The Hottentots were a peculiar African race, supposed to be the aboriginal occupants of the south end of that continent, at and near the Cape of Good Hope. Their limits may be said to have been the river Orange on the north and north-east, and the Kei on the east. The complexion is a pale olive, the cheek-bones project, the chin is narrow and pointed, and the face consequently is triangular. The lips are thick, the nose flat, the nostrils wide, the hair woolly, and the beard scanty. When the Dutch first settled at the Cape in the middle of the l7th century the Hottentots were a numerous nation, of pastoral and partially nomadic habits, and occupied a territory of 100,000 square miles. By 1900 the race was nearly extinct within the wide territory which formerly belonged to it, having been entirely hunted out and dispersed by the Boers.
Amongst the offshoots of the Hottentot race are the Griquas, descended from Hottentot mothers and Dutch fathers, giving name to the districts Griqualand East and West. The Koras or Korannas, about the middle of the river Orange, are favourable specimens of the Hottentot race. They are taller, stronger, and more cleanly than the tribes further west. Other tribes are the Gonas or Gonaquas, much mixed with the Amakosa Kaffres; the Namaquas, dwelling towards the mouth of the river Orange; the Hill Damaras, farther north. The Bosjesmen or Bushmen are a degraded tribe of Hottentots. Research Hottentots
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Amakosa
