barter is carried on under a great shew of friendship; for when one wants any thing that another has, he goes freely to vifit him, and without any ceremony makes known his wants, although perhaps he never had any acquaintance with that perfon before; the landlord is obliged to behave according to the custom of the country; and bringing whatever his guest has occafion for, gives it him. He afterwards returns the vifit, and must be received in the fame manner; fo that both parties have their wants fupplied. Their manners are quite rude: they never use any civil expreffion or falutation; never take off their caps, nor bow to one another; and their difcourfe is ftupid, and betrays the most confummate ignorance; and yet they are in fome degree curious and inquifitive upon many occafions. They have filled almost every place in heaven and earth with different fpirits, which they both worship and fear more than God; they offer them facrifices upon every occafion, and fome carry little idols about them, or have them placed in their dwellings; but, with regard to God, they not only neglect to worship him, but, in cafe of troubles and misfortunes, they curse and blafpheme him. Their laws in general tend to give fatisfaction to the injured perfon. If any one kills another, he is to be killed by the relations of the perfons flain. They burn the hands of people who have been frequently caught in theft, but for the first offence the thief muft restore what he hath stolen, and live alone in folitude, without expecting any affiftance from others. They think they can punish an undifcovered theft by burning the finews of the ftone-buck in a public meeting, with great ceremonies of conjuration, believing, that as thefe finews are contracted by the fire, fo the thief will have all his limbs contracted. They never have any disputes about their land or their huts, every one having land and water more than fufficient for his wants. Although their manner of living be most nasty, and their actions most stu pid, yet they think themselves the happiest people in the world, and look upon the Ruffians who are settled among them with contempt. However, this notion begins to change at prefent; for the old people who are confirmed in their cuftoms, drop off, and the young ones being converted to the chriftian religion, adopt the customs of the Ruffians, and begin to despise the barbarity and fuperftition of their ancestors.. In every Oftrog, or large village, by order of her imperial majefty, is appointed a chief who is fole judge in all caufes, except those of life and death; and not only these chiefs but even the common people, have their chapels for public worthip. Schools are alfo erected in almoft every village, to which the Kamtfchadales fend their children with great pleasure. By this means, it is to be hoped that their barbarity will be in a fhort time rooted out. (To be Continued.) General Obfervations respecting the THE Hottentots. HE Hottentots live much in the fame manner as the ancient Gauls, mentioned in Cæfar's commentaries; residing in different hords or tribes, on the banks of rivers, and near the forefts; where they form fo many diftinct villages and independent republics. By means of the rivers, the country about them is fertile in the production of those roots and wild fruits on which the Hottentots in a great meafure fubfift; and the forests yield them the like advantages, though these only refemble our fhrub-berries, their trees being feldom more than fix.or feven feet high. The Hottentot villages are all circular; the cabbins of which they are compofed, being covered with fkins, and fo very low, that a man must either ftoop very much, or crawl on his knees, to get into them. They serve indeed, chiefly to contain provifions, and and their implements of hufbandry; the owner himself never occupying them unlefs when it rains: at other times, he paffes his leisure hours in fleeping at the door of his hut; where he lies on his belly, and expofes his back to the fun and the weather; waking now and then to amufe himfelf with fmoaking a certain ftrong fcented herb, which hath much the fame effect as our tobacco. The employment of the Hotentots is purely paftoral; their principal and almost only occupation being the care of their herds of fheep and kine. Of these each village hath one common herd, every inhabitant taking it in his turn to be herdfman. This charge requires a great many precautions, very different to those which are taken by our herdsmen with us; beafts of prey being much more numerous and fierce in the Southern parts of Africa than in Europe. Lions, indeed, are not very common there; but there are leopards, tygers, and several kinds of wolves, more deftructive than ours, together with many other furious animals that abound in the forefts, and occafionally make excurfions toward the Cape, and deftroy the tame cattle. To prevent thefe misfortunes, it is the bufinefs of the herdfman to go or fend every day round his diftrict, in order to difcover if any beaft of prey be lurk ing in that quarter. In which cafe, he affembles the whole village together, and makes his report; when a party of the ftouteft among them, arm themselves with javellins and poifoned arrows, and follows the perfon who may have difcovered the beaft, to the cave or covert where he is lodged *. Here they arrange themselves in two lines; the herdfman enters the cave, and endeavours to provoke the beast to VOL. II. follow him out, where he is infallibly deftroyed. United among themselves by the bonds of fraternal concord, the inhabitants of the fame village live in conftant peace. But they take cruel vengeance on the neighbouring tribes, on the firft infult that is offered them. The fubject of their mutual complaints is generally