Page:George McCall Theal, Ethnography and condition of South Africa before A.D. 1505 (2nd ed, 1919).djvu/148

124 service under its European officers. The only men of this race indeed who ever attained prominence in any way did so through ability as military leaders. Willem Uithaalder, the head of the Hottentot rebels in 1850–53 in the Cape Colony, was admittedly a formidable man to have as an opponent. So was Hendrik Witbooi, who for years conducted war against the Germans in Great Namaqualand. Jan Jonker Afrikaner was another, though not so prominent as those just named, as he fought with Hereros, not with Europeans.

Their fondness for intoxicating liquor has always been an obstacle to their improvement. They are so weak-minded as readily to give way to temptation, and when once a young man or woman has tasted strong drink the power to abstain from it is lost. Brandy has been a perfect curse to them.

Since the Hottentots came in contact with Europeans of a low class and especially with African slaves, however, their blood has been so mixed that except in Great Namaqualand and along the banks of the Vaal and Orange rivers near their junction, very few of pure blood are in existence now, and every successive generation sees the number become smaller.