--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Rogers, Orson M. collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 12 number: 8 published: 1909-06 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: 'Orson M. Rogers, "Native Races of South Africa," *Improvement Era* 12, no. 8 (June 1909): 625–634.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera1208unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera1208unse start_page: 625 end_page: 634 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1909-06) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera1208unse publication_year: 1909 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1909, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # Native Races of South Africa NATIVE RACES OF SOUTH AFRICA. BY ELDER ORSON M. ROGERS, OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MISSION. There are undoubtedly many readers of the Era who would like to know more about the different races of people who inhabit this world of ours than at present is their ken, and as I am labor- ing as a missionary among people of different types and customs from those we see in America, I shall endeavor to write something of Africa's native races. But I want to make clear to my readers that there is much of interest regarding the aborigines of this con- tinent that can not be learned, because of the fact that they have no histori- ans, no literature, and no desire to perpetuate their traditions to their posterity. In thinking of these dark skinned Orson M. Rogers. inhabitants that I see all around me, the thought naturally comes up, "where did they come from?" At home we can say to our Indian, 0, stop and tell me, Red Man, Who are you, why you roam, And how you gst your living; Have you no God, no home?" and, thanks to the revelations in the Book of Mormon, he can give us a complete answer. But I know of no such book that can tell us much about our colored brethren on this hemisphere. We have to consider theories of men, or form one for ourselves. And G26 IMPR0VEMEN7 ERA. a most difficult task it is. There are no ancient hieroglyphics to go to, and there are no ruins of buildings to unearth. So recource to ethnologists must be had. But those educated people who have measured the skulls and bones to compare with other races, help us very little. The dif- ferent races within Africa vary so much from each other that our erudite professors are puzzled to solve the mys- tery. The early Dutch set- tlers who might have been able to interpret a few tra- ditions before the influence of the white people had changed some of their con- ditions, didn't try. They found the natives here; couldn't drive them away al- together, so they smoked their pipes, content to know that they could make slaves of a few. Bothering about who the inhabitants were, or where they came from, didn't enter their heads. But of the theories of A Kaffir. scholars, some are worthy of consideration. One of the most widely accepted hypotheses is, I believe, that the climate, environment and custom made them what they are. It is believed that thousands of years of tropical suns beating down on our naked bodies would be sufficient to produce a change in the color of the skin that would eventually be inherited from generation to gener- ation. Instances of the East Indians are cited as proof, and the Arabs are also referred to. Although there are many great minds who hold this theory, there are many who cling to others, and try to disprove that one. In doing so, they say that if three thousand . . NATIVEfRACES OF SOUTH AFRICA. 627 years would not be sufficient to effect the change, then thirty thousand wouldn't. The Mongolians are pointed to, and the ques- tion is asked, ''why aren't the Chinese who live in parts equally as hot as Atrica, black?" And many other different questions are propounded. But asking a question doesn't disprove a theory, so they advance one which they think is better. One of them is that all mankind were originally black, and lost their color through disease. In proof of that they say the fairer a race, the more sickly, and vice versa. We may smile when we think of Adam as be- ing black, but there are men noted for their learning who believe that theory. And, of course, they argue that as there are about as many, if not more, colored people, than white, it is reasonable. Another theory which has been advanced by a few, and not upheld by many, is that the dark skin is the re- sult of acurse from Almighty God One man, who, I believe, first brought Photo'by Alma T. Jones. forward that idea in Africa, is a Rev. Kaffir lad who had drunk a quart Mr. Holden, who published a book, of sour milk. "Past, Present and Future of the Na- tives." And he maintains that it took no more divine power to alter the color of the skin than to confuse the language at the time when, "the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upen the face of all the earth," and he supposes that the negro races date from that time. There is much good sense in what he says, but I believe that all of the negro races are children of Ham. Leaving, then, the theory as to color, let us consider as to how they got here. Some believe, as does Mr. Holden, that they came here at the time of the scattering at the tower of Babel But most of the writers believe that they made this country their habitat prior to that time. They must have migrated over the Isthmus of Suez, and traveled southward long before Egypt was f,:s IMPROVEMENT ERA. settled, for it is unlikely that they could have passed through great Egypt and not absorbed some idea of building, or other learning. There is not a single stone building in all of South Africa built by the early natives, nor is there a scroll of writing. So