Brookes’ Universal Gazetteer, page 385

additional elegance, and adorn themselves with
necklaces of shells. Both the men and women
generally go bareheaded, and seldom wear any
shoes. Both sexes wear rings on their arms and
legs, chiefly made of thick leather straps, cut in a
circular shape; but rings of iron, copper, or brass,
of the size of a goose-quill, are considered more
genteel. Girls are not allowed to use any rings
till they are marriageable. Their habitations are
adapted to their wandering pastoral life. They
are merely huts, resembling a round beehive, from
18 to 24 feet in diameter, and so low that a mid-
dle-sized man cannot stand upright in them. The
fire-place is in the middle, and they sit or lie
round it in a circle. The low door is the only
place that admits the light, and the only outlet
that is left for the smoke. The order of these
huts in a kraal, or clan, is most frequently in the
form of a circle, with the doors inward; by which
means a kind of yard is formed, where the cattle
are kept at night. Such are the Hottentots in
the vicinity of the Cape of Good Hope, in 1778, <

lieutenant Paterson visited a Hottentot village in
Little Namaqua Land, in the N. W. part of the
country ; it consisted of 19 huts and about 150 in- ;
habitants. The ensign of autnority worn t>y
their chief was a cane with a brass top. given to
him by the Dutch East India Company. The
Hottentots amused them, part of the night, with xe2x96xa0
music and dancing: their visitors, in return,
treated them with tobacco and dacka, or hemp i
leaves, which they prefer even to tobacco. Their <
music was produced from flutes, made ofthe barK :
of trees, of different sizes. The men form them- i
selves into a circle, with their flutes; and the
women dance round them. Among other tribes 1
of Hottentots are the Bosjesmans, who inhabit i
the mountains in the interior part of the country,

their huts are also constructed with greater care,
and with a view of being more durable. They
seem to be a mixed breed, between the Hottentot
and Caffre. The Hottentots, in general, are
described as a mild, simple, affectionate, and in-
offensive race; but extremely indolent in their
habits, and limited in' their faculties. Where,
however, any sort of effort has been made to cul-
tivate their powers, and give them a feeling of
hope and liberty in their occupations, they have
been found active, intelligent, and useful. No
traces of religion appear to have been retained by
this people. But Christianity has been introduced,
through the exertions of the Moravians and other
missionaries, who have recently endeavoured,
with some degree of success, to ameliorate the
condition even of some of the wilder tribes, who
inhabit the N. and N. W. of the colony. The
country possessed by the Europeans is considera
ble; extending from the Cape of Good Hope, N. to
lat. 30, and E. to the Great Fish River, about
550 m. in length, and 230 in breadth. The whole
is naturally barren and mountainous ; but the in-
dustrious Dutch overcame all natural difficulties,
and it produces not only a sufficiency of all the
necessaries of life for the inhabitants, but also for
the refreshment of all the European ships that
touch ai the Cape. The year is considered as di-
vided into two seasons, termed monsoons : the wet
monsoon, or winter, begins in March; and the
dry one, or summer, in September. Among the
quadrupeds of this country are antelopes, which
go in large herds ; buffaloes; camelopardalises;
the gemsbock, a species of antelope, which has
remarkably long sharp horns, and, when attacked
by dogs, will sit on its hind quarters, and defend
itself; wild dogs, which travel in herds, and are
very destructive to sheep; elephants; elks; hye-
nas ; the koedo, an animal rather larger than a
deer, of a mouse colour, with three white stripes
over the back, and the male having very large
twisted horns; lions; jackals ; tigers ; the quagga,
a species of zebra, but more tractable; rhinoce-
roses ; horses; domestic horned cattle ; common
sheep, and a peculiar species of sheep covered
with hair instead of wool. The hippopotamus,
or river-horse, is frequently seen here. Among
the birds are vultures, ostriches (whose eggs are
excellent food), and the loxia, a species of gregari-
ous bird. Among the insects are a species of ter-
mites, which do no injury to wood as in the East
Indies, but, by raising a number of hills, they im-
pede the progress of vegetation. The black or
rock scorpion, is nearly as venomous here as any
of the serpent tribe, of which there are numerous
kinds.

Houat, an island of France, between Belleisle
and the continent. It is 10 m. in circumference,
and is defended by a fort.

Houdain, a town of France, department of Pas
de Calais. 9 m. S. of Bethune.

Houdan, a town of France/department of Seine
et-Oise, 2i m. W’. of Versailles.

1 lounsfield, a township of Jefferson Co. N. Y.
Pop. 3,415.

Hourisloic, a town in Middlesex, Eng., situate
on the edge of a heath of the same name, on
which are many vestiges of ancient encamp-
ments, 10 m. W. by S. of London.

Hmsatonic, a river rising in Massachusetts and
flowing through Connecticut into Long Island
Sound. It is navigable for small vessels 12 m.

Hmistonville, p.v. Iredell Co. N. C. Also a
village in Pendleton Dis. S. U

2 K

N. E. of the Cape, and live by hunting and plun- i
der. On this account they render themselves i
odious to the planters, and are pursued and exter- <
minated like wild beasts, or made slaves of when 1
taken alive. Their habitations are not more i
agreeable than their manners or maxims ; bushes ]
and clefts in rocks serve' them by turns for dwell- i
ings. Many of these savages are entirely naked ;
but some of them cover their body with the skin <
of any sort of animal. Being ignorant of agricul-
ture, they wander over hills and dales after cer- i
tain wild roots, berries, and plants, which they eat <
raw ; also caterpillars, termites, locusts, grasqhop- i
pers, snakes, and spiders. Another trine of Hot-
tentots, near the mouth of Orange River, were
observed bv lieutenant Paterson, in his journey
to the N. W. in 1799. Their huts were loftier, <
and thatched with grass; and were furnished
with stools made of the back-bones of the gram-
pus. Their mode of living is in the highest de- i
gree wretched, and they are apparently the most i
dirty of all the Hottentot tribes. Their dress is
composed of the skins of seals and jackals, the i
flesh of which they eat. When a grampus is
cast ashore, they remove their huts to the place, i
and subsist upon it as long as any part remains.
They smear their skin with the oil, the odor of
which is so powerful that their approach may be
perceived some tune before they appear in view.
To the N. of the country of the Bosjesmans, and
on the banks of Orange River, is another tribe
called Koras, who may be reckoned to rank high-
er than any of the other Hottentots known in the
S. of Africa. Their features are of a superior
cast; they are more cleanly in their appearance,
and neater in their dress and domestic utensils;
49