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44 David Tappen
(See also item 19.) From Batavia December 20, 1681 in Vryheid in fleet commanded by Governor-General R. van Goens in Land van Schauen, ‘with his young wife, about 18 or 19 years old, he being of some eighty years.’ With them Africa and Hollandse Tuyn, and according to Tappen Swordfish, but in Valentyn I as hooker* Posthoorn: three more from Ceylon joined at Cape, being Westeramstel (incidentally with Schweitzer on board), Koeverden, Cortgene.
On March 30 [1682] we sighted land, and recognised from the Table Mountain that we were near the Cabo de boa Esperanze; and the same evening we anchored off the bay. Next morning we made ready and sailed to the roads [dr 25/3], finding there the ships which had left Batavia before us [dr 15/2, 16/2], except that the Hollandische Thuyn had not yet arrived, so that we gave her up for lost; but after two days [dr 4/4] she also came, having lost her mainmast in the aforesaid storm [and the three from Ceylon, dr 2/4, 5/4]. Thus the Lord God brought all the nine [? 8] ships safely here.
The ship Burg van Leyden had also arrived [dr 4/3] from Holland, bringing the news that the Kings of Denmark and Norway would go to war with the Dutch. Next day all the ships' carpenters were sent into the woods to cut timber for the repair of the damaged ships, and they worked 3 weeks on our ship [very leaky, dr 24/3, 25/3]. Also Morgensterne* were made ready for the defence of the ships, and two women were sent ashore, as also the wife of General Rykloff von Goens remained there, since it was feared that if there were an action with the enemy, the women would howl and shriek and so make the crew afraid. Also in order to increase our strength, on the responsibility of the General [sic: of Broad Council*] the ship newly arrived from Holland was unloaded and her cargo stored ashore, and she was then loaded from our ship with 600 pounds of cinnamon, 1000 pounds of pepper, and from the other ships with cotton, silk, cloves, saltpetre, sandalwood, Kalliatour* wood etc., so that by these means each ship could in case of need use her guns against the enemy without hindrance.
After a few days I went ashore, and tasted the grapes, new wine, apples and pears, the trees of which were planted by the diligence and toil of the Dutch. And as we had nothing to do, we went out into the country among the savages who are called Hottentots, to amuse ourselves. We saw here many sheep with large tails, but they fell far short of the Persian sheep, since among these latter some are found with tails so heavy that they must pull them after them on wheels, some weighing 20 or even 24 pounds.
We got many fine oxen and sheep from the savages by barter, as shall be told [he does not do so].
For a Maas* of wine we paid 3 groschen, and for a meal 6, whereas in Batavia a Maas of wine costs a dollar, and a can of Zerbst beer a florin, or 16 groschen at the least.
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And after the ships were again repaired and made ready for the journey we sailed on April 29, 1682 [dr] in God's Name. This land whereon the town lies is a protruding corner of Africa, said to be 1800 miles from Holland. It is inhabited by Dutch, who excellently cultivate its soil. They have fine gardens in which they grow cabbages, turnips, lettuce, cucumbers, water-lemons and other lovely fruit, and the grapes are ripe here in February. They sow their fields with rye, wheat, oats, peas, and lentils.
Behind the town lies a large and very high hill called the Table Mountain, on which the large apes called Pavianen dwell. These are clever in stealing the water-lemons from the gardens: they come by night in large bands from the hills, and set themselves neatly in line behind one another. Then some climb into the garden and pluck the fruit, and throw it to the others who are standing outside. These catch them and throw them one to the other, until a fruit reaches the last one of the line, who takes it and goes off; and so they continue until each has his share and then go away. But if any one comes in sight they begin to shriek and some run at him, and meanwhile the others run off, and then these follow. These apes live in the bush and forests, and it has often happened that when the soldiers or sailors go there to cut wood, and by chance leave their axes lying or forgotten, these apes run and take them away, and climb with them into the trees and there do their apish foolery, but at last throw them down. They are strong animals and have no fear of dogs, and if anyone chances to come to a place in the hills where they are, when they become aware of him they throw large stones at him. When their young are with them, and if they are chased and the young cannot run off as fast as their parents, these hit them with their fists and drag them along.
Near this hill there lies another, called by the Dutch the Lion Hill, on which a special watch is kept. Next to this lies the so-called Devil's Hill.
The true natives of this land are the Hottentots. They are brown in colour and well built. They stink greatly, and their hair is quite curly, but all matted because they smear much fat and soot on it. They also hang many cowries in their hair. They wear rings in their ears, and red beads around their necks, as also a cord on which hangs a little leather sack, in which they keep their money when they get any, their tobacco and pipe. If they meet anyone they do not ask for money, but only for tobacco, which they call Tobackum (also they speak of a Hollanderman). If they get some tobacco from anyone they fill a pipe and light it, and when one of them has taken two or three draws he passes it to whoever sits next to him, and so it goes to all present even if there are 50 of them. They do not sit down on the ground, but rest their buttocks on their calves.
