It was the
contrivance of the silken thread, wound here, there, everywhere, as
against the other method, of a horse-hair halter.
Should some swashbuckler have contrary views on native administration, he
could relieve his fierceness by tracing the word 'Hottentot' to its
origin. Sir George had an amusing story of Cape Town in controversy on
this term, which the Hottentots had always insisted did not belong to
their forefathers.
'With a desire to solve the problem,' he related, 'I suggested that
people in Cape Town should be asked to write papers on the name. This
proposal was carried out, and a small sheaf of essays came in response.
Well, I was looking over an old Dutch dictionary, and there I found
"Hottentot" described as meaning "Not speaking well; a stammerer." The
name, apparently, had been conferred by the early Dutch settlers, in
South Africa, upon the natives first met, on account of the stuttering
noise these caused in speaking. All the competitors wanted to have their
papers back, in order, as they pleaded, to make a few corrections.'
Again, that was a process which Sir George was ever willing to apply to
himself. Yet, being very human, he loved to make the corrections in his
own fashion, like the essay-writers at Cape Town. There, at the foot of
Africa, he sat, bold and cautious, leading the What-Was onward to the
What-Ought-To-Be.
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