of the Nimiquas themselves, the persons addressed were ready to laugh in our author's face. "Still (says he), as it appeared strange to me, that a man should talk of what he had seen, when he had in reality seen nothing; as it was possible that the fable might have some foundation, without being true in all particulars—I was willing to convince myself what could have given rise to it; and every time I visited a horde, I took care, under different pretences, to examine, one after another, all the huts of the kraal, and to ask which was the eldest child of the family; but I nowhere saw any thing that indicated either this pretended coop, or this pretended cramming."

The Nimiquas are great cowards; yet, like the surrounding nations, they have their affigays and poisoned arrows; and, like them, can handle these arms with dexterity. They possess also those war oxen, so formidable in battle, and so favourable to the cowardice or inactivity of the combatants. They have even a peculiar implement of war, which their neighbours have not. This is a large buckler, of the height of the person who bears it, behind which the Nimiqua can completely conceal himself. But, beside that his natural apathy prevents him from giving or taking offence, he is in reality pusillanimous and cowardly from the coldness of his disposition. To utter only the name of Houzouanas before him is sufficient to make him tremble. See Houzouanas in this Suppl.

Notwithstanding his frigidity, the Nimiqua is not insensible to pleasure. He even seeks with avidity those which, requiring but little exertion, are capable of agitating him and procuring agreeable sensations. Their musical instruments are the same as those of the other Hottentots; but their dancing is very different, and resembles the temper of the nation. If the countenance have received from nature features that can express our passions, the body also has its attitudes and movements that paint our temper and feelings. The dance of the Nimiqua is frigid like himself, and so devoid of grace and hilarity, that, were it not for the extreme gaiety of the women, it might be called the dance of the dead.

These tortoises, to whom dancing is a fatigue, shew little eagerness for any thing but wagers, games of calculation and chance, and all the sedentary amusements which require patience and reflection, of which they are more capable than they are of motion. When our author, with great propriety, prohibited gaming in his camp, the Nimiquas, who had staid long with him, took their departure.