They wear no shirts or coats, but use sheepskins, which they can fit very neatly to their bodies. For needle they use a sharp-pointed grass to make holes in the skin, and in place of thread they use sheep-guts which they render very thin and flexible, and so prepare their sheepskins [‘Humpen’], which must serve them for cloaks, coats, shirts, shoes and stockings as well as blankets. On their arms they wear rings made of copper or ivory. Their lower bodies are quite naked, except that in front of their privities they hang a little piece of sheepskin which they call koros*; and this is the clothing of the men. If one
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wishes them to dance, one need only give them a pipeful of tobacco, and then they stiffen their legs and continually leap up and down, and meanwhile sing Hottendott Brukwa [Dutch ‘brok’, ‘piece’, e.g. of bread] and this is the beginning and end of their continual song. If one says to them Koros op Zey they push the scrap of sheepskin from before their privities to the back, and let the whole gear be seen, and laugh therewith.
The women are clothed as follows. Their hair is like that of the men, and like them they wear red beads around their necks, and a sheepskin on their upper body: this they tie in front with thongs, and behind the back it remains loose like a sack. In this they set their little children, and when they wish to give suck they throw their breast over their shoulder and so feed them. I had often heard that if one said to them Kutykum they at once lifted the sheepskin and showed their little under-parts. It happened early one morning that a Hottentot woman came in front of my lodging, to whom I said Kutykum: she stretched out her hand and said Tabackum, at which I went and got a scrap of tobacco, and came back and gave it to her. When she had it in her hand she asked Kutykum?? I replied Yes, and therewith she raised her sheepskin high up and let me have a good look, and then laughed and went off. They have roots wound around their legs, which the Dutch say are sheep-guts. [In Tappen only, and incorrect; but nearer to the facts than the ‘guts’.] When they delouse each other they kill none of them nor throw them away, but eat them all up. The wives must be bought by their husbands, and the parents give for this a cow or an ox or a few sheep.
When the husband dies the wife must let a joint of her finger be cut off [see Hottentots*, Finger-mutilation], so that it can be seen from their fingers how many husbands they have had. If a wife or an unmarried girl is caught in whoredom, she is taken into the open with her partner in evil, and there they are beaten to death with sticks an inch thick.
They dwell in huts, which the women or the men take on their backs and carry when they wish to move. Where they set down their huts they make so many holes in the ground as they are in number, and in these holes they and their children sleep; and when it is cold or a cold wind blows they pull their sheepskins over these to throw off the cold and the wind. Under their bodies they have only a little grass. The huts are made of two hoops and covered with old mats above and on the sides.
They eat whatever they can get, dead dogs, cats and rats (that is to say the poor folk, the rich feeding from their herds). From such they pull off the skin, lay it on the fire, let it roast a little and so devour it.
They get their food on the shore from fish which they catch thus [see Hottentots, Fishing*]: they take sharp-pointed sticks and go into the water, and stab with them here and there in the same. When now they feel that the stick moves they hold it fast to the ground until the fish dies. These fish are called rays: they are as wide as a sea-bat, with long thin tails and a tough skin, and like to lie buried in the sand.
Their speech is amazing, and can be learned by few Christians. When they speak they gulp, and hit their tongue against the upper gums, and often click with their tongues, etc.
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When the New Moon rises they set themselves exactly facing it, and dance and shriek all night long; and in their dance there is nothing to be seen except that they leap up and down. From this it may be assumed that they have made the Moon their God, and by such dancing think to do it honour. Their wives are very fruitful, and their children are born one after another so that one of them can hardly look over the shoulder of the next, and in their huts there are often 9, 10, and indeed even more children [contradicted by other early writers].
They so greatly like brandy and strong tobacco that they were once much deceived by a Dutch Lieutenant. This officer was sent out into their land with 40 soldiers, and had with him much tobacco and brandy, to be bartered for oxen, cows and sheep. When now he came into the land of the Hottentots these took council how to kill him and his soldiers and take as booty the tobacco, brandy, red beads, ivory and copper bracelets. The Lieutenant learnt of this from a Hottentot who was accustomed to keep company with the Dutch. To prevent it, he ordered a large heap of tobacco to be cut up and much brandy to be broached; and when this was done he had some Hottentots called to him, whereat the whole heap broke loose and came also. The Lieutenant at once ordered brandy to be given and the pipes to be filled and distributed among the savages, and meanwhile the soldiers stood to arms. The savages drank the brandy and enjoyed the strong Brazil tobacco, so that they became drunken and almost robbed of their wits, so that they fell down like cattle and slept. Now the Lieutenant took good advantage of the opportunity, and ordered his soldiers to fall on the sleepers and strangle them, which was done very quickly. Then he went and took all the beasts and drove them away without any hindrance. [Episode not traced.]
