Bey EB: ib r A } / a 1 hy ; ‘A oy V 1 ay i ‘ t f Se) i i . i G AY 4 ia i , ry . i My i ay) cs ‘ iT ‘ " Na I, i 2 é Vy BY i) eh pi é ae ) } iN re Dy Re & J ‘ 1 y ’ i ‘ o ” 4 , . q ts | : - ¥ \ " a. NEW oe weTRAVELS INTERIOR PARTS mane er fk -l. Cy. A BY THE WAY OF THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE, IN THE YEARS 1783, 84 AND 85. TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH OF LE VAILLANT. ILLUSTRATED WITH A MAP, DELINEATING THE ROUTE OF HIS PRESENT AND FORMER TRAVELS, AND WITH TWENTY-TWO OTHER COPPER-PLATES. IN THREE VOLUMES, i a a £e0.N DO. dg: PRINTED FOR G. G AND J. ROBINSON, PATERNOSTER-ROW. iv ge, DEDICATION. T O FITIZEN VARRON MY DEAR FRIEND, I Inicribe to you this fecond part of my Travels. Your modefty will take the alarm at’ this public addrefs: but I merely dif charge a debt of long ftanding, or rather [ pay-in a feeble inftalment upon the principal of what I owe you. ~ Why cannot I difcharge the whole, and pay you all which my ee ee a friend- vi DE DICA £1 O friend{hip prompts, and my _ grati- tude enjoins ? It is not yet in your power to prefent to us the detail of a journey much more interefting and ufeful than mine. You have feen wretfted from you ina moment the fruit of four years exertions. Expofed to the poniards of the prieits of Rome, you were unable, when you fled their malice, to fave the moft pre- cious part of yourfelf, In the mean time, deign to re- ceive the public homage I offer you. In accompanying me over the bar- ren and burning fands of Africa, | you was oA TT O N, Vil you muft not expect to find thofe {uperb monuments the vaunted re- mains of which have, in two differ- ent journeys, been the object of your ftudies and refearches; but you will every where encounter the genuine face of nature, and it is to this circumftance I truft for the pro- priety of the homage I am now paying you. Lr VAILLANT. "Tus fecond part of my Travels — ought to have followed much fooner the firf. It was written a long time ago. Private difputes and public affairs have counteracted its publica- tion. Of the firlt part there was an infinite variety of editions, pirated editions and tranflations. But the _ bookfellers never think they have got enough unlefs they have de- voured both the author and his | ae work, ae PREFACE. work. Accordingly they pretended to doubt the fuccefs of the fecond part, after having experienced that of the firft. After a thoufand dif- appointments, I have at length met with an honeft trader. I pleafe my- felf with the opinion that fortune has directed my fteps to a houfe where arts and letters are of fome confideration. It is in vain for me to attempt to deny it: the fuccefs of my firlt pub- lication greatly furpafled my expec- tation. It has no doubt been praifed much beyond its defert. In the midit of the eulogiums I have re- ceived, there were attacks to which I could PR Ee AC e, xi I could not but be fenfible. A cer- tain critic has been much irritated with the fale of my former work, I willingly furrender to him this fe- cond part, which he has already devoured in imagination ; and God grant that it may in fome degree alf- fuage the bitternefs of his wrath! There is added to this edition a general chart of my travels, It will be fold feparately*. I owe much in this refpect to the attention of the unfortunate Laborde, who made every exertion in his power to give effect to its accuracy and precifion, * The map alluded to by the author, will be found prefixed to the firft volume of the prefent tranflation, ) a4 > as oO att J uy Cy nf Jy, tele % ig pag |e babe yee ts ¢ te. on 3 Mi “ae a: mt th re ee Pe TRODUCT YON. THE reader will recollect that I did not return to the Cape till after a fix months journey through the interior parts of the fouthern extremity of Africa. During my abfence, the Cape had expe- rienced many revolutions. On my arrival from. Europe, I found there the French regi ment of Pondicherry; and, on my return from this firft journey, the garrifon was re- inforced with the Swifs regiment of Meu- ron and the legion de Luxembourg. I had been acquainted, in France, with feveral officers of the latter corps; and I felt, on feging them again, all thofe tender {fenfa- tions xIV INTRODUCTION, tions which remind us of our country where- ever we obferve its manners, its character, and its language. The females of the Cape, when I faw them for the firft time, had really excited my afto- nifhment by their drefs and their elegance ; but I admired in them, above all, that mo- defity and referve peculiar to the Dutch manners, which nothing as yet had cor- rupted. In the courfe of fix months, a great change had taken place. It was no longer the French modes that they copied; it was a caricature of the French. Plumes, feathers, ribbons, and tawdry ornaments heaped toge~ ther without tafte on every head, gave to the prettieft figures a grotefque air, which often provoked a {mile when they appeared, This mania had extended to the neighbour- ing plantations, where the women could ) Icarcely . INTRODUCTION. xv fearcely be known. A mode of drefs en- tirely new was every where introduced; but fo fantaftical, that it would have been dif- ficult to determine from what country it had been imported. In the courfe of my journey, I had col- lected a large quantity of oftrich-feathers, which I intended to tranfmit to Europe. - When the ladies got notice of this treafure, it was impoffible for me to convey them to the place of their deftination. They flocked around me from all quarters to beg a few of them. People even whom I did not know prefented themfelves in the name of this or the other lady, and modeftly requefted the — ufe of a dozen feathers for the evening. I difpofed, therefore, of all my plumes as fpeedily as poffible, that I might the fooner fhut up fhop. Such was the folly of the day ; and this mode of infinuating one’s-felf into the good graces of the fair fex was fo effica- cious, XV1 INTRODUCTION. cious, that many officers fent to France for a cargo of feathers to gratify their paffion. The hufbands, on their fide, vying in gallan- ‘try with the lovers, procured fome from Afia, and even from Holland. Africa could © no longer fupply a fufficient number; and they were become dearer there even than in Europe. The French enjoy one advantage in par- ticular above every other nation. Where-~ ever. their deftiny may lead them, , they foon acquire a fort of empire over every thing that furrounds them. ‘Their vivacity, foftnefls of manner, and attention to the graces, have fomething in them fo captivating, and even their prefumption and forwardnels fo forcibly firike the generality of minds, and efpecially the minds of women, that, in a little time, per- fetly overcome and fubdued, it is confidered as a fort of duty and honour to adopt their manners and language. Though the town Was INTRODUCTION. | xii was occupied only with warlike preparations, and though an attack from the Englifh fleet was every moment expected, the French officers had already introduced a tafte for pleafure. Employed in the. morning at their exercife, the French foldiers in the evening acted plays. A part of the barracks was transformed into a theatre; and as women capable of performing female characters could not be found in the town, they afligned thefe parts to fome of their comrades, whofe youth, delicate features, and frefhnefs of complexion, feemed beft calculated to favour the decep- tion. ‘Thefe heroines, of a new kind, height- ened the curicfity of the {fpeCtators, and-ren- dered the entertainment {till more lively and interefting. With regard to the actors, fome of them had actually very confiderable talents for comedy ; and I recollect that one of them. acted the part of Figaro, in the Barber of ‘Seville, in fo fuperior a ftyle, that, at the Cape, and XVII INTRODUCTION. and in his corps, he was afterwards always called by the name of his charaéter. Thefe ingenious diverfions afforded me, I confefs, much amufement; but the idea that moft pleafed me was to fee them transferred to Africa ; that is to fay, in the neighbourhood of lions, panthers, and hyznas. As for the Creoles, who had never witnefled before any thing of the kind, they were abfolutely inchanted. Nothing was talked of in every company throughout the town but the French plays. To add to the general pleafure, ladies of the firft rank confidered it as incumbent on them to lend to the military aCtors and actrefles, their laces, jewels, rich dreffes, and moft valuable ornaments. But fome of them had caufe to repent of their condefcenfion ; for it happened more than once that the countefs of Almaviva having left in pledge at the futtling-houfe her borrowed decorations, the 2 owner, INTRODUCTION. XIX owner, to recover them, was obliged to dif- charge not only the bill due for brandy and tobacco, but all the other debts af the heroine. _ During the intoxication and giddinefs oc- cafioned by thefe amufements, Love alfo did not fail to act his part; and certain little in- trigues were, from time to time, brought to light, which gave employment to the tongue of fcandal, and introduced unhappinefs into fa= milies. Ilymen, it is true, amidft thefe ad- ventures, fometimes intervened to repair the follies of his brother; and many marriages, which reftored every thing to order, were the refult of his negotiations; but the com- plaints, though ftifled, did not lefs exift. The watchfulnefs of the mother was alert. The hufband, by fo much the more fecretly irritated as he faw himfelf obliged to conceal ‘his Jealoufy, curfed in his heart both aétors and theatre; while the matronly part. of the community, lefs on the referve, declaimed with xx INTRODUCTION. with bitternefs againft the licentioufnefs that prevailed, which they wholly imputed to this mode of theatrical entertainment. At laft, to the great mortification of the young, but to the high fatisfa€tion of the old women and hufbands, the theatre was on a fudden fhut up. The caufe that effected this was altogether foreign to the complaints: that were made, and of a nature that it was impoffible to forefee. Though the Cape had not been attacked, it had experienced fome of the ufual fcourges of war. A dread of the Englith fleet having prevented fpecie from being fent thither from Europe, cafh in a little time became fcarce ; the! price, of provifions was increafed ;~ and a general alarm prevailed through ‘the ‘colony. In this penury, the Dutch Eaft.India com- pany thought proper to create a paper cur- rency; but this fictitious money, which was fupported by no other credit than a confidence in CATR ODUCTION. — xx in the fignatures, in reality added one evil more to what already exifted. The greater part of the planters in the interior of the fet- tlement were obftinate in refuling it; and many of them, apprehenfive of being paid with paper, would no longer bring provifions to the town. By this conduct the value of every thing was quadrupled ; and in a little time extreme fcarcity was the confequence. While matters were in this fituation, our actors, who in all probability were not too regularly paid, or who at leaft did not receive an income proportioned to their expences, found themfelves embarrafled. ‘To extricate ._themfelves from their difficulties, two of them took it into their heads to imitate the — paper money of the company, and .to put their notes alfo in circulation. Unfortunately they were fo badly executed, and the figna- tures in particular fo awkwardly copied, that they were foon detected. Juftice laid hold Vou. I, b of wr. 6UMMLNNT RODUC TION. of the affair; the Hielinie affumed a ferioug afpect ; and it was for fome time apprehended that our two heroes of the fock would have made a very tragical exit. Every thing, how- ever, was at length arranged; and either from regard to the individuals and the corps to which they belonged, or gratitude for the pleafure they had afforded, it was thought fufficient to banifh them from the Cape, and to put them on board a_veflel that was about to return to Europe. I was prefent when they departed. The theatrical company was thus rendered incomplete; and, afhamed of the adventure, they dared neither feek others to fupply the vacant places, nor refume their entertainments. Intoxicating as were thefe pleafures, Go- “wernment meanwhile had not. been inatten- tive tothe danger which threatened the co- lony. As they daily expected to be attacked by the Englith fleet, they had increafed the means AMTRODUCTION. — xxii 3 fiieans of defence, and ordered different works and new fortifications to be conftru@ed. But, though thefe plans had been begun before I left the Cape, they were not finifhed when I returned ; and I every where found men — at. work, “bufily employed in completing them, At firft, the bufinefs had been carried on with activity and ardour; becaufe the inha- | bitants, inftigated by their private intereft, which was then confidered as involved with that of the public, had voluntarily offered their fervices, and mingled with the workmen. Young and old, foldiers and magiftrates, failors and planters, all folicited the honour of co-operating for the general good and common fafety. To behold this heteroge- neous multitude—fome loaded with pick-axes, and fome with fpades, or other fimilar im- plements—marching out in the morning from the town, and proceeding in high {pirits b2 to XXIV WT ROD UC Tam: to the new fortifications, was a fight truly admirable. But this patriotic fervour was of no long continuance. Under pretence of {paring their {trength, and that they might not weary them- felves to no purpofe, they foon caufed their flaves to follow them with the tools and inftruments. In a little time they contented themfelves with fending their flaves only; and at laft thefe. fubftitutes-themfelves, in imi- tation of their mafters, or perhaps by their fecret orders, gave over going alfo. Their enthufiafm, in fhort, from the firft moment | of its breaking out till the period when it was thus entirely cooled,’had been the affair of fomething lefS than a fortnight. The works, however, though abandoned to mercenary hands, were not interrupted. Government caufed them to be continued with vigour; and, when [ returned from my journey, INTRODUCTION, xv journey, the expence of them already amount- ed to a very confiderable fum. | Nothing was to be feén but preparations for war and the means of defence. It appeared as if every inch of ground was meant to be difputed with: the enemy ; and if the company had | reafon to complain’ of the enormous coft with which thefe preparations were attended, they at any rate proved, that thofe into whofe hands they had intrufted one of their moft important poflefions neglected nothing which they thought calculated to preferve it. From the Table Mountain to Falfe Bay the whole road was lined with {mall redoubts, which, being conftructed in fuch a manner as _ to fupport each other, feemed likely to check the enemy, or at leaft retard him in hts march. Another road which eontlated from the town to Baie-aux-bois (woody bay) was for- | b3 tified xxvl JTNTRODUCGTION tified in a different manner. Being both the moft beautiful, and at the fame time the moft -pleafant of all the roads in the neighbour- hood, it formed a delightful walk for the in-, habitants ; but from a dread that the Englifh, invited by the facility which it prefented of — marching to the town, might refolve to make their defcent at this bay, the road had: not only been broken up throughout its whole length, but, at certain diftances, deep trenches and excavations had been cut in it, Thefe works, which were nothing in reality but mi- ferable deftru@tion, I could not behold with- — out pain, ‘The road had become my favou- rite walk; and I had in fome meafure ap- propriated it to myfelf. It was here I was. fond of ftraying at thofe moments when it was deferted by others, to indulge at leifure in my reveries, and to regulate the plan of my journeys. I had counted every tree or fhrub that grew on its borders, and was acquainted with every {pot where I could fit down ta enjoy INTRODUCTION. xxvii enjoy my meditations. War and its prepa- rations had rooted up the verdant turf, and - the flowers which had added to its beauty were faded or elfe totally difappeared. The town had loft what to me was its greatedt ornament, its moft bewitching charm, In the neighbourhood, the whole fhore, from Pointe des Pendus (gallows-point), near the Lion’s Rump, to the bottom of the Bay, was defended by new works of every kind, The batteries were every where increafed. Cannon, it is true, were wanting; but a fupply of thefe had been promifed from the Ifle of Frances and, if I remember right, after a peace was concluded, they actually arrived. On the eaft the town itfelf was to be de- _ fended by a ftrong line of palifades, begin- ) ning at the fhore and ending at the bottom of the Devil Mountain. It was the Ifle of France again that was to furnith the wood neceflary b4 for xxvil , LENT RODD GT LOM, for this circumvallation ; and that engagement was, at any rate, much better fulfilled than the preceding one. But was it not a fhame for a Government, pofiefling immentfe forefts, to fend eight hundred leagues to folicit of a foreign power affiftance, which, without dif- ficulty and almoft without expence, it might have obtained by fea as well as by land from different parts of its own territories at home? L have already publithed fome reflections on. this fubje@t in the account of my firft tra- vels. On my return to Holland, I mentioned the circumftance to feveral of the direétors of the company, and I have no doubt that fome plan will be adopted in confequence, which | their own intereft at the fame time fo power- fully recommends*. * The ftate of things fince thefe lines were written has greatly changed; it will, perhaps, change {till more, ‘and facilitate eftablifhments, which, by cuftom, felfith- \ nefs, and the intereft of partial aflociations, have long been retarded. 4 | As INTRODUCTION. XXIx As it was on the eaftern fide that the inha- bitants expected the Englith to make their attack, ‘it was in this quarter they took care to conftruct the flrongeft fortifications. But, — among thefe new works, there was one which was far from meeting with general approba~ tion. By profeffional men it was confidered, if not altogether ufelefs, as calculated at leaft _ very little to obftruat the taking of the town. To prove who were in the right, and who in the wrong, in the judgment of this matter, it would have been neceflary that the town fhould a@ually be befieged; but this was an event that did not take place. To the inha- bitants, however, the confirudtion of this fort afforded a fubjeét of confiderable pleafantry. According to them, the contractors had la- boured for their own advantage rather than for that of the colony ; and by Colonel Gordon the fort was called in derifion Fort Gulet, While xxx INTRODUCTION. While the means of defence were thus in- ereafed, Government endeavoured alfo to aug- ment the number of troops. With this view, every perfon without diftin@ion that offered himfelf was enlifted: be his defeéts what they might, not an individual was refufed. I do not precifely know what fuch foldiers would have done in cafe of an attack; but I fufpet they would have oppofed no very for- midable face to the enemy. Juft the fame, in my opinion, would it have been with a regiment of Hottentots that was formed. Never did plan afford fo much ~ feope for ridicule as this; and to be convinced how juft was the ridicule, a fight only of thefe grotefque troops at their exercife was fufficient. One day as I was croffing the parade where they were aflembled; and where one of the company’s fervants was teaching them what he called military evolutions, I enjoyed INTRODUCTION. — xxxi enjoyed this pleafure. I had never before laughed fo heartily, and have never thought of them fince without the fame convulfive merriment. Thofe who have feen at a fair, apes perform their exercife under the whip of a fhow-man, joftle one another by con- ; trary motions, wheel to the tight when they fhould turn to the left, and jump about or leap on each Cheeks backs when they ought to march or to halt, will have no imperfect’ image of the manceuvres of thcfe ‘demi-fa- vages. As none of them knew how to dif tinguifh his right hand from his left, the reader may judge how well they muft have obeyed the commands of their general. With a ftupid look, they kept their eyes fted- faftly fixed upon him; but {carcely had he given the word when, agitated as if by convul- fions, each performed a different evolution ; and all that could be taught them was to re- main in a line clofely {queezed one againft the other, On the arrival of the firft bullet, and sxii INTRODUCTION. — and even on the firft report of a cannon, the whole corps would have difperfed, like a flock of ftarlings, and never would it have been poflible to rally them. - There was one mode, however, in which perhaps they might have been rendered ufe- ful: to have pofted them in fome fecure place of ambufcade, where they could have no- thing to apprehend, and there to have em- ployed them in firing as occafion might offer. For it is {carcely to be expeded that the fa- wage, a total {tranger to our prejudices, fhould fet much value on the honour to be acquired by remaining at one’s poft, there to await perhaps certain death. The favage prefers lying in‘ambufh for his enemy under the co- ver of darknefs. The art of war is to him the art of avoiding danger. If he attack, it is only when he thinks himfelf fure of killing, without on his fide running any rifk; and to afk him to expofe his life to, procure victory to INTRODUCTION. xxxiii to thofe in whofe fuccefs he has no interelt, would be propofing an ation that he would confider in the light of infanity. Of the merit and bravery of the different officers deftined to command the forts and the troops, I have nothing to fay. They were all, no doubt, men of | courage and talents, all worthy of the pofts affigned, or the rank conferred upon them ; but I very much regret ted that I did not fee among them the brave and intrepid Staaring. This feaman, fince fnatch- ed by the hand of death from his family and country, had lately given an example of refo- Jution that aftonithed the whole colony ; and 1 publith it here with the more pleafure, as I fhall thus, in part, difcharge what I owe to the memory of a man to whom I was exceed- ingly attached. A fhip under Danith colours had an- chored in the Cape Bay ; and there were rea- fons fxxiv INTRODUCTYON. fons to fufpeé& that the was an Englith {pyj or at leaft a tranfport laden with warlike — ftores for the enemy. Staaring, who was port-captain, thought it his duty, in that qua- lity, to endeavour to obtain certain informa- tion on the fubject ; and with that view went on board his floop, and proceeded to the fhip to examine her. This was what the Dane had been afraid of. Scarcely was the captain in his power when he gave orders to weigh anchor, and made preparations for put- ting to fea. Staaring, however, fufpedting this treachery, had, before he quitted the thore, taken precautions to prevent its fuccefs. Accordingly, he made from the deck the fignal Mat had been agreed upon; and the weft bat- tery, which he had himfelf caufed to be con- ftructed, and which was called by his name, immediately opened and began to difcharge its _ guns upon the veflel. In vain did the Dane threaten in his wrath, that, unlefs Staaring gave a counter-fignal and filenced the battery, he ( INTRODUCTION, xxxy he would lath him to the main-maft, and ex- pofe him-to deftruction from the thot of thofe very cannon which were fired in obedience to his orders. This brave man was not to be intimidated ; and inftead of bately complying with the propofal, he repeated his fignal, - which brought a fecond difcharge from the battery. When the crew faw this, they be- came almoft. frantic with rage, fell upon the object of their vengeance, beat him feverely, and actually tied him to the maft: but Staar- ing, though furrounded by danger, derided his tormentors. “ You know not what you “do,” faid he with a fmile. “ Perceive you * not that thefe- bullets are fent by my com- * mand; that they know me; and will, there~ “° fore, do me no harm °?” _ What he thus faid ia pleafantry, wonderful as it may appear, was eventually realifed. The thot fell in fhowers on every fide, with-~ eut one of them touching him: but the vei- 3 fel sii INTRODUCTION fel was fo fhattered, that fhe was foon obliged _ to put about and to anchor with difgrace un-~ der the battery that had fired “pon hem \ Tn fhort, this expedition, the fuccefs of which was the effe& almoft of a moment, proved fo much the more honourable to the hero who conducted it, as the veffel, in reality, was a {mugegler ; and, being judged a legal prize, was ‘fold, I believe, for the benefit of the company. For fome time nothing was talked of at the Cape but Staaring’s intrepidity. But his private affairs requiring his prefence tn Holland, he had recently departed with his. wife; and, to avoid being attacked by the Englifh, took his paffage on board a Danith fhip that was bound to Copenhagen. | The adventure at the Cape had reached the court of Denmark; but the circumftances of the capture were not diftinaly known ; and Staaring had to fear that, if the court fhould hear of his arrival, he might be arrefted, tt aaa INTRODUCTION. xxivii and perhaps put in irons till more certain _4Gnformation could be cbtained. Some friends Saccsearned him of his danger. He thought it prudent, therefore, to withdraw; and de- parted privately from Copenhagen, leaving behind him his wife, who did not delay to follow him to Holland, where fhe had the ‘misfortune foon after to lofe him. But he has left a fon who one day will doubtlefs ful- fil the brilliant deftiny to which the name he inherits fo powerfully ir invites him. The time I fpent at the Cape was not loft to my ftudies and purfuits. I had not only been able, with a part of what I had brougat with me from my journey, to form ‘an interefting colleStion ; but fearcely a “day. elapfed without my rambling into the coun- “try to. procure other articles by which to en- large it, Nothing came amifs to me: beetles, flies, butterflics, chryfalides, nefts, eggs, qua- -drupeds, and birds of all kinds, had their value; Vou, I. ¢ and xxxvil PN’RR ODUC TION and all ferved either to fill up a place in my cabinet, or as objects of ftudy. At the houfe of Boers too there was a kind of menagerie to which I frequently reforted, in order to make obfervations and fometimes experi- ments. It was by means of this menagerie, added to what my two journeys had enabled me to obferve, that I fucceeded in obtaining a know- ledge of the food, propentities, habits, and duration of life, more or lefs protracted, of cer- tain animals. Some of thefe obfervations, which. are highly worthy the attention of na- turalifts, I fhall publifh hereafter. At pre- fent, I mean to confine myfelf to a fingle ex- periment, which, not falling in with the thread of my narration, would be confidered as foreign to it, and confequently can here only be inferted with propriety. I had often remarked that fpiders fpread their INTRODUCTION, | xxxix their webs in certain folitary and clofe places, to which it is very difficult for flies and even for gnats to penetrate ; and I concluded that, as thefe animals muft long remain without food, they were capable of enduring confider- able abftinence and hunger. To be affured of this circumftance, I took a | large garden fpider, which I inclofed under a glafs bell, well faftened round the bottom with cement, and in this fituation [ left it for ten months together. Notwithftanding this de- privation of food, it appeared during the whole period equally vigorous and alert; and I re- marked no other alteration than that its belly, which at the time of its imprifonment was the fize of a nut, decreafed infenfibly till at laft it was {carcely larger than the head of a pin. I then put under the bell another {pider of the fame kind. At firft they kept at a dif- tance from each other, and remained motion- ale lefs ; xl FT RODUC T TON. lefs; but prefently the meagre one, preffed by hunger, approached and attacked the firanger. It returned feveral times to the charge; and in thele diferent confli@ts its enemy being deprived of almoft all its claws, it carried them away, and retired to its for- mer fituation to devour them. The meagre one itfelf had alfo loft three of its claws, on. . which it equally fed; and I perceived that its plumpnefs was in fome meafure reftored by this repaft. At length, the newcomer, de- prived of all its means of defence, fell the next day a facrifice. It was {peedily devour- ed; and in lefs than twenty-four hours the old inhabitant of the bell became as round as it had been at the fir! moment of its con- finement. Other animals can by no means endure the fame degree of hunger. An abftinence of a few days is fufficient to deftroy them; and the term will be fhorter or longer according to PNTMODUCT VON. ‘kx to the nature of their food. Among birds, for example, the granivorous generally die in the fpace of from forty-cight to fixty hours, while the entomophagi, thofe who feed on in-_ .fe&ts, will hold out for a fhort period longer. But thofe which can leaft bear abfti- nence are fuch as live on fruit; a property that is owing probably to their ftomach; which, digefting more fpeedily, has more frequent need of aliment. This quick digé{- tion, however, is attended with one advan- tage, which is, that, reduced to an equal de- gree of inanition by ab/tinence, the animal, if affifted, wil! recover and refume its ftreneth fooner than cthers. With the eranivorous fpecies this is not the cafe. Debilitated to a certain point, if nothing but the feeds on which they ulually feed be givea them, they can never be