the ftealing of a fheep or cow, and fometimes only a fufpicion of it; the confequences, however, are ufually very terrible, when they determine on revenge; as they take all poffible means, after having made this determination, to make the aggreffors fuppofe the injury forgotten: but no fooner do they find their diffimulation hath taken effect, in the security of the enemy, than they fall fuddenly upon them, with poifoned weapons, fparing neither age nor fex, but rooting up at once the whole community. Such is the method of going to war in this country. As to the civil government of the Hottentots, the care of houfhold affairs belongs to the department of the females. The men, indeed, are the butchers, and prepare the meat for dreffing; but the care of providing the vegetables, concerns only the women. This the mother of a family fets about in a morning, attended by fuch of her children as are able to follow her, and carrying the reft in her arms or on her back. In this manner the fearches the woods and river fides, for roots, pulfe, or fruit; of which having gotten a fufficient quantity, the returns, lights a fire on a large ftone before the cabbin, and when the victuals is dreffed, wakes her husband, who fits down to his meal with the rest of the family. The women are cloathed with fheepG gg fkins, *It is to be observed, that the principal motive for the beaft's leaving the foreft being to quench his thirst, he always lurks about the fide of fome river; and inftead of returning to his former haunts, fecretes himself in fome hole or cavern. in the banks of the ftream. fkins, as well as the men; wearing the wool outwards in fummer, and inwards during the winter. They wear one fkin over their fhoulders, the ends of it croffing each other before, and leaving their necks bare; another skin is fastened round their middle, and reaches down to their knees. Thofe of them who are ambitious to pleafe, adorn themfelves with necklaces of fhells; for even in this country the fex have their charms, which they endeavour to heighten by fuch arts as are peculiar to themselves, and would meet with little fuccefs elsewhere. To this end they grease their faces, necks, and all the naked parts of their bodies with mutton fuet, in order to make them fhine. They braid also, or plait their hair, to give themfelves an additional elegance. An Hottentot lady, thus bedizened, hath exhausted all the arts of her toilette; and however unfavourable nature may have been to her with regard to shape and ftature, her pride. is wonderfully flattered, while the fplendor of her appearance gives her the highest degree of fatisfaction." the plain, Y. She fhuns the retreats where penfive I lye, And tells in derifion how Damon does figh. How foolish to truft to what fortune Her favour is fickle her kindness foon pretends? ends; Once I was her darling, and flourish'd like May, But now with her graces—my pleasures decay: In vain to my flocks I return for relief, They wanton as ufual-which heightens my grief; Ah! nought can allay the deep forrows I feel, While Roffia's heart lyes incafed in fteel. Ah! poor Damon. Flocks wander where ye will, I dinna care, I'll break my reed, and never whiftle PHILANDER. mair. The FUNERAL. And nature rejoicing, hail'd-O hap- From G. A. Steven's Songs, lately py Swain! But now the declines returning my love, No more my fond wishes her bofom can move, Published. See the train of Sable-wearers, Lift! oh lift! ye ftate declaimers, Heralds loud proclaim the honours Which this once puiffant paft; View the tomb with fculpture fplendid, Offals all to odious worms. By G. A. STEVENS. Tune, Once on a Time, 'twas long ago. GOOD people all, both great and And eh, and ay, and alfe; Pray lend an ear, and you fhall hear And then I need not bawl fo. There was a time when times were good, The ancient bard in Rhime fings; So ufe time well, 'tis time we should, We fhould fo, did we time things. But out of time, and out of tune, Ggg z We The MINUTES of the Select Commit tee, appointed by the House of COMMONS, to enquire into EASTINDIA Affairs. (Continued from page 391. VOL. II.) 2. What were your reafons for approving a revolution in September 1 760, which you feem to difapprove fo ftrong ly by the letter you have now read, dated in May? A. I will to the best of my recollection declare those motives, by stating fome particulars of my fituation at that time in the country. The afcendancy which Lord Clive had over the Nabob, which flowed from the Nabab, from a fenfe of the favours he had received from Lord Clive, was very foon after I came to the command at an end: my conftant, my unwearied attention, to keep up that confidence, fo neceffary between us and the Nobob, was prevented by fome very untoward circumftances. Mr Holwell fucceeded Lord Clive in the chair, only by virtue of his rank, in order of fucceffion; and the certainty of another Governor being foon appointed was known to the whole country, and of course that dehave had to a Governor in other cirgree of refpect which the Nabob would cumftances, was not paid to Mr Holwell. Mr Holwell foon faw this, and refented it. The Nabob's exceeding weak and irrefolute character gave plenty of occafions for Mr Holwell to find fault and blame his measures: I felt them too, and obferved them; but I thought that I did my duty best as á faithful fervant to the Company, by acting the part of a mediator between them, and by foftening rather than irritating the ill difpofitions that fubfifted between them." On this plan I acted throughout the whole course of Mr Holwell's adminiftration, putting off by delays, and sometimes with reasons, every approach to a change of system in that government, which though in my own heart I adopted, and knew the neceffity of, yet I was deffrous to keep |