Those who must pass through their land have no less danger from the wild beasts [than from the savages], and they must watch especially for the lions, since if such a beast meets them and they do not sacrifice an ox, cow or sheep to it, but seek to kill it or drive it off with firing, it pays no heed to the shooting but attacks them, and whoever it seizes it polishes him off. The old historians tell that the lions and tigers, as also the elephants, can be driven off by fire, but here the contrary has often been seen.
[Examples of lack of fear of fire in tigers, elephants and lions, from Malacca and Bengal.]
The Hottentots run so fast that the best horse cannot keep up with them. They are masterly shots with stones or sticks, hitting anything flying or running with them. If they can surround an elephant in the forest they throw very many sharp sticks or Sagayen into its body, and chase it until it falls down tired out.
The large ostrich is found here. It lays large white eggs in the scrub, and these are collected by the savages and sold to the Dutch for a scrap of tobacco. They also catch the young ostriches, and sell most of them to the East India Company.
Many sea-cows, which seek their food in the bays or arms of the sea, are either shot there by the Dutch with muskets or killed by the savages with their Sagayen or throwingspears. As soon as they are hit they sink, and are drawn by the current to shallow places
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or sandbanks, where they are found again by the Dutch who well know such places. These cows have short ash-grey hair, short legs and very small eyes: they have a very fat but oily flesh which can be eaten. I was informed that the Hottentots milk their cows, and when they wish for butter they put the milk into a cow- or sheep-skin previously sewn together at the end, and bind it up tightly, and shake it to and fro until it becomes butter. And just as many of our cows are found which hold back their milk so that nothing can be got from them, so are such cows also found among them, and if they will not give their milk they blow into the vulva until they let it flow.
When they are gay and happy they use the following game: they dig a hole in the ground, and stretch a wet cow- or sheep-hide over it tightly on wooden pegs, and let it dry somewhat so that it becomes quite hard and stiff, and then they beat it with sticks and dance on it [unique in Tappen, but by no means improbable].
At their marriages they kill a beast, and take off the hide or skin and lay it on the fire, and when it begins to burn on one side they eat it up; and, as I have been told as certain, they often devour also the entrails, and bite into them so that the dung runs down their chins; and this may well be credible, since their piggish manners give good witness thereto. They are very true to their wives, and if they earn any food from the Dutch they take it with them to their huts and share it with their wives and children. The Hottentots are of three races, namely Hesiquas, Bruckwas [he quotes two only: the latter are the Briquas, a Tswana tribe] and these are again divided into families, in which only one Paterfamilias is to be found. When one of them comes with his cattle too near to the pasture or waterhole of another, they attack, take the cattle and murder the shepherds and those who assist them.
They can more easily be smelt than seen, since they wear all sorts of clean and unclean fats in their hair, and soot with it. When they go afield they seldom go quietly, but make one leap after another, carrying sticks in their hands.
A Dutch woman of our ship had heard that the Hottentot women had over their privities a piece of flesh hanging [see ‘Apron*’] such as the turkeys have in front of the head, and that this covered the vulva. She wished to examine a Hottentot woman, but this was quicker, and lifted the Dutch woman's skirt up to her navel, and we watched this with amusement through a window; and when we could not contain our laughter the woman heard it and perceived us and went off, but the Hottentot woman laughed.
When the ships arrive from Holland or the Indies and they see them far off on the sea, they run together and make a great shouting, and then many also come from inland, and all go to the ships to see if they can get some rice or bread to eat. They bring many ostrich-eggs and barter them for tobacco, also the lovely ostrich-plumes which one is accustomed to wear as ornaments on hats here.
They catch the seagulls or sea-birds and wild ducks on the water, or hit them in the air with sticks* so that they fall dead to the ground.
They catch and bring wild horses and asses, and kill the wild dogs, which are twice the size of the English mastiffs.
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The wild horses, which are of a lovely shape and have a black stripe from nape to tail, are caught by the Dutch in specially made barns filled with hay, and given away as curiosities.
The asses are marked all over, and are very lovely beasts, and are sent as gifts to the great lords of the Indies. Many tiger-cats and tigers are shot here, as also other beasts of prey, and the skins taken to Holland.
The sheepskins found here are of no value, since there is no wool on them but only hair, therefore most of the sheep- or wether-skins are thrown away.
The ostrich-chicks are taken and brought in, and reared and kept in the Fortress, and sent with the ships to Holland, as also at times the Pavianen that are caught young. It also happens that rhinoceroses are killed by the lion-guards [‘Hunters*’], and their horns, if they are still good and not split, are taken to Holland and Germany.
