Smoking Around the Campfire: A San Encounter with the Colonial

Abstract

In 1873 Joseph Orpen, resident of Nomansland, engaged a San11. The decision to use the term 'San' rather than 'Bushman' in this article is a matter of individual preference. The sources to which the article refers often use the term 'Bushman'.View all notes man Qing to guide a combined force of levies and mounted police through the Maloti mountains in present-day Lesotho where they hoped to intercept a group of reluctant Hlubi rebels under chief Langalibalele. Orpen was not only a colonial official but also a keen scholar. In response to his questions Qing commented on some of the rock paintings they saw on their short journey and recounted folklore. A year later Qing's narratives and his comments on rock art were published along with Orpen's account of the journey and 'remarks' by the celebrated linguist and collector of Xam narrative, Wilhelm Bleek in an article in the Cape Monthly Magazine (CMM). Orpen's piece has enjoyed a seminal position in San studies ever since, especially...