reftored; their ftomach having loft, in part, its power of digeftion. The carnivorous, on the contrary, ‘retain their di- g4 geftion xl INT, RODUO@TRhOw; geftion to the laft moment; and hence it happens that, receiving the kind of food which is fuited to them, an inftant only is neceflary to their recovery, A little refleGion will enable us clearly to perceive the caufe of this difference. Fleth, from its affinity to the fubftance of the ani- mal, becomes {peedily incorporated with it ; and, as its juices are highly nutritive, the afiftance .it gives is almoft inftantaneous, With feeds. the cafe is the reverfe: to be di- : gefted, they muit remain {ome time in the ftomach, where they require to be previoufly foftened and triturated. This operation is te~ dious, and fuppofes, befides, a vital action in the gullet; a motion and force which fafting deltroys. What I have advanced upon this fubjeét is not only fupported by plaufible reafons, but is the relult alfo of experiment, I took INTRODUCTION. xliii _ I took two fparrows of the fame age, and in equally good condition, and reduced them, by the want of nourifhment, to fuch a ftate of weaknefs that neither of them was able to take what was offered him. I then forced _ down the throat ef one fome bruifed feeds, and of the other a little minced flefh. In a few saints the latter was quite well; while the former, two hours after, died. Confidering, however, granivorous birds with attention, it might be faid, that feed, though it forms the principal part of their food, is to thefe animals a food at the fame time that is infufficient and too little nutritive, fmce they add theteto fruit, flefh, infects, and, in a word, whatever nutritive fubftance they meet with. The carnivorous, on the other hand, whether they live on flefh or on foalecis, are uniform «ia, ,their.. food. ..One kind is fufficient for them; and they have no recourfe to feeds. C4 Of si¥ PN TRODUCEIO WR, Of all the feathered race, the fpecies moft fubje& to hunger and to the frequent want of food have appeared to me to be the pifcivo- rous, or fuch as feed on fifh. Nature has ac- ,cordingly given them large gullets or pouches, in which they accumulate, for future want, a larger ftore of provifion. ‘= With regard to birds of prey, they can en- dure hunger for a very confiderable period. I have made on this fubjet various experi- rents, but fhall content myfelf with relat- ing a fingle fact, which is truly aftonifhing, and feems to prove fomething more than the mere capacity of enduring abitinence. I had a vulture of the fpecies called at the Cape chaffe-fente * (dung-hunter) which I * The author gives here only a tranflation of the name ufed atthe Cape. The Dutch name is ffrontjaager ; and the bird alluded to is the fame kind of vulture as that called in the Weft-Indies the carrion crow. T. wanted INTRODUCTION. xt wanted to kil, in order to ftufl it. he animal appearing too iat for the purpofe, I obliged it to faft. Upon vifiting it, I every day expected to find it dead, or reduced at leaft to extreme weaknefs; but it always ap- pearéd in the fame ftate of health and vigour. At length, after eleven days of entire faft, feeing it ftill alive, my patience was exhautted; ‘and, as I had other cares to engage my atten- tion, I put an end to its exiftence. In pres paring it for prefervation, I perceived that it could have lived a much longer time; for, notwithitanding its abftinence, it {till fo a- bounded with fat, that I was obliged to ex- tract it before I could fucceed in my ope- ration. The fame obfervation is applicable to qua- drupeds. Such as live on flefh will endure hunger much longer than others; a faa fo well known and attefted, that 1 may {pare mylelf the trouble of proving it. — 5 The ahi INTRODUCTION ’ The human fpecies alfo furnifhes a very ftrik- ing inftance of the fame truth in thofe nations which more or lefs feed upon flefh: The ~Hottentot whofe nourifhment is milk and roots, or dried locufts, can by no means en- dure the fatigue and hunger which other Hot- tentots can who live by the chace, and who, often obliged to pafs feveral days without eating, will fuffer no inconvenience from the circumftance. I have even remarked that this kind of aliment, whatever prejudices may exift to the contrary, every thing elfe being equal, contributes to render the indi- vidual ftronger than any other. Of all the races of men with which I have been ac- quainted, the largeft and: moft robuft, in my opinion, are the planters at the Cape; and I know of none that are fo addicted to ani- mal food. I myfelf, who, by the nature of my journeys, was obliged for feveral years to live folely on flefh, muft acknowledge that I never enjoyed a more uniform or better flate of INTRODUCTION. xvi of health than at that period. I alfo never fo much abftained from firong © liquors; whereas, if the Englifh, who eat more ani- mal food than the other nations of Europe, can make upon it two meals a day, it is be- caufe they drink in the interval, tea, punch, and other beverages of the fame tendency, which accelerate its digeition, Befides the experiments I profecuted as to the power, more or lefs extenfive, that cer- tain animals have of fubfifting without food, I engaged in others as to the impafhibility, fo to exprefs my‘elf, of certain kinds of infects, an impafhibility by means of which beings, the term of whofe exiftence is fix months, or even lefs, appear to have received from na- ture the gift of being indeftruGible through the medium of thofe fenfations commonly called painful, which are ordinarily deftructive of every thing that has life. Lares I took xivin INT RODU CTION, I tcok a large red-winged locuft of the Cape, opened its belly, and, pulling out its inteftines, filled the cavity with cotton; and in that ftate I fixed it to the bottom of a box with a pin, which paffed through its thorax. It remained there for five months ; and at the end of this period it ftill moved both its legs and its antenn2. - IT transfixed other locufts in the fame man- ner, without, however, opening their bellies asin the former cafe; and, to try if I could ftifle them, I put into the box in which they were enclofed camphor and fpirit of turpen- tine, and they lived there notwithftanding feveral days. “ Tf you tear a leg froma fly,” fays the phi- lofopbical author of Etudes de la Nature, “ it * moves about as if it had fuftained no lofs, « When deprived of fo confiderable a mem- “ber, it neither faints nor is convulied; emits INTRD DUCTION. 7 x lik “emits no cry, nor fhews any fymptom of “pain. Children of a cruel difpofition amule “themfelves with thrufting long ftraws into “the anus of thefe infects; and, thus im- “naled, they fly into the air, or walk and per- “ form their ufual movements, without feem- « ing to be in the leaft affeQted by it. Reau- “mur, one day, cut off the flefhy and muf- * cular horn of a large caterpillar, which con- ““ tinued-to feed.as if nothing had happened #:to:it,”” I have fometimes attempted to drown in {fpirit of wine certain kinds of infeéts. The moft robuft carnivorous kind would have been ftifled by it in lefs than two minutes; whereas thefe infe€ts were often alive after an immerfion of twenty-four hours. It is well known that Dr. Franklin recovered flies which he found in fome bottles of wine that had been fent to him from Madeira, and which ie had kept in his cellar for upwards of fix months. | | Thefe Lh ET Rc Tao: Thefe experiments, which were a fource of confiderable amufement, occupied my hours of leifure, filled up the interval between my two journeys, and ferved to moderate my impa- tience. But at length the defire of again con- templating nature recurred with fo much force, that a refidence at the Cape became in- fupportable, and I began to think ferioufly of my departure. TRA- * ¢ f NF L hier eee ee ee a1) 25 Capricom " rs a 7 | ae « wape eee a * @ a ee . q : \ ta i, * i f- VLE VAILLAN TS favo lH 1ES \ Ze ee ———- inthe = | SOUTHERN PART of ———— - > 7 AFRICA, ; | | 4 British Miles Gg}to a Degree L B ——z = = C | | | | COUNTRY of the BOSSIMANS | |< Steerrene ROGGE VELDS | dake rs = ~ Gramre | Games. Level Gunny akeunding with GREAT COUNTRY = Zier & Tigers | oF KArow | Tibation i Roce Vap— sar er Dario endive Laie hy OO de Kicditesens Ber Beater Toy Veron IS 8706. Ragraved eg alNeele Strat Poe Ae eS INTO THE INTERIOR PAR. LS; OF CN a tag Se COUNTRY OF THE GREATER AND LESS — 3 NIMIQUAS: Sit down at laft to difcharge my debt. Dif ferent as are the circumftances unde? which I refume my pen, the impulfe to wtite is be- come the more powerful. The benefit of my - long and wearifome travels fhall not be loft. If the firft fruits have been dévoured by mercilefs oppreffors, the misfortune is amply répaid by the {pectaele of public liberty. A fuficiently fine harveft ftill remains to make me anxious of of- fering i it to my country ; andi this portion, at Vo. 1.4 B leatt, e 3 ee ea area E leaft, of the only prefents I am able to beftow, will neither be debafed by tares nor weeds. In the fituation in which I live, I find the image -of my early independenée., I have no obftacles- to overcome, and no corrupt beings to deal with, that I may pay to nature the tribute of - adoration, which. fhe has a right to expect from the moft faithful of her lovers. I re- enter the defarts of Africa once more to vilfit. her. I fhall paint her as fhe is. She cannot but be pleafed at feeing me, when fhe learns the efforts that, in this happy portion of the earth, have been made’to revive her wérfhip, and rebuild her altars. I will fhow her her portraits: She will not defpife the drefs in which they will be feen. Can fhe be offended if, at fo great a diftance from the country where fhe firft appeared to me without either paint.or attire, a flight veil be thrown over her charms? or rather has fhe not herfelf fixed the limits where change of temperature, and greater wants imperioufly demand .a modification of her effence? Let, it then excite,no aftonifhment if, in-the. relation of my-:adventurgs, and de- firous of preferving my fincerity, a figh efcape ‘me at the fight of her fir image. She had my whole, affections ; ; Lowe to her an account . : BS} | A-ATRe Ty GAP 3 all the fectets of my heart ; and this predilec- tion, which I cannot forego for the remote affylum in which I am deftined to take up my refidence by her fide, is an additional homage that I render to the people ftill worthy of prac- tifing her leffons. ' Land of repofe, of ignorance, and of felicity; : land that without toil haft fo long nourithed me; ye filent rocks, where J depofited all re- membrance, anduall regret of the paft; ye in- - ehanting folitudes, troubled by no figh, and foiled by no tyranny ; fhould fome Frenchman chance to wander upon your borders, open to him your delightful retreats, and render ftill more auguft the ineftimable blefiing which his exertions have obtained for him! I was fcarcely returned to the Gape of Good- Hope when my thoughts already turned upon another-excurfion. Sixteen months inceilantly occupied in travelling and huating, had nei- ther cooled my zeal, nor accomplifhed my withes. The paffion of increalinag my know- ledge innataral hiftory became every day more _ imperious, and feemed to acquire ftrength from the multitude of objeGs I had collected. My fatigues were no fooner at an end, than the re- aaa of them» ended alfo. Finding my- B 2 felf uae - 4 : TR AVES ADDN felf inthe midft of a town, and about to engage in the goffip of a fociety, for which I was by no means formed, I could not help cafting be- hind me a longing look. I plunged in idea into thofe romantic retreats, thofe majeftie fo- refis, of which I had taken pofleffion without difficulty, and could leave without protectors. ‘This ftrange mixture of feeling and mifan- thropy, the ordinary guide of the actions of my life, abated the pleafure of feeing again friends who were fo dear tome; or in other words, the Cape was not the place in which it would have been moft pleafant to me to have enjoyed their company. From this ebb and -flow of pleafure and uneafinefs refulted a fenti- ment no lefs fingular. I mean a total indiffer- ence asto the difcoveries [had made, and with | which it was my purpofe to enrich the fineft and moft extenfive of all the feiences. The fight and developement of the curious objects ‘] had brought back with me to the Cape af- . forded me but little of heartfelt delight. The dramatic intereft was paffed.. Thus it is with the moft charming concert, which often, when the effect is produced, leaves a void in the foul, and the compofer is coldly employed in putting together the different parts of his mufic. By AFRICA. 5 By dept ees my fociability returned, and { felt an inclination for company ; but to enjoy alfo my treafures, | was forced to become a ftran- ger to myfelf, | } “In all my attentions friendfhip had the firft place. LI once more faw, and prefled to my heart, the refpectable Boers, whofe health had occafioned me fuch alarm, when I was yet a hundred and fifty leagues from the Cape, and encamped on the borders of the Kriga. To him’ was I indebted, from the pains he took to get me into his houfe, after my unfortunate dif- after in the bay of Saldanha, for all the fruits of fo curious an expedition. He was eager to afcertain the ftate of the boxes I had brought with me, as he had before employed the utmoft precaution in unpacking thofe I had remitted to him in the courfe of my travels. His zeal had made him ingenious, and fuggefted means of prefervation that abfolutely aftonifhed me, To oblige me he had become a natural philofo~ pher ; and my colleGtion was not only unim- paired by pafling through his dextrous hands, but he had claffed the different fubjeGts of >it with great propriety and intelligence. The arrangement of this cabinet, when I did not even! know whether it had elcaped the accidents. B 3 of 6 ‘TRAVELS AN of fo tedious a conveyance,-was a fight truly ravifhing. I had felt great anxiety re{pecting this firit colleQion. When I called to mind the various ways in which it might be injured, the diitance from which it was’ fent, the nature of - the roads, the fucceflive and continual effet of heat and rain, and thecarelefinefs, perhaps, of the perfons to whom it had been intrufted, I expeet- ed to find at beft nothing but a wreck. On the contrary, my animals had gained new life, and feemed to breathe under the eye of their maf- ter. Such cares, fuch precaution and delicacy, . could not fail to render at laft my: return agree: able to: men) + sod vifit to the boxes which had artived sith me completed my fatisfaGtion. Every thing they contained was equally brilliant and whole. My birds, which amounted to a thoufand and eighty, were as frefh as at the moment when they were killed and prepared; my butterflies re- tained all their purity, and there was not an in- fect that had loft fo much as a feeler. On this ac- count the method I employed in packing and conveying them became additionally dear to gae.: “Tite kind of box that I. invented for the purpofe | has been deferibed i in the firft volume of ne former travels ; ; and experience has fo fully AgRrc x 7 } fully ednvinced me of its excellence that I can- a tod often recommend the ule of it. “The'news of my*return was foon {pread through the Cape, atid a crowd of idlers haften- ed from every quarter requefting to’ fee what they called iny new curiofities. The trouble of — continually ‘opening and fhutting my boxes de- termined’ me to add this portion of hy riches to that which my fiiend’had fo ingenfoufly ar? ranged in my abfcénce. I began with claffing the different fpecies ‘of birds, not indeed me- thodically, but, in a natural feries, by flys male and female together. Almoft the whole of Boers’ houfe was con- verted into a cabinet of natural hiftory, and this fort of decoration, at once {plendid and novel, attracted fo much company, that one might have fuppofed it the general place of ren- dezvous of the whole town. It was never with- out vifitors. What kind of curiofity influenced thefe vifitors,’ and what intereft was felt for the arts and fciences, by a people wholly en- grofled: by ‘mercantile fpeculations, may: be judged from the cireumftance, that the objects which’afforded them the greateft delight were frequently thofe™ belonging to ‘the cantons neareft the town, 'andithat there was not an in eae _ _habitan & TRAVELS IN habitant ‘of the Cape, who, even in his moft or= © dinary walks, might not obferve fubjeéts of natural hiftory, extremely valuable to any but an African. How is it when nature, at every ftep produces a miracle under our feet,. that men can be fo indifferent to her worfhip, and that the love of gold can compenfate the plea- fure which the difcovery of one only of her fe- crets is capable of affording ? Among thefe inquifitive perfonages there were many, however, whofe deportment in — fome degree flattered my fenfibiliry. At fight — of the rareties which I had brought fo far, | remarked a much lefs intereft for the fruit of my travels than for the traveller himfelf. They could hardly conceive the poflibility of my hay- ing efcaped the numerous perils which had be- fore been exaggerated to me; and if, like » Ulyfies, my family had refided at the Cape, the report of my death would have given me _ more than one fuitor to contend with, and more than one Eumeus to feduce. A ftill greater number regarding my labours as futile and unproductive, were continually teaz- ing me with the queftijon, “* Well; what gold ynine have you found?” Gold was the idol of . thefe men, anda fingle grain of this omnipo- tent AFRICA; of tent metal would have produced more effe& upon them than the moft humane and generous fentiments. Every expedition that brought no gold with it, was, in their eftimation, fo much time wretchedly mifpent. ‘This paflion for gold is the chain that links together the’ f{cat- tered Dutch. JIremember, that in my early youth, when my father took me with himtoa diftance from the colony, and we brought back with us, to Paramaribo, fome curious objects for the embellithment of his cabinet, the inhabi-. tants never failed to afk why inftead of thefe things we had not brought gold. But let. me. not forget that 1 found among the crowd fome enlightened amateurs, whofe fuffrage were a counterbalance to thefe repeated mortifications, and by whom my labours were sia a manner appreciated and felt. Inthe number of thefe judges I ought parti- -cularly ‘to diftinguifh Colonel Gordon. He had traverfed, like myfelf, fome of the fouthern countries of Africa. To many of the literati of Europe his obfervations are known. Should he read this account, he will find in it the pledge of an efteem that is without. bounds, May it “induce him to extend his reputation by pub- jifhing his difcoveries. He owes tq Europe an 10 TRAVELSOIN an account of “Rich complete reféarches, and which relate to'fo ihterefting a part'of Africa. They are the ‘property of the ftience, which would then no longer remain ‘buried in’ obli-. vion. The Colonel ‘was frequently“ delighted _ with the many and various fpecies Phad colle@- ed, and he hefitated‘not to acknowledge that the siren at of them were eifiaen! new to him, © 7 Rib It is true; that, bound to ollie by no tie that Site with} of controuled: my favourite purfuits, abfolute mafter of my time, and dif engaged from every affeGtion but that of the chace, I gave myfelf up to its exercife like a true favage. A favage indeed ‘has no induce- ment but want; whereas I often afhxed to the conqueft of a fingle object whofe’ exiftence I had difcovered, a price that no! watchings and no fatigue could counterpoife. Whenever, al- lured by the cry, ‘orother token of feme new bird, the ordinary means. were infufficient, y fet my invention to work that it might not — efeape, and if it were neceflary to fpend @ whole month in purfuing, or rather in waiting for my prey, | immediately pitched my tent, and never quitted the nas? till I had ob- tained ithat 29% faced Gh if AF RTCA. rE Tt is to this unbending perfeverance I owe the advantages of poffefling almoft every fpecies _ of bird belonging to that part of Africa over which I travelled. I ufe the word almoft, be- caufe there are certainly events that exceed the | limits of our power. Who does not know, for inftance, how much the changes of feafon are calculated to’ drive from the hunter, or bring within his reach, {pecies of birds, which he can then derive only from chance? It is thus with birds of paflage. In countries fubje&t to heavy rains, to long droughts, or confiderable. varie-~ ties of atmofphere, fuch birds no doubt come and go much oftener than in Europe; where we experience no alternative but that of heat and cold; and no fportfman, however dextrous, ought to expect any thing more than to obtain a collection that fhall bear fome degree of pro- portion to the variety of fpecies : to difcover all that exift of this kind, the life of man would _be infufficient. | My days were ufeftlly and almoft wholly occupied:in clafling my treafures, keeping my cabinet in order, andthinking upon the means of fupplying its deficiences, in order to form a complete fyftem, that fhould one day, under the infirmities of age, confole me for the inca- | ; pacity oe Ae avi as Aa pacity of ftudying the élements at their fource, and deprive me of regret at the recolleGion of | a difcipline that cannot bepcommenced again ut by a recommencement of life.. I promifed myfelf in idea greater pleafure from my fecond, than I had enjoyed in my firft travels, The compafs of experience would now be my guide and enable me tofurmount the moft tremendous obftacles. How far our forefight can extend, and how near a fecond precipice frequently is to that which we have efcaped, will be feen in the fequel. : ft, ean Thad in’a manner prepared all that was ne- ceflary for my expedition: but the moment of any departure from the Cape did not advance fo rapidly as I wifhed.. A perfon whom I had looked for with the moft tormenting impa- tience, whom I had not feen fince my return, | and without whom I could promife myfelf nei- ther pleafure or fafety, was abfent. This was no other than Klaas, who at laft fuddenly pre- fented himfelf before me. “There was then at the houfe of the fifcal, a felect, but numerous party of friends. Klaas enjoyed, wherever he went, no inconfiderable fhare of reputation, The affociate of my travels, and entrufted by me more particularly than the reft with the exe- cution LA FURST! A” 44 cution ak my plans, I could not be too lavith in my praifes of this my faithful : ptivy-coun- fellor: His fudden, arrival excited in the houfe of Boers the moft lively curiofity. Nothing was thought of but my friend, and, as he en- tered, every one ‘{pontaneoufly rofe from his feat. I had owed every thing to his attachment and fidelity, and he inftantly received tefti- — _ monies of eftcem that were a fort of compenfa- tion, The fifcal drew his purfeand made him a confiderable prefent; an example that was followed by the whole company. Stupified with aftonifhment, Klaas looked at the wealth ~ that was thus fhowered upon him, and thought — himfelf as rich as the governor himfelf. A fingle. thought, however, with which his mind laboured, foon abforbed every fentiment that arofe, from this unexpected reception. Upon entering, he had advanced towards me to teftify his joy, but his emotion was fo great as to deprive him of utterance. He alfo had a prefentto make. With half-opened mouth, and eyes brimful of tears, he held out a packet to me, confifting of a box or two, upon which he appeared to fix an extraordinary value. [. played a little with his agitation, which in- creafed the filence of thofe who were {peCtators _ ‘ | | of # | FTRAOVELS AW of the fcene. At laft I relieved him from his em= barraiiment, or he would otherwile, I believe,’ have remained all night in the fame ge ssrateth na well” faid I, “ for whom are thefe boxes ?’ “For you, for you!” faidhe. They are ‘¢ full of thofe animals of which you are fo fond. “ If I have been tardy in returning, it was only *‘ that 1 might not come empty-handed, and *‘ without. bringing with me fomething to ‘* prove that I had not forgotten you. I am _ “ afraid, however, that the birds are neither fo “ beautiful nor fo rare, as thofe which we have | “‘ killed in our excurfion.” Judge of my aftonifhment and joy, when, upon opening the boxes, I perceived a well-ar- ranged collection of handfome infects, with fome birds very expertly fkinned, and agreeably to the method which he had feen me fo often practice in the defarts. I freely confefs that no tefti-. mony of favour or efteem has ever filled my heart with fo pure and delicious a fentiment as this frank and artlefs proceeding on the part of my Hottentot, and the knowledge, that durs - ing our feparation,)» which had by no means been fhort, his thoughts had been employed folely upon me. Worthy and excellent na tion ! ye wits of Europe, match’ me if you can, AF RAC As 15 can, with all your ingenious delicacy and. fub- ~ lime ideas of generofity, a trait of friendfhip and feeling, fimple and genuine as this... My dear Klaas, how often, invited to the houfes of perfonages of rank, complimented by fome, carefled by others, diflinguithed by all, how often, in the, midft of, flattering favours and brilliant promifes, have J opened your box of infedts, and thanked you for the thort, but de- _ licious inftants of pleafure, which formerly di- verlified the tedious hours, when my fingle re- fource was to difplay to you. my knowledge, and- unwillingly to entrap your applaufe ! Klaas did not {tay long after he had deliver- ‘ed his prefent. The treafure he had received be- gan to embarrafs him. He thought of the wife I had given him, into whofe: hands he was eager to depofit his. wealth. | Having firft learned _ from, him, that.the. other companions of my’ travels, {catered here and there in the vicinity of his.horde, were tranquil and happy, my cat. tle in good condition, my waggons and furni- ture under cover and fecure,.and my whole ca- ravan ready to-attend meiat a: moments fum~ mons; I embraced my ‘faithful coadjutor and _ fuffered him to depart. » Lhis unexpected vilit on the part of Klaas brought 46 TRAVELS IN brought té hy tecolleétion another companion _ of my travels; 4 good friend, a faithful fervant, extremely cunning, fruitful in expedients iri times of emergency, and by whom I had more than once Leert extricated from embatrafIments. ‘The whole compatiy were defirous of feeing him, and we walked towards his houfe as if to inform him that I was on the point of fetting off. There was a fort of playful contention who fhould be the firft to tell Him the news. The reader will perceive that Iam fpeaking ofmy ape. There could be no feftivity unlefs he was of the party. Boers and myfelf were accuftomed to vifit him every day after dinner, and to take with us fome of our deflert. Na- turally gentle and carefling, he was free from the faults of his {fpecies, and had rather imbibed thofe of his mafter. He feemed alfo to have acquired fome virtues, for he was fenfible te: kindnefs and civilities, and always eager to re- pay them. I knew but one perfon whom he would not fuffer to ftroke him; and to him he bore a moft extraordinary enmity. This was an officer of the Pondicherry regiment, who’ lodged like myfelf in the houfe of the fifcal, and who, totry the affeCtion of my ape, pre- tended one day to ftrike me, At this fuppofed ill AFRICA: 17 ill treatment Kees was in a terrible rage, and from that moment took a diflike to the officer. _At whatever diftance he perceived him ap- proaching, his cries and geftures fufficiently denoted the defire he felt of avenging me. He grinded his teeth and made the moft painful efforts todart upon him. In vain had the of- fender frequently attempted, by the offer of dainties, to foften his anger. Refentment had left a profound hatred in the foul of Kees, which it required a long time to efface. ‘The impotence of his exertions, to wipe away the ftain which my honour had fuflered by the afiront, denotes that the unfortunate animal was chained. It was the fear of lofing him that induced me to adopt fo degrading a meafure. His fame had gained him fuch nu- merous ftiends, that, if he efcaped from the honfe, he was fure to be ftolen, either by the failors who would have conveyed him on beard, or by the inhabitants of the Cape, who would have fecreted him till I was gone, or even by the flaves who would have roafed and eaten him. | Poor Kees appeared to have a melancholy fenfe of his flavery. Boers, indeed, had pro- vided him with a very handfome kennel; but . Voz. I. GC | is 18 TRAY EACS WN is there any enjoyment without liberty? My ape, befides, pofflefled a degree of moral per- ception, which rendered his fituation more painful than it would have been to a vulgar ape. The moment he faw me, he flew the whole length of his chain to meet me; and it was me in particular that he feemed to upbraid with ingratitude for his captivity. The period of rendering him happy every day drew nearer ; IThardened myfelf againft his importunities, for I loved him too well to give him an impru- dent teftimony of my affection. In realty, I fhould have had every thing to fear if | had had the weaknefs to have yielded to pity. He might have efcaped of his own accord. A fentiment fill ftronger than fiiend- fhip might every inftant have allured him a- way. Itis not with the ape as with other do- meftic animals, whom inftin& attaches to the foil where they have been brought up, and ‘who always return to it; whether, like the dog, they have greater fondnefs for the mafter than the houfe; or, like the cat, more attachment to. the houfe than the mafter. The ape,.on the contrary, indocile and refratory, incapable of lafting remembrance either of the one or of the other, retains a propeniity to: independence, 3 which AFRICA. 