An inquiry into the origin of the antiquities of America / By John Delafield, Jr. With an appendix, containing notes, and 'A view of the causes of the superiority of the men of the Northern over those of the Southern Hemisphere', by James Lakey.

John Delafield

Date:: 1839

Credit: An inquiry into the origin of the antiquities of America / By John Delafield, Jr. With an appendix, containing notes, and 'A view of the causes of the superiority of the men of the Northern over those of the Southern Hemisphere', by James Lakey. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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$\ Here [South Africa,] are some of a mixed breed, called Mulattoes, who are an abandoned set of people, and have proceeded from an intermixture of negroes and Europeans; for when the Portuguese first discovered the south-west coast of Africa, they not only propagated their religion, but also their species, in many parts of it. These are of a tawny complexion, and profess themselves Christians; notwithstanding which, they retain many of the most superstitious notions of the pagans. They imitate the Portuguese in their dress, but exceed both them and the negroes in their vices. The men are drunkards, lewd, thievish, and treacherous; and the women are the most abandoned prostitutes, sacrificing themselves at all times, and to all sorts of men, without the least degree of restraint.— Cook's Geography. The people of Anzico [South Africa,] are mere savages. They pay no attention to agriculture, or use any endeavors to preserve their existence, but by plundering all who happen to fall in their way, some of whom they kill, and others they keep as slaves. They are dreaded for their extreme brutality, and are so irrational, that few Europeans can trade with them. The body of the king of the Jaggas was painted with various figures, and anointed every day with human fat. * * * * The young men are no sooner enrolled as soldiers than they have a collar hung about their necks, in token of slavery, which is to be worn by them till thev bring home the head of an enemy, when it is publicly taken off, and they are declared freemen of the cannibal commonwealth. * * * A portion of the captives of both sexes is inhumanly reserved to be killed and eaten; not in time of scarcity of cattle and other provisions, but out of cruel wantonness, and in preference to all other flesh. — Cook's Geography. The Caffres. Of fishing they are so totally ignorant, that the whole extent of their coast, though washed by the sea, and intersected by several considerable rivers, does not produce a single boat or floating vessel of any description; probably some peculiar superstition may prohibit the use of fish, or otherwise they are unwilling, from a natural timidity, to entrust themselves in a frail bark upon the deep waters. The enunciation of their language is fluent, soft, and harmonious, though not the smallest vestige of a written character is to be found among them. Of astronomy, they only know that in about thirty days the moon will have gone through all its various appearances, and that twelve moons will bring a revolution cf the seasons. Their chronology, which is kept by the moon, and registered by notches in a piece of timber, seldom extends beyond one generation, when the old series is cancelled, and the death of a favorite chief, or some remarkable conquest, serves for a new era. The manner of disposing of the dead is extremely singular, and essentially different from the practice of the surrounding nations. Their chiefs are usually buried very deep, under the places that are appointed for the nocturnal repose of the oxen; and their children are commonly deposited in excavated ant-hills; but all other persons are exposed on their decease to the wolves, and are instantly dragged away to the dens of these ferocious animals,—the wolves are, therefore, held sacred by the Caffres, and permitted to ravage the country without molestation. ***** We may suppose that nature has placed some insuperable barrier between the natives of this division of Africa and the inhabitants of Europe, or that the South Africans, being so long accustomed to a savage manner of life, and degenerating from one age to another, at length became hardly capable of making any progress in civilization or science. It is very certain that$