the history of these people under consideration must be very ancient indeed. It is supposed by some ethnologists that the great migration moved from what is now Egypt to the Atlantic Ocean, thence down that shore to Central Africa where they must have gone inland, and were then forced south for various reasons, cli- matic, and in pursuit of game, etc. From what I have read on the subject, I believe that to be the most plausible route. There are, however, writers of no mean importance who think that the vicinity of the Cape of Good Hope was first inhabited and then the course was northward. Having briefly considered a few theories, let us take up the subject of the different races. When I first came here I thought every one was a negro who had a dark skin and kinky hair, or "wool," but I found that there Photo by Alma T. Jones Kaffir Boys at Capetown. NATIVE RACES OF SOUTH AFRICA. 629 are different classifications made by Colonials. The true negro, or the highest type of the colored race, is seldom found south of the 20th parallel of south latitude. They are fine looking specimens of humanity, with large sinewy bodies, well shaped and agile. In height their average would exceed that of Americans, and they Photo by Alma T. Jones Kaffir Hut in Course of Construction. are as straight as our Indians at home. The color is a dark cho- colate shade, the lips are thick and the nose rather flat. It was chiefly from the pure negro stock that the Dutch first took slaves to America, so the "coons" of the United States are of the high type of the negro race. Their home was probably near Zanzibar, on the east coast of Africa, but they may have been taken from points a little north or south of there. The negroes cover a large extent of territory in Central Africa, and have always been a war- like race, and are even now kings of their kind. Their language is more difficult to learn than some of the jargons of the other native races. As the pure negro is so seldom seen in Cape Colony I know very of them from actual observation. little The Bushmen, unlike the negroes, are small of stature, even dwarfish, five feet two being a tall one. Their hair is hard twists ("•30 IMPROVEMENT ERA. clinging tightly to the skull, and the faces are wrinkled. No beard grows on the chin, which is sunken, and cheek bones are very high, but the cheeks themselves hollow. The eyes are small and vicious looking, and the nose is almost a negative quantity. In color, brown, a little darker than a Chinaman, and lighter than an In- dian. It is said that they have never been known to have been tamed, having always fought their enemies to the death. They have always lived nomadic lives in the superlative, never building even a hut larger than a dog kennel, and shifting about almost constantly. They were about the first with whom the early settlers of this country came in contact, but no use whatsoever could be made of them as servants. The bushmen are perhaps the lowest type of the human family, and in many respects, are much like in- telligent beasts, but still there is too large a gap between them and the highest type of monkey or ape to form a connecting link. Their life to them has always been a feast or a famine. When a large animal was killed the whole family would move camp to where the carcass lay, and they would remain there until nothing Photo by Alma T. Jones Kaffir Boys. NATIVE RACES OF SOUTH AFRICA. 631 but bones and stench remained. But their olfactory nerves were so imperfect that even the worst odors arising from a dead beast wouldn't affect their appetices. Their only weapon was a crude bow and arrow, which was al- ways poisoned, and their only domestic animal was a dog. Caves were usually their only home, and a few old skins or some tufts of grass, their only bed. Always sleeping, curled up like a little child in winter, an ostrich nest would have made them a comfortable resting place. I have been in some of their caves, and the floors were not even levelled off. They knew of only one way of making a fire, and that was by rubbing sticks together. But when once a fire was made it was the woman's duty to keep embers always alight. It is not known how the Bushmen came to be, but it is gener- ally supposed that they were at one time closely related with the aborigines of Australia, but no connecting link is shown aside from similarity in looks. They had no sense of modesty, and roamed about absolutely naked, save on certain occasions they wove a belt, which, in times of hunger, they tightened. In remote times the Bushmen were cannibals. Now the Hottentots, who are more widely known than the Bushmen, are a filthy people at the present time. They resemble a Chinaman so much in features that it is thought by some writers that they are a cross between Mongolians and either Bushmen or Kaffirs. Their eyes are wide apart, and some even slant. The cheek bones are high, the nose flat and the lips very protruding and unforbidding. The color of the Hottentots is very light, and there is a slight tinge of pink in some of them. The concensus of opinion as to their origin is that they are of a mixed blood, but it isn't settled (and probably never will be) how, when, or where it all happened. I said they were a filthy people. That I know from personal observation to be true. They gladly live on the refuse of rubbish heaps, and I have often seen them sorting out the garbage barrels. But as low as they are, they have always been ahead ef the Bush- men, and even now are better educated than the other natives of the colony. So far as is known they always had cows, sheep and dogs, and built huts of sticks and mud, and raised corn and a few other things. They wore slightly more clothing than the Bushmen, having a girdle around their persons; and