19 - which the mildeft education, or the tendereft treatment cannot correct. Befides, refembling in fome degree man, in the formation and ufe of his members, he is like hit alfo in the fa- culty of propagating at all times his fpecies ; and tlie, reverfe, therefore, of other animals, who, in this refpeét, are ina ftate of virtual in- ~ capacity, except in the fixed and periodical fea- fons which nature has aligned them. Kees had ftill his virginity, and had never known pleafure: The flighteft fpark would have fet him on fire: an inftant was fufficient to con- vert him into a libertine; and if, with all the | indiferetion and vivacity of youth, he had once lufted after a female, his mafter would foon have been forgotten; he would have fol- lowed her into the depth of the woods, and. would never more have returned. Extremely fond of Kees, and unable to prevail on myfelf to lofe him, I ufed my power as a defpot, and chained him up that I might difpofe of him as I liked. The reader will forgive thefe details, They are Interefting to a traveller like myfelf, who has no brilliant exploits to relate, and no wildernefs of invention in which to lofe hime felf. G4 _ Every 20 Vc APR i By Be a Every day I became more occupied with the: excurfion Thad in view. This new enterprife required numerous preparations. I flattered myfelf that in a few days they would all be completed. The fatigues of my former expe- dition were as perfectly diffipated as if it had been undertaken ten years age. At length I was ready to depart. | Unfortunately it was the drieft feafon of the year. Such of the inhabitants to whom I had communicated my projects, and who were moft interefted in my welfare, notwithftanding the deiire they felt. that I fhould complete my difcoveries, were continually urging me to kd ei more favourable period. ‘The wea- ther, they faid, was inaufpicious and unfeafon- ee Asif the weather and feafons which pre- vailed at the Cape, and in the neighbourhood he fea, muft neceflarily be the fame at the diftance of fome hundreds of leagues in the in- terior of Africa. I had already fome experi- ence upon the fubje@ ; but L was weak enough to yield to the perfuafions of thefe over-timid friends. Another projet inftantaneoufly oc- curred to my mind. I accordingty deferred my departure till the feafon arrived that was reprefented as favourable. It will hereafter be. feen | A-FORAL C- A. ai geen how fatal was this procraftination, and to what calamities it expofed both my people and me. | I had refolved to withdraw myfelf from the Cape. The circumftance by which I had been induced to adjourn my grand expedition, was an additional motive with me to undertake an excurfion in the environs of the town. It would at leaft be food to my impatience; and | fhould find in this refource, the only one that offered itfelf amidi{t the eternal wearifomenefs with which I was befet, fome compenfation for the _ delay which the feafon had impofed upon me. I had learnt, in the fhort converfation I had had with Klaas, that the two Hottentots _ to whom I had committed the care of my oxen, and the equipage of my caravan, waiting the fignal for a fecond. expedition, had conducted my cattle to the paftures.of .Groene-kloof, and that my goats, agreeable to my directions, had remained in Swart-land, under the eye of my friend Slaber, who, uniform in his zeal to ferve me, had taken charge of them. What reproaches did I not caft upon myfelf | for having neglected, fince my return to the Cape, this worthy and refpectable friend! By what bufinefs, what neceflity, what laws of de- | Wy a corum, (22 TRAVELS IN corum, what infatuation of good company, had I been fo long prevented the paying him a vi- fit? Where could I tafte a more pure and ge- nuine pleafure than under the roof of this ho- neft planter, who, after my misfortune at Sal- danha bay, when I had loft every thing I pot felled, and was wandering in a ftrange land, without afylum, without money, without friends, without any kind of refource, faved me at once from finking i in defpair? The recollec- tion of this virtuous African occafioned me the moft poignant regret. I flew to his habitation, which received for the third time one of his deareft children. The carefles of this charm- ing family were beftowed on me in profufion. From the farprife and j joy they exhibited, and the fudden diforder that prevailed in the houfe, one might have fuppofed it to be the celebra- tion of an ancient feftival, or the return of fome important perfonage from an illuftrious expe- dition. Nothing was thought of but how to render my abode agreeable to me. The parties of pleafure that were moft within their reach and my own, were parties of hunting. They contrived fuch as were particularly amufing. A fober and tranquil excurfion now and then poterupied the labour of this more fatiguing ra aise ENCAMPMENT AT THE PLANTATION OF J.SLABER AT THEE-FONTYN. —— a —— SSS SS — = SS —SSSS,_S=> ABER AT THEE-FONTYN. iy l =I I} = 44 SSS SE | i} tl} ") | yO TA OR VC A 2% employment. _ The amiable daughters of Sla- ber were the directors of thefe excurfions, and there was a finefle and a grace in their con- trivances for this purpofe, that one could : fearcely have expected from women fo remote - from -tke cuftoms and coquetry of Europe. For example, they imagined they could not prefent tothe regards of their impatient and hu- mourous guelts, a {pectacle better calculated to prolong his vifit than that of his own horfes” browfing in the fields near their habitation. They led me, without my having the leaft fufpicion of the matter, to an agreeable afcent, _ where I found my little ftock in the moft en- wiable ftate-of felicity and fatnefs. ‘They were indebted for their profperity to the perfonal at- tentions of my fair friends. We came nearer, and anew fubje@ prefented itfelf to my fur- prife. Many of my female goats had yeaned, and brought me fo many kids, No man who has not been in the fame fituation can feel what I felt at this time. My animals were the only poffeffious that had never occafioned benefit I had derived from my goats in my firft journey, affured me of the ftill renewed and and more confiderable benefits I thould now C4 receive, “4 T RAWELS £N receive. It 4s with pleafure I dwell upon this incident. May future travellers derive inftruc- tion from ‘it; for, however ingenious may be their precautions in other refpedts, they muft expect to fuffer amidft the defarts of Africa, if they do not provide themfelves with oxen as. friends, and young goats as play-fellows. It was at laft necefiary to tear myfelf from this incomparable family, whom I promifed more than once to call upon, in the courfe of my rambles round the Cape. I kept my word. . This tranquil and augufthabitation, indeed, like an irrefiftible loadftone, often attracted me at a cconfiderable diftance, and I experienced no fubject of pleafure that I did not haften to de- pofit in the bofaom of the celeftial fociety that occupied it. | , I have fomewhere faid, that one of the men who were moft attached to me, and from whom I had derived the greateft fervices in periods of danger, was old Swanapocl, [| had difpatched one of his comrades to requeft him tocome to meat the Cape. He haftened thither immediately. I confidered it as parti- cularly incumbent upon me to recompenfe his fidelity ; and in telling him that we were to depart together upon a fecond expedition, | gave ACER VO A, ! 24 gave him a proof of my friendfhip that was by no means trivial. _ An unfortunate event had formerly taken place, that had nearly coft him his life. In the heat of a quarrel, and from a fudden -impulfe of anger, he had ftruck a Hottentot woman, who had died in confequence of the blow. The circumftance having been re- prefented, in an unfavourable light, to the juftice of the canton, who had no great kindnefs for him, poor Swanapoel was fen- tenced to be banifhed, for the reit of his days, to Roben ifland. He had already relided there feveral years, when the declaration of war between England and Holland caufed the ifland to be evacuated, and the convicts to be conveyed on board the company’s fhips. It was at this period that I entered upon my firft travels. I have fufficiently fpoken of him in the courfe of my narrative; and fo honeftly did he difcharge the offices I appointed him, that I confidered his crime, which was known to me, as having long been expiated. My friend, the fifcal, who had enquired into the ~ particulars of the old man’s ftory, did not wait for my report of his character to do him fome 26 VS RA? VE BRL SS 2h TN fome degree of juftice. Softening, on my account, the laws of which he was the inter- preter, he granted me, before I had time to requeft it, Swanapoel’s liberty, as long as I fhould have need of his fervices during my abode in Africa. I promifed on my return to apply to the government in his behalf: but foon after, by an impulfe of generofity that I could hardly expect,-Boers fet him completely at liberty. He did more: affe€ted even to tears by the account! gave him of this man’s condud, he was defirous of recompentfing his fidelity to me by a prefent, which he after- wards made him, of a complete fet of traveling accoutrements, and by an order that he fhould receive arrears of pay for the whole time, that he had been with me. Such were the delicaté and provident attentions by which my friends, in emulation of each other, fought to encourage my zeal, by interefting in my favour, in a thoufand ways, the companions I had chofen to partake of my dangers: and thus, by afcribing to me all the merit of actions of which I was but the objet, did they artfully inftill beforehand into my Hot- tentots, that {pirit of {ubordination and obedi- | ence, LPR 23 ence, without which no traveller in Africa can extend his obfervations beyond the limits of - the colony. To enhance the favour, the fifcal id left entirely to me the pleafure of communicating this intelligence, fo agreeable to the perfon whom it particularly concerned. How {weet is the recovery of freedom and honour! Scarcely had I uttered the words, you are free; {carcely had I begun to relate what my friend had done for him, than, impelled by gratitude, and as if reftored to new life, the old man threw himfelf upon my neck, which he bathed with his tears. I was {ftrongly im- prefled and agitated. It feemed as if it were I that had been torn from banifhment and reftored to fociety. All the evils 1 had expe- rienced on board the Middleburg were at once pictured to my mind, I looked back, through a period of two years, to that difaftrous mo- ment, when I had myfelf ftood in need of the pity of mankind; a moment fo fatal, that it was impoilible for me to fuppofe I fhould one day have an opportunity of exercifing towards another the fame commiferation, at once fo natural and affecting, as I then experienced, When 28 TRAV HES IN When the emotion of Swanapoel was fome~ what appealed, and he was capable of attend~- ing to me, I told him my projects, and promifed he fhould accompany me.. In my grand expedition indeed this was impofhble. From its uncertainty and the difficulties that might attend it, and confidering too his advanced age and the fatigues of our former _ journey, I could not think of ‘taking him fo far. But the colony afforded a field fut ficiently ample for me to be defirous of availing omytfelf once more of. his fervices. I fhould have been hateful .to my own eyes if, ata time when he had fo much reafon to rejoice, and when there yet remained of life a fhort interval which he might {pend in tranquillity and honour in the bofom of his family, I had expofed him at a diftance to the rifk of pe- rifhing. The offer I made him of our tra- verfing the colony together feemed. perfe@ly to fatisfy him; or at leaftif he felt mortified at the idea that I fhould take him no farther, he was careful to canceal it, and even after- wards, in his intercourfe with my people, not _a word of difcontent efcaped his lips. I have already explained, in my former ee narrative, mete Ae « 2g narrative, the reafons that induced.me to ad- here inflexibly to my plan, of keeping at a diftance from the habitations of the colony, and of having no intercourfe with the planters. Befide the interruptions and inconveniences that their vifits would unavoidably occafion, I had always a confiderable {pot of ground, a fort of eftate, to overlook, which I never found in better order than when we had none of thefe neighbours about us. It may be remembered what caufe 1 had to repent a deviation from this rule at Agter-Bruintjes- Hoogte. Though I had intercourfe with thefe planters for four hours only, it fpread fuch a fpirit of infubordination in my camp, that it required all my firmnefs to re-efta- blifh order and a good underftanding. To this unlucky circumftance, to thefe firft fruits of fo dangerous a communication, do I owe the misfortune of never vifiting the coun- try of Caffraria, a country fo extremely cu- rious, as to merit of itfelf a feparate ex- pedition, and fo interefting, that I ‘hall all my life regret the not having known it, In my prefent plan of traverfing the colony,. properly fo called, and ftudying the humour of 30 TRAVELS IN | of its half favage, half polithed inhabitants, I could fot avoid incurring fuch rifks. I took care, however, to affociate with fuch Hot- tentots only from whom I had nothing to fear, or whom I could difmifs at my pleafure. This little excurfion became every day more intereft- ing to me. It was in a manner the framé of the grand picture I was defirous of fketch- ing. To have rambled, during my abode at the Cape, from habitation to habitation, in the neighbourhood of the towny was little gratification to me. I muft penetrate farther; _and make the tour of the colony at large, to procure, if poffible, a topographical plan of | it. Avradius of forty or fifty leagues would be too infignificant a diftance to prevent my returning the moment I defired it; and at prefent there feemed to be no plan better cal- culated to confole me under the mortification’ I felt from the fufpenfion of my journey into the defart. ) , It was in this little enterprife F engaged Swanapoel. I did fo with the lefs reluctance, as I confidered it only as a pleafant journey, that would be unaccompanied either with fatigue or danger. I allowed him a day or two to enjoy with his friends the liberty that had A aC AAS 31 had been conferred upon him, and appointed his return as the fignal of our departure. He was exact to his time, and the moment he appeared we mounted our horfes. I took with me fuch conveniences and fuch preparations only as are indifpenfable when the intention is to pafs fome time in the country. ‘The colo- “ny was thoroughly known to Swanapoel, who had advifed ‘me not to incumber myfelf with ufelefs luggage, affuring me that I fhould in all cafes find fufficient opportunities for the fupply of my wants, and be every where received with the kindeft and moft liberal hofpitality. The praGice of this admirable virtue, which is almoft banifhed from the face of the earth, was of ufe to me on this occafion; but it would have been fatal to my people, whom it would have difgufted with the fatigues they had to fhare with their chiefs, and infallibly prevented them from follow- ing me I took the route of Hottentot-Holland, in- tending to proceed from thence to every point of the colony, as far as the Twenty-four Rivers, and afterwards to return by way of Swart- land, where I fhould have an opportunity or once 32 TRAVELS AN once more repofing myfelf under the roof of my worthy friend Slaber. ter I fhall enter into no particulars refpecting the productions of the different cantons, their flate of cultivation, and other objects of which I have already tieated. I thall confine myfelf, in the few obfervations [have to make, chiefly to the character of the inhabitants, and their mode of living; digrefling only fora moment to notice an excellent {pring of hot water - which the company has converted into a - bathing place for the fick, and which is therefore called the hot-baths. It was there that Boers, in a fiate of defpair, and aban- doned by his phyficians, recovered his health. How gladly would I have erected a temple upon this {pot, which had been the means of faving a valuable friend whom - death had fo long perfecuted! I would have furrounded it with a fence, and have had it deified. In imitation of the charming and magick ages of mythology, thofe days of profound and ingenious fi@ion, when rivulets, brooks, and fountains, had each their fecret fymbols, and called to mind fome beneficent deity, I would have offered to the naiad of. thefe Ae iC K. 33 thefe waters a homage that pofterity would perhaps have Sociaceds In vifiting Franche-Hoeck, I did not, as before, regard without intereft that race of _ French refugees, formerly perfecuted by their unjuft country, ftripped, profcribed, difhonour- ed as fo many wretches unworthy to exift. Victims of fanaticifm and intolerance, and © deftitute of every other refuge, they repaired ° to this miferable folitude, which the pity of fome neighbouring governments affigned them; a pity which would have feared to have allowed them a refidence too near the feat of their original difafter. Banithed from F rance, they have even forgotten the language ; but they have not forgotten their calamity. Their cuftoms they have borrowed from the Dutch, their original character being totally | loft; but they are diftinguifhed, for the moft part, by the darknefs of their hair, which forms a ftriking contraft with the almoft white hair of the other inhabitants. It is thus that invifibly are deftroyed the modifications that the life of man receives from his government, his educa- tion, and his laws. Every thing 1 is gradually annihilated, recompofed, revived; a few tra- MOL. 'I, D ditions ak oh ae Ee See ee ditions only remain, as a folitary teftimony through fucceflive ages. The lot of thefe unhappy fucitives, mar- tyrs of their religion, whatever it be, who have forfaken every thing, even the tombs of their anceftors, to tranfplant themfelves to the extremities of Africa, excited in my_ breaft the moft tender commiferation, of which they little fufpeGted the caufe. Since my return to “France, though immenfe ,oceans feparate~us from each other, this intereft has daily in- creafed. Liberty would willingly: efface, the very remembrance of fo daftardly a profcrip- tion. The younger children of thefe wretched parents will perhaps one day find, in their old country, the enjoyment of all the bleffings which the rage of priefts and the “fatal com- plaifance of a defpot have robbed them of. I-can no where fo properly relate’ as ‘here the manner tn which grants of land were formerly made in this fo-long unetiltivated country, and the ufages that Mill take place upon the fubject. I could with the Sith to be particul larly attentive to this account, which he will difcover fomething of the ori- gin of human pofleffions and eftablifhments. I owe CARR TER: a6 ] owe it to chance, which directed my fteps to the Rooye-Zand, or Red-fand colony. Fatigued with the extreme heat of the weather, and defirous of refting myfelf, I one day at noon entered an habitation that offered itfelf, where it was. my intention to remain till the cool of the evening. ‘There was nobody in the houfe but a young woman, of a charming figure, and who appeared to be about fixteen years of age. I paid my refpects to her, and, agreeably to the cuftoms of the _ country, faluted her. My eyes involuntarily ‘wandered round the room. Conceiving that ‘my aftonifhment arofe from the circumftance © of her being alone, fhe anticipated what fhe imagined I was about to fay, by telling me that her father and mother were abfent upon bufinefs. Surprifed they fhould be from home in the burning heat of the day, I afked by what accident they had been compelled to eave mer. °°“ Why; laid fhe, “we were *© told this morning that fomebody had plant- “© ed a baaken (a ftake) upon our eftate; and my parents, alarmed at the intelligence, “ immediately fet off to enquire upon the «© fpot into the truth of the report.” At a lofs to conceive how a ftake driven into the D 2 ground. 36 TRAVELS IN ground could be of fo much importance as to oblige thefe planters, contrary to their ufual cuftom, to expofe themfelves to the intenfe heat of the fun, and even to abandon their daughter, I replied very fimply, that if one man, paffing by, had planted this flake, the next comer would perhaps take it away again, and that there was nothing in the circumftance fo extremely urgent. I even offered, if her pa- _ rents did not fucceed in difcovering it, to pull it up mylelf if I paffed that way. . The bufinefs, - the faid, depended neither upon them, upon me, norany other perfon. But her father, fhe added, would fhortly be at home, who would give me a more particular hiftory of the baaken. Meanwhile the invited me to take fome refrefhment, and to-bear her company. Her parents, as fhe had fuppofed, foon ar- rived. The father carefled her for detaining me, and I was loaded with ciwilicles on the part of .the mother. We fat down. to table. An unreftrained cheerfulnefs prefided at the meal. ‘The melancholy affair that had _occafioned fuch alarm was arranged, and all parties fatisfied. I longed for the pecmiled hiftory of the take. Thefe good people are flow in their motions, A PRI CA. 37 motions, and it was not till after many pre- ambles, in which however I gave myfelf up to the moft charming diftractions, that my | hoft began as follows. €¢ 6¢ “ You muft know,” faid he, ‘‘ that, in this country, to fee and to poffefs are nearly the fame thing. When an inhabitant of the Cape wants to obtain a {pot of ground in the colony, whether for agriculture or for grazing, he traverfes different cantons, to look out for a fituation that may fuit him. When he has found it, he fets up what is ‘called a baaken, as much as to fignify to any one who may be looking out with a fimilar purpofe, that the fpot is already occupied. ‘Then he returns to the Cape, and applies to the government for a regular permiffion and title. This fort of folicita- tion is feldom refufed ; but, as the grants of uncultivated ground made by the company are ufually a league fquare, it happens, _fometimes from miftake and fometimes from malice, that the baaken has been fet up upon the ground of a former proprietor; or that _in the circumference granted him, of which the baaken is the centre, fome part of ano- ther man’s land is included. In this cafe, D 4 cé to TRAVEEZS AN to terminate the difpute, arbitrators are fent for, and a decifion obtained. If the quef- tion be not much involved, a compromife:— is eafily made; but in many cafes it happens. otherwife. Then commences a regular fuit at law, and an eternal fubjedt of va- riance and hatred between the two parties. Another misfortune in fuch cafes 1s, that the original proprietor is rarely at liberty to quit his farm, and to undertake the ma- nagement of his own caufe, which aflured- ly he is the perfon to underftand -beft, The trial, however, goes on, and the ad- _vocate, who has frequently never feem the fpot, acquits himfelf as well as he can. The judge, who is equally in the dark, gives fentence according'y ; and thus your Europeans, who think that no people have underftanding and reafon but themfelves, forget that they have not lefs a monopoly — of corruption and vice. The fimpleft dif putes often terminate in the ruin of fami- lies, while nobody gains by them, except it be the judge, whofe trade thrives upon this fpecies of nourifhment. The planters, ‘on the other hand, whofe condition re- moves them from the buftle, fubtlety, and ee “ intrigue © Ay PRG, A. 39 * intrigue of large towns, fettle thefe things “ in the cleareft and moft fagacious manner, * with no other inftructor but aod fenfe, “ and no other guide but reafon.” — Philofo- pher as my holt affected to be, and though - his countenance, which became animated at every ftroke of fatire that efcaped him againft the inflitutions of fociety, was expreflive of confiderable energy, candour, and good fenfe, I have taken the liberty of abridging his nar- rative, leaving it to the reader’s imagination to fupply what I have omitted. I proceeded on my journey in the evening, after receiving a kifs of peace and good will from the whole family. From Rooye-Zand I paffed into the canton of. the Twenty-four-Rivers, the mott pleafant fpot, beyond difpute, in the Dutch fettle- ment. I¢ derives its name from the numerous {ftreams by which it is watered; and hence we may judge how produ@ive and picturefque it muft be. ‘The principal canals, alfo, by the drains which are judicioufly cut, convey abundance and fertility to all the cultivated grounds in the neighbouring farms ; and the inhabitants exercife conliderable {kill in in- crealing or diminifhing the body of thefe wa- Da ters, 40 TRAVELS IN ters, fo favourable to their crops. In no part of the colony do the meadows enjoy the fame degree of {miling verdure; the frefhnefs of which is fuch, that the fight alone is fufficient, in this burning climate, to fafcinate the eye of the traveller, charm his imagination, and actually fufpend his fatigues. The canton of the Twenty-four-Rivers is the Eden of Africa, where we walk through groves of pampelmoes*, citrons, and oranges; where the fmell is de- licioufly regaled by the perfume of the flowers, and where a flight fhade invites to repofe, to thoughtfulnefs, and meditation. Every thing round thefe gardens equally tends to fupport the delufion of enchantment. ‘The eye ex- tends to a diftance, and beholds a magnificent horizon, Some rifing hills embellith and di- verfify the plains, which are boynded by mountains, the fummits of which are hid among the clouds. We find at our feet whatever is neceflary to our wants, or that conftitutes the enjoyment and luxury of life. The attraction of this {pot is fo great, that we cannot help wifhing we could build an ha- * A fpecies-of citron that bears in the Weft-India Iflands the name of fhaddock: the fruit is larger than the orange, of a redder pulp, anda bitterifh flavour, T. bitation — 4, AFRICA: AX bitation and refide there for ever. The houfes are clofer together, and are gradually increaf- ing; fo that I fhould not wonder if they were fhortly to exhibit the fpectacle of a fecond town in the colony, and the valley of the Twenty -four- Rivers become at lait the richeft and moft populous country in the en- virons of the Cape. ‘I have faid, that it was my intention to return by way of Swart-Land to the Cape, and fpend a few days with my good friends, or rather, as I may call them, my good rela- tions, the Slabers. Among the diverfions in which we were accuftomed to engage together, there was one that, at the time it was propof- ed, and even atter I had made the experiment, | fingularly aftonifhed me. ‘Thev had promifed to procure me fome birds, which were not in my collection, and which were unknown to me. Whenever a novelty of this kind was the queftion, I was always prepared the inftant > it was ftarted. Accoraingly I took up my fowling-piece, and was ready to be gone. “¢ Stop,” faid they; “ leave if you pleafe “ your fire-arms, which will only incom- ** mode us. ‘The chace to which we invite “you is of a new kind; having never feen “it, you will make but a forry figure. Follow (54 us 42 TRA YES. EN *¢ us Beep: and be fatisfied for once with being “¢ an humble fpectator.” My guide yoked his oxen, and we fet off ; he with along and enormous whip, which the planters make ufe of, and which I have already defcribed; 1 with nothing but a flick, which ferved me as acane. Arrived at ‘the {cene of ation, he took his plough, and began to trace out a furrow. ‘The new earth no fooner appeared, than I faw a’ vaft quantity of very {mall birds flock together from every fide, and almoft alight upon the plough-fhare, which they eagerly followed. Of what could thefe birds be in purfuit, that neither the inftrument which was in motion, -nor the man who directed it, could terrify them? Alas! they darted to the ground to devour creatures animate like themfelves, the maggots, worms, and infects which the plough expofed to their view. So unexpected a fight was al- moit perfect ecftacy. It had one alloy, however. Empty-handed and without weapons, I was obliged paflively to contemplate thefe devourers _ of infects, without being able to fecure one of them. Thefe birds. were killing animals weaker than themlelves; I was defirous of : killing the birds; while perhaps behind me was fome more ferocious bea longing to treat ieee A 2A 43 me with the fame kindnefs. Without the flighteft preamble, Slaber coolly afked me which of the birds 1 fhould like to have. I .wentured to point one out, though I had no doubt he was laughing at me. Immediately, - flourifhing his enormous whip, he brought to the ground with a fingle fircke the very fame bird. Intwenty inftances that I put his kill tothe proof, he never once mifled his aim. _ This dexterity of the whip, indeed, is an acquirement general among the planters; but Slaber was an adept in the exercife, whom I never faw furpafled. It forms an article in the education of their youth, and isin my opinion of more worth than the imbecil:{ports of our {chools and colleges. I fhall return again to this fubje& hereafter, thinking it entitled toa. minuter inveftigation. There are fome cantons, meanwhile, in which this art is much lefs pra@tifed than in others. All the planters have neither the fame occupations nor the fame ulages. They lead, indeed, for the moft part, a life fimple and uni- form; there are points of contac and habits of refemblance that apply to them all : on the. - other hand, they differ according to their ori- gin; and though the monotony of their life ex- ; | tends 44 TRAVELS IN tends over the whole furface of the colony, and they, in confequence, exhibit at firt fight to the traveller no difcriminate features, there