Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 4.djvu/147

THE liUSUMEN. 1()9 Professor Flower has sho^rn that the Akkus have an anatomical constitution diverpinj;^ prreatly from that of the HuHhnion, with whom they are uf>uully gnm|)e<l uh In-loiiging to a common phvHiful tyiH).* Anyhow, the invading races recognise the claims of the Sans to priority in ])uint of time. On the rare occasions that they condo^cend to join with them in the chase, they always yirld to them a larger share of the capturwl game than that awarded to their own chiefs, paying this act of homage to the original owners of the land. The Hushmcn have even been regarded as the survivors of some race altogether anterior to the present human inhabitants of the earth. IJut liowcvcr tliis be, niost authors who have spoken of the Sans have certainly allowed their judgment to l)e somewhat warped by racial and social prejudices, describing these jxjrsecuted children of the soil as Ixjings far more removed from ordinary humanity than is really the case. Some of their most deadly enemies, such as the Dutch Boers, have even gone the length of denying them the posses- sion of articulate S])eech. The measurements taken by some anthropologists are not yet sufficiently numerous to enable us to determine the average stature of the IJushmen. In any case, the individuals examined have nearly all come from the south-western districts, that is to say, the region where the foreign settlers are most numerous, and where these aborigines consequently lead the most wretched exislence, often treated as wild beasts and stalked or hounded down like lawful game. The question therefore arises, whether in this region their manner of life, exiK^sure to the inclemency of the weather, lack of sufficient nutriment, and oppression may not have had the effect of somewhat reducing the normal stature of the Sans. In the Kalahari Desert, on the borders of the Bechuana territory, near Lake Ngami and surrounding saline basins, in the Zambese valley ; lastly, on the plateaux of the NanKUjuaa and Ilereros, where many Bushman tribes, here called Ba-Roas. live in the same social conditions as those of other races, observers have not noticed such a great disparity in stature as farther stnith. In some districts these Ba-Roas are even taller as well as superior in strength and activity to the neighbouring peoples. The finest men seen anywhere in South Africa by the missionary Mackenzie were the Ma-Denassanas, who live east of Lake Ngami. These natives, however, who are described as Bushmen in their features, language, manners, and customs, would seem according to Ilolub really to be Bechuanas crossed with Negroes from beyond the Zambese. But however this be, the stunted growth of the southern Bushmen may still t'» some extent be explained by the life of hardships and misery which they have voluntarily accepted in order to remain freemen. Those who were able to com- bine a relative degree of comfort with jxjrsonal independence, as well as those who were fain to become serfs in the Kafir or Hottentot communities, enjoyed a fair share of nourishment, and their descendants have consequently preserved the normal proportions. The Namaquas are regarded by Galton as degraded Bush- • Meeting of the Anthropological Institute, February Uth. 1888.