It is worthy of note that testimony as to the chastity of wild races generally comes from mere travellers among them, ignorant of their language and intimate habits, whereas the writings of those who have dwelt among them give one a very different idea.  As the Rev. Mr. Holden remarks (187), those who have “boasted of the chastity, purity, and innocence of heathen life” have not been “behind the scenes.”  Here, for instance, is Geo. McCall Theal, who lived among the Kaffir people twenty years, filling various positions among them, varying from a mission teacher to a border magistrate, and so well acquainted with their language that he was able to collect and print a volume on Kaffir Folk Lore.  Like all writers who have made a specialty of a subject, he is naturally somewhat biased in favor of it, and this gives still more weight to his words on negative points.  Regarding the question of chastity he says: 

“Kaffir ideas of some kinds of morality are very low.  The custom is general for a married woman to have a lover who is not her husband, and little or no disgrace attaches to her on this account.  The lover is generally subject to a fine of no great amount, and the husband may give the woman a beating, but that finishes the penalty.”

The German missionary Neuhaus bears witness to the fact that (like the Bushmen and most other Africans) the Kaffirs are in one respect lower than the lowest beasts, inasmuch as for the sake of filthy lucre parents often marry off their daughters before they have attained maturity.  Girls of eight to ten are often given into the clutches of wealthy old men who are already supplied with a harem.  Concerning girls in general, and widows, we are told that they can do whatever they please, and that they only ask their lovers not to be imprudent, as they do not wish to lose their liberty and assume maternal duties too soon if they can help it.  Lichtenstein says (I., 264) that

“a traveller remaining some time with a horde easily finds an unmarried young woman with whom he contracts the closest intimacy; nay, it is not uncommon, as a mark of hospitality, to offer him one as a companion,”

and no wonder, for among these Kaffirs there is “no feeling of love in marriage” (161).  The German missionary Alberti relates (97) that sometimes a Kaffir girl is offered to a man in marriage.  Having assured himself of her health, he claims the further privilege of a night’s acquaintance; after which, if she pleases him, he proceeds to bargain for her permanent possession.  Another competent and reliable observer, Stephen Kay, corresponding member of the South African Institution, who censures Barrow sharply for his incorrect remarks on Kaffir morals, says: