Hostage (n^^"l>Fl, taaruhah', suretyship), a per- son delivered into the hands of another as a security for the performance of some engagement. See Plkdge. Conquered kings or nations often gave hostages for the payment of their tribute, or for the continuance of their subjection ; thus .Jehoash, king of Israel, exacted hos- tages from Amaziah, king of Judah (2 Kings xiv, 14 ; 2 Chron, xxv, 24). See War.
Hotchkin, Ebenezer, a Presbyterian missionarj' to the Indians, was born at Richmond, JMass., March 19, 1803. He was sent as an assistant missionary to the Choctaw nation in 1828, and spent the rest of his life i laboring among thorn. He died at the residence of his brother, the late Rev. John Hotchkin, at Lenox, IVIass., Oct. 28, 1867. Hotchkin was not only a minister, but also an instructor, and was active in the management of boarding and other schools. — Wilson, I'reshi/terian Historical Almanac, 1868, p. 334 sq.
Hot Cross-Buns, a kind of muffin or biscuit, with the figiu-e of the cross impressed upon them, quite gen-
erally used in England by the adherents of the Cluirch of England for breakfast on Good Friday. These bis- cuits are said to be derived from the Ecclesiastical Eu- logiaj (q. v.), formerly given as a token of frieiidsliip, or sent to the houses of those who were hindered from re- ceiving the host. — See Staunton, Ecclesiastical Diction- art/, p. 377.
Ho'tham (Heb. Chatham', tlnin, a seal or siguet- ring, as in Exod. xxviii, 12, etc. ; Sept. XitiBdft, Vidg. Uotham'), the name of two men.
1. One of the sons of Heber, the grandson of Asher (1 Chron. vii, 32). B.C. cir. 1658. He is probably the same with Heiacji, whose sons are enumerated in verse 35, and grandsons in verses 36, 37.
2. An iVroerite, and father of Shania and Jehiel, two of David's champions (1 Chron. xi, 44, where the name is Anglicized " Hothan," after the Sept. XwSiuv). B.C. 1046.
Ho'than (1 Chron. xi, 44). See Hotiiam 2.
Ho'thir (Heb. llothir', '\''^T\^^^, preserver ; Sept. 'IwfS'if)/, 'liStp/'), the thirteenth son of Heman (q. v.), who, with eleven of his kinsmen, had cliarge of the twenty-first division of Levitical singers (1 Chron. xxv, 4, 28)" B.C. 1014. See Giddalti.
Hottentots, the aboriguial inhabitants of Cape Colony, in Southern Africa. They are divided into three large tribes : 1 . the Nama, or Namaqua ; 2. the Kora (Korana, Koraqua) ; and, 3. the Saab, or Bushmen (Bosjesmans). In modern times they have been pushed northwards, partly by European immigrants, jiarlly by the Betchuanas and Kaffres. The Nama, or Namaqua, live as nomads along the Orange River, in Great Na- maqualand, which is an independent country, with about 100,000 square miles, and only 40,000 inhabitants, and Little Namaqualand, which is a part of Cape Colony. Tiie Kora, or Korana, were about fifty years ago very numerous in the vicinity of the A''aal and Hart rivers; now they dwell as nomads on both sides of the Upper Orange River, both in Cape Colonj' and in the Orange Free State (q. v.). Tiie Saab, or Bushmen, live scat- tered, partly in the northern districts of Cape Colony, partly in the desert Kalahary. In Cape Colony there were, according to the census of 1865, 81,598 Hotten- tots, by the side of 181,592 Europeans, and 100,536 Kaffres, in a total population of 496,381. Little is known of the Hottentots' religion further than that they believe in a good and an evil spirit, hold festivals on the occasion of the new and full moon, and look upon cer- tain spots as the abode of departed spirits. They have no regular priest, nor anything like an established wor- ship, although they render especial homage to a small, shining bug. They have magicians for whom they have great resjiect. The Bastai-ds, or Griquas, result- ing from the amalgamation of Hottentots and Europe- ans, appear much more susceptible of mental and intel- lectual culture; they also form a distinct race, and a colony of 6000 of them, established at the Cat River in 1826, has been quite successful, and numbered in 1870 about 20,000, nearly all Christians. They are partly nomads, partly agricidturists. The Hottentots in Cape Colony and the Gricpias no longer speak the Hotten- tot language, but a Dutch dialect, strongly mixed with Hottentot and Kaffre words. The Hottentot language is not related to any other, and is especially different from the large South African family of languages. The words are mostly monosyllabic, and usually end in a vowel or nasal sound. Among the consonants, l.f, and V are wanting. There are many dijdithongs. Non-Africans find it impossible to imitate the guttu- rals which the Hottentots breathe with a hoarse voice from a hollow chest, as well as the foiu- clicking sounds which are produced by a lashing of the tongue against the palate, and which in writing arc reiiresented by lines and points ( I = dental ; ! = palatal ; ± = cere- bral; II, lateral). Modern Unguists enumerate four dia- lects : 1. that of the Nama; 2. that of the Kora ; 3. that.
HOTTINGER
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