Odd people : being a popular description of singular races of man / by Mayne Reid.

  • Thomas Mayne Reid
Date:
1860
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Odd people : being a popular description of singular races of man / by Mayne Reid. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    is a just one. But in regard to the accounts given of the Bushmen and their habits there has been far less exaggeration than might be supposed; and the more insight we obtain into their peculiar customs and modes of subsistence, the more do we become satisfied that almost everthing alleged of them is true. In fact, it would be difficult for the most in- ventive genius to contrive a fanciful account, that would be much more curious or interesting, than the real and bond jide truth that can be told about this most peculiar people. Where do the Bushmen dwell? what is their coun- try? These are questions not so easily answered, as in reality they are not supposed to possess any coun- try at all, any more than the wild animals amidst which they roam, and upon whom they prey. There is no Bushman’s country upon the map, though several spots in Southern Africa have at times re- ceived this designation. It is not possible, therefore, to delineate the boundaries of their country, since it has no boundaries, any more than that of the wander- ing Gipsies of Europe. If the Bushmen, however, have no country in the proper sense of the word, they have a “range,” and one of the most extensive character—since it covers the whole southern portion of the African continent, from the Cape of Good Hope to the twentieth degree of south latitude, extending east and west from the country of the Caffres to the Atlantic Ocean. Until lately it was believed that the Bushman-range did not extend far to the north of the Orange river; but this has proved an erroneous idea. They have recently
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