are neverthelefs fhades that deferve to be pointed out, and which may ferve the better to make known the character of this as yet new nation. The planters of the Cape may be divided into three claffes; thofe who refide in the vi- cinity of the Cape, within a diftance of five or fix leagues; thofe who live farther off in the interior parts of the colony ; and, laftly, thofe who, more diftant ftill, are found at the ex- tremity of the frontiers among the Hottentots. The firft, who are opulent proprietors, and have handfome country-houfes, may be likened to what was formerly called in France pefits feigneurs terriers, and differ extremely from the other planters in eafe and luxury, and par- ticularly in their manners, which are haughty and difdainful. Such is the refult of wealth. The fecond, fimple, kind, hofpitable, are cul- tivators, who live upon the fruits of their la- bour. Here we have an example of the good effects of mediocrity. The laft, poor enough, — yet too indolent to derive fubfiftance from the foil, have no other refource than the produce of fome cattle, which they feed as they can. Like Like the Beduin Arabs, they think much of the troub!e of driving them from canton to | canton, and from one pafturage to another. This wandering life prevents them from build- ing any fettled habitations. When their flocks oblige them to fojourn for a while in the fame place, they conftruct, in hafte, a rude kind of hut, which they cover with matts, after the manner of the Hottentots, whofe cuftoms they have adopted, and from whom they in no re- {pect differ, but in their complexion and fea- tures. And here the evil is, that there is no precife fituation in focial life to which thefe miferable beings belong. _ Thefe fluggith tribes are held in horror by their induftrious neighbours, who dread their approach, and remove as far from them as they can; becaufe, having no property of their own, they fteal without fcruple that of others, and, when in want of pafturage for their cattle, conduct them fecretly to the firft cultivated piece of ground that comes in their way. ‘They | _ flatter themfelves they thall not be difcovered, and they remain till every thing is devoured. If detected in their thefts, {quabbles and con- tentions enfue, and afterwards a {uit at law, in which, recourfe is had to the magiftrate (dro/- fart), 46 FRAVEL'S “IN fart), and which cammonly terminates in mak- ing three men enemies, the robber, the perfon tobbed, and the judge. Nothin e can be fo mean and cringing as the condué of the firft defcription of planters, when — they have any thing to tranfa& with the prin- cipal officers of the company, who may have _fome influence over their lot; and nothing fo abfurdly vain and fo fuperlatively infoléent as their behaviour to perfons from whom they - have nothing to hope and nothing to fear. Proud of their wealth, {poiled by refiding near a town, from whence they have imbibed only a luxury that has corrupted, and vices that have degraded them, it is particularly towards ftran- gers that they exercife their furly and piti- ful arrogance. Though neighbours to the planters who inhabit the interior of the coun- try, you muft not fuppofe they regard them as brethren; on the contrary, in the tfue fpirit of contempt, they have given them the name of Rauw-boer, a word: anfwering to the loweft defcription of clown. Accordingly, when thefe honeft cultivators come to the town upon any kind of bufinefs, they never ftop by the way at the houfes of the gentry [ am {peaking of; they know cai the infulting manner in Via Re OA 44: in which they would be received. One might fuppofe them to be two inimical nations, always at war, and of whom fome individuals only met at diftant intervals, upon bufinefs that re- lated to their’ mutual interefts. © » What difgufts me the more in the infolence of thefe ‘Afridans is, that’the majority of them are defcended from that corrupt race of men, taken from prifons and hofpitals, whom the Dutch company, defirous of forming a fettle- ment’at the Cape, fent thither to begin, at their rifk and peril, the population of the country. ; This fhameful emigration, of which the period is not fo remote but that many circumftances of it are remembered, ought, I conceive, to render particularly modeft thofe who are in the moft diftant manner related to it. Onthe contrary, it is this very idea that moft contri- butes to their arrogance; as if they flattered ’ themfelves that, under the guife of fupercilious manners, they could hide the abjeCtnefs of their origin. If a ftranger arrives at the Cape with the defign of remaining and fettling there, they conceive him to be driven from his country by the fame wretched circumftances which for- merly banifhed their fathers, and they treat him with the moft fovereign contempt. | This 48 TRAVELS EIN This melancholy failing is the more to. be lamented, as the contagion has fpread through © almoft every refidence about the Cape, which is in reality a very charming canton. Embel- lifhed by cultivation, by its numerous vine- yards. and pleafant counry-houfes, it every where exhibits fo varied and delicious a pro- {pect, that, were it occupied by other inhabit- ants, it would excite no fenfations but thofe of pleafure. I myfelf even, whom no interefted motives bad brought to the Cape, who had nothing to afk of them, and who had come into Africa for the fole purpofe of ftudying nature, was once fubjected to the impertinence of their re- ceptions, and learned from experience of what it confifted. ‘The adventure is pleafant: I have often laughed at it with. Boers, and thall din: grefs for a moment to relate it. One day my friend took me to fee the fa- mous vineyard of Conftantia, and introduced me to the proprietor. We were received by him, not only with the fame attention and re- {fpeCiful manner. that all the inhabitants of the colony fhowed towards its principal magiftrates, but he was eager to lead us over the immenfe cellars, fo wide that the heavieft waggon might turn ss oie sume hie Saad 49 turn round in them, and to fhow us the enor= _ mous cafks, with hoops of brafs extremely bright, and the age of the wine marked upon each cafk, with legal atteftations. The name of this man was Cloete. When bufinefs of any kind called him to the town, which was frequent, he feldom failed to pay his court to the fifcal, and in the courfe of thefe vilits he pretended to be extremely defirous of feeing me again at his houfe, at Conitantia. Finding little attraction in the beauty of a cel- lar, or a cafk, 1 had always excufed myfelf. But one day he was fo urgent in his entreaties, and propofed, in fo obliging a manner, a hunt, _ in which his fons were to accompany me, and which promifed confiderable amufement, with- Out requiring either preparations or expence, that I fuffered myfelfto be prevailed upon, and fixed a day with him. - 1 Kept my word, and repaired to Conftantia at the appointed time, in company with Larcher, one of Boers’s friends. Upon enter« ing the habitation of our hoft, how great was our furprife at the parade of oftentatious gran- deur, and the air of flately fuperiority, with which we were received, and which formed a Wot. |. E fingular 50 TRAVELS IN fingular contraft with the humble and fabmif five demeanour I had obferved in him at the fifcal’s.. Once returned to his domains, and finding himfelf more at his eafe, this petty po- tentate forgot, ina moment, both the town and his fuperiors. — We confidered this reception as an infult. In the firft emotions of difpleafure, I hefitared . whether to ftay or go; and confulting the looks of my companion, whofe eyes in like manner feemed to be interrogating mine, I waited only for his fignal to determine me: but, when re- flection had calmed a little our refentment, we thought it much better to flay, and amufe our-~ felves even with the haughtinefs of this lordly vine. drefler. | The fupper was fplendid. There was an abundance and variety of difhes, elegance in the decorations, and every thing fuitable. The object-of this pageantry and magnificence was to dazzle and leffen us. So little did the pleafure of his infignificant guelfts enter into the account, — that we were ferved with the common wine of the country, while he had the impudence to drink himfelf, before our eyes, fome choice Bordeaux, which his flaves poured out for him. Having AFRICA. st ~ Having left the table, and retired to our apart- ment, we found this adventure {till more amuf- ing than it was grofs. We refolved, however, to be even with our hoft, and to read him, in return, a ufeful leffon. He had promifed to vifit us at the Cape, and we formed the plan, in recompenfe for his wine of Bordeaux, to prefent him with fome wine of the worft {pecies that could be procured; which, if it did not infpire gaiety, was at leaft calculated to infpire wifdom into the inflated brain of this African Jupiter. ; But how great was our aftonifhment when we awoke in the morning, and were faluted with a moft admirable concert playing under our windows! Delighted with the enchant- ing founds, we endeavoured to guefs their caufe. We afked each other, how it could happen that this fatrap, the night before, fhould have fhown himfelf fo haughty, and now dif- play the moft refined attention? Weconcluded, © that either his rudenefs was the affair of a day, or that, being fobered by a night’s reft, he haft- ened to obliterate from our minds the negli- gence with which we had been treated. Our conjectures and our praifes were of fhort du- E 2 ration. gh TR EVES AIN ration. The concert was intended for the amufement of our hott, nd not for ours; and this was not the firft time that it had faluted the walls of his palace. "Fhis great man wat ‘accuftomed to be thus awaked every morn= ing; and he retained, for the exprefs put pofe, fifteen flaves particularly {kilfel in mu- ical execution. 7 7 Before we fet out on our return, we found our prince laying afide a part of his dignity. Perhaps he faw the elect that his grand airs had produced on me and my companion. He was afraid that at the Cape we Should be difpofed ‘to amufe the town’s people at his expence; and, for a parting glafs, he prefented us with the ehoiceft produce of his cellar ; the wine fomuch eelebrated in Europe, and which often lends its name to the mof impudent counterfeits, which: are offered to us with the higheft oftentation. What I have faid of the difguftimg and ab- furd pride of the planters near the Cape, muft - not be applied to them all indifcriminately. There are fome, who, by no means, deferve the reproach; and in this mumber I particu- | larly include Becker, whofe houfe is the abode ef eafe and cordiality. No honeft ftranger ever Ae Hite 1h © As 53 ever enters it without experiencing thofe pleat- ing attentions, the refult at once of politene(s and generofity. Becker, however, was not born at the Cape, but is, I believe, a German. As we advance into the country, the planters are a fort of farmers; and conftitute, by their manners, cuftoms and occupations, a clafs by themfelves, perfetly diflin® from that I have been defcribing. Situated farther from the Cape; and, of confequence, not having the fame opportunities for difpofing of their commodities, they are lefs.rich than the farft. We fee among them none of thofe agreeable country-houfes, which, placed at different dif- tances from the town, embellith the country as . we pafs, and afford fuch charming profpedis. Their habitation, which is about the fize of a large coach-houle, is covered with thatch, and divided into three rooms by means of two pate titions, which reach only to a certain height, The middle apartment, in which is the en-_ trance to the houfe, ferves at once both as a parlour and eating-room.. It is. there that the family refide during the day, and that tl hey re- ceive their tea and other vifitors.. Of the two other rooms, one forms a chamber for the mal¢ E32 children, 54 TRAVELS IN children, and the other for the females, with the father and mother. At the back of the middle apartment is a farther room, ferv- ing fora kitchen. ‘The reft of the building -confifts of barns and ftables. Such is the diftribution which is generally followed in the interior plantations of the co- lony : but nearer to the frontiers, where there does not prevail the fame eafe of circumftances, the habitations are much lefs commodious. ‘They are merely a barn, confifting of a fingle room, without any divifion, in which the whole family live together, without feparating, either day or night. ‘They fleep upon fheep-{kins, which ferve them alfo for covering. The drefs of thefe planters is fimple and ruftic. That of the men confifts of a check fhirt, a waifteoat with fleeves, a large pair of trowfers, and a hat half unlooped. The wo- - men have a petticoat, a jacket fitted to their fhape, and a little round bonnet of muflin, Unlefs upon extraordinary occafions, neither fex wears ftockings. During a part of the year, the women even walk with their feet quite naked. The occupations of the men re- quire that theirs fhould have forme eovering ; " and Ae Bev Ae $s and this covering they make from a piece of the hide of an ox, applied and fhaped to the foot foon after the animal is killed, and while the hide is yet frefh. ‘Thefe fandals are the enly article of their drefs which they make themfelves; the reft is the bufinefs of the wo- men, who cut out and prepare their whole wardrobe. ‘Though the equipment I have mentioned conftitute the every-day drefs of the planter, he has, however, a coat of hand- - fome blue cloth, which he wears upon days of gala and ceremony. He has then alfo ftock- ings and fhoes, and is drefled exaCtly like an Furopean. But this finery never makes its appearance but when he goes to the Cape ; and then, indeed, is not put on till he arrives at the entrance of the town. : It is commonly in thefe journeys that they purchafe fuch things as they may want to refit their wardrobe. ‘There is, at the Cape, as well -as in Paris and London, a fpecies of old-clothes- men, who deal in commodities of this fort; and who, from their enormous profits, and the extortion they practife, have obtained the name ef Capfe-Smouse, or Cape Jews. Thefe traf- fickers contrive, at all times, to fell their goods KE 4, ae 56 TRAVELS IN ata dear rate; but they vary the price in pro- portion as their ftock is great or fmall; of courfe they bear no fixed price, and the planter who comes fiom the defert, and who can un- derftand but little of this Bialedi is fure to be duped. On the other hand, the regular thopkeeper, who knows the probity of thefe farmers, and how punctual they are in the payment of their debts, exerts every effort to prevail on them to open an account with him. He tempts them by the pretended cheap price and excellent quality of his ftuffs, and offers to remit the payment till their next journey in the follow- ing year. It is feldom that thefle people, fim- ple and unexperienced as they are, perceive the craft that is prefented to them under this guife of kindnefs and civility. If they fuffer them- felves to be prevailed upon, they are fhackled for life. Upon their return, there are new purchafes to be made upon the fame con- ditions; and thus, year after year, always i mm debt, always buying w ithout prompt payment, they become the prey of an extortioner, who raifes to himfelf a fortune out of their weak- nefs. | A ACF RTE A> 5) » It is true, thefe buyers, after being thus duped at the Cape, commonly return home only to make dupes of others. ‘The cunning that has been employed to deceive them, they employ in their turn to tempt the Hottentots who are in their fervice. The remnants of fiuff, or the frippery garments which they bring back, are fold to thefe unfortunate fervants with fo great a profit, that commonly the wages of a year are inadequate to the payment, and they find themfelves, like their mafiers, in debt for the year that isto come. In‘the end, therefore, it 1s the poor Hottentot that pays for the extortion at the Cape. The circumftances I have here © mentioned, are an epitome of the praClices of the world in all conditions of life. The fubtle knave always knows how to impofe a tax upon the fool, who, having paid it, attempts to impofe it upon fome other fool; fo that at laft itis the greateft dolt that bears the burthen. And thus do men chain themfelves together by means that ought in reality to dilunite them. | One might fuppofe that the planters, of the elais of which I am fpeaking, from their prac- tice of agriculture, would beftow fome atten- tion 58 TRAVELS IN tion upon the cultivation of vegetables and fruit. This would be fo much the eafier to them, as, having acquired gratuitoufly a con- fiderable portion of ground, they canbe in no © want of a {pot for a garden. Meanwhile I have feen no roots or other vegetables regularly cul- tivated in any of the interior parts of Africa, except in the country of the Auteniquas. Every where elfe gardening is unknown ; and if you find a fruit-tree near any of their habitations, itis planted there only as fome great and un- common curiofity. | ; Cuftom has rendered the planters infenfible to the want of fruit and pulfe. The facility with which they rear their cattle makes up for this privation, as their flocks afford them plenty of provifion. The chief food is mutton; and their tables are loaded with fuch prqranem | as to difeuft one at the fight. From this mode of living, cattle are in the co- lonies, as in other places, not only a ufeful ob- ject, but an article of the firft neceffity. The planter undertakes himfelf the care of watching: ~ over his flocks. Every evening, when they return from field, he ftands at his door, with a ftick in his hand, and counts them over one AP aed CA 59. one by one, in order to be fure that none of them are miffing. People who have no other employment oe | a little agriculture, and the fuperintendence of a flock, muft have long intervals of idlenels. It is thus with the planters, particularly thofe who live in the interior parts of the country, and who being unable, en account of their dif tance from the Cape, to difpole of their corn, never raife more than is fufficient for their own confumption. From the profound in- action in which they live, one would fuppofe their fupreme felicity to confift in doing no- thing. They fometimes, however, vilit each other; and upon thefe occafions the day is {pent in fmoking, and drinking tea, and in telling, or liftening to, tales of romance, that are equal neither in merit nor morality to the ftory of Blue-beard. As every man always carries with him wherever he goes, both a pipe, and a tobacco- pouch made of the {kin of the fea calf, he is fure in thefe vilits to have one fource of amufe- ment. When any one of the company is defirous of lighting his pipe, he takes out his pouch, and, having filled, paffes it to the reft. : 2 This 60 TRAV ESS aw This is a civility that is never omitted... How- ever numerous may be the party, every body . {mokes; the confequence of which is a cloud, that, rifing at firft to the upper. part of the room, increafes, by degrees, till it fills the whole houfe, and becomes at laft fo thick, that it is impoffible for the fmokers to fee one another. Sparmann has given of thefe {moking parties an account equally humourous andtrue. For myfelf, whom the fmell of tobacco particularly incommedes, I confefs that when thefe infec- | tious fogs began to defcend toa level with my head, I left the room and ran into the fields to breathe a purer air, and to cleanfe my lungs. - There is another cuftom which, from an in- vincible repugnance, I could never prevail on myfelf to adopt: I mean the evening bath; a cuftom fo efleemed by the Greeks, and which recalls to the memory periods fo delightful, and manners fo happy. But how extreme isthe difference between the Ulyffes and Nautficas of the Greeks, and thofeof the Cape! I have already obierved, that neither the men nor the women wear ftockines, and that the latter alfo, fora confiderable part of the year, go without fhogs. . As WAS RIC: A, 6? Asa practice of this kind muft continually foil the feet, they remedy the inconvenience by a daily habit of cleanlinefs. Every evening, before they go to bed, the Hottentot or negro woman who performs the drudgery of the houfe, brings a tub of water into the middle of the room, and wathes the feet, firft of the father and mother, then ofthe children and the reft of the family, and, laftly, of the ftrangers. As the tub ferves in turn for the whole com- pany, without the water being once changed, it may eafily be imagined that I, who was to come laft, difcovered no great eagernefs to leap in. To excufe myfelf, ] pretended that it was euftomary with me never to take off my boots, till | was‘upon'the point of getting into’bed; and the excufe was admitted. Thefe civilities however, di€tated by the pureft intentions, and which originate in the ufages of the remoteft antiquity, have in them a romantic and facred chara@er that at firft fight ftrikes the imagination. Haw ungrateful fhould I have been if I had feen only the dif- agreeable fide of the queftion, and had felt my heart uninterefied—I, who place in the rank ef firtt neceflaries that virtue, fo little known in 62 TRAWEL'S arn our days; of hofpitality and all the dutiés which it enjoins? I have been too frequently the objet of this brotherly love, which offers us a family and friends when at a diftance from our own. [| have always met with this tender- nefs and affetion. Every one has been off- cious to ferve me; father, mother, children, all have ftrove who fhould beftow on me the greateft attention; not by thofe gentilities, thofe expreflions, hali-formed, but full of hy- pocrify and falfhood, which are the portion of your well-bred people; but by that franknefs and {miling good nature which place a man at his eafe, and banifh from his mind every idea of embarraffment and conftraint. Thofe who underftood that I had made a diflant excurfion into the country, and had pafied near their habitation, reproached me with unkindnefs for not having turned a little out of my way to vifit them. ‘They {poke of — the pleafure it would have afforded them ; and _afked, in a tone of concern that was affecting, how I could prefer fleeping in the open air to a comfortable lodging in their houfe, where they would have contidered it as a duty to render my abode as pleafant as was in their power. But wjAskOR WC. A. 63 But at that time the object for which I travelled among them depended, I conceived, for its fucceis, upon my keeping at a diftance. What proves ftill farther the extretne good+ nature and benevolence of thefe people, is, that a firanger, the moment he is received by the mafter of the houfe, becomes in a manner a member of the family. Accuftomed to a family life, they delight in ties of affinity, and con- fider in the light of a relative every perfon they love. ‘The children who climbed my knees, either for the purpofe cf carefling me, or to ad- mire and count my buttons, called me their grand-father. Iwas the coufin of the parents, and the uncle of the daughters ; and among my nieces, I frankly confefs, there was more than — one whofe artlefs importunities and eloquent eyes have frequently made me forgetful of the hour I had fixed for leaving them. | Upon entering a houfe, the form of faluta- tion is, to fhake hands firft with the matter, _and then with every male perfon in the cem- - pany, arrived at years of maturity. If there happens to be any one whom we do not like, the hand is refufed to him; and this refufal, of fo common 4a teftimony of friendthip, is | looked 64. TRAV ADSI looked upon as a formal declaration that the vilitor confiders him as his enemy. It is not the fame with the females in the company. They are all embraced one after another, and to make an exception would be a fignal affront. Old or young, all muft be kiffed. It is a be~ nefice with the duties attached to it. At whatever time of the day you enter the houfe ofa planter, you are fure to find the kettle and tea-things upon the table. This practice is univerfal.. The inhabitants never drink pure water. Ifa ftranger prefents him- felf, it is tea they offer him for refrefhment. This is their common liquor in the interval of meals, and in one feafon of the year, when it often happens that they have neither beer nor wine, is their only beverage. : } Ifa ftranger arrives at: dinner time, before the cloth is taken away, he fhakes hands, emé+ . braces, and immediately feats himfelf at the table. fhe wifhes to pafs the night, he ftays without ceremony, fmokes, drinks tea, afks the news, gives them all he knows in his turn; and the next day, the kiffing and fhaking hands being repeated, he goes ‘on his way, to per- form elfewhere the fame ‘ceremony. © To | offer AFRICA. 65 offer money on thefe occafions would be re- garded as an infult. - It will naturally be fuppofed that educa- tion, in fuch a country, muft be totally dif- ferent from that of Europe. The children have not there, as with us, infignificant drums, trumpets, and other pretty but ufelefs toys, which we give them to drive away their petu- lance, and render them lefs troublefome. With the Africans, the only amufement the children know, ferves at the fame time as the com- mencement of their education. It is cuftomary, when the cart or waggon belonging to a planter is not employed, to leave it in the open air by the fide of the houfe. As foon as the children can climb to the board that ferves for a feat, they place themfelves upon it; and, with a whip in their hands, exercife themfelves in commanding the oxen, which ate fuppofed to be prefent, calling them by their names, ftriking the place of any one that is thought not to obey with fufficient readinefs ; in a word, in directing the courfe of the wag- gon, in making it turn, go on, or recede, pre- cifely as they with. After having fucceffively handled, in this manner, whips fuited to their Vor. I, Ly age, 66 TRV ee SN age, they arrive at laft to the management ofa bamboo, nicely tapered, fifteen or fixteen feet in length, with a thong at the end of it ftill longer; and with this inftrument they can ftrike, at the diftance of more than twenty-five feet, a pebble that is pointed out to them, or a piece of money thrown upon the ground, I have already mentioned a pleafant amufement of this kind, which one of the Slabers procured me, who fingled out with aftonifhing addrefs, among a multitude of birds, fuch individuals as I was defirous of having. Swanpoel alfo, the companion of my journey, would feldom mifs a partridge flying ; and, notwithftanding his age, applied his whip with fo much force, that, in one of our excurfions, I faw him {trike perfeCtly dead, a duck, of a much larger fpecies than the common one of Europe. When a young planter can drive a waggon, and exercife a whip, his education is nearly completed; for they never think of teaching him either to write or read. At the age of fourteen he is ccnfidered as arriving at man- hood, and ranks in fociety accordingly. He fhakes hands with the men, embraces the wo- men, and {mokes, A fufee alfo is given him, with © AFRICA. 