Women and Empire 1750-1939

Volume III: Africa

Elizabeth Dimock, Elizabeth Dimock

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781000558296
• Edition: 1
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: World History
• Index: History

First published in 2008. Women and Empire, 1750-1939 functions to extend significantly the range of the History of Feminism series (co-published by Routledge and Edition Synapse), bringing together the histories of British and American women's emancipation, represented in earlier sets, into juxtaposition with histories produced by different kinds of imperial and colonial governments. The alignment of writings from a range of Anglo-imperial contexts reveals the overlapping histories and problems, while foregrounding cultural specificities and contextual inflections of imperialism. The volumes focus on countries, regions, or continents formerly colonized (in part) by Britain: Volume I: Australia, Volume II: New Zealand, Volume III: Africa, Volume IV: India, Volume V: Canada. Perhaps the most novel aspect of this collection is its capacity to highlight the common aspects of the functions of empire in their impact on women and their production of gender, and conversely, to demonstrate the actual specificity of particular regional manifestations. Concerning questions of power, gender, class and race, this new Routledge-Edition Synapse Major Work will be of particular interest to scholars and students of imperialism, colonization, women's history, and women's writing.

1 A Voyage to Guinea

DOI: 10.4324/9781003101871-1

Of the Marriages of the Natives of Guinea Mention has been made. Some make great Gain of their Wives, and ’tis with this View that they marry many; who are so faithful that when they have admitted a Spark, they immediately acquaint their Husbands, who directly fleeces him_ Some pretend they are not married, and so impose upon the Stranger, who as soon as the Affair is over is undeceiv’d by the Appearance of the Husband, in the same Manner claiming his Wife as the Bullies in Europe do. The usual Sum for lying with another Man’s Wife is about four, five, or fix Pounds Sterling, but when the injur’d Person is of Quality, 100 l; but in Case the offending Party denies the Fact, then the Cause is brought into Court. The Evidence of the Woman is sufficient, who relates all the Circumstances of the Action in its most natural Terms; the Accused always denies the Fan strenuously. In this Difficulty the Court, or rather Council of old Men, are perplex’d what Sentence to give, and therefore they put the Man to his Oath, which if he refuses, the Verdict goes against him. Some, besides Wives, have Concubines, whose Children are esteem’d legitimate: And if he has a Child by his Slave, he can make it legitimate, which if he does not do before his Death, his Heir will look on it as a Slave, and treat it as such.

In the Inland Countries the Punishment of Adultery extends to the Woman as well as the Man, yet this deters not the Woman from the Practice thereof. They miss no Opportunity, and are continually contriving Stratagems how to gain a Lover. If they meet with a Man they immediately strip his lower Parts, and throw themselves upon him, protesting that if he will not gratify their Desires, they will accuse him to their Husbands, as Joseph’s Mistress did to Pharaoh, for nothing is more revengeful than a disappointed Woman, who here are like so many Samsons pulling down Mischief upon their own Heads as well as others. If they can come to the Place the Man sleeps in, they lay themfelves softly down by him, soon wake him, and use all their little Arts to move the darling […]

2Thunberg’s Account of Me Cape of Good Hope.

DOI: 10.4324/9781003101871-2

[…] they fasten another noose higher up, and when mounted in that, untie the former, and so on.

Roads, that can be properly so called, are not to be found in all this southern part of Africa; yet the way which people in general take, when they travel, is pretty well beaten in the neighbourhood of the Cape; farther down in the country, indeed, very often not the least vestige of a road appears. Therefore, in plains that are either very extensive, or covered with underwood, it may easily happen that a traveller shall lose his way; so that he ought to be well acquainted with, and accurately observe, the marks, by which he may get into the right road again. He must see then whether there be any sheep’s-dung in the field, which shews that there is a farm-house in the vicinity; and likewife, whether he can discover any herds of cattle grazing, or any corn-field.

The country here, in general, consisted of extensive plains, full of rich pasture, interspersed with hillocks and valleys, that abounded in wood and water.

The trees in the woods were large and tall, but for the molt part crooked and mis-shapen, and at the same time covered with moss, like those in the northern regions.

The Hottentot women here wore a little cockle-shell (nerita histrio, and the cypræa moneta), by way of ornament, both on their caps, and round their wrists, in the form of bracelets. Their cap is a slip of buffalo leather, of a hand’s breadth, without any Crown, ornamented on the outside with tilde shells in various rows, according to the different taste-and wealth of the owner.

The Hottentots of this place had a custom, which is not general with this nation, of wearing a bag of leather, that hung by a strap over their shoulders, quite down on their hips. At the lower end it was ornamented with thongs of leather, like fringes, to which were tied shells, that made a rattling noise. This bag served to keep various articles in.

Other Hottentot women wore on their heads a striped conical cap, made of several narrow slips of black, white, and brown lamb-skins, in their natural state, sewed together. These caps were also, sometimes decorated with glass beads, fixed on them in various forms, or down like strings of pearls.

Round their arms and legs they generally wore rings of ox-hides, which I had here the opportunity of seeing made. The slips, cut from the hide, were beaten till they were quite round, and both the ends stuck so fast together, that it could not be perceived where, they were joined. These rings they afterwards forced over their feet, wearing, especially the women, such a number of them, as to cover half the leg or more. I have also sometimes seen them wash, and afterwards grease these rings.

In the eggs of ostriches, as I was informed, a stone was sometimes found, which was set, and used for buttons.

There are instances of an European’s having married a Hottentot woman, who has then been baptized. But it has more frequently happened, that a colonist, without regular marriage, has had several children by a Hottentot misteess, and that these children have beenbaptized when they were several years old.

In many places I observe the land to have been set on fire for the purpose of clearing it, though in a very different manner from what is done in the north. Divers plains here produce a very high fort of grass, which being of too coarse a nature, and unfit food for cattle, is not consumed, and thus prevents fresh verdure from shooting up; not to mention that it harbours a great number of serpents and beans of prey. Such a piece of land as this therefore, is set on fire to the end that new grass may spring up from the roots. Now if any of these places were overgrown with bushes, these latter were burned quite black, and left standing in this sooty condition for a great length of time afterwards; to my great vexation, as well as that of other travellers; who were obliged to pass through them.

Almost every day we were wet to the skin, in consequence of deluging showers of rain, which were sometimes accompanied with thunder. Though at this season they have always fine weather near the Cape, it appeared as if winter and the rainy season had not yet taken leave of this part of the country. The rain was the more troublesome to us, as, besides that we had no opportunity of getting shelter here, and the short intervals of sun-shine were not sufficient to dry us when wet to the skin; the ground, like-wife, especially of the hills, was now so wet and slippery, that our horses being, according to the invariable custom of the country, unshod, stumbled continually, and in many places we were in great danger of breaking our arms and legs.

On the 2d of November we were overtaken by some remarkably heavy showers, when we crossed Quaiman’s Drift, a river which, like many other rivers here near the sea, rises and falls with the tide; and, after passing through several woody vales and rivers, at length arrived at Magerman’s Kraal, a colony or grazing-farm, belonging to Frederick Seelf.

More weary and wet, or in a worse plight, we never could have been, and worse we could never have been accommodated than at this place. No European dwelt here, but a black female slave acted in her master’s absence as mistress of the house, and had the superintendance over a great herd of cattle, and over the Hottentots that tended them. The house was an oblong cottage, constructed of timber, and daubed all over with clay. In this I and my companions, with a great number of Hottentots, were obliged to pass the night, happy to have some kind of shelter from the rain, wind, and cold.

As in the course of the few days since we had left our waggon, we had made some collections, and therefore could not possibly stow every thing upon our horses’ backs, We were under the necessity of taking three oxen from the house above-mentioned, to carry our and three Hottentots to lead them.

Oxen are much used in these parts, when tamed and broken in by the Hottentots, to carry burdens. These oxen have a hole through the cartilage of their nose, in which is put a stick, at both ends of which are fastened straps, like a bridle, by the help of which the oxen are guided.

