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Bible Encyclopedias
Hottentots
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
or The aboriginal inhabitants of Cape Colony, in Southern Africa. They are divided into three large tribes: 1. the Nama, or Namaqua; 2. the Kora (Korana, Koraqua); and, 3. the Saab, or Bushmen (Bosjesmans). In modern times they have been pushed northwards, partly by European immigrants, partly by the Betchuanas and Kaffres. The Nama, or Namaqua, live as nomads along the Orange River, in Great Namaqualand, which is an independent country, with about 100.000 square miles, and only 40,000 inhabitants, and Little Namaqualand, which is a part of Cape Colony. The Kora, or Korana, were about fifty years ago very numerous in the vicinity of the Vaal and Hart rivers; now they dwell as nomads on both sides of the Upper Orange River, both in Cape Colony and in the Orange Free State (q.v.). The Saab, or Bushmen, live scattered, partly in the northern districts of Cape Colony, partly in the desert Kalahary. In Cape Colony there were, according to the census of 1865, 81,598 Hottentots, by the side of 181,592 Europeans, and 100,536 Kaffres, in a total population of 496,381. Little is known of the Hottentots' religion further than that they believe in a good and an evil spirit, hold festivals on the occasion of the new and full moon, and look upon certain spots as the abode of departed spirits. They have no regular priest, nor anything like an established worship, although they render especial homage to a small, shining bug. They have magicians for whom they have great respect. The Bastards, or Griquas, resulting from the amalgamation of Hottentots and Europeans, appear much more susceptible of mental and intellectual culture; they also form a distinct race, and a colony of 6000 of them, established at the Cat River in 1826, has been quite successful and numbered in 1870 about 20,000, nearly all Christians. They are partly nomads, partly agriculturists. The Hottentots in Cape Colony and the Griquas no longer speak the Hottentot language, but a Dutch dialect, strongly mixed with Hottentot and Kaffre words. The Hottentot language is not related to any other, and is especially different from the large South African family of languages.
The words are mostly monosyllabic, and usually end in a vowel or nasal sound. Among the consonants, l, f, and v are wanting. There are many diphthongs. Non- Africans find it impossible to imitate the gutturals which the Hottentots breathe with a hoarse voice from a hollow chest, as well as the four clicking sounds which are produced by a lashing of the tongue against the palate, and which in- writing are represented by lines and points (I = dental;! = palatal; = cerebral; ||, lateral). Modern linguists enumerate four dialects: 1. that of the Nama; 2. that of the Kora; 3. that of the eastern Hottentots, or Gonaquas; 4. the dead dialects of the colonial Hottentots. The substantives have three genders, masculine, feminine, and common; and three numbers, singular, dual, and plural. There are no cases; the adjective and verb are not inflected. The prepositions are usually placed after the words which they govern. The language of the Bushmen differs from that of the other Hottentots. By the Dutch conquerors of the country of the Hottentots the poor inhabitants were considered unworthy of Christianity, and even many members of the colonial churches discountenanced and prevented all missionary enterprises. The first missionary among the Hottentots began his operations in 1709, but he ceased them after a few weeks. In 1737, the Moravian missionary, G. Schmidt, gained an attentive hearing; but when, after a few years, the fruit of his labors appeared, he was compelled by the colonial government to leave. During the next fifty years no missionary was allowed to visit the Hottentots. In 1792 the Moravians succeeded in re-establishing their mission, but not until the country passed into the hands of the English did the missionaries find the necessary protection, under which their station at Baviaanskloof (at present called Genadendal) became very flourishing. The work grew steadily, and (since 1818) has extended from the Hottentots to the Kaffres.
The Moravians, even as early as 1798, were joined by the London Missionary Society. The missionary Von der Kemp established in the eastern part of the colony a mission among the Hottentots, and the latter labored among the Bushmen. In Little Namaqualand the mission was likewise begun by the London Society, and continued by the Rhenish Missionary Society, which, after the emancipation of the Hottentots, established a number of stations in the eastern districts. Several thousands of Griquas settled on the Cat River, where the station Philipton, with several out stations, arose. Among the Koras, missions have been established (since 1834) by the Berlin Missionary Society. More recently, a number of other missionary societies, of almost all the churches represented in Cape Colony, have taken part in the missions among the Hottentots. Beyond the limits of Cape Colony, the London Mission Society was the first to establish (1805) missions in Great Namaqualand. Subsequently the field was occupied by the Wesleyan Metholists and the Rhenish Missionary Society. Several stations established by the former in the northern parts of the country were again abandoned (Concordiaville and Wesleyvale, 1845-53), but in 1869 they still had three districts in the south-Nisbethbath, Hoole's Fountain, and Jerusalem-all of which were occupied by native helpers, and occasionally visited by a Wesleyan missionary from Little Namaqualand. More extensive is the work of the Rhenish Society, which in 1842 established its first out-station at Bethania, and gradually advanced northwards as far as the Zwachaub. Their labors, especially at Bethania, have been very successful, and Great Namaqualand may now be regarded as a Christianized country. See Tyndall (Wesleyan missionary), Two Lectures on Great Namaqualand and its Inhabitants; Moo(lie, The Record, or a Series official Papers relative to the Condition and Treatment of the native Tribes in South Africa (Capetown, 1838 sq., 5 vols.). A Grammar of the Hottentot language has been prepared by Tyndall (Capetown, 1857), and a work on etymology by Wallmann (Berlin, 1857). On the history of the missions among the Hottentots, see Grundemann, Missionsatlas (Gotha, 1867). (A. J. S.)
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McClintock, John. Strong, James. Entry for 'Hottentots'. Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tce/h/hottentots.html. Harper & Brothers. New York. 1870.