67 with liberty to hunt as much as he pleafes. Entering at this period into the enjoyment of all the rights of man, he regards himfelf as fuch, and haftens to choofe among the girls of the neighbourhood a miftrefs; whom he finally marries; for it is feldom that a youth is found to pay his addrelies to feveral women. The planters being all hunters, from having their flocks and fields to defend from the ra~ vages of wild beafts, are provided with a certain number of fufees, according as the family is large or fmall; and refpeQing thefe guns, they employ a precaution that is fingular. Expe- rience has taught them that the brightnefs of the barrel frequently alarms, by its reflection, the animal of which they are in purfuit, and warns himto fly. To remedy this inconveni- ence, the barrels in Europe are browned; but the planters, who are not {killed in this art, rub them over with the blood of theep; an opera- tion which, though lefs neat, indeed, and plea- _ fant, produces the fame effect, fince the inftru- ment becomes thereby equally tarnithed. Upon the queftion of the excellence of fire arms, their prejudices and principles are very different from ours. In their eftimation a gun =e 13 63 TRAVELS IN is never bad, if the ftock and furniture be good. This is the only circumftance to which’ they attend, when they make a purchafe. As to the barrel, they care but little whether it fhoots well or ill, becaufe they boaft of having a me- thod that will corre the faults of the very wortt. P To corre€t, in their fenfe of the word, is not — to make a barrel good that was not fo before; — it is merely to make it fhootftraight, which with them is the fame thing. There is, indeed, no great ingenuity in their method; but it is at leaft fimple, and its fuccefs, which is the refult. ef experience, always certain. It confifts, as they exprefs it, de roer of de feboot, in bringing the gun to the mark: in other words, by dint of firing at a mark they afcertain its defe@. If it theot too high or too low, to the right or to the left, they place upon the breech a fecond moveable fight, which they raife or fink, incline this way or that, as the defect may require, till they fucceed in ftriking the mark. Arrived at this point, they fix the “fight, and the gun becomes inftantly a good one. This operation, it muft be acknowledged, requires extreme patience, and can only be per=. formed AIR VC A. 65 formed by ‘perfons who have a great deal of leifure at their command; but theoretical cal- ‘culations and the principles of optics are above their capacity. fit afterwards happen, in the courfe of their fports, that they mifs their ob- ject, the gun, they fay, does not yet aniwer to the level, and the fame operation is performed again. | In the courfe of this expedition I isan Stellenboch, the whole of Hottentot Holland, Draaken-Steyn, Bocke- Veld, Rooye-Zand, the canton of the Twenty-four Rivers, and Swart- land. ‘Thefe different countries afforded me little that was interefting, except the profpects, and thefe even- were all inferior in beauty to others which I had feen, and particularly to that of the Twenty-four Rivers. As to the manners of the inhabitants, I have already faid that the fhades which diftinguifh one canton from another are very few and fcarcely dif- cernible ; we find every where the fame {imple courfe of life, the fame love of eafe, of indo- lence and inanity, On my return to the Cape, I Sins that Boers had experienced a relapfe of his diforder, and had been obliged to refort again tothe baths. F 3 | Fle 40 IR BN ELIS AWN He had written to Europe to afk leave of the company to refign his office. Having received and filied it with honour, he withed alfo in quitting it to be without reproach; and he had, laboured, therefore, day and night to put every thing in order previous to his departure, which he intended thould take place the moment the veflel arrived with the intelligence that his re- fignation was accepted. ‘This fedulous appli- cation, at an unfavouravle period, before his ftrength was thoroughly re-eftablithed, had oc- cafioned the relapfe. I hoped that the repofe and tranquillity likely to refult from a total re- miffion of the fun@ions of office, and the anxieties attached to it, would be productive of the effects he expeéted, and one day regain him the health he had loft, But the veffel from Europe was not arrived, and fomething, I con- ceived, ought in the mean time to be done. As he had often exprefled a defire to vifit the in- terior parts of the colony, and as I had myfelf farther obfervations to make in the charming — country of the Auteniquas, I refolved, if pof- fible, to revive this defire, and lead him of his awn accord to propofe the expedition. Accordingly, fitting one evening with other | perfons AFRICA. rae petfons before the entrance of the houfe, under the fhade of the trees that furrounded it, I en- tered into a defcription of this country, the moft pleafant in the colony. I related every thing that had attached me to it when I for- merly encamped there ; how pure was the air, and how enchanting the profpeéts. I infured him a fpeedy convalefcence, a recovery in a few days, both from his bodily complaints, and - that uneafinefs of mind to which he was con- tinually a prey. Thefe agreeable reveries, which roufed him a little, infenfibly led us far- ther. - We advanced even to Caffraria. I vi- fited the worthy Haabas; I faw once more my dear Narina and her interefting horde; in fhort, I travelled over again, in imagination, the courfe which I had before travelled with my people. We promifed ourfelves the purer enjoyments, as we fhould have none of thofe obftacles to ftruggle with, which, from inex- perience, and a too numerous equipage, had every inftant {prung up at my feet. The hope of vifiting Caffraria was particularly faf- ecinating to me in thefe ideal excurfions; and, at this conjunCure, humanity, I thought, im- pofed it asa law upon me. There prevailed - F4 - at 42 TRAVELS IN at the Cape, an opinion that the Caffres were a wicked and ferocious people; in confequence of which thefe unfortunate beings were expofed to perfecutions that could not fail to irritate their minds, and render them {till more for- midable. My friend himfelf had been more or lefs infe€ted with this almoft univerfal pre- judice. I conceived that, by gradually intro- — ducing milder inftitutions among thefe people, an important and interefting revolution might be effected ; which could not fail to take place, the moment their tranquillity and fafety, which ignorance, and the terror alone of their name had for fo many years difturbed, fhould, by equitable laws, be fecured to them, The man beft calculated to work this defirable change in the fituation of the Caffres, and their perfecut- ing neighbours, was the fifcal; fince upon his report to the company of the ftate of the fettle- ment, on his return to Holland, would depend the regulations that it might be thought pros per to introduce for the melioration of the go= vernment, and the welfare of the inhabitants, It was neceflary, therefore, that he thould have perfonal experience of the truth of what I had twenty times told him, of the evils that refulted — | from AFRICA, 73 from the impolitic adminiftration of the fron- tier parts of the colony, and the neceflity of appeafing thofe hordes, continually harafied by the moft flagrant injuftice, the moft horrible inhumanity, which left behind it fo keen a re- fentment, and of the benefits that wou!d flow from friendfhip and a good underftanding. I prevailed upon Boers to confent at leaft to make trial. of this excurfion; and I little doubted that, if I could once lure him into the country, he would fuffer me to guide him ftep — by ftep wherever I pleafed, without fo much as noticing the diftance. His health, however, requiring particular precautions, it was re- - folved, while the preparations for this journey were making, that we fhould {pend a week at . my good friend Slaber’s, who was as dear to Boers as he was to myfelf. Whether we des parted from Swart-Land, or returned to the Cape, was of little importance ; our route could not fail to be known, as it would be that which I had already travelled, and from whieh I had returned fix months before; and letters from Europe, therefore, might eafily be difpatched to us, in the fame manner as Boers had dif- patched mine to me while I fojourned in the ; country 4 TRAVELS IN country of the Auteniquas. It was accordingly a fettled bufinefs, and my friend conceived him- felf to be already in my tent. The converfation that took place upon this occafion, and which powerfully interefted the company, reminds me of a curious event that happened at the fame time, and which I cannot pafs over in filence, _ Our eyes were naturally attracted by the ob- jects before us. Mine indeed, by an involun- tary impulfe, are fure to be directed to what- ever trees are in fight. We perceived the branches of one near usto move. Immediately we heard the piercing cries of a fhrike, and faw it tremble as if in convulfions. We firft con- ceived that it was held in the gripe of fome bird of prey: but a clofer attention led us to difcover, upon the next branch of the tree, a large ferpent that, with ftretched-out neck, and fiery eyes, though perfectly ftill, was gazing at the poor animal. ‘The agony of the bird was terrible; but fear had deprived it of ftrength, and, as if tied by the leg, it feemed ta have loft, the power of flight. One of the company ran for a fufee; but before he returned the fhrike was dead, and we fhot only the ferpent, J re- | AFRICA. 76 I requefted that the diftance between the place where the bird had experienced the con- vulfions, and that occupied by the ferpent be- fore it was fhot, might be meafured. Upon doing fo, we found it to be three feet anda half, and we were all convinced that the fhrike had died neither from the bite nor the poifon ofits enemy, I {tripped it alfo before the whole -company, and made them obierve that it was “untouched, and had not received the flighteft wound. | _ [had my reafons for what I did. Extraor- dinary as the fact may appear, and though the perfons who had been the: witnefles could hardly believe, even after having feen it; it was to me not new. A fimilar adventure had happened to me in the canton of the Twenty- four Riyers, and I inftantly related it to con- firm what we had juft feen. Hunting one day ina marfhy piece of ground, J heard all at once, ina tuft of reeds, a piercing and very lamentable cry. Anxious to know what it was, I ftole foftly to the place, where I perceived a {mall moufe, like the fhrikeon the tree, in agonizing convulfions, and two yards farther a ferpent, whofe eyes were intently | fixed 76 TRAVELSAIN fixed upon it. The moment the reptile faw — -me it glided away; but the bufinefs was done. -Upon taking up the moufe it expired in my hand, without its being poffible for me to dif- cover, by the moft attentive Cea what had occafioned its death. The Hottentots, whom I confulted upon this incident, exprefled no fort of aftonith- ment. Nothing, they faid, was more com- ‘mon ; the ferpent had the faculty of attracting and fafcinating fuch animals as it wifhed to devour. I had then no faith in fuch power; but fome time after, fpeaking of the circum- ftance in acompany of more than twenty per- fons, in the number of whom was colone! Gordon ; a captain of his regiment confirmed the account of the Hottentots, and affured me it was an event which happened very fre- quently. ‘ My teftimony,’” added he, “ ought “to have the more weight, as I had once *‘ nearly become myfelfa victim to this fafci- “nation. While in garrifon at Ceylon, and ‘‘ amufing myfelf, like you, in hunting inva “‘ marth, I was in the courfe of my {port fud- denly feized with a convulfive and involun- t mn trembling, different from any thing I | shad VAL YORE A. oy «t had ever experienced, and at the fame time. _ “was ftrongly attracted, and in {pite of my- * felf, to a particular {pot of the marfh. Di- © re€ting my eyes to this fpot, I beheld, with - “ feelings of horror, a ferpent of an enormous “ fize, whofe look inftantly pierced me. Hav- ‘* ing, however, not yet loft all power of mo- ‘tion, I embraced the opportunity before it _ was too late, and faluted the reptile with the “‘ contents of my fufee. The report was a _**talifman that broke the charm. All at once, “ as if by a miracle, my convulfion ceafed; I ** felt myfelf able to fly; and the only incon- “ venience of this extraordinary adventure was *¢ a cold fweat, which was doubtlefs the effec ‘* of my fear and of the violent agitation my. ** fenfes had undergone.” Such was the account given me by this of ficer, Ido not pretendto vouch ior its truth; but. the ftory of the moufe, as well as of the fhrike, I aver to be fac. I will add alfo, thar, fince my. return to France, having had oecafion to talk. - with Blanchot upon the fubject, an officer’ who fucceeded Boufflers in the government of ‘Senegal; he affured me with confidence, that: both at Goree and in Senegal the opinion was 7 uni- "8 TRAVELS IN —univerfal; that ‘afcending the river of that name, as far even as Galam, three hundred Teagues from its mouth, it equally prevailed among the Moors, at the right, and the Ne- groes, at the left; that among thefe people no~ body doubted er power in certain fpecies of ferpents, of fafcinating both animals and men; and that the tradition was founded upon long experience, and the many misfortunes ie are continually witneffing. Here again let it be rshitelil that lz amt only the hiftorian, and that I take upon me neither to validate nor explain thefe reports. With refpe& to the two inftances I have ad- duced, and of-which I am at once the recorder and the evidence, they will probably be re- garded by many of my readers, as the pure ef fe&t of that extreme and involuntary terror which every animal experiences by inflinct, at fight of an enemy that has power over its life ; and they will allege, perhaps, in fupport of this fuppofition, the example of the fetter, who retains in their place a partridge or a | hare, by the mere circumftance of his prefence and look. , To this I reply, that if a bisa or a hare remain — AFR? Cine - 19 remaiti quiet before the dog, it is not fo much — from a fudden impulfe of fear as from de- liberate cunning. While clofe upon the ground they imagine themfelves to be concealed from the enemy. What confirms this conjeCture © is, that if the dog approaches near enough to - feize upon his prey, the bird inftantly takes wing, and the hare fcampers away. It will certainly not be denied me, that it is fear which makes them fly. Such is the powerful effeé of inftin& in every animal at the appearance | of danger. But why do not the hare and partridge at fight of the dog remain fixed and ’ motionlefs with terror, like the fhrike and the moufe in prefence of the ferpent? Why thould fear give to the former new ftrength, while the others die on the fpot, under all the increafing | fymptoms of agony, and without the power of efcaping, as if retained by fome invincible force? The rat does not remain ftationary upon the approach of the cat, but haftens away the moment he perceives her. May not then the look and prefence of a ferpent, and the na- ture of the corpufcles that emanate from its body, produce a very different effet from the emanation and look of the cat? : How 80. TRAVELS IN - Fiow few are our opportunities of obferving nature? Let.us ftudy her more clofely, and we fhall perhaps find, that the has many particu- lar laws of which we are yet ignorant. Before the difcovery of eleCtricity, had an author ven- tured to aflert that there exified fith, which, though {mall in themfelves, could give to a number of perfons at once fo violent a fhock, as to make them feel confiderable pain in all the articulations of the body, the affertion would have been regarded as the moft abfurd fable. ‘This fuppofed fable, however, is be- come an indifputable truth. Without {peaking of the torpedo, with which every body is ac- quainted, I fhall content myfelf with citing, in proof of this fact, the Beefaal, or electrical eel of Surinam. I had for many years an op- portunity of obferving this fpecies of fifth; as my father, for the purpofe of experiment, kept one continually in his houfe. Upon touching | a fringed fort of membrane, fituated under the belly, and extending the whole length of the body, I have always obferved a very violent fhock immediately follow. My father was defirous of afcertaining, if the fhock would be diminifhed by being communicated to a number MAE ROC A, 81 number of individuals at once; and, for this -purpofe, he collected together about ten perfons, who formed a chain by the jun@iion of hands. No fooner had they touched the membrane of the eel, than they felt themfelves equally ftruck at the fame moment. Nor was this all. To convince the {petators that the imagination had nothing to do in producing this effect, he. had placed a dog as a link between two of the perfons compofing the chain, who held him, one by the right, and the other by the left foot: At the inftant of contaé& the animal gave a loud cry; and his pain, which was the caufe of this cry, proved beyond difpute that that of _ the reft of the party was not lefs real. - Reafoning phyfically upon this fubje@, I acknowledge that -a confiderable difference ought to be made between an effet vifibly produced by the immediate ation of a body, and another effet operated without any appa- rent contact, any vifible medium, like that of the ferpent upon the animalsin queftion. But who will affirm that, in prefence of its prey,.the ferpent does not at phyfically upon it? Per- haps this death-dealing quality belongs only to fome particular forts of ferpent. Perhaps it is Vor. I, G not 82 TRAVERS IN not enjoyed by them, un'efs at particular fea- fons, an! in certain countries. The! ancients have deferibed the baulifk as. killing with its look. This is certainly a fable; but is it not a fable, abiurd as it may appear, that originally had fome truth for its foundation? No doubt, in remote periods, circumflances. may have been obferved. fimilar to. thofe of my fhrike and my moule; or, perhaps, even to that res lated by the captain. Hence they might have concluded that a ferpent, impregnable himfelf, and always conqueror, fince he could kill by a look, could be no other than the king of his race. From his royalty they would naturally have called him bafilifk; and as a fovereign muft have fome particular fign to atteft his pre- eminence, the poets, who often exaggerate by withing to adorn nature, may have added the wings, the feet and the crown. This digreflion, of which, perhaps, the ‘ioe _ ject would have efcaped my memory, was de- ferving, I conceived, of a place in my work; and, though it has fomewhat interrupted the dramatic effe@, I could not abftain from relat- ing it in the order in which it prefented itfelf to my mind. Whatever title may be given to my Te AFRICA. $3 my narrative, it is of little importance whether there prevail in it or not a {cholaftic arrange- ment. ‘The art of writing is not my objeQ, put truth and clearnefs.. Iam talking with my friends, and have nothing to do with the tram- mels of literature. I have faid, that I had « teailed, on Boers to accompany me in my excurfion. An uns expected accident haftened our refolution. Ins telligence was brought to the Cape, that a French veflel, the crew of which had muiinied, was at anchor in the bay of Saldanha. This news particularly concerned Percheron, the naval commiflary, who was obliged by his of- fice to repair to the bay in order to take cogs nizance of the matter, and, if ; offible, remedy - the evil. Underftanding that we were nearly to take the fame route, he requefted a place in Boers’s carriage, and was accordingly cne of our party. An officer of the Pendich. rry regi- ment, whofe name was Larcher, made a fourth, and we fet offina fort of hunting vehicle (cha- riot de chaffe) drawn by tix horfes. _ | _ The diftance we had to travel was, in reality, but an eafy day’s journey, and we intended to halt no longer than was neceflary juft to fhow ; G2 | our. ee. TRAVELS APN felves to the crew; but, like thofe tempefts which are always pieded by fatal omens, we found it that day not only ‘impofh ble to ar- rive at Saldanha, but we had to lament by the. way the unhappy fate of more than one of our attendants. | | | The Sout-Rivier (falt river), which it was neceflary to crofs at a diftance from the town, had its banks almoft covered with cormorants. - We were defirous of killing fome of them, and we alighted for the purpofe. Upon fetting off again, a negro who was behind the carriage, taken at unawares, was thrown to the ground _ by the fuddennefs of the motion, and fell with fuch violence as to break his leg. He was an excellent fervant of Boers and very much be- loved by his mafter. We were obliged, there- fore, to quit the road, and repair to the neareft habitation, to take the proper care of our une fortunate patient. A litter was conftructed, and we had him conveyed tothe town. . This accident having delayed us feveral hours, and Boers withing to regain the time that had been _ Joft, the coachman put his horfes upon the gal- | lop, and drove us like the wind. We had fome dogs w ith us. One pith | | he very AACR a. 8 “very much heated by this extraordinary {fpeed, _and attracted by a ftream that was at a diftance, ran on before to bathe and refreth himfelf. I have already obferved in my former travels, that, in Africa, every dog that plunges into the water, under fuch circumftances, is almoft fure to die there, unlefs fomebody happens to be fufficiently near to take him inftantly out. The dog in queftion, when we arrived at the ‘ftream, had already paid the fatal tribute. Fadts of this kind are fo common in the co- lony as not to admit the poflibility of difpute: and here I would fain afk our philofophers to account for this circumftance, and tell us why the dogs of Africa are fo frequently fubje@ to death, in a fituation where thofe of Europe do not experience the flighte{t inconvenience. ‘It was late when we arrived at the patri- archal habitation of the worthy Slaber. The embracing and falutations being over, there ‘was a general uproar, as it were, in the houfe. ‘They hardly knew in what terms of joy to ex- prefs their gratitude, as well to Boers as to the friend he had brought with him. All were eager to welcome this friend; I: was fenfible of this; at the fame time it was impoflible not oe to 86. PRAV WOS LIN to notice the demonftrations of kindnefs that were equally beftowed on their older ac- quaintance. The girls, in particular, waited upon him with a moft captivating grace. One took his hat, and another his cloak. They queftioned him as to his health and his wants. _ They feemed to think him not fufficiently un- - referved, becaufe he could not find employ- ment for all of them at once. Delightful of- ficioufnefs, charming vivacity! which rendered {till more agreeable, bythe contraft, the plain — and honeft good-nature of the father of the family. When they learned our inteation of -ftaying a week with them, their acclamations of joy burft forth afrefh, and refounded through the houfe. It was the triumph of a victory. Our fpirits were prefently as cheerful as theirs; and fo perfeétly were we at our eafe, that a_ {tranger would have been puzzled to fay who were the entertainers and who the guefis. The firft evening was {pent in arranging our plans, and affigning to each day of our week its ap- propriate amufements; an arrangement that was oppofed now and then by the women, who did not fail to impofe is us fome hard con- _ ditions. Per- AFRICA, 89 - Percheron, who was of the party, had all this while nothing in his head but the fhip and its refractory crew in the bay of Saldanha. Before he furrendered himfelf to pleafure, he was defirous of pe:forming his duty.. He afked me, therefore, to fet off with him the next morning, and accompany him to the vel- fel. ‘This was precif:ly my intention. Every other perfon in my fituation would probably have regarded this propofal of the commiflary as extremely imprudent. I, on the con‘rary, was delighted with it, and had refolved, if he had not foreftalled me, to make it myfelf. Thad never feen a crew in a ftate of infurrec- tion again{t their officers; the fcene was per- fedtly new to me; and every thing extraor= dinary, every thing which promifed a new fen- fation, had in my eyes an attraCtion that was not to be refifled. Accerdingly, without re- fleGting upon the confequences of this temerity, without confidering that, in the gaiety of my heart, | was going to expole myfelf to the moft imminent danger, I appointed an hour with Percheron, and longed for its arrival. Though we had only four leagues to travel, and had entered upon this journey immediately 3 G4 after 88 TRAV ELS GUN after breakfaft, we were again fo incommoded on the way, that we did not reach the bay till the clofe of the evening: a circumftance that | put us extremely out of humour, and was not calculated to diminifh the prejudice which we had before naturally entertained again{ft the miutineers. The fhades of night feemed to ‘Saaee on purpofe, as if to conceal from us the veflel ; and it was with the utmoft difficulty, and by dint, as it were, of groping, that we found our way acrofs the downs. I twice difcharged my fufee to announce our arrival, and to fignify our wifh that a boat might be fent us. Ufelefs precaution! They pretended not to hearus. In danger of paffing the night in the watch-box upon the ftrand, we curfed the fhip, the crew, and the bay. ‘The captain, it feems, fearing that we were fuch of the mutineers as had gone on fhore in the courfe of the day, and who were to return, in the evening, furnifhed with arms, was cautious of receiving us. At length, by repeatedly firing, and by our cries and vo- — ciferations, we infpired fome confidence, and a boat was hoifted out to fetch us on board. To form an accurate image of the diforder to" ‘AF Rew C.A: T $5 ‘to which we were witneffés it is neceffary to have feen.it. A thip floating in the ocean, and deprived of all external intercourfe, is of itfelf a world fufficiently ftrange ; and here, by the mutiny that had taken place, it was a world turned upfide-down. The crew, divided into groupes, occupied here and there the different parts of the deck. On all fides were heard mur- | murs, threats, tremendous imprecations, and horribie oaths ; every where there prevailed a frightful tumult. The voices of the chiefs were drowned amidft the deafening cries of the men. From the impetuous motions of this unruly multitude every thing feemed to predict fome approaching and dreadful crifis. Some among them, more enterprifing than the reft, acted with greater fury: they flew with rapidity from place to place, as if to communicate their indignation or their fears at the arrival of the commiflary. The feeble light that prevailed in_ the veffel gave a gloomy tint to this {cene of ‘horror that bordered on the fublime: It was fo many demons amid the waves, bufy at the work of preparing torments for mortals. At the fame time we were preffed and enveloped by this licentious troop.: Then it was that I felt 90 TRAVELS IN felt all the peril of our fituation. The title of «ommiflary which Percheron bore, was the re- verfe of giving us confidence; it feemed to have brought him purpofely on board to punifh the rioters. The profcription that awaited him was fure to fall equally upon me, who appeared to have accompanied him in or- _ der to lend him my affiftance. A general mur- mur was excited againft each of us, A murmur, did I fay? Alas! we were the criminals; and the menacing looks of thefe terrible judges told | us, in a language perfeatly int: lligible, what | torments the power of force, combined with rage, was capable of infli@ting on weaknefs and innocence. I had never fo ftrong a conviction as at that moment, by what a flender thread we fometimes hold our lives, and how unexpected is the chance upon which depends our fafety. Had one of thefe confpirators pronounced our death, a hundred arms, no doubt, would in- ftantly have executed the fentence, and the fea would have been at once atomb for us both. | Itistrue, Thad my double-barrelled fufee ; but my companion had nothing with which to “—_ himfelf; and, as to the officers, incapa- ble AFRICA. or ble of exerting the neceflary firmnefs, they feemed, upon our arrival, to be in a dreadful confternation, as if expecting fome fatal ex- plofion, that would deftroy at once beth’ the ‘fhip and its inhabitants. _ : _ As it was impoffible to withdraw from the danger that threatened us, we had no refource but to affume a tranquil countenance, and wait the event. This refolution gave us fortitude. Percheron, little difmayed by the threats of the violent, faid, in a tone of authority, that he __ wifhed to be informed of the caufe of this mu- tiny ; and that the crew might depend upon re- drefs, if their complaints were juft, and upon being treated with lenity if they had unfortu- mately overftepped, through miftake, the necef- fary bounds of obedience: and turning to thofe ‘who feemed defirous of giving him the par- . ticulars of the affair, he appeared not to notice the animated geftures and murmurings of the ret. His tranquillity by degrees fo far ap» peafed their anger, that we were able, at laft, under pretence of doing juftice to every party, to adjourn the farther hearing of the bufinefs to the next morning. Percheron had hoped that fleep would in the mean time calm their : iITi= es T RAV ERS AN irritated paifions, and fuggeft to his mind the means of terminating the affray. >There was no way by which to quit the vel= Jel; and, as we had arrived at this extremity, it would have been equally daftardly and in- .difcreet to abandon the crew to the mercy of — fo furious.a tempeft. | The preparations for fapper afiaad but little relief from the trouble in which we were all plunged; and we thought, therefore, of re- tiring to reft. The captain gave his bed to Percheron, while I had that of the firft pilot, which was fituated in a cabin upon the deck. din this cabin was a window, the panes of _which had been broken at the commencement of the difturbance. It is upon fuch things, upon windows and lamps, that your malcon- tents always vent their firft {pite; as if the noife occafioned by the breaking of them was calculated to appeafe and fatisfy their ven- geance. Thefe broken panes were a fubject | of alarming inquietude; I confidered them as a fecond Judas; becaufe, fronting the head of amy bed, they afforded an eafy opportunity to any ill-difpofed perfon in poffeflion of a piftol, to fhoot me during the night, fhould the dif- turbance ARR: IG. A, 03 ‘turbance happen to break out afrefh. To guard as much as poflible againft furprife, I began with putting out the light; then having changed the dire@tion of my bed, and placed my fufee, which was well loaded, by my fide, I waited ‘the return of day, fleeping: as I could. In the intervals of my fleep, I heard, from thofe who walked the deck, the moft fe- ditious difcourfe, threatening the next day to fhow no favour to any one: I faw fome of them pafs before my cabin, and they appeared to ele- wate their voices that I might hear them. At length, day-light appeared: delightful day-light, which diffipates the phantoms of the imagt- nation, and renders alfo the wicked lefs daring ‘and prefumptuous! What we had hoped came to pafs ; reflection, and ftill more perhaps the dtead of a well-deferved punithment, had calmed the fury of the moft vehement. Per- cheron, judicioufly embracing fo favourable a moment, addrefled them in a moft animated {peech, in which he painted in lively colours the wrongs and injuftice of this rebellion, and the fevere penalties which the law inflicts for fach crimes ; then, artfully afcribing the caufe pf the mifchief to the perfidy of thofe whofe oF love 94 TRAVELS; IN love of diforder had feduced and drawn in the reft to the commiffion of fuch enormities, he promifed pardon to every man thus mifled, who fhould again return to obedience; and concluded his fpeech with a fharp reprimand of the ring-leader, who, though in confinement, was, no doubt, hatching in his mind new troubles. This man, perfeétly naked and ftretched at his length, was bound within a chicken-coop, which was faftened and barri- caded with clamps of iron. He was one of thofe beings to whom nature has given, with a robuft conftitution, that fortitude of mind, that contempt of danger and death, fo favour- able to, and fo: deftrudtive in, faGlions. He fill threatened. They had feized him at a moment when he was off his guard ; which was a neceflary precaution, as he was able of him-. felf to infpire terror iuto the whole crew. The bufinefs of bringing to trial and punithing this man devolved upon the chief magiftrate of the Cape; and accordingly he was ordered to be conveyed thither. From this moment tranquil- lity was reftored; and we were convinced, from what we faw in this inftance, that, in every cafe of tumult, nothing more is neceflary | to AF RiWG A 95 to recall a mifguided multitude to their fenfes, than to humble them in their own eyes by fhowing them the defpicablenefs of their con- dud, or, to take from them. their chief. With refpect. to. the reft. of the infurgents, they were delivered over to the clemency of the captaia and officers of the veflel, by whom a general amnelly was granted ; and they all returned to thein. duty... Having left the fhip, and being once again on fhore, we were eager to repair to our com- pany, to relate the circumftances of the danger we had efcaped, and of which upon leaving them we had no fufpicion. _ How little did | expe@ that this fingular ad« venture was deftined to be followed by a new mortificaticn, of which the confequences svere long in my memory, and that, in quitting for a day my dearelt friends, I fhould have to la- ment the lofs of one of them, and fpeedily to prepare myfelf for feeing him no more! As I drew near to the habitation of Slaber, _ I difcharged, as I had been accuftomed to do, my fufee, to inform them of our arrival, and to invite them to meet us. In {pite of my re- ' peated fignals, no perfon appeared; a filence ~ 4 . , of 96 TRAVELS IN of friendthip that feemed to announce to me fome melancholy news. hen | ~My fufpicions were. prefently verified, when upon entering the hall I faw the daughters of Slaber approach me with an air‘of inqnietude and dejection. Alarmed at this reception, the caufe of which I conceived related to themfelves, I anxioufly: demanded what mif- fortune, in fo fhort a fpace of time, had be- fallen them. ‘ The misfortune I have to ac- ‘*‘ quaint you with,” faid one of them, “ is perfonal to yourfelf: Boers is returned to * the Cape, and in a few days you will loie “him; Ele ‘has récervéd, “in your “am ene, “ difpatches from Holland, informing him that “his refignation has been accepted; and, as * there is a veflel in the bay ready, at this mo- *© ment, to fail for Europe, in'which he is re- ‘* folved to embark, he inftantly mounted his *horfe, with Larcher, to make without delay ‘* the neceflary preparations. I need not fay -* how happy we fhould efteem ourfelves if, after this lofs, we could prevail on you ‘and *“ your friend to remain with us awhile: at “ the fame time it is my duty to tell you, that, Ps idee he left us, Boers forefaw that you . would | | ie iia ah hid Sid 04 ‘would perhaps be defirous once more to “afford him the pleafure of feeing you at the * Cape: with this view he has left behind him * his carriage and horfes; and here is a letter “ alfo which he has written, and eh he re- ** quetted might be delivered to you.” The beginning of this difcourfe had alarmed me, but, from fome caufe or other, I was re- vived by its conclufion. I imagined that, from a {portive difpofition, they were deftrous for a moment of amufing themfelves with me. A letter, the carriage and the horfes,—it muft furely be a pleafantry! And fo convinced was I of this, that, notwithftanding the air of feri- oufnefs with which it was told me, and the proteftations of the whole family that he was actually gone, I vifited, with Percheron, cvery room of the houfe in fearch of the abfentees, not doubting. but they had concealed them- felves to keep up the jeft. Alas! They were gone !—My benefactor had quitted me! And my only confolation was to haften to the Cape, once more to embrace him’before his depar=_ ture. ) The next morning as foon as it was light we entered the carriage, Percheron and my‘felf, Vou. I. Hy | and 98 TRAV ELS EN and were inftantly off. Arrived: at the houfe: of my friend, the firft obje@ts that faluted my ~ eyes were his trunks and packages collected: together to be conveyed on board the fhip ; which, as J learned from himfelf, was to fail: the next day. In vain had-the phyficians re-- prefented that his health was in too feeble a {tate to encounter fo tediousa voyage; that he ought firft to {pend two or three months. in the country to regain the neceflary firength ; and that the thip, befides, in which he pur-. pofed to embark, being too-{mall to admit of the proper accommodations, he was rafhly ex- pofing himfelf to almoft certain death: nothing could diffuade him. Prejudiced againft a coun- try in which he had experienced a variety of troubles, and which were likely to increafe, he: Jonged for the moment of withdrawing from it, In Holland, too, he had left a refpectable: father, whofe image was alive in his heart, and his feparation from whom he had always regretted. In a word, he preferred the hap- pinefs of fecing his family to the cares and: anxieties which accompany wealth and follow in the train of empty honours. Subject, myfelf, to fimilar recollections, and capable, A FIR C: A. 99 eapable, in his fituation, of imitating his con- du&, I could not; ftrong as was my attach- ment to him, attempt to combat {o determined a refolution; and I therefore thought only how to employ to the greateft advantage the few and fleeting moments of friendfhip that remained. [ was anxious he fhould take with him fome pledge of my regard. t'e was no -naturalift, except fo far as he had imbibed from me a talte for the ftudy; yet I felected from every defcription of my treafures a valu- able cabinet of curiofities of natural hiftory, which I fent on board with his other effects: and I had almoft refolved to embark myfelf, fo great was the dejection of my mind at the idea that I fhould no longer have before my eyes this judicious counfellor, this confoling friend, who had more than once received into his bofom the overflowings of my heart, at a_ time too when he had his own vexations to devour. The 25th of Oober 1783, a melancholy epoch that hasa thoufand times recurred to my - remembrance, and that has occafioned me, of all the events of my life, the greateft portion of wearifomeneis and regret, at length arrived. 2 It 100 TRAVELS: IN It was neceflary to feparate. * I depart,” faid he, previous to’ his quitting me, “ perfectly “tranquil as to every thing which relates to * vourfelf: I have reeommended you to my | “ moft intimate friends, whofe care you will experience, and for whom | ean anfwer as “ faithfully as for myfelf. Meanwhile, that I “may not, when abfent, be totally uncon- ne€ted with your grand expedition; I with to contribute to it afew trifles, that are no “« longer neceflary to me, and which I beg you “to accept: they are my two hunters, my “two fufees, and, in fhort, to fave you the “ trouble of litening to a dry catalogue of in- “ fienificant articles, my whole fporting ac- * coutrements.” | } was fo opprefled that I could not anfwer. Without giving me time to fpeak, he pointed to a morning-gown placed on a chair, for which I had obferved in hima a particular predilection, though he feldom wore it except upon certain fixed days. “ The fiutt,” faid he, “ of which ‘ this garment is mace, was once worn by my ‘ mother, who, upon my departure for Africa, “ entreated 1 would wear it in my turn out of love to her, as a monument of her affe€tion “and A APR TCM 1of arid ‘an’ eternal pledge of remembrance. I have hitherto difcharged this duty with the “moft filial ceudemnald’ muzh it has long * painfully reminded me that this dear parent is no more; but now that I am going to’ “refide with my father to confole and comiort “him in his old age, can I any longer pre~. ferve what would inceflantly expofe to his view the lofs he has fuftained? No; it is my “ friend who muft henceforth wear it for me; “by this title is it, my dear Vaillant, that I. “ tranfmit it to you, not as an ordinary pre- * fent, -but as.a legacy that was bequeathed me, “4 legacy that I value, and of which I charge _ vou to acquit for me the dione by ufing it agreeably to the intentions of my venerable “Smother.” Such a prefent as a- morning-gown to a ‘tras veller accuftomed to a very different ftyle of drefs, almoit always equipped in a hunting jecket and with a fufee in his hand, will ap~ pear laughable enough to the reader, who will conceive it much better fitted for the fhoulders of one of our phyficians or folicitors of the ancient mode. But the cccafion of this fcene, Which fo many would look upon as calculated So a for 102 TRAVELS AN for a Bartholomew frolic, fiamps on it fuch affecting marks of fimplicity, goodnefs, and. fincerity, that even to this moment it excites in my mind the tendereft emotions. The gown itfelf is of no value; but the ideas it revives are touching. The hand from which I received it is fo dear to me, that now, after ten years have elapfed, I cannot contemplate without pleafure the remains of a garment, which I made a point of wearing to the laft thread as foon as I became more fettled. The moft beau- tiful relic of antiquity would not haye been more religioufly preferved, | I threw myfelf into the arms of my friend with tears in my eyes, and I felt his alfo moifien my cheek. His houfe, where every thing was in motion, was an affeCing {pectacle: it refembled the hurry of a removal upon the approach of robbers. The abandonment of places to which we have been fo ftrongly at- tached, and in which we have tafted the trueft and moft innocent enjoyments, has in it, to minds of feeling, fomething that is dreary and difconfolate. The habitation of my friend fhared a little in the regrets that I felc for the matter ; an article of furniture, the fimpleft things that he Ber ROTC 103 he was in the ‘habit of ufing, painfully at- tracted and fixed my regards. This acute fen-~ fibility ‘is the inheritance and misfortune of a {mall numiber only of human beings ; where- ever it exifts it gives actual life to the moft in- animate objets. But what rendered the fcene fill more afflifting, was the mournful filence of our common friends aflembied round the one who was leaving us. We accompanied lim ‘to the boat that was to'tear him from our embraces. As he would not fuffer us to attend him to the fhip, we remained on the -fhore following him with our eyes. Artived on board, ‘he waved his handkerchief from the deck, as the ‘laft, the farewell elie of friend- fhip. A perfon equally dear to us both took pity ‘on my fufferings, and conduéted me to ‘his houfe. We fpent the day ‘in enumerating ‘the various inftances of benevolence which had honoured the pubfic arid private life of the beft of men. His name was inceffantly in our mouths. While we were thus foothingly oc- ‘cupied, our grief was fuddenly renewed'by the report of the guns from the harbour and the port, which announced the departure of the 4 veffel, 104 TRAVELS tit veffel, and faluted the fifcal for the laft time. I flew to the turret of the houfe, and, with my — glafs, I faw the veflel failing fo rapidly before the wind, that it quickly funk below the horizon. When night arrived, I returned to my old apartment. It feemed a prifon tome. . Left to myfelf, I was like a culprit whom all the world had abandoned, and who was delivered over to his remorfe.. No lover ever ‘felt more acutely the pains of feparation. , | The next morning I was vifited by Ser- rurier, the new hifcal; Colonel Gordon, com- mandant of the place; Hakker, the fub- governor ; Conway, colonel of the Pondicherry regiment, whom I have fince had the pleafure of feeing at Paris; and, in fhorty by all the friends of my dear Boers, all the perfons to whom he hadrecommended me, and who join- - ed in alfuring me, that it fhould be their bufi- nefs to make me forget, by their care, a lofs which was notlefs fenfibly felt by them than by: me. Every one entreated me to take up my re- fidence at. his houfe; but among theie offers I ought particularly to notice that of Colonel Gordon, which was made in thé name both of himfelf AW RielyCp Ae 105, himfelf and his wife, and with fo much impor- tunity, fuch extreme k ndnefs and {incerity, that it was impoilible not to accept it. Befidse, in- dependently of perfonal obligations, and the fervices he had rendered me from the moment of my arrival at the Cape, he had a tafte like “myfelf for natural hiftory, and I was attached to him by this circumftance, as well as by the ties of gratitude and fricndfhip. I refolved, however, not to avail myfelf immediately of this obliging invitation, and I requefted that he would fuffer me to remain in my prefent apartments till after the fale of Boers’s effets : for the houfe was ftill completely furnifhed; as he had taken with him fuch things only as his voyage rendered abfolutely neceflary. When the fale at length took place, it proved, beyond any thing that had preceded it, the general efleem which the ex-fifcal had enjoyed at the Cape. The defire which every body felt of poffefling fome portion of his effects, raifed them to a price greatly above their value. Among his friends there was even a warm con- tention who ihould have fuch articles of the furniture as had been particularly appropriated _ to his perfona!l ufe. All confidered it as a duty ' to 106 TRAVED 5 AN to have one lot at leaft; and I faw, with pe- ‘culiar fatisfaction, in the countenance of each, as they bore away their purchafes, a regret for the perfon to whom they had belonged. : Previous to this fale, the colonel had afked me to accompany him in an experiment that he was defirous of making in order to afcer- tain the pofition and bearings of the Piquet mountain, as viewed from the ‘Table mountain. ‘The project was no fooner known in the town, than a number of officers belonging to the different regiments of the garrifon requefted they might accompany us. Of thefe perfon- ages fome had no other inducement than that ef enjoying, as mere lookers-on, the fpectacle of his labour, and others were idlers at a lofs how to employ the day. The firft would be perfealy recompentfed with the fight of a magnificent profpect, and the laft with being able to fay, on their return to Europe, that they -had ‘been at the top ofthe famous Table. Though a troop like this would be more in- commodious than ufeful, he yet acquiefced 5 and we fet out, at day-break, with the necef- fary inftruments. A moft fortunate circum- dtance favoured our operation: the fky, dur- ing \ AP RT CAA: | 107 ing the whole day, was perfeQly ferene, and, what is infinitely rare, not a fingle cloud upon the Table mountain came to annoy us. Upon this occafion I experienced the enjoy- ment of a particular felicity ; which was that of having killed, upon the platform of the mountain, a bird of a new fpecies, which, till that moment, I had not feen in Africa, and which I have never met with fince. It was the rock black-bird. I brought it with me to Europe ; it conftitutes at prefent an article in my collection, and will form, in the Ornithology that I fhall foon publith, a new and interefting {fpecies, not unworthy the attention of the - naturalift. . A bird killed fo near the town, and at the fame time new to all the inhabitants of the Cape, muft have been a ftranger to the place where I found it. I fufpeét it to have emigrated from that range of rocks and mountains, which, from their tefemblance to thofe of the north of Europe, bear the name of the Norwegian mountains, and which, detaching themfelves _ from the Table mountain, and ftretching to the fouth, form what is called the /outhern point of Africa. Many perfons have had the curiofity Mig to 108 TRAVELS WN to vilit this point, but they have arrived atuit either by the fea-fide or by the route of Con- flantia and Falfe-Bay. I, on the contrary, was defirous of finding my way thither along the top of the mountains themfelves. So new an ia aia feemed to promife me curious and unknown objects. | I had nothing to dread on my journey but extreme fatigue, and the confideration of fuch an inconveni- ence was littie calculated to ftop. me. A friend lent me two negroes, to whom | added a Hottentot, and! divided among them the labour of carrying my campequipage, my carbine, a cloak, powder and fhot, fome dried provifions, and, in fhort, what appeared to me to be abfolutely indifpenfable ; for, being obli- ged continually to afcend and defcend, it was’ necellary that we fhould have no incumbrance. As for me, I carried my double-barrelled fufee, had two piftols in my girdle, and was followed by three dogs, the choiceft of my pack. It was thus equipped, and favoured by the moft beautiful weather, that I repaired to the fummit of the Table mountain. — Seen from aiar - and at a certain diftance, this mountain Rath’ to terminate in a flat top ; _ and APRIVG ALS. 169 and hence has arifen the name of Table given to it by mariners and travellers. Its fummit, however, as I have already faid, is far from being a plain. Interfected throughout by enormous cavities, it at the fame time appears rugged with ridges, eminences, and high tocks ; which, by their crumbling down and the changes they undergo, atteft how much they have loft their primitive form. Its longeft fide is that which looks towards the town. Not being provided with inftruments, it was -impoffible for me to meafure the extent of it exactly. I however attempted it by walking feveral times over it; and I obferved that each time'l went from the eaftern to the oppolite weftern extremity, it required nearly twenty ‘minutes: which certainly indicates a quarter of | a league in length, at leatt. While employed in my meafurement, my ‘good fortune rendered me a {pectator of an in- ferefting phenomenon, which the curious have often fought to ob fe rve on the arp: but which does not always ae itfelf to the eye ef the beholder with the fame tact ya nce : IP mean the formation of one of thofe fouth- €atterly ftorms, produced by the accumulation : 2 of 110 TRAVELS IN of clouds on the fummit of the Table, which is vulgarly called its peruke, as I have already faid in my firft Travels. } _ This phenomenon I muft here defcribe, but | in the moft accurate manner, left the effect fhould be taken for the caufe, and that which belongs to the one afcribed tothe other. It was preceded by a train of fog, which we faw bruthing over the furface of the fea, and which advanced towards us, pafling over Table-Bay. Its approach announced tome a moft dreadful tempeft; but I rejoiced that I was able to be- hold and ftudy at this height the progrefs of fo 1 beautiful a {pectacle, at the hazard of fome tri-- fling inconveniences, which could not beput in. competition with the advantages I was about te derive from obfervations, which, no. circum- {tances perhaps would ever put it in my power to repeat, if I fufferedthe prefent opportunity, which prefented itfelf fo fortunately, to efcape. . Without delay, therefore, I pitched my tent . towards the eait, and as near as poilible to that _ part of the mountain, which, already feparated from the Table by the progreffive and continual crumbling down of fragments from the aGtion of the winds and the rain, is known by the I particular ARP OA a BLE particular name of the Devil mountain, and which is tending more and more to become infulated from the large mafs. The train of fog foon covered the whole valley from Falfe-Bay to the bottom of the mountains, and at length entirely deprived us. of the view of the charming landfcape of Con- ftantia, Nieuwland and Ronde-Bofch; after which, becoming apparently larger, it foon reached the Table; and, in lefs than two hours, increafed to that degree that it not only covered the fpace which feparated us from the Devil mountain, but enveloped us alfo on all fides. This mift was fo denfe that it was impoffible to diftinguifh any thing at the diftance ofa foot from us. The atmofphere, however, notwithftanding the movement of this great body of vapour, did not feem difturbed. [| could not perceive a breath of wind; but, in’ return, my clothes were infenfibly foaked through. | : : | | I have feveral times had an opportunity of remarking, that, when thefe clouds {pread themfelves ovcr the Table mountain, they covered only the eaftern part of it, while the weftern remained pureand untouched. I knew : alfo,: tit TRAVEL @ AK alfo, and I have faid elfewhere, that, during thefe fogs, a planter, "who fets out from the town in order to go to Falfe Bay, may make his choice either to walk under a fcorch- ing fun, by proceeding to the welt, or to ex pofe himfelf to continual rain by advancing on the oppolite fide. But, as I was upon the mountain at the moment when the cloud was condentfing itfelf I could eafily afcertain what part was covered, ahd what was not; and being even enveloped in it I had nothing to do but to walk forwards till I got out of it. This I did, proceeding towards the eaft of the plain, when I found myfelf expofed to the rays of an ardent fun, and v inder a {ky in every part ferene.’ ty My eyes were now cratified with a view of the moft beautiful horizon I had ever beheld. I could diftinguifh all the plantations which decorate the ‘Tiger mountain, Blauw-Berg, ~Groene-Kloof and the Piquet mountain; the town lay almoft perpendicular under my feet ; | but when, with my perfpective glafs, I looked | at the weather-cocks of the houfes, LE obferved that they were turnea in every direction, which indicated that the greateft calmnefs prevailed | : there, A Ra ke A, | 113 there, as-well as on the mountain, where there had not been the leaft movement in the air, fince the leaves of the trees repofed in pro- found tranquillity. The bay difpl ayed a fbétacle ftill’ more aftonifhing. ‘The northern part of it was ex~ pofed, at that time, to a very violent guft of wind, which did not extend to the fouthern part. ‘Thus, three fhips in the latter feemed to enjoy a perfect calm,-while all thofe which were at anchor in the other, were agitated by a furious blaft. From this ftriking contraft, and I might almoft fay incredible, in fo fmall a {pace, there refulted a very great difference in the colour of the water. This double effe& appeared to me like a magic picture ; for it ' exhibited as it were in the fame frame, and without any interval, at once a calm anda tempett. The conclufions I drew from it areas fol- lows: The wind, which had taken its rife on the furface of the Indian ocean, blowing with violence, entered by Falfe Bay, pafled to the Table Bay only through the defile that fepa- rates the two hays, and followed its direGtion in the northern part of the harbour, while the Vou. I. I projection. 114 TRAVELS UN projection formed by the mountains towards: the Cape, and at the Cape itfelf, deadened the - greater part of its force. It cannot be faid,. therefore, that the collection of clouds on the fouth-weft, which are accumulated over the: ‘Table mountain, and which thence precipitate themfelves over the town, occafion there thofe furious blafts of wind, fo inconvenient and at the fame time fo falubrious to thé inhabitants of ~ the Cape; for I have-feen the greateft tranquil- lity prevail, not only in the town, but in all that part of the harbour, which, being oppofite: to the direction ofthe mountain, muft naturally fhelter them on that fide. During the whole time I refided at the Cape, I indeed always re- marked that the hurricane was never by any means fo violent when the clouds remained ina {tate of ftagnation, and, as it were, fufpended over the fummit of the mountain: the fame circumftance happens in all the interior parts of Africa; and every where, in fhort, where great heights oppofe a barrier to this impetu- ous wind, About one in the afternoon, judging that the cloud had attained its maximum of.increafe, I retired from it in order to furvey itin a more : I favourable * . E - ‘ ~~ » = AFRICA. rer favourable point of view, and to afcertain, if poffible, its height. At a diftance it exhibited “the appearance of a mafs of fog, forced toge- ther and compreffed by its own weight. Its ex- tremities, or upper and lower edges, were very. apparent. I could perfeQly diftinguith where it terminated, and I can affirm that its height was not more than fifty or fixty feet. The fharp and elaftic air of the mountain had given me fo keen an appetite, that, how- ever refolved I was to continue my obferva- tions during the remainder of the day, I was obliged to fafpend them for a while, that I might go and take fome refrefhment in my tent: but fcarcely had I again entered the fog when I felt a light wind, exceedingly cold and cutting, which had not exifted in the morning. It was fo weak, indeed, that I af- - cribed it to the motion of the vapour, which continued ftill increafing. As it, however, oc- cafioned me fome inconvenience, and I was here lefs than any where elfe in a fituation to continue my tefearches, 1 caufed my tent to be removed, and went to pitch it at the eaftern extremity of the plain. My negroes and my Hottentot being totally | 12 ufelefs. 116 TRAVELS: IN ufelefs to me in the bufinefs I was engaged in,. I was defirous of deriving fome other benefit from them, by employing them, for the reft of the day, to fearch on the mountain for a pre- tended monument, refpeCing the exiflence of which I had long been tormented. Kolben fays, that in 1680 the governer Van der Stel having made an excurfion to the Table mountain, in company with feveral ladies of the Cape, and particularly the lady of the governor of the Indies ;, and being defi- rous of leaving to pofterity a folemn monu- ment of this.party of pleafure, and of the great efforts made by his young companions, he cau- fed to be ere€ted on the {pot a column or pyra- mid, with an infcription proper to tranfmit to after ages the remembrance of his great name. The author even enters into details, and relates particular circumftances of this journey, to in- duce the reader to give creditto it: but notwith- ftanding the diligent fearch made by my compa- nions, they found not the {malleft veftige of this pretended column ; which, if the flory of it be true, mufteither have been deftroyed by time, or _ fome other hand inimical to fuch eretions. ‘I ftill continued to follow all the move- | ments AFRICA. 