[At the end of the book he returns to the subject, apparently to fill up blank space.]
The Hottentot. He is of medium stature and not very stout, brown in colour, and has some bunches of long hair, curly, matted from grease and fat, in which hang some cowries. The head is well-proportioned, as also the ears (in which he wears some small copper rings), the mouth and the nose. He has a neat and rather long neck, arms of medium thickness, and is narrow of body with a thin belly, good sexual gear [‘Klopffzeug’] and sinewy legs with somewhat long toes. He wears a cord round his neck which reaches to the pit of the stomach, on which he hangs a little leather sack for his pipe, as also one or more chains of red beads. Around his arms he wears rings of white ivory or brass or copper, and on his shoulders a sheepskin. His privities he covers with a scrap of sheepskin fastened to a strap around his body. In his hand he carries a stick, club, or throwing-spear. He knows nothing of agriculture but lives from his herds of sheep and cattle.
The Hottentot Women. These are generally short, brown in colour, heavily built as a rule but not always, with hair like the men. Many of them smear the upper part of the nose with red colour. Their ears and lips are pretty thin, but their necks somewhat thicker than those of the men. Their nails are coloured a golden yellow. They have long hanging breasts. The navel and what is below it are in their proper places, and this latter is in many cases hung over with a piece of flesh like the wattle of a turkey [see ‘Apron*’], and they laugh when for a scrap of tobacco they let the Dutch or Christians see it. Their legs are well-made, and in their opinion are well adorned when they are wound around with some roots [as above] of trees. They go barefoot. Their body from navel to knee is covered with a sheepskin. The upper body is fully covered behind, but in front only to the breasts, with a sheepskin hung from their shoulders, which at the back stands so far away from the body that they can set their little children in it and so carry them and let them sleep there, nor need they fear that they will fall out. The thongs which are fixed to the sheepskin are tied together in front, the long breasts hanging down naked. They are arch-heathens: their religious service is that at the New Moon they set themselves exactly facing it.
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I will leave further writing of this to others better acquainted with this country, and pass to the further description of my journey; and so continue by saying, That on April 29, 1682 we set sail in God's Name, taking with us 2 ostriches for H.M. the Prince of Orange, and other ships took also 8 such; also the Admiral took along 2 Hottentots [statement not traced elsewhere]. And when the other savages learnt in advance that two of them were kept in the Fortress and should be taken to Holland, there came some 100 from inland. When now the time came to embark, and since the savages were not to be trusted too much, soldiers fully armed and with burning linstocks [see Muskets*], were set from the Fortress to the seashore, between which the General marched down, and after him the Hottentots, and all the cannon of the Fortress were fired thrice. And since those savages who were come from inland stood close below the cannon and were not accustomed to the roar of the cannon-royal [‘Carthaunen’] they set up a great shrieking and made off inland, and did not return to see the Hottentots depart. These Hottentots cannot well be brought to the Christian faith, since firstly I cannot believe that anyone could attain such a complete mastery of their language as to be able to set before them God's Will clearly and explicitly and thus lead them from heathendom; and secondly because if some were brought to Christianity they would not long hold to it, since they would endure the fierce enmity of the other savages, and would at most hold their Christianity in low esteem. Of this the Hottentot woman [obviously Eva*, but Tappen's ‘returned’ makes no sense], who returned in 1667 gives a good example: she married a Surgeon, but when he died and she had run through most of his legacy she maintained herself by whoring. She was warned by the authorities here to leave off this evil life, but nevertheless continued in it, and at her death [1674] was
despised by many, since shortly before this she fell away from the Christian faith into heathendom.
When now we were near the Robben Island (or Seadogs Island) which lies not far from the town, we saw the Robben (or seadogs) there in great herds together, as also the large fish called Nord-Capers. These are as large as half-grown whales, and can blow the water up to 10 or 12 ells high.
On the said Robben Island are set the rebellious rulers brought from the East Indies, where they must end their lives in very bad conditions, since very many of them who are now at the Cabo de boa Esperance must now work like the Angola Caffirs or slaves for their living, and often get more kicks than ha'pence [‘Schaffkäse’] for their hard tasks such as carrying wood and stones, burning lime, etc. Indeed many of their own slaves were brought with them from the Indies, but so soon as these reach here they are freed from their slavery, although bound to serve their masters, and wait until these take them to Holland, if indeed they are pleased to do so. To this Robben Island come not only the rebellious East-Indian rulers and other black folk, but also the rebellious Dutch are kept in slavery there for some years.
Saint Helena for news. Fleet dispersed by storm, only Holländische Thuyn and Westeramstel now with his ship. Met by ‘Cruisers*’ from Holland. Northabout*. Arrived Zeeland August 31, 1682, and so home to Halle. |
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