married women carried a shawl. Being good at imitation they were easily taught to be good servants by the early Dutch settlers, and were a great help to them. In warfare they were savage, and knew no quarter. At present they have no language of their own . They learned Dutch because they had to when they were under Dutch control, so now they have the distinction, so far as I know, of being the only dis- tinct race of people without a vestige of their mother tongue re- maining. The predominant native race of South Africa is that called the Kaffirs. As there are nearly as many nations of them as there are of Indians in America, I shall treat them as a whole, only mention- ing that some of the well known names of tribes are, Zulus, Gri- quas, Fingoes, Bantu and Basutos. In color the Kaffirs are like a cup of cocoa, as a rule, but some get very dark. They are not so very far removed from the negro, and are called by many, negroids. I believe that if true negroes are the sons of Ham, then the Kaffirs are, too. They have all the distinctive features, color, "wool," flat noses and thick lips. They are by nature more of a pastoral people than the other natives, having cattle, sheep, fowls and dogs. . They have always built huts of sticks, mud and willows, and live in communities called a kraal, and seldom move about. I have said that they are the most numerous of the colored people, which one traveling about this country could see at a glance. They are found from the Cape of Good Hope to Rhodesia, but their centre is probably near Queenstown in the eastern province of Cape Colony. I shall not tell of the wars and troubles the settlers had with the natives, nor could I do so, if I wanted to write anything else. Suffice it to say, there have always been wars, off and on, with them. Just the other day the king of the Zulus, Dinizulu, was sentenced to five years imprisonment for complicity in treason against the British. Some of the peculiar customs of the aborigines would be inter- esting, so I shall relate a few, and unless I otherwise state, they are of the Kaffirs. First then, as to dress. It doesn't take long to describe that, NATIVE RACES OF SOUTH AFRICA. 633 for they think that clothing is unnecessary in a hot climate, and what is more, they have the courage of their convictions. A pat- # tern for a bridal gown could be cut from a single page of this . book, and then there would be enough left for bracelets and head- gear. The girls and bovs up to the age of about seven wear what they inherited at birth, and after that age a few beads suffice. A married woman, however, always carries a blanket. It doesn't make much particular difference whether she uses it, but she has one just the same; then they have a short skirt from the waist to the knees. Beads adorn their necks, arms and ankles, and they Photo by F. A. Sheffield Kaffir Hut, King William's Town. are scarred over the breasts for beauty. They have absolutely no false modesty, and it wouldn't matter much if I should strike out the word false. I have seen men, all bedecked in beads, carrying a stick (which a Kaffir always has,) and a blanket or skin, called a "kaross." But sometimes clay is smeared all over the body. Then the blanket and beads are dispensed with. So much for the dress. The wives of the natives are bought at so many cattle for each, say two cows or four sheep, up to six cows or twelve sheep. 634 IMPR VEMENT ERA . The girls have absolutely nothing to do with the courtship. If they are sold by the father, they must go. But if they can escape from their husbands the first night, they are forfeited, unless other cows are given the father for them. There are several different marriage ceremonies, but the most common one is like this: the girl (aged about sixteen) is bargained for, the wedding to take place at a certain time. Ten days before that time she has to remain in a hut with old women, and it is a shame for anyone to try to see her or for her to dare to come out. When the appointed day arrives, all the guests are at hand to make merry. They drink honey beer, smoKe and feast. Then the girl is placed within a circle formed by the guests. After they have all danced, and sung, and made remarks for a long time, the hus- band-to-be, steps up and places an apron on her. From that time she is his wife, or more properly speaking, his property, and it is a shame for anyone else to touch her for a long time. The morals of the natives are terrible, according to Christian standards, in fact they have very little sense of wrong. They have some religious beliefs that make some people think they are of Israel, as they practice circumcision, although they don't know why. They believe that their spirits live after them, and they have a partial belief in a resurrection, but their god is their ancestors' spirits, one of whom is the sun, another the moon; the rest are the stars. They believe in mermaids in the sea, and if a person drowns they believe it will bring a curse upon the one who rescues the body, as that would deprive the mermaid of her food. The Bushmen would never drink any water unless they had first thrown something into it, such as meat, or a stick or arrow. At the present day thousands of natives are converted to the different sects of Christianity, through the efforts of missionaries. There are Catholics, Wesleyans, and Episcopalians, among others. Schools and mission stations are established, and trades are taught them. In religion they are very devout, but will steal and tell lies. Their conversion to Christianity may be a good thing in the end, but according to the Colonials it is spoiling them . They are very arrogant and smart. If one tries to correct them, the reply comes, "I have the same heaven as you," and such things. The