117 ments of the cloud. Part of it had detached itfelf, and, pafling through the hollow which feparates the Devil from the Table mountain, proceeded to fettle on the back of the latter, where it appeared fufpended, as in a ftate of ftaenation, without having any further commu- nication with the grand mafs. About five o'clock this detached part feemed to be preffed down, and to have become heavier. I imagined thatit was going toprecipitate itfelf on thetown, and to occafion there one of thofe hurricanes fo common at the Cape in the months of March and April, but uncommon at the feafon when I obferved it. I was, however, deceived. Without diminifhing in height, it moved beyond the flat fummit, defcended below its edges, and, winding along the declivity, rejoined the cloud at the Devil mountain, with which it became confounded, fo that they were again formed into one. All this was effected with- out the leaft diforder in the air. ‘The harbour atfelf ceafed to’be agitated by the wind ; and fo - uiniverfal was-the calm, as-to make me renounce all hopes ef a ftorm, with the fight of which I fhould have been highly gratified ; ‘but which, wey its effets, would have afforded no fuch ied 1 3 amufement / 118 T RAV Esl’ $ sn amufement to the inhabitants of the town, who were not equally interefted in making obfer- vations on it. 3 | | The approach of night made me fome a- mends for this difappointment, by prefenting a very different picture, lefs uncommon, in- deed, but perhaps more fublime than the grand tempeft with the fight of which I had flattered mylelf. ‘The picture I mean, was the fun fetting in the ocean. One might have faid, that it was the arrival of the mafter of nature at the boundaries of the world. I faw this globe of fire plunge with majefty below the waters, and vanifh from my fight. How en- chantine was the {pectacle he prefented to my aftonifhed eyes; when, {weeping the furface of the deep, he feemed all of a fudden to embrace the abyfs, in order to regain, as Offian fays, the vaft palace of darknefs. On his approach, the waves railed their agitated heads to be gilded by his light; but their colours, illuminated by his rays, infenfibly died away, and totally vanifhed the inftant he difappeared. ‘The ocean was no longer enlightened, but the immenfe veil of clouds which had collected on the eaft, {till re- flected his flames from its upper furface, Their whole Aid 6G & 119 ‘whole mafs reprefented mountains of f{now, and their top difplayed a zone, refplendent with all the colours of the rainbow. This {pectacle lafted only for a moment; but at the ‘diftance of about thirty leagues to the north, ‘tthe Piguet mountains, flill higher than the Table mountain, retained, for fome time, the light on their majeftic tops, that feemed to pro- ject from the purple and violet grouid of the fky. They might have been ftyled light- houfes, deftined to enlighten the interior parts of the continent during the obfcurity of the night. How little is man to this exalted height, and how wretched are his paflions when he ‘compares himfelf with immentfity! Onthe approach of darknefs, the baboons had retired to their holes; the vultures had quitted the plain, and returned to the rocks: {ome {mall birds only ftill futtered around me, and, f{cattered over the thrubs and the bufhes, were celebrating with their concerts the.clofe sof fo beautiful aday. Their fong died away with the twilight ; obfcurity gave up the moun- tain to funereal birds of prey ; and 1, thought- ful and melancholy, returned to my tent, which my people had already furrounded with 14 ; a large 120 TRAVELS cI a large fire, for the purpofe of keeping at a dif- tance noxious and deftru€tive animals that fhun the light. I had reafon to expect that I fhould meet on the mountain with a kind of enemy ftill more dangerous than thefe animals: I mean thofe fugitive flaves who quit their mafters’ habita- tion to relide among the rocks, and who take advantage of the night to plunder the neigh- bouring plantations. I had to fear, that fome of thefe deferters might be concealed in my neigh- bourhood, and that. favoured by the darknefs, they might attempt to furprife or attack me. I had, however, taken theneceflary precautions; I was too well armed to dread fuch a combat; and the vigilance of my three dogs, ftill more than my fires, enabled me to repofe during the whole - night in fecurity, , | The fog became fo moift that, when day ap- peared, I felt myfelf in my tent quite pene- trated with cold, notwithitanding a very thick cloak which I had wrapped round me, and with which I was entirely covered. If fuch was my fituation, it may be judged what my people muft have fuffered. To recover from my numbnefs, I determined to remove to a part AOE WO. A, “yar part of the mountain where I conceived there would be nofog. Iexpedted to findthe fun there, as I had found him the preceding day; but the cloud had partly covered him, and he did not make his appearance till he had pafled the me- ridian. While waiting for his arrival to warm me, I traverfed the platform with my fufee, hoping to procure fome provilions, if 1 found any game in my way. I, however, faw only fome vultures, which, perched on the edge of their holes, benumbed by the cold, and foaked with the dew, were alfo waiting for the fun to dry themfelves and take their flight. In this condition, they feemed to be incapable of mov- ing their wings, and fuffered me to approach almoft clofe tothem. I killed feveral of them ; and when the fun had re-appeared, and I felt mylelf warmed, I ordered one to be roafted, intending to dine upon it with my people: but the fmell was fo difgufting, and the tafte fo deteftable, that I could not endure it. My two negroes alfo loathed it; and even my dogs, after having {melled to it, turned away without touching it. My Hottentot alone ate of it ; and to him it was tolerable, becaufe it was fat. | , When 22 TRAV Bis win When we had dried ourfelves thoroughly, we {truck the tent; and defcending on the fouth- eat fide of the Table mountain, I made my way through the thorns and bufhes to the Falfe-Lion’s-head ; for fuch is the name of a mountain unfortunately celebrated by fome fhipwrecks, and very juftly dreaded by ma- riners. ‘To underftand this, it muft be recol- leGted that, as I have already feveral times ob- ferved, there 1s another mountain called the Lion’s-head, which is aland-marktopilots com- ing from Europe to the Cape. The falfe head rakes dts name from the refemblance it has to the real head, though it is not fo high; and this conformity is fo much the more dangerous, as, near this mountain, there is another, which, terminating in a flat like the Table, reprefents, when feen from a diftance at fea, the wefterna face of the latter. In foggy weather, if the pilot, deceived by this refemblance, makes cowards the land, thinking to enter the bay of the Cape, he is loft, as his veffel is fure to be ftranded on the fand-banks of the fhore. There is, however, a fure and infallible mark to dif tineuifh them, which I think it my duty te point out. The Lion’s-head is totally infulated “OD Fe Rin Ag ~ 123 on the north fide; there being only the back part of the Lion-mountain, in that quarter, that can fhow itfelf, and which is confiderably lower; while the falfe head feems to adhere without interruption to a chain of mountains which, on the north, becomes united with the Table mountain, and, on the fouth, extends to the point of Africa, where it forms the pro- montory. In very hazy weather, indeed, the mark | have here pointed out becomes ufelefs ; becaule, the body of the mountains being then, involved in fogs, their fummits only which are above the vapour can fhow themfelves. But in that cafe there is another certain mark of diftinétion. The Lion’s-head having on its northern fide no other mountain fo high as it- felf, its top muft be feen alone in that quarter ; whereas the falfe head having, towards the - north, cther fummits equally elevated, thefe fummits and that of the falfe head muft be feen at the fame time. If the pilot, therefore, uncertain which of the two heads he perceives, fees to the north of that head, and in the fame line, the tops of other mountains, ke cannot be miftaken ; it is the falfe head which prefents itfelf; but if he obferves nothing on the northern — 124 TRAVELS AN northern fide of the point, and if of the moun- tains he diftinguithes it be the laft towards the north, it is the real head; forthe rump of the Lion, which forms part of it, is low, and when feen cannot be miftaken. It will readily be remarked that thefe appearances.can occur only © to veflels which, coming from Furope or the Indies, find themfelves to the fouthward of the entrance of the bay: thofe which are more to the north have a quite different view; and in | that cafe itis impoflible for them to fee the falfe head, as they muft then perceive the mountains of the Cape, fuch, almoft, as they are here re- prefented ; for when I took the view of them J was upon Roben iland. With regard to the other view, that was alfo taken on my ar- rival at the Cape; but, the drawing having been torn in two, I loft a part of it. I have, how- ever, fubjoined here the remaining part, which extends only to the Falfe Table. I fhall not enlarge upon the importance of thefe obfervations: to publifh them is, in my opinion, ferving the caufe of humanity; and had my voyage, after fo much expence and fatizue, been productive of no other good than * that of preventing a fingle fhipwreck, I fhould | : | have a is i 4 1 ie ny 4 . + ‘ ‘ . ba Ny | FUL. VIEW OF THE CAPE FROM ROBBEN ISLAND. 3 ‘ WEST VIEW OF THE DIOUN TAINS OF THE CAPE TAKEN AT SEA . ———— — — = = = = 2 = = 2 AVIEW OF yTHE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE FROM THE ROAD. A. Deol Mountain. B. Table Mountain. C Lions Head.V. Lions ump. E. Gallows Point: AE RUC oA, F25 have applauded myfelf during my whole life for undertaking it. From the Table mountain to the Falfe head I every where obferved, throughout the whole tat of country that I traverfed, a great num~- ber of birds of the {pecies of the blackbird, the thru(h, and the black and yellow bird*; and after pafling the latter mountain, a number of -bee-eaters, of the kind which are found inthe fouthern provinces of France, and in Italy. At the Cape, as in Europe, thefe charming winged animals are birds of paflage. They flew about in thoufands before me in the valley, and fettled in flocks on the bufhes and fhrubs with which itiscovered. Under other circumftances, their beauty would have been a fufficient motive with me to feek for them, but at that time their exquifite tafte was the temptation; and with © the advantage afforded. me by their numbers, a few difcharges of my fulee directed into a buh procured a fupply of provifion for mytelf and people for a whole day. Their abundance in this place aftonifhed me the more, asI had obferved many birds of * See the note in page 259, Vol. L. of the Author's former Travels. 2. Bee 126 FRAVE LS IN prey of the hawk kind, which attacked them without mercy. The valley abounded too with a prodigious quantity of green ferpents, of from four to five feet inlength. It was the humidity of the foil that attracted thefe reptiles, which was alfo favourable to their increafe. The multitude and fize of them gave me no little uneafinefs; and I had the more reafon to be- lieve them venomous, as my dogs, which generally went before me in the bufhes, now ranged themfelves all three behind me, and advanced with feeming fear. ‘To aflure my- felf of what I had to dread from thefe ene- mies, I killed one, and examining its mouth I faw with joy that they were not dangerous. For once my dogs were deceived ; their in- flin@ was in fault ; and I afcribed the error to the gradual change effected in thefe domeftic animals by education: wild dogs I am certain would not have thus been miftaken. Another caufe of uneafinefs, and one that appeared well founded, ftill alarmed me: I mean the want of water on the tops of the mountains which I intended to traverfe, there- _ by to proceed to the promontory of Africa. J was fearful I fhould be obliged to renounce my defign, = AER TC 27 defign, that I might not be diftant from fprings and {treams, or forced to defcend continually from eminences to quench our thirft in the valleys, which would have occafioned at the fame time much fatigue and much languor, We had already enough to fuffer from the con- tinual afcending and defcending required in pafling from one mountain to another, without being {till forced to repeat feveral times a-dayy under a fcorching fun, this laborious exercife. Fiappily however it was not neceflary. During the five days that my journey lafted, I found in the clifts and holes. of the rocks fome excel- lent rain water, and thefe {mall natural cifterns. were fufficiently numerous, and had a fufficient abundance for all our waits. From the foot of the Table mountain to the pointof Africa, the diftanceisgenerally reckoned, bythe commonroute,to beeight leagues; I made it, by my windings and turnings, from twenty= five to thirty: but I experienced no obftacle, and | at length arrived at the formidable pro- montory, the mof celebrated and moit ftormy of all thofe of the antient world. The dangers of a fea almoft always raging occafioned it to be called, by the firft Portuguefe navigators, the ns TRAVELS IN the Cape of Tempefts; a fatal appellation, for which they foon after fubftituted the more> confoling one of the Cape of Good Hope; when, upon opening to their fight the Indian ocean, it prefented to their barbarous avarice the poffeffion and treafures of the richeft coun- try in the univerfe. Placed on a {pot of the globe the moft fa- vourable, perhaps, for the grand fpeétacles of nature; I had on my right the Atlantic, on my left the Indian, and before me the South- ern ocean; which, breaking with fury at my feet, feemed as if defirous of attacking the whole chain of mountains, and of {wallowing up Africa. ‘To render more magnificent the fublime effect of this picture, I had only one with to make; which was, to behold one of thofe tornadoes that gave rife to the firft ap- pellation of the promontory. For feveral hours I entertained hopes of this gratification, upon feeing long trains of fog raifed by the wind from the furface of the fea; but my ex- pectations were foon fruftrated, and the air became fo pure and calm that I conld very~ clearly diftinguifh, at the eaftern extremity of Falfe Bay, the famous Cape of Needles ; which, when Bee Oe cae age, 8 429 when feamen have the misfortune to mit calculate their longitude, expofes them to cer=. tain fhipwreck, and where were loft, among others, the ambaffadors fent by the king of Siam to the king of Portugal. Notwithftanding the ferenity which prevailed in the heavens, the fea experienced a degree _- of agitation. Its {welling, oppofed to feveral ‘contrary currents, rendered it alfo noify. The furgeshad not that majeltic regularity, in which, in happier climes, we fee them roll towards the fhore; there, one after another, to vanifh: a too faithful piGture of life, and of the anni- hilation which follows it: on the contrary, broken again{t each other, they dafhed them= . felves in confufion upon thofe fhoals and rocks fo often buffeted by tempefts. As they reached the fhore, the waves s threw out a number of fhells, and, among others, the nautilus papyraceus. Defirous of procuring fome of thefe univalves, fo delicateand tender, I went down to the fhore; but I foon per-_ ‘ceived that none of them were perfed, being all either broken and mutilated, or elfe blackened _by the putrefaction of the dead animal. Ob- ferving fome alive, which the waves every Vor. 1. yor now 140 TRAVELS AUN now and then prefented to our view, my peo-= ple waded into the water to catch them; but the moment they approached their hands, the fhell inftantly funk, and, with all the art they employed, they could not get hold even ~ of one; the inftiné of the animal fhewed itfelf to be more fubtle than they, and obliged them to give up the attempt. Amufed as much as difappointed by this dexterity, I called my fifhermen, who returned not a little afhamed at being out-witted by a fhell-fith. More fuc-. cefsful than they, I hadthe good fortune to Kill feveral marine birds of the fpecies of the fea-gull and fea-fwallow. One of the latter, -characterifed by a large bill of the colour ‘of red coral, will form among my defcriptions a new fpecies, entirely unknown to ornitho- logifts. - | Befides thefe birds, we faw foaring above the fea, and as far as our fight could extend, a prodigious number of white boobies *, which, with their wings folded and their necks ftretch~ ed out, fuffered themfelves to drop heavily * The fame fpecies has been defcribed by Buffon under the name of fou de Baffan, See les planches enluminées, plate 278. | from | AYE RU TYAS 4 T 13 from. the {ky; like fo many maffes of lead, upon the fifh which they obferved in the water. At the fame time the albatrofles and frizats, more nimble in their motions, feized their prey, while brufhing the furface of the waves with an eafy and rapid flight; and the pelican, with his huge body and broad- webbed feet, {wam majelftically along, filling his capa- cious gullet with the fmall fry, which he fifhed for with folemn gravity. Having, with a few difcharges of my fufee, difperfed all thefe winged tribes to a diftance, I retired. My tafte for new objects led me to avoid returning to the town by the way I had come. I knew that in the neighbourhood of Falfe, and hear Simion’s Bay, there were barracks, where ° a detachment of troops from the garrifon was always ftationed. A poft fo diftant from the Cape is a kind of exile, during a great part of the year, to the men who are fent thither ; and, for this reafon, care is taken every three months to relieve them. At that time, the commandant of this dreary defért was an officer whom [had often had an opportunity of feeing at the houfe of Boers. { was therefore defirous of paying him a vifit, | KZ and £32 TRAVELS“IN and of taking advantage of this occafion to ex amine at leifure the bottom of the Bay. He not only received me with cordiality, but, upon the pretext that it was neceflary to arrange the | {mall colleGtion of infeis and birds which had been the fruit of my journey, prefled me to fpend a few days with him. Withing to vilfit Cape Falfe, and the fhores oppofite the Bay, I accepted his invitation, and the next morning early a fifhing-boat that | met with conducted methither. Jn traverfing this quarter, I beheld with aftonifhment thofe immentfe hills of thells and fand which, manifeftly formed by the fea, afterwards ferved it as a fhore, and are at pre- fent at a confiderable diftance from it. Thefe undoubted monuments of its abode convinced me, that this fea penetrated formerly to what Ys now a part of the main land, and that it rofe there to a great height; that it has fince very ! eonfiderably retired, and, confequently, that,it daily lofes ground, though it appears that it ought daily to gain, by the frequency of the ftorms, and the violence of the winds, which iceffantly drive it towards the coafts. . After my return from this trip, I fpent two days more’ with the commandant, Six hours, at moft, : were AP Re he A 133 were all that would be necefiary for me to re- turn to the Cape by the ordinary route; but [ contented myfelf with fending back the two negroes, that had been lent me, loaded with the various objects I had colleSted, and returned mytelf by the margin of the fea-fhore, follow- ing the windings of the bays and creeks, be- -ginning at the point of the nautili, and ending on the fide at the weft. This journey, notwithRanding irs fhort du- ration, was attended with iatigues which I had not forefeen. At every ftep, fome obftacle or other was fure to intervene. Here a projedting rock prefented itfelf, and there I was obliged to clamber a precipice with my Hottentot, affift- ing each other in turns, and continually ex- poling ourfelves to the rifk of flipping, and of being thereby precipitated into the aby{s below. - At one time, a rapid declivity oppofed our de- fcent, and we had no refource but that of com- mitting ourlelves to its mercy, by gliding down on our backs, in danger of being mangled and torn by our fall. At another, after much toil and labour, | found myfelf ftopped by fome creek or piece of water, which, forcing itfelf between two high rocks, blocked up my paf- | mq es ~ fage, oa). RAV ELST ro fage, and obliged me to make long an dwearis fome turnings, the leaft inconvenience of which was a mortifying lofs of time. | My journey, however, was at length hap- pily accomplifhed. But-it-is not here that I fhall give the refult of it. The excurfion which I made afterwards, as far as the tropic, enabled me to become acquainted with other circum- ftances of a fimilar nature, and to convince myfelf, that not only the fouthern point of Africa, but alfo its interior mountains at a great diftance within the land, have in part been co- vered by the fea. At fome future period I fhall publifh my remarks and refleGtions upon this fubje@ ; at prefent I fhall content myfelf with obferving, that the ideas I have here fug- gefted become fo evident, upon vifiting the coafts of the colony, that they have ftruck even the Hottentots themfelves; and it is probable that the Table, as well as the two neighbouring mountains, and all thofe which form the chain extending to the promontory, were formerly an ifland, feparated from the continent by an arm of the fea, which reached from Table to Falfe Bay, and formed a junction between | them. It is hardly pofhible to refufe to this con~ AE RP C.A, 135 conjecture the force of truth, when we furvey the low plain, and fee that it confifts of nothing but a mixture of fand and fhells half decoin- pofed. | To this evident fact I fhall add another, which is, that this part of Africa, which I affirm, and with great reafon, to have been an ifland, has formed three very diflin& ones. I had a proof of this in crofling the ehain of mountains ef granite, of which I _have before fpoken. I obferved there two long defiles, lying in a direction from eaft to weft, and which, it is probable, were formerly ftraits. That which ends at the bottom of Falfe Bay, is ftill covered with a fand-hill; the ether terminates at Baze-aux- Bos (woody bay.) To point them out to the reader, I have taken care to dot them in my chart. In fhort, being on different levels, it cannot be doubted that they were formed at different periods. However ancient may be that epoch, there is one {till more remote; whenthe Table mountain itfelf, elevated as itis above the level of the ocean, feems neverthelefs to have been partly covered by its waters. As to the natural hiftory of this part of | K 4 Africa 136 22 SAG Africa which I travelled, I will freely confefs; that I had formed of it too extravagant an idea ; for, of birds, I found no other kinds than are to be met with in abundance through the whole diftria: of Conftantia, Ronde-Bofch, and _ Nieuw-land; where they may be obtained with lefs trouble than on thofe lofty mountains, which arefo difficult to be climbed. One alone feemed to prefer a habitation among thefe fleep rocks; which was a particular kind of wood-~ — pecker, of the fize of our green wood-pecker, and with a reddith belly. Nature, who does not confine herfelf to general rules, and who takes pleafure in attending to the minuteft de- tails, {porting with the fyftems of our metho- dical naturaliits, has given to this red-bellied wood-peckcr, habits the very reverfe of what are obfervable in all other birds that we know of the fame fpecies; for it never climbs trees, but perches itfelf, like other winged animals, upon the branches, and feeks its food in the — earth, into which it forces its bill, and its long tongue, armed with a dart, to drag out its prey, in the fame manner as other wood-peck- ers do on worm-eaten trunks. — | The only quadrupeds that. inhabit thefe 6 | heights, ~ APRtTC A. is37 heights, befide baboons, are the Kaim/i of the Hottentots, or Klip-fpringer of the Dutch planters, a {pecies of antelope, found only on the moft inacceffible rocks, and-of which | fhall {peak elfewhere. Inthe low bottoms and val- leys, and particularly upon the borders of.the {mall rivulet that pours itfelf into bave-aux- Bois, are found fome Grys-boc, and Duykers, two {pe- cies that I have formerly mentioned.’ Every evening I heard the roaring of hyznas, but I never met with any of them in the courfe ' of the day. Once only I had a partial view of a panther, among the fand-hills in the neigh- bourhood of Faife Bay. I faw alfo fome par- tridges of that large {pecies, very improperly called at the Cape, pheafants. Shrubs and plants are very numerous onthe mountains; but of thefe enough has been already faid by Thum- berg, Paterfon, and Sparmann. Upon quitting the lodging I had occupied at the Cape, in the houfe of Boers, I accepted one from Colonel Gordon, though it was pro- bable that my plans would fuffer me to remain in it only for a very fhort time. 7 Scarcely had I taken poffeflion of it, when I began top repare for my departure, and gave even 38 TRAVELS IN even fome orders refpeGting my carriages and cattle: but the Colonel, who was acquainted — with the country through which I was about to commence my journey, and who had travel- led over a part of it, ftopped me in my career, ‘by affuring me ‘that, if I departed before the rainy feafon arrived, I fhould find only parched and barren deferts, where I fhould infallibly die of thirft, with my whole caravan. This argument brought me to a determina- tion; for it was impoffible not to yield to the advice of a prudent and enlightened man, who {poke from experience. My confidence in him was {fo great, that I never even thought of objecting to what he faid. He had travelled, indeed, tothe north of the Cape, as I was preparing to dos; but, as it was not my in- tention to purfue the fame route, theadvice he gave was by no means applicable to me; as, in the end, I too fatally experienced. I caution future travellers, therefore, who fhall undertake a fimilar excurfion, not to follow my example, but to fet out from the Cape at the time of the intenfe heat, or, at leaft, fo to fettle their depars ture, that, during the fummer of the country, fat is to fay, from November to February, they MPR Pe A, 139 they may Phe t in a higher latitude than that of the frontiers of the colony. I fhall particu- larife elfewhere my reafons for {peaking in this manner, and the reader will fee in what mit. fortunes I was involved by undertaking this journey at an unfeafonable period. } Tt was then the month of January, and, agreeably to the advice of the Colonel, I was not to depart till May. By deferring it fo_ long, I could make my preparations at my lei- fure, with more care, and even with more eco- nomy: another advantage was, that it would enable me to complete, as far as poflible, a col- leGtion of the animals of the colony. My dif- after in the bay of Saldanha had confiderably injured this projeét, and now that it was in my power to finith it, I could not fuffer the oppor- tunity to efcape. - Such of the Hottentots as I had retained in my fervice fince my firft journey, were at. Groene-K loof, employed in keeping and look- ing after my oxen. I paid a vifit to my herds and their guardians, and had reafon to be fatif- fied with both. Rernarking however that, among my cattle, there were three or four which had been too much fatigued. by their | former 140 TRAVELS IN former excurfion, to be able to endure a fe- cond, I parted with them. Colonel Gordon lent me four excellent oxen, which he had brought back with him from his expedition, and I purchafed befides a new team that coft me a hundred and fixty-five rix dollars. With regard to my people, they all not only fhowed the greateft eagernefs to accompany me, but had infpired the fame ardour into fome of their eomrades, whofe courage and fidelity they in- fured, and who had requetted them to beg that I would accept of their fervices. Could | ace. fee that fuch fair promifes would afterwards be . belied? | At the Cape, I experienced marks of kind- nefs from all quarters. ‘The friends of Boers, become -more particularly mine fince his de- parture, flrove who fhould be the firft to offer me fome prefent, either to add to my ftores, or to complete my equipage. The wife of the Colonel referved to herfelf the exclufive privi- lege of fupplying me with fugar, and other neceflary provilions for my table; while her hufband, military even in his gifts, begged me to accept of a new marquee, and the fervices of the armourer of his regiment to repair my fufees. AF RCA: r4t fufees. © Van Genep, the poft captain, who had fucceeded Staaring, ordered me, from his ftores, a moft beautiful tent, in place of my own, which, from the continual rains I had experienced in the country of Auteniqua, had become unferviceable. Giikin, the comman- _ dant of the artillery, and the officers of the garrifon, fent me a confiderable quantity of powder. In fhort, every perfon was defirous of giving me fomething ; and, from the general zeal difplayed in my favour, one might have fuppofed that: my journey was a public enter- prife, to which all the inhabitants were bound to contribute according to their abilities. I confidered myfelf as honoured by the fmal- left trifles, and made it my duty to accept them. Among the prefents of this kind I muft men- tion one in particular, which was given me by the Colonel, and accompanied with fome plea- fantry. It confifted of three grenadier caps, on the gilt copper-plates of which, lower than thofe of the French, was reprefented the - erowned lion that forms the arms of Holland. ‘He was aware that thefe caps were highly gratifying to the favages, and would gain me the san TRAVELS IN the good will of the hordes whofe chiefs } fhould think proper to ornament with them. ‘I employed: them for that purpofe; as will hereafter be feen, in different places in the in¢ terior of the country; and I have often re- gretted the want of objects equally rare to the favages, and which might have facilitated an intercourfe that it would be vain to attempt in any other way. In general, and it cannot be too often repeated, it is only with toys, as one may fay, that the friendfhip of men in 2 ftate of nature isto be conciliated. I am filled with a mixed fentiment of contempt and indig= nationy when, in the accounts of travels among favages, I read hiftories of maflacres and wars, of which, without a bluth, men often avovr themfelves the defenders, and which are exhi- bited to Europeans as a¢ts of prowefs, deferv- ing of renown, and worthy to be imitated: As for me, | have already faid, that my reafon- ings upon this fubject are very different : of this the reader will be more and more convinced, as he follows mein my travels. Experienced as I am at prefent, it would be’ eafy for me fo to condud myfelf, as to avoid even the thought of AY Rolo &. t43 of an adventure that fhould coft the life of a fingle individual. It is in the name of hu- manity that I here exclaim againft the impu- _ dent pretentfions of thofe travellers, who would go to the diftance of four thoufand leagues from their native foil, to fubdue by the {word their fellow creatures, and make them adopt even their moft ridiculous follies. By nature, man is neither good nor bad; fociety alone can render him worthlefs. It requires no little vaddrefs and fincerity to diveft ourfelves all at once of our prejudices, and rife to a level with thofe whofe confidence and bone it = be ne- ceflary to gain. I did not delay, till the moment of my de- parture, to provide myfelf with merchandife for barter, which might be ufeful to me in my route. Whenever a veffel had brought any trinkets to the Cape, I procured an affortment of them, and I had taken my precautions fo far. back, as to be under no uneafinefs on that head. My provifion of lead, tobacco, glafs- ware, nails, and, above all, knives and tinder- boxes, was ready; and as my journey was to continue longer than the firft, I had doubled ‘the quantity, intending ftill to augment them . fhould mr TRAVELS IN fhould there be room.in my waggons when I Bell Rito isccr boul colnet My kitchen utenfils having been already fuficient for me, I did not think it neceflary to make any addition to them. , I only ex- changed a part. of my porcelain for a few are- ticles of the fame kind made of pewter. I ftill remembered the accident that had happened to it, when the waggon that carried it was over= turned in ariver. Such conveniences are little of themfelves.s. but when cuftom has rendered them neceflary, we feel,.a degree of diffatisfac- tion ‘at being reduced to a condition in which itis impoffible to procurethem, __ | I ought alfo to mention here other articles no lefs effential, and of which I made ample provifion. I mean needles, pins, and tweezers, with a quantity of riband, and fome dozens of Indian handkerchiefs, particulaily thofe of.a red or blue colour. All thefe articles, which the wives or daughters of the planters ince fantly afk from, travellers, are necefiary to gain their affections; and perhaps fomething more when an opportunity offers. I earried with ‘me alfo, though very unfeafonably, a box filled with locks and padlocks, imagining that by thefe Athig ¥¢ &. 