The men, who still cling to the old habit of hunting,
cultivate the soil, practise the ruder mechanical arts, and trade
with the usual readiness and greed; they asked us a leaf of
tobacco for an egg, and four leaves for a bunch of bananas.
Missionaries, who, like Messrs. Preston and Best, resided amongst
them for years, have observed that, though a mild and timid
people, they are ever involved in quarrels with their neighbours.
I can hardly understand how they "bear some resemblance to the
dwarfish Dokos of the eastern coast," seeing that the latter do
not exist.
The Dikele grammar proves the language, which is most closely
allied to the Benga dialect, to be one of the great South African
family, variously called Kafir, because first studied amongst
these people; Ethiopic (very vague), and Nilotic because its
great fluvial basin is the Zambezi, not the Nile. As might be
expected amongst isolated races, the tongue, though clearly
related to that of the Mpongwe and the Mpangwe, has many salient
points of difference; for instance, the liquid "r" is wholly
wanting. According to Mr.
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