In different places we observed pits dug, like those in which wolves are usually caught, and in which, when well covered over by the Hottentots, buffaloes and wild beafts are taken.

The Hottentots always carry the javelin or two (Affagays) with them on their, journeys. These affagays consist of an iron-spear hollowed out on each side about six inches long, with or without an iron shaft, which is sometimes round and smooth, and sometimes grooved. This spear is fastened with thongs of leather to a slender round stick, five feet long, made of the affagay wood (curtisia faginea), and tapering towards the end. With these lances, which they throw with great dexterity to the distance even of one hundred paces, they defend themselves against their, enemies and wild beasts, and are able to kill with them, buffaloes, and other animals.

Instead of China-vessels and calabashes, poverty had taught them to use the shells of the tortoises, which frequent the bashes in the sandy plains, particularly the testudo minuta and geometrica.

From their frequent besmearing themselves, as well as from the heat of the climate, the Hottentot women have always very flabby breasts, that hang down very low. And therefore, at the same time that they carry their infants on their back, they can with the greatest ease throw the breast to them over their shoulder. These in shape and size sometimes very much resembled calabashes; but among the curious sights that attracted our notice in this solitary place, was a Hottentot girl, whose breasts Were so long, that they hung down as low as to her thighs, and Were the largest that I ever saw among this people.

Here, also, I learned a curious way of baking bread speedily without an oven. The flour was kneaded up with water in the usual manner to dough, of this afterwards a thick cake was made, which was laid in the embers, and covered with them, so that in consequence of the heat communicated to it, it was soon thoroughly baked but the ashes that adhered to it made it so dirty, that they were obliged to scrape it before they could eat it.

The Hottentots always sit before the fire, squatted down upon their hams, on which occasion the women constantly lay the covering of their modesty, which is here worn in the form of a square, underneath them. The huts in these pars were formed of wooden stakes, round, and were convex and low, and covered with straw mats, in the form of a hay-stack, with a small aperture in the front, where the fire is made.

At the dawn of day, on the 3d of November, we set out on our journey, and crossed several rivers, such as the Krakakou, Ao, Koukuma, and Neisena. The woods we passed through were narrow, and full of prickly bushes. We could find no other passage through them than the tracks of the Hottentots, so that we were obliged to creep on all fours, and lead our horses by the bridle. Auge, the gardener, having travelled this way before, was now our guide, and we had left the Hottentots with our oxen behind us. In the afternoon, we arrived at Koukuma Rivier. We forded over one of its branches, and intended to pass through a thicket to a farm which we discovered on an eminence on the other side of this thicket, belonging to one Helgert Muller; but we had not advanced far into the wood before we had the misfortune of meeting with a large old male buffalo, which was lying down quite alone, in a spot that was free from bushes, for the space of a few square yards. He no sooner discovered Auge, who went first, than roaring horribly he rushed upon him. The gardener turning his horse short round, behind a large tree, by that means got in some measure out of the buffalo’s fight, which now rushed straight forwards towards the serjeant, who followed next, and gored his horse in the belly in such a terrible manner, that it fell on its back that instant, with its feet turned up in the air, and all its entrails hanging out; in which state it lived almost half an hour. The gardener and the serjeant, in the meantime, had climbed up into trees, where they thought themselves secure. The buffalo, after this first atchievement, now appeared to take his course towards the side where we were approaching, and, therefore, could not have failed in his way to pay his compliments to me, who all the while was walking towards him, and in the narrow pass formed by the boughs and branches of the trees, and, on account of the rustling noise these made against my saddle and baggage, had neither seen nor heard any thing of what had passed. As in my way I frequently stopped to take up plants, and put them into my handkerchief, I generally kept behind my companions, that I might not hinder their progress; so that I was now at a small distance behind them.

3TRAVELS IN SOUTHERN AFRICA.

DOI: 10.4324/9781003101871-3

We had not travelled many miles beyond the Hassagai-bosch river till the discovery of the whole surface of the country in flames indicated our approach to some of the stations of the Kaffers. We pitched our tents in fact at night on the banks of the...