145 thele T might render a fervice to fome of the in- habitants in thé interior parts of the country: ‘but what would have afforded me confiderable pleafure, in my firt journey, became ufelefs in this ; as 1 found no occafion of giving away a fingle lock, except to. a planter of Nameroo, who accepted it, I believe, merely to oblige me, as I will freely confefs I was ignorant my(elf where he could fix it, there being only two openings in his houfe, of which one, that ferved as a door, was fhut, during the night \ only, with an ox’s hide ; and the other, ferv- ing as a window, was clofed with the bottom of an old cafk. Laftly, knowing how much {nuff was in requeft among the women, I pro- vided myfelf with feveral pounds of it. How- ever minute thefe details may appear, their probable utility to future travellers, who may undertake the fame expedition, leads me to confider it as an indifpenfable duty not to pafs them over in filence. | : [had fent for Swanepoel to town, to take care of my packages, and to confult him re- fpecting my ftores. His knowledge in thefe matters was likely to be of ufe to me; and in- deed he reminded me of certain occurrences on. 1 , L. that, 146 TRAVEUS of N that, for want ofthe neceflary tools, had occas fioned us very great embarraflments. To guard againft fimilar inconveniences, I appointed him in{pector-general of all my preparations, charg- ing him to make a good aflortment of every thing likely to be ufeful, that we might be in want of nothing by the way. After difcharg- ing the duties of his office, he repaired without delay to the horde of Klaas, to inform him of the day of my departure, and to appoint a ren- dezvousin Swart-Land, at the houfe of my friend Slaber, where I purpofed to alemble my whole caravan, and where one of my carriages had been previoufly fent a long time before. Of the Hottentots who had accompanied me in my firft journey, there were only eight with whofe conduct I had been conftantly fa- tisfied. It was my wih, therefore, to retain only thefe cight, and I gave them notice of my intention. In vain did the others come beg- ging that I would accept of their fervices; I kept to my refolution, and rejected them, | To fupply their place, Swanepoel,. on his re- turn, propofed to me fome intrepid fellows of his acquaintance, for whom he became anfwer- + able. Among them were two excellent markf- | men, men, who he thought might be ufeful, and whom, indeed, I accepted without hefitation. I had it in my power to have enlarged my company with feveral petfons more. As every one at the Cape knew that my firtt j journey had. been fortunate, that no other accidents had happened to me than thofe which are unavoidable in fuch enterprifes ; ; many plan- ters and Europeans withed to be my al- fociates. I cannot repeat all the requefts that were made me on the fubjeét; but, faith- ful to my principles, and determined more than ever to remain perfedlly free In my ope- rations, [ fuffered my refolution to be fhaken neither by perfonal confiderations, nor the moft prefling importunities ; and, under differ- ent pretences, foftened by politenefs and civi- lity, [ found meaiis to difembarrafs myfelf of all my folicitors. Among the number was one in particular of the name of Pinar, a keen {portfman, a great frequentet of the woods, and more efpecially celebrated for his dexterity in hunting ele- phants. This man, who by his great exploits in this way had acquired a certain celebrity in the colony, and of whom a hundred aéts of L 2 prowefs, 148 TRAVELS IN prowe!s, each more wonderful than another, were related, offered alfo toaceompany mej and, by the air of confidence with which he , prefented himfelf, feemed perfuaded that I ought to eReem myfelf happy in having with me a hero of fo extraordinary merit. I ven- tured, however, to thank him ; and my readers may judge for themfelves whether I was wrong in refufing him, when I inform them that, having had the misfortune to meet him on my way, he had nearly occafioned the death of my ‘old Swartepoel, \ 4 _ I was, however, tempted to make an ex- ception in favour of a young furgeon, who was extremely prefling in his entreaties. The talents of a man of his: profeflion might, in cafe of need, have become particularly ufeful both tome and my caravan. Befides, being obliged to have an intercourfe with the favage tribes among whom I was about to travel, I fhould have it in my power to adminifter to them affifance, by which I fhould increafe to- wards me their good-will and affection: nor _ eould I refle& without pain on that unfortu~ nateGonaqua man, whom I had feen in his hut, abandoned to the moft dreadful torture, with- out Ayre CA. 149 out my being able, from my ignorance of me- dicine, to relieve his fuflerings. On the other hand, I had to fear that the dangers and fatigue of the jeurney would be too great for the courage of my Efculapius. And what was I to have done, fhould that be the cafe? I muft have returned the fame way I came, till [ arrived at the colony, in order to leave him in a place of iafety ; for I certainly Should not have abandoned him to himfelf in the midi{t of the deferts. | In this perplexity, I was {truck with an idea that appeared to remedy the inconvenience, and preferve to each his perfonal independence. This was, to have a feparate carriage and efta- blithment for him, in order that, fhould he be difpofed to return, he might do fo freely, with- out interfering with or impeding my progrefs. An arrangement like this would have placed us both equally at our eafe. I propofed it to him, adding, that my confent to his accompany- ing me would entirely depend upon it: but it was not accepted, and | difmiffed it from my thoughts. | | Among my acquaintance at the Cape, there were fome who would fain have diffluaded me Li from iso TRAVELS IN from my plan, affigning as a reafon the pretend: ed character of the African tribes, whom they reprefented as ferocious monfters and cannibals, among whom I fhould foon be infallibly de- {troy ed But, flattering myfelf that I knew. man in a ftate of nature better than thefe fine talkers, whofe fuperficial knowledge had been derived from books deftitute of truth, I had no dread of the danger that was announced tome. I have had opportunities of ftudying human nature in its uncivilized ftate ; ; every ‘where it has appeared to me to be good; every where I have feen it alfo, when not irritated ‘and treated with injuftice, to be hofpitable and - | friendly ; and T here affirm, from the conviction of my heart, that in thofe pretended barbarous _ countries, where the whites have not yet rendered themfelves odious, becaufe they have never been there, it would have been fufficient for me to hold out my hand in token of friend- fhip, to make the Africans prefs it with affec- tion in theirs, and receive me as their brother. If I withed to obtain any fervices from them, or to barter with them, I had in my brandy, my toys, and my tobacco, very advantageous means of commerce. What black is there who would | | not, ® WOR C A. 151i not, with tranfports of joy, have yielded up to me every thing he had, for goods in the pollef- fion of which he would have found the moft neceflary objects, and the moft delicious grati- fications with which he was acquainted? I re- peat it then, If I have been thwarted in my projects, they are not men, but the feafons that I accufe; the feafons, whofe unfriendly oppofition | began to experience from the mo- ment of my departure. At every time of the year the roads of the Cape are bad: and, if fuch be their ordinary _ftate, judge what they mult be when the rainy _feafon commences. Scarcely had I proceeded a quarter of a mile from the town, when one of my carriages was dragged into a hole, and overturned in the mud ; nor was it poffib'e for my ten oxen that drew it, nor the exertions of my Hottentots, to ftop its fall In an inftant the accident was known at the Cape, and I was foon joined by a crowd of the inhabitants, fome attracted by mere curiofity, and others by a defire of being ufeful. I had, in reality, need of affiftance to place the car~ riage on its wheels again ; for it was not poflibie to raife it without unloading it, and the boxes L 4 were 1“ Ul TRAE SN were fo large and fo heavy, that they could net be taken out and replaced without a multitude of hands. It was neceflary even to empty them on the {pct. Every one lent his aid; and, as my effects were taken out, they were depofited round my carriages in fuch places as were freeft from mud. In a little.time, the whole furrounding fpace was covered with them, and every thing I poflefled, expofed thereby to the view of the company. At length, my whole cargo was again put in order, and I purfued my courfe; but not without many diftrefling reflections on the part of the _ Spectators, who, from fo unfortunate a begin-— ning, augured no good of my journey. Their predictions were but too true; and J had foon reafon to apprehend a full accom-+ plifhment of them, by a fecond misfortune which I experienced, The accident which harialeed to my car- riage had confumed almoft the whole day. It was half paft three in the afternoon before I could proceed; the days were the fhorteft in the year, and, if my carriages travelled i in the night, accidents ftill more difaftrous might ) take place. To prevent this, I refolved to ftop, ) towards : AiP RTC) As 193 towards the clofe of the day, and I caufed my cattle to be unyoked in Groene-Valey (green lake), about two hundred yards from a plan- tation. | sae I obferve, in all the maps of Africa, and all the accounts of the Cape of Good Hope, that the Dutch word yaley is tranflated valley. The word va/ey, however, fignifies a lake or marfh, and not a valley, which in Dutch Is klocf. This was a manor plantation that belonged tothe governor. His 4aas, or overieer, faw me arrive, and, while my oxen were unyoking, he ftood quietly at his door; but no fooner were they let loofe, than he gave orders to the Hot- tentots and negroes under his command, to feize them and convey them to the farm. At that moment I had juft caufed a fire to be lighted. Surprifed at the conduc of the flaves, [ went up to the overfeer, and defired him to explain it. He replied, that there were particular orders from government, which forbade any planter to unyoke and turn cattle adrift within his mafter’s domains, and that, in confequence of doing fo, all my oxen were conii{cated. Excel- Jent logic for a knave devoid of all principle! I was 154 TRAVERS 4N - I was not a planter, and therefore the recu- lation could in no manner afle&t me. Asa ftranger, I was pardonable for not knowing it; and befides this privilege of a flranger and a traveller, I had, from the governor himfeif, particular letters, in which he enjoined all the ‘inhabitants of the colony, not only to avoid throwing the leaft impediment in the way of my journey, and toallow me a free paflage wherever my curlofity might lead me, but alfo to give me, by authority of governinent, every afliftance I might have occafion for. All this I reprefented to the overleer. I obferved to him alfo, that, when my oxen were feized, they were in the downs, and confequently be- yond the privileged boundaries of the domain. In fhort, I complained to him of the uncandid manner in which he had behaved towards me, fince, inftead of giving me notice when he faw me unyoke, he contented himfelf with being a filent fpeCctator, .as if highly gratified by feeing me fall into an error. To thefe remonftrances he made no other reply, than that he had a right to confifcate my cattle: and in truth the capture would have been of fome worth tohim. Tired of his iniquitous fs i a i agi 155 iniquitous morality, I afflumed another tone, and, with all the energy that an honeft man is capable of difplaying when heated by paffion, T gave him to underftand what a rafcal [thought him. To this he made no anfwer; but order- ed his flaves to collect all my oxen, and con- duc them to another plantation of the gover- nor’s, a league diftant. I could then no longer contain my indignation; and clapping my double-barrelled fufee to my fhoulder, I de- clared aloud, that 1f any man dared fo much as to touch one of my animals, I would imme- diately blow out his brains. This threat had the defired effect, The baas and his flaves, equally intimidated, re- mained quiet, without daring to ftir. In this attitude I left them; and, while they fcarcely ventured to move, I ordered my writing-box to be brought, that I might inform the fifcal of what had happened, telling Swanepoel. at the fame time, to take one of my horfes and proceed to the Cape with my letter. Upon hearing the word fifcal, the overfeer began to tremble: he was afraid that, fhould my com- plaint reach his mafter, he might be deprived of his place. He begged me, therefore, to : countermand 156° TRAY ee oS) TN countermand the departure of Swanepoel ; ordered his people to fet my cattle at liberty ; and apologized in the moft fuppliant manner for his condua@, throwing the blame on the feverity of the orders he had received, What the knave faid of thefe orders was per- haps true; for, if there are fervants of the greateft meannedfs, there are alfo mafters of the moft fordid avarice. This confideration pre- vented me from feeking to punith the overfeer : and, after all, when my oxen were reltored, what more had I to defire? As I could not, however, perfectly depend on the motives which had dictated this man’s excufes, I thought it right to be on my guard refpecting my cattle. To turn them loofe to feed during the night would have been run- ning the rifk, fhould the overfeer alter his re» folution, of having them carried off without my knowledge: or he wauld have charged to my account, and perhaps have exaggerated, any damage they might have occafioned, I ordered them, therefore, to be all made faft round my carriages, and I placed at hand fome armed fentinels to defend them. Next morning, at break of day, I proceeded On A PRC AS 169 on my route towards Groene-Kloof (green val- ley), acantun fo named from the beauty and excellence of its paftures. It is one of the Company’s pofts, where they fatten cattle for fupplying the butchers in the town, and for - victualling fhips in their way to and from India. The day following, after pafling through Bavians-Berg and Daffen-Berg, I entered Swart- Land. Though the roads were ftill equally bad, they ceafed to be dangerous to my cartri- ages, becaufe we travelled upon fand. Affured that there was no longer reafon to fear their being overturned, and out of patience at the flow pace they advanced, I put fpurs to my horfe, and took the lead, in order to arrive be- fore them at the houfe of my friend Slaber. He was ill, and very much weakened by a, violent dyfentery; a difeafe that in warm countries is always dangerous, but particularly fo to perfons advanced in years. I threw my- felf into his arms; he prefled me in his; and by the pleafure that fparkled in his counte- nance, | faw that my prefence reftored, in fome meafure, his ftrength, and alleviated his pains. ‘Thefe fymptoms of convalefcence communi- cated delight to the whole family, and in- Goy creafed 168 T RAG rise a creafed the pleafure they feemed to experiericé at feeing me again. In the midit of their kindnefs and carefles, Klaas came alfo to pay his refpects to me. I had appointed him a meeting at the houfe of Slaber, where he had arrived the evening before with fome Hotten- tots, his comrades, trufty perfons, whom he had fele€ted to accompany me, and whom he accordingly introduced. The daughters of » Slaber thanked me, with the tendereft affection, forthe relief I had afforded to the fufferines — of their father, and, to complete his cure, they befought me to fpend fome time with him. In vain did I reprefent the embarraff{ment into which they would be thrown by the numerous train that followed me: they redoubled their entreaties, and urged me with fuch terms of friendfhip, that I was obliged at length to comply. How, indeed, could I refift thefe charming daughters, who, foliciting in behalf of their father, afked, as a favour, what I ought to have confidered as a kindnefs to myfelf? At the Cape, the European manners have introduced into fociety the different games that are common in Europe: but thefe games are unknown in the colonics, notwithftanding the AFRICA. isg the imactive life and habitual idlenefs of the inhabitants. Neither cards nor dice are any where feen ; their fole amufement is the chace ; and this, in general, they purfue with indo- lence, unlefs they have, as {peCtators and com- panions, ftrangers who are keener fport{men than themfelves. I was, therefore, treated with the chace. All the fhooters of the neighbourhood wereinvited, and for feveral days together we ranfacked the whole country around. Slaber’s daughters, in the mean time, were not unmindful of their gueft; and never, even at the court of Alci- nous, was a ftranger the object of greater affiduity or more affeQionate care. ‘They ex- erted their fkill in paftry, and prepared for me cakes, bifcuits, and confectionary, to add to my ftock of provifions: delicate morfels, which I ought to have referved for moments of fa- mine, but which, after the manner of children, J was impatient to devour and fhare with my people. ieee | Thefe hunting excurfions prepared me for fatigues of a longer duration, and I imagined myfelf already engaged in them. I had not neglected to arrange my caravan. To accuftom it 160 TRAVELS iN itearly to the fevere difcipline that I withed; if poifible, to obferve in this journey, I had encamped it at a diftance from the houfe, and placed it under the infpeCion of old Swane- poel. I recommended to him to difchargé his office with the utmoft ftriGinefs, as if we had to dread fome hoflile neighbour. I did not fail to obferve it myfelf with the eye of a mafter; and I watched, with particular atten- tion, the new comers that had been procured by Swanepoel: I was continually afraid I fhould have caufe to complain of thefe men, and that their ardour might cool before I had an opportunity of putting it to the trial. It ap- peared of importance to me, to bring even my oxen and horfes to the habits they were here after to follow, and for that reafon they weré removed to the camp: my goats alfo weré tied up every evening round my carriages: The much-loved family of Slaber were highly delighted with this fpectacle, which was per feGly newtothem ; and the girls, particularly, often propofed to travel and encamp with me: One of them rallied me more obftinately than the reft, and repeated, that nothing ought. to excule my taking with me a female com~- | panion. AFRICA. 161 panion. Senfible the was far from being in earneft, I ftrenuoufly refifted all the could urge on this head, and with great gravity refufed the offers of one who certainly intended the boundaries of her father’s farm to be the limits of her excurfion. However, it is not without — - fome vexation and regtet that I now feel this happinefs was wanting to render the enjoy- ments of my peregrination complete; and that nothing was more eafy than to have departed, fhared the toils of the journey, returned, and, in a word, lived with me. Though it was now the middle of winter according to the ideas of the inhabitants, that is to fay, the rainy feafon, we neverthelefs en- joyed for our hunting excurfions very favour- able weather, the rain not being fo frequent at this period in the mountains as at the Cape. This muft be afcribed to the colleétion of clouds driven from the north towards the Table mouti- tain, and which never fail to break over the town and its environs. We refided under a mild climate, and every day was niore delight- ful than the preceding one. ‘Thole tertible fouth-eaft winds, which often defolate the whole country around, had fled from our at« Vor, I. | M mofphere. 162- TRAVERS AN mofphcre. ‘The heavens.were pure and fe-) rene; and I delicioufly abandoned myfelf to: the enjoyments of this fecond Capua. I be-’ came folitary and thoughtful. At the fame time I regretted to fee fo many charming days no better occupied than in killing infiguificant came, and was refolved to arrange mattérs for iny departure; but an unexpected incident in- tervened {till for a fhort time to delay it.” - Nothing could be farther from my thoughts at that moment than that unfortunate vetlel the Middelburg, in which I had formerly loft my whole property, when it was fuddenly brought to my recollection by one of Slaber’s. fons, who came to tell me, that fome neigh- bours, having examined the remains of the wreck in Saldanha Bay, had diftinaly per- eeived the hull of the veffel, at the depth of twenty feet under water; that curiofity, and | the allurement of the riches it might contain, had induced fome of them, who were expert divers, to plunge into the gulph, and that their _ Jabour and fearch had not been fruitlefs. Se- ~-yeral of them; he faid, had brought up fome valuable pieces of china; and that, fince, new. » dpyers, AFRICA, 167 4 divers, emboldened by their example, had ha- _ zarded a fimilar fub-aqueous pilgrimage, and endeavoured to found the fides of this ill-fated veffel. It was natural for me, who had loft in it the only treafures on which my hopes were founded, to put in aclaim upon this occafion ;_ and if by my efforts I obtained only a piece of a rope, or fome wretched and broken fherds, they would have appeared to me precious re- lics, worthy of being carried away and pre- ferved in remembrance of my misfortune. The cargo of the veffel had confifted chiefly of porcelain from China and Japan. Other planters, as I have faid, in imitation of the frft, had gone to fearch the wreck, and had been equally fuccefsful; but the bufinefs, becoming at laft too arduous, had been abandoned. 1 was refolved, however, to revive the attempt. The calmnefs of the weather appeared to be favourable to the enterprife, and I was the more eager to engage in it, from the opportu- nity it would afford me, if I fucceeded, of pre- fenting fome elegant porcelain to my fair hofteffes, as well as to fome of their neigh- Om by whom, during my vifits to Slaber, M 2 | I had 164 TRAVELS IN I had been ‘treated’ wlth great signal and friendfhip. Accordingly, taking ori me 2 sii of my” people and fome good {wimmers, | fet out for Hoetjes Bay, a {mall creek into which our fhip- had retired when attacked by the Englith: fquadron. I found the Middelburg, as it had: been defcribed to me, very near the fore, - about twenty feet under water, and its hull,. from the calmnefs of the fea; peticQlypercep~ tible. | This calmne(s aided the operations of my divers, and they entered upon the bufinefs with: ‘fo-mueli: alacrity, that it was not long before they brought: up a number of loefe articles, which I depofited with great joy omthe fhore.. With fuch prizes, however, they were not fatif- fied ;. though the tafk was fo difficult, as the- planters had experienced, that frequently, be- fore they fucceeded in an-attempt, they were obliged to return feveral:times to the atack of. the water to breathe. At the bottom of the fhip there.were whole boxes ;. but they. were too heavy for the ex-. ertions of a fingle individual to. lift, Mean- while AFRICA.» 165 ‘while it would be highly gratifying:to them to procure me one; and to accomplith it, they _devifed the plan. of diving two at’a time, hold- ing one another by the hand, ‘in order to-labour ‘together on the fame box, and raife it, if pof- fible, by their joint éfforts,-one on each fide. ‘The manceuvre fuceeeded ; and I -faw them fhortly appear.with a complete’ box, which was brought in ‘fafety-to the fhore. ‘Charmed:with my treafure, and anxious to ‘know what it contained, I caufed it to be _-opened ; when I found, to my extreme fatif- faction, a handfome fervice of difhes and plates of all fizes, well afforted. -Other divers -had furnifhed -me with tea-cups, and fome-magnifi- cent bowls, -equally valuable for ‘the ‘beauty of their fhape and their extraordinary fize. But by remaining fo long -under water the-colour ef this china was fo much altered, that the part originally white appeared as if variegated with -atint of green; and what was ftill worfe, it — hadcontracted, from:the fame-caufe,fo naufeous and fetid a marine fmell, that:thofe of my peo- ple who had opened the box, or affifted in emptying it, were, as well as myfelf, feized with a-vomiting. From this circumftance I M 3 lott 1606 T R AVIESL'S al N loft all defire of purfuing any- further my refearches. Befides, night was. approach-' ing: my people therefore, after wafhing the china, each took up his burden, and we returned. Flattering myfelf that tad firange (eel had. not penetrated beyond the furface, my firft care, | on my arrival at.the plantation, was to afcer- tain this by caufing fome cups and other ar- ticles to be immerfed for a while in boiling water mixed with: afhes. - I then wiped the veflels thus lixiviated, and put fome tea in a tea~cup, fome victuals in a difh, and fome milk in a bowl; but they inftantly acquired fo de- teftable a tafte, and fo ftercoraceous a favour, as induced me to believe that all my labour > would prove to be fruitlefs. In vain were 7 other means tried to deftroy this odour and taite : none of them fuceseded, and I gave up the attempt. In my difpleafure I had forgotten the bowl of milk; and upon my going to fee it,two hours after, I faw with aftonifhment that it was turned to a curd. It was to ke prefumed that every other article of the china would have the fame quality. I tried two others, and examined by comes sh ele nO al 167 my watch what time they would require to produce a fimilar effet. In fourteen minutes the milk was curdled, and, what was remark- able, it had no bad tafte. This faa fupplied me with as wfeful hint. It told me, that in the courfe of my journey I might {peedily and whenever I pleafed have new cheefe ; and the difcovery was of too much pil magi: to me not to take advantage of it. During, my firft excurfion a fortunate incident of a like kind had fupplied me with butter, my milk having been changed into that fubftance merely by the © jolting of my carriage. From my cows and my fhe-goats I fhould now be able to procure, without difficulty, butter, cheefe, and whey. I catried with me, therefore, four of the bowls, which ferved me during my whole journey. They did not, indeed, retain their virtue in its. full force; after four or five months i it dimi- -_ nifhed, and the milk was curdled more flowly ; : there were times even, according to the degrees of temperature, when the offedt was not pro- duced in lefs than five or fix hours ; but it was _fure to take place, and did not entirely ceafe till the end of fix or feven months. The veflels, however, never loft their difagreeable marine pet. M 4 | Pre- 168 TRAVELS IN Previoufly to my quitting the Cape, I had prepared feveral letters for my family, i in which I informed them of my intended fecond expe- dition, and the means I had devifed for: carry- ing it into effect, It was not poffible to tell them the precife route I fhould follow, becaufe I was ignorant of it myfelf, as it would depend entirely upon local circumftances, which might _ happen to favour or thwart my wifhes. I merely faid, that my plan in general was to. crofs, from fouth to north, the whole ¢onti- nent of Africa, and then to return to Europe by the way « of Egypt if the paflage of the Nile was open, and if not, by the coafts of Barbary ; , that this enterprife, ‘from the beft calculations I could make, would require fix years; and that as, during that period, no opportunity — might offer for writing to them, they ought not to be alarmed at my filence. Thefe letters I had refolved not to fend till it fhould appear that no farther obftacles would © ftand i in the way of my journey, When fure of this, Timmediately difpatched Swanepoel to the Cape with them, requetting Colonel Gordon to forward them to their place of deftination, — by the firft neutral veffel that fhould fail. On his return, Swaneyar brought me one i from, Wa 1 C. A; 169 from the Colonel, in which, as a new teftimony of zeal and attachment, he had fketched out, point by point, the courfe I ought to purfue. Having himfelf made the fame expedition with Lieutenant Paterfon, he knew the places where water was to be found, and he obligingly pointed them out. Not content with this fer- ? vice, great and important as it was, he fought to render me another, by procuring me the ac- quaintance of two perfonages, extremely de- firable in an excurfion like mine; the one a planter, of the name of SS who lived after the Hottentot manner among the. favages ; the other a mulatto Hottentot, who {poke with fluency the Nimiqua language, and who would, on that account, be fingularly ufe~ ful, if I could prevail on him to accompany ' me, To each of thefe men Colonel Gordon wrote a feparate letter recommending me to their care, and he fent them to me unfealed, begging I would read them to the parties. It could indeed be no eafy tafk to find in their deferts two fuch wandering and unfettled beings; but fo minute were the Colonel’s di- rections, and {fo laborioufly had he pointed out the means of tracking oe as | may fay, that, J | arrived 170, TRAVELS IN arrived in their cantons, I fucceeded, though not without difficulty, in my fearch.” How ingenious are the devices of frien dthip' And can I ever fufficiently acknowledge my obligations to that of Colonel Gordon in this inftance, to which I owe not only my own life, but the lives of all my people ? Tt was in the midft ofa dry and burning defert, when. obliged to abandon my waggons and effeéts, after fee- ing all my oxen, one after another, perifh with thirft, when reduced, with my poor comrades, tothedeftitute fituation ofhaving no other drink than the milk of my goats, | and when inevitable death feemed to await alike both. them and me—it was in this extremity T called to mind the planter and Hottentot to whom his provi- dent kindnefs had recommended me. Guided by his inftruCtions, I entered upon the purfuit of thefe men; I found them, and we