“The passive and effeminate disposition of the men, of which we have had frequent reason to complain in the course of this narrative, was illustrated in the revel which accompanied the parting feast, when the men allowed themselves to be beaten by the women, who, I am told, are in the constant habit of belaboring their devoted husbands, in order to keep them in proper subjection.  On this occasion the men got broken heads at the hands of their gentle partners; one had his nose, another his ear, nearly bitten off.”

Notwithstanding this affectionate “constant habit” of breaking their husbands’ heads, the Bushman women have not succeeded in teaching them even the rudiments of gallantry.  “The woman is a beast of burden,” says Hahn; “at the same time she is subjected to ill-treatment which not seldom leads to death.”  When camp is moved, the gallant husband carries his spear and quiver, the wife “does the rest,” carrying the baby, the mat, the earthen cooking-pot, the ostrich shells, and a bundle of skins.  If it happens, as it often does, that there is not enough to eat, the wife has to go hungry.  In revenge she usually prepares her own food only, leaving him to do his own cooking.  If a wife falls ill on the way to a new camping-place, she is left behind to perish. (Ratzel, I., 7.)

In conclusion, and as a climax to my argument, I will quote the testimony of three missionaries who did not simply make a flying visit or two to the country of the Bushmen, as Chapman did, but lived among them.  The Rev. R. Moffat (49) cites the missionary Kicherer, “whose circumstances while living among them afforded abundant opportunities of becoming intimately acquainted with their real condition,” and who wrote that the Bushmen “are total strangers to domestic happiness.  The men have several wives, but conjugal affection is little known.”  This opinion is thus endorsed by Moffat, and a third missionary, the Rev. F. Fleming, wrote (167) that among Bushmen “conjugal affection seems totally unknown,” and pre-matrimonial love is of course out of question in a region where girls are married as infants.  The wife always has to work harder than the husband.  If she becomes weak or ill she is unceremoniously left behind to starve. (Ratzel, I., 72.)

FALSE FACTS REGARDING HOTTENTOTS

Darwin has well observed that a false argument is comparatively harmless because subsequent discussion is sure to demolish it, whereas a false fact may perplex speculation for ages.  Chapman’s assertion that there is love in all Bushman marriages is one of these false facts, as our cross-examination has shown.  In passing now to the neighbors of the Bushmen, the Hottentots, let us bear in mind the lesson taught.  They called themselves Khoi-Khoin, “men of men,” while Van Riebeck’s followers referred to them as “black stinking hounds.”  There is a prevalent impression that nearly all Africans