Ink Atlas

Folk-Lore of the Eastern Cape

by George McCall Theal · 1882

Fantasy · Classics

Traditional tales of the Xhosa and neighbouring peoples of the eastern Cape in South Africa, written down in English by the historian George McCall Theal. Cunning tricksters like Hlakanyana, hungry cannibal monsters, brave children and talking animals, with a closing set of proverbs.

Content note: Originally published in 1882 under a title that uses a word now regarded as a racial slur; the title is changed here. The introduction reflects the colonial attitudes of its time, and the text still uses outdated and offensive terms. Some tales include violence and cannibal monsters.

26 chapters

A look inside

In South Africa the word Kaffir is often used in a general way to signify any black native who is not the descendant of an imported slave, but on the eastern frontier of the Cape Colony the term is usually restricted to a member of the Amaxosa tribe. It is from individuals of this tribe that the following stories have been collected.

Europeans have designated these people Kaffirs ever since the discovery of the country, though they themselves cannot even pronounce the word, as the English sound of the letter r is wanting in their language. R in Kaffir words, as now written, represents the same guttural sound as g does in Dutch, or the Scotch sound of ch in loch; thus Rarabe is pronounced Khah-khah-bay. They have no word by which to signify the whole race, but each tribe has its own title, which is usually the name of its first great chief, with the plural prefix Ama or Aba.

A very large portion of South Africa is occupied by people of this race. All along the eastern coast, as far south as the Great Fish River, the country is thickly populated with Kaffir tribes.

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