Some remarks on the Bushmen of the Orange River

Abstract

In this early nineteenth-century ethnographic account, Assistant Surgeon Lewis Leslie offers detailed observations of the Bushmen (San) communities inhabiting the region along the Orange River and Hornberg. Leslie’s remarks focus on their physical characteristics, living conditions, social organisation, and cultural practices. He describes their small stature, symmetrical physiques, and austere lifestyle, emphasising their independence and resistance to subjugation by colonial farmers (Boers). The paper discusses Bushmen dwellings, weaponry—particularly their skill with poisoned arrows and the plant-based toxins used—methods of treating wounds through cupping and suction, and remarkable endurance under conditions of scarcity. Leslie also notes their artistic rock engravings, musical traditions, cosmological beliefs, and ritual practices associated with the sun and death. While reflective of the scientific curiosity of its time, the account is deeply marked by colonial and racialised assumptions, providing insight both into early anthropological perspectives and the lived experiences of the Bushmen along the Orange River during the early 1800s.