Briefwisseling oor Kaapse sake 1778-1792

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V. H. Cloete to Swellengrebel,
Nooitgedacht, 27.2.1779

Through Gijsbert Greuning, third watch on the Company's flute De Hoop under Captain Teunis Hanseborg, I send you a keg which I have sewn up in the hide of an ox. As the grapes are not yet ripe enough to collect the pips for cultivating Constantia grapes in Europe, I am sending 25 vine stocks of red Constantia muscadel distinguished by a red piece of cloth and 25 white muscadel vinestocks, tied around by a white cloth. When the grapes are ripe, they will follow. Similarly sewn up in a small wooden box, one cultivated and two small wild Cape gardenia-trees. Another case similarly sewn up contains 5 camphor and 4 arbutus trees. The fruit of the arbutus-tree does not ripen before the month of May. A third contains wild banana from the Gamtoos River and three beautiful plants which bear lovely red flowers once a year. When the flowers have withered, the fruit can be found under the ground like a sweet potato.

A copy of your reply to the questions about the ‘Caffers’ and Hottentots has been enclosed together with ‘Caabsche Nouvelles’. The sheep which were last year imported from Spain are grazing in the Groene Kloof at the Company's post called Klaver Valeij. It is the best sheep farm the Company has but the veldt is poor and no profitable increase of the flock can be expected.

I have asked the captain of the Hoop to look after the shipment of plants and remain with due deference - - -

V A. Questions about the Hottentots and Caffers answered by Jacob Kok:

1.	Question: Who do most of the work, the men or the women? Johannes Jacobus Kok answers: The women, the men merely go hunting.
2.	Who look after the gardens and milk the cows, the men or the women? Amongst the Caffers the men milk the cows, the women do the gardening.
3.	How is murder punished amongst the Caffers and the Hottentots? The family of the murdered man takes vengeance, even though it may take several years. If the murderer dies before the deed has been revenged, his family is punished.
4.	Does the Captain punish the culprit when a person is wronged, beaten or robbed; or is revenge taken by the injured party? Do they become reconciled easily or not? If the captain has struck one of his tribe and the fellow runs away to another kraal, he is killed if caught. But the captain does not interfere

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	in quarrels amongst commoners and the quarrel lasts until they cool off.
5.	When boys become men do they still obey their parents or do they do what they like? Amongst the Caffers the parents have a lot of authority. The children fear their parents as long as they live; but amongst the Hottentots the parents lose control when the children grow up and even become subservient to the children in their old age.
6.	What power does the captain exercise over the people in his Kraal? Amongst the Caffers the Captain's command is law; under the Hottentots only occasionally do captains have real authority over their subjects.
7.	If a captain wants to trek, is it done by general consent, or must the whole kraal follow when he gives orders? The captain consults his subjects, but after he decides to trek, all must follow.
8.	When Hottentots decide to go to war, does the captain alone decide, or do the tribe resolve to do so, and must they all follow him even against their will? They must follow the captain and, enjoying warfare, do so willingly.
9.	How do the Caffers and Hottentots treat a deserter? The Captain strikes him.
10.	If they undertake an expedition do they all follow or do some stay behind in the kraal? The captain takes the able-bodied with him, but the unfit, the women and children are left in a safe place.
11.	Does the captain receive a larger share of the booty? The captain received the larger part of the booty, but what remains is divided equally.
12.	If a captain dies, does his eldest son succeed or is some-one in the kraal chosen as captain? If he has sons, the eldest son succeeds his father, but if he has no sons one of his immediate family succeeds.
13.	Have the women any say in the making of decisions? No, the women have nothing to say.
14.	Is there any fornication amongst the Caffers or the Hottentots or does every young man choose a wife early? Yes, it is not counted as fornication, but as an honour.
15.	Do they sometimes go to another man's wife and how is this punished? If so, the husband goes to the wife of the first. Should he have no

