Page:George McCall Theal, Ethnography and condition of South Africa before A.D. 1505 (2nd ed, 1919).djvu/106

82 the Egyptian, and the feminine affix might be considered the same in the Namaqua, Galla, and Old Egyptian.” This was not known to Dr. Bleek, however, before he made the same discovery and others of a similar nature that placed beyond question the fact that the little group of Hottentots living on the western and southern shores of South Africa must have descended from men who once resided on or near the other extremity of the continent, though now the whole space between is filled by people the structure of whose speech is entirely different.

The question then arose how could the Hottentots, who differ almost as much from the present black inhabitants of Central Africa as they do from Europeans, have found their way to the south? Various answers were suggested, but as every one who attempted to solve this question regarded the black race as having occupied the whole of Central Africa from remote times, through whom migration would have been impossible, none were conclusive or satisfactory. The mystery remained unsolved, like that which veils from our knowledge the cause and the manner of the early migrations of our own race.

A satisfactory answer has now, however, been given at least to part of what is implied in the question. Mr. George