On this day ...
14 April 1771
Endeavour Voyage Maps
James Cook's Journal Ms 1, National Library of Australia
Transcript of Cook's Journal
Joseph Banks's Journal
Sydney Parkinson's Journal
Cape of Good Hope, Saint Helena and Return to England
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Of the natives of this country, we could learn but little except from report; for there were none of their habitations, where alone they retain their original customs, within less than four days journey from the town; those that we saw at the Cape were all servants to Dutch farmers, whose cattle they take care of, and are employed in other drudgery of the meanest kind. These are in general of a slim make, and rather lean than plump, but remarkably strong, nimble, and active. Their size is nearly the same with that of Europeans, and we saw some that were six feet high: their eyes are dull and without expression: their skins are of the colour of soot, but that is in a great measure caused by the dirt, which is so wrought into the grain that it cannot be distinguished from complexion; for I believe they never wash any part of their bodies. Their hair curls strongly, not like a negroe’s, but, falls in ringlets about seven or eight inches long. Their clothing consists of a skin, generally that of a sheep, thrown over their shoulders; besides which, the men wear a small pouch in the middle of the waist, and the women, a broad leather flap, both which hang from a girdle or belt that is adorned with beads and small pieces of copper. Both men and women wear necklaces, and sometimes bracelets, of beads; and the women wear rings of hard leather round their ancles, to defend them from the thorns, with which their country every where abounds: some of them have a sandal, made of wood or bark; but the greater part of them are unshod.
To a European, their language appears to be scarcely articulate; besides which it is distinguished by a very remarkable singularity. At very frequent intervals, while they are speaking, they cluck with their tongue against the roof of the mouth: these clucks so not appear to have any meaning, but rather to divide what they say into sentences. Most of these Hottentots speak Dutch, without any peculiarity of pronunciation.
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Voyaging Accounts |  |
© Derived from Vols. II-III of the London 1773 edition: National Library of Australia call no. FERG 7243, pages 789 - 790, 2004
Published by kind permission of the Library
To cite this page use: https://paulturnbull.org/project/southseas/journals/hv23/789.html