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	wife, the husband hits him, without retaliation. Beyond this he is not punished.
16.	May a Caffer or Hottentot leave his kraal without obtaining permission to go somewhere else? Yes, but he must inform the captain and his request is not refused.
17.	In a large kraal, like captain Ruiter's at Bushman's River where each family of 5 or 6 huts has a separate cattle kraal, should someone desire to remain in the big kraal no longer, but move with his cattle to another place to live apart, can he do so on his own or must he get permission from the captain and the other Hottentots? Yes - but he must inform the captain, when permission will be given. Moreover, the captain may let him have some of the captain's own animals as an ‘overflow’.
18.	Have the Caffers and Hottentots more than one wife. Yes, they have as many as they can cope with.
19.	Do they choose their wives indiscriminately, whether they are closely related or not? They do not marry near relations but may marry a woman who belongs to the fourth or fifth degree of ‘kindred and affinity’.
20.	What happens to the possessions of a Hottentot who dies? His children and, if he has no children, his friends, inherit his property.
21.	What happens to a Bosjesmans-Hottentot who is captured by a Hottentot or Caffer? Is he killed or must he work as a slave? They kill him, otherwise he would again run away.

The Kaffers do not slaughter an ox without permission of the captain, and he in turn does not slaughter an ox without consulting his people.

If anyone on a hunt kills game and the chief is not present the hunter must present the breast portion to the chief. If killed in another chief's territory, this must be given to him.

When an elephant is killed the ivory belongs to the captain. It is said that the Caffers have an overall Chief who is called Pharao. The question is how much authority has this Pharao? Must all go to war at his command? Must they ask permission to trek? Are they answerable to him for all that happens in their kraal? Must they give him presents?

V B.D.S. van der Merwe answers the same questions as were put to Jacob Kok. Only the answers are given:

1.	The women.
2.	The men milk the cows, but I do not know who cultivate the gardens.

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3.	The friends of the person who is killed, wreak vengeange.
4.	Any malefactor is punished by his victim or by the friends of the victim and they don't rest until they have had their revenge.
5.	They can go where they like.
6.	They have to go where the captain sends them and obey his commands.
7.	They must follow him if he commands.
8.	That I do not know.
9.	I do not know what they do.
10.	Some remain at home.
11.	I do not know.
12.	I do not know.
13.	Yes, the so-called witches.
14.	Most of them indulge in fornication until they marry.
15.	Sometimes they take vengeance by doing the same with the adulterer's wife.
16.	Yes.
17.	I do not know.
18.	Yes, some do.
19.	Yes, they marry, whether they are related or not.
20.	If he had a wife and children, they inherit his property or else the next of kin.
21.	They kill him.

A few other questions are added by Van der Merwe:

1.	How do they deal with the body of a person who dies? They haul it away for some distance and merely dump it.
2.	What do they do when a captain dies? They bury him in the cattlekraal.
3.	When a Caffer is circumcised may he stay among the members of the kraal? No he must stay away from the Kraal with other young men who have also been circumcised. When the wounds are healed, he may go back to the kraal and only then may he take a wife.

V C. Some answers by H. Cloete:

It will take at least a year before I shall be able to answer your questions, the reason being that there are so many different kinds of Hottentots, such as the Goeijmans (Gonjemans), the Gregriquas and several kinds of Bushmen. Those in the Bokkeveld and the Kamiesbergen use large bows and arrows; others in the Sneeuwbergen use smaller bows and arrows. Amongst the latter are the Red Bushmen who have driven away Europeans from their farms. Their robberies are on the increase. Some wear sticks

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through their noses, for example those of the Sneeuwberg area. There are the cowardly Namaquas, the so-called Chinese, the Caffers and the Gonaquas. Though these are all Hottentots (sic) there is a big difference in their way of life and what holds good for one tribe may not apply to another. I have noticed for instance that the third joint of the little finger of the daughter of a Captain of the Namaquas was amputated as a sign of her high birth. I have also seen that the Gregriqua Bushmen cut an incision on their arm or back for every wild animal they kill by bow and arrow. For each kind of animal the mark differs. (The ceremony of adoption into a tribe is described in detail; and Cloete relates how one of the burgers, Willem van Wyk, who wanted to marry the daughter of a Namaqualand chief was made 't Kammi, or the fellow of the Namaquas. He was known up to his death two years ago as Willem Namaqua.)

Four or five months ago one of the Namaqua-captains complained twice to the landdrost that one of the soldiers had carried off his wife. On the other hand captain Kees of the Gonjemans has many wives and keeps his soldiers under as strict a discipline as our soldiers in the Castle. He has officers and under-officers and, shortly before your arrival, he attacked the Hottentots who had murdered Handrik Tuytman, his wife and children. This band of robbers was armed to the teeth, but captain Kees managed to trap them in a barely accessible cave, to which they had retired, killed or captured them and handed them over to our European commando, without losing a single man himself!

Two years ago on a farm of mine a Gregriqua-woman, Flora, mother of 8 children, had her baby behind a bush, and without the aid of others gave birth to the child and brought it to the farmhouse wrapped in a kaross.

Once I witnessed a case where a Gregriqua child, about nine or ten years old, was given a beating by his mother. The child, Tamboer, well known to my son Piet, took his father's bow and arrow and shot his mother in the ribs. They all praised him, saying that he would become a stout fellow!

Hottentot musical instruments are also distinctive. The other day two of my Hottentots, coming from the Camdeboo, sat in a donga, singing loudly in praise of the full moon; I understand that this is due to the fact that they are not so much in danger from wild animals when the moon is full.

A Hottentot, named Piet, is a Goeijman who works on the farm of Willem Morkel. He was one of a pair of twins, and according to Hottentot custom had to die. They placed him on a branch overhanging a river to fall off and drown, but before he fell off Mrs. Morkel found him and reared

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him. I do not know what ceremonies are attached to this custom and whether it may be dying out, since the Gonjemans have been in contact with the Dutch for so many years.

There is another custom amongst the Gregriquas and Camiesberg-Hottentots namely that when one dies and others become ill the whole tribe eventually scatters in wild flight for fear of infection.

I am also told that amongst one kind of Bushmen a person who is too old to fend for himself, is left alone to die, with a little food and water in a small enclosure tightly constructed of branches. Whether he is buried or left to disintegrate in the air, I do not know.

Most Hottentot-women complain if their men do not sometimes hit them on the head with a knobkierie. Such neglect indicates a lack of affection. In many Hottentot-women the inner labia protrude. Some say this is caused by stretching, through daily pulling with the hands; others that it is an inborn characteristic. I do not know. Probably it is lengthened by manipulation, but for what reason I cannot tell.

As far as, I know the Hottentot-women milk the cows.

Hottentots are vindictive. On the farm I used to possess along the Olifants River a Hottentot who could not find his brother's murderer treacherously killed one of the murderer's relatives with his assegaai.

Such vindictiveness is the main reason why they nowadays seek to be revenged on all Europeans because they have been wronged by some.

When a captain dies his son succeeds him, unless he is a minor, when one of his nearest kin becomes captain. I shall try to find out what happens when the son comes of age.

Prostitution (fornication) amongst the Hottentots occurs less often than amongst the Europeans at the Cape. I have never heard of a Hottentot's taking a near kinswoman as his wife; but it is true that if he desires a young woman, he has to have the consent of the parents on both sides and has to present the bride's parents with sheep and cattle according to his wealth.

I do not know how marriages are contracted amongst the plundering Bushmen, who possess no livestock.

P.S. Amongst several Hottentot tribes the right testis of a male is removed, either by crushing or by excising it. Probably by the latter method. They believe that this will lessen the danger of producing twins. They call it ‘making a man’ of him. How close the connection is I do not know, but they are reckoned as men or ‘kerels’ who, on reaching a certain age, were incised on their arms, thighs or trunk with a knife, followed by the rubbing of poison into the wounds. They would die if they did not take an antidote. Sometimes they remain a few days between life and death, but when they recover they have no more fear for a poisonous

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animal or a poisoned arrow. They are called ‘bacaleij-booi’ (‘bully-boy’).

The graves of the Hottentots vary a great deal. The graves of the ordinary people from the Camdeboo are covered with a small load of stones, but those who have been known to kill an elephant or a lion have as many as 50 loads of stone on their graves which are decorated with the weapons of the deceased which are left to rot on the grave. I have not seen this amongst other nations, but shall make inquiries whether I am mistaken or not.

V D. Questions put by Cloete and answered by D.S. van der Merwe. Dear Cousin Cloete,
In answer to your request I shall reply to your questions, but I do not know all the answers.

1.	Do all Hottentots use bows and arrows of the same size? No the Namaquas use large bows and arrows and the Bushmen small ones.
2.	Do some Hottentots wear sticks or bones through their nose? If they do, why do they do it and who wears such sticks? They use them as ornaments.
3.	Do some Hottentots cut off a joint of the little finger and why do they do it? They do it as a kind of blood-letting.
4.	Do some Hottentots make incisions in their arms and thighs in order to indicate how many beasts of prey they have killed. If so, who are they? What do they use to make the incisions? Are there different incisions for different animals and why do they do it? I do not know the answers.
5.	How is a Hottentot made tkammi or Man? Do they slaughter a piebald sheep and at whose cost? Do they hang it round the neck of the tkammi and how long does it remain there? Is he urinated upon and by whom? In what position - lying or sitting, wholly or partially? Noisily or in silence? May he then never eat a hare and what does this ‘manmaking’ mean to them? Answer: They slaughter a sheep and simply hang it round his neck. He must wear it until it rots away. As soon as it is gone, he is a man.
6.	Are there Hottentots who do not eat certain parts of the animals they kill, because they consider those parts unclean? Answer: The intestines, the heart, lung and liver.
7.	Does a Hottentot-woman give birth to a child with the help of other women or alone, and does she go to a special place or does it take place where ever it occurs? Answer: She gives birth wherever she is.
8.	If a Hottentot beats or wounds his father or mother, is he praised or blamed? Answer: He is praised.
9.	What ceremonies take place when the moon is new or full? Are they

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	of a religious nature, or through a superstition that they will not be attacked by wild animals? What emotions do they display? Do they worship the moon as their God? Or have they a conception of another deity? Answer: They do not worship the son or the moon. But the devil and the so-called magicians who lie most are praised most.
10.	If a Hottentot-woman has twins, one boy and one girl, who must be disposed of? Answer: The girl. By whom, and how? Answer: The mother breast-feeds the one, but throws the other in a hole or strangles it.
11.	If a Hottentot dies and others become ill, what do they do with the body and how do they treat the sick? Do they remain or all take flight? I do not know how to answer this question.
12.	How do they deal with an old person who cannot follow the rest of the tribe on trek? Do they take him with them in the care of others or do they leave him behind? Answer: They leave him with a little food and drink, and pay no more attention to him.
13.	What wedding ceremonies are there amongst Hottentots? Do they give one another presents as a pledge? Do the fathers and mothers also get something for granting permission? Answer: They usually give what they have to father-in-law for the bride.
14.	Are Hottentots and Caffers circumcised? What tribes practise circumcission? By whom and when and why is it done? Do they have any ceremonies? I do not know the answer to these questions.
15.	To avoid having twins, is it true that Hottentot-men have their right testicle removed and how is it done? Answer: I do not know.
16.	Do Hottentot-men cut themselves and rub poison in the wounds, followed by an antidote in order to become immune against poisonous animals or poisoned arrows? I do not know.
17.	How are Hottentots buried? In what position are they placed in the grave and is there any difference according to rank and character? Yes, the grave of a captain is bigger. The skin of an animal is placed above and below the body and then the stones are heaped upon it and his bow and stick are placed on his grave.
18.	Do you know whether Hottentot women have a sort of fleshy lobe as thick as a little finger and as long as half a little finger, forming a sort of apron to cover the rest of the vulva? If so, among which tribe? Is it a natural thing or do they get it by manipulation? And how? And why? No answer was given to these questions.
19.	Does a Hottentot beat his wife because he loves her or because he hates her? Do the women put up with it? No answer.
20.	If two Hottentots meet, who are good friends have not seen each other for a long time, does the one who has his wife with him, let her

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	sleep with his friend if he has no wife? Answer: Yes. What other signs of affection do they show towards each other? Answer: They make a feast of a sheep or ox.
21.	Seeing that Hottentot women sometimes do away with a healthy well-formed baby, do they also try to get rid of an unborn baby, especially when they are unmarried. No, they do not mind having a child when they are unmarried.

On a separate piece of paper D.S. van der Merwe ends his letter as follows:

Dear Cousin Hendrik Cloete, After wishing you good health I am happy to say that we are at present in reasonably good circumstances, for which I cannot thank our Lord enough. I enclose these papers and hope they will give you satisfaction, though my knowledge about the above matters is limited. With kind regards to ‘mijn heer Swellengribe’ I remain your cousin David Schalk Van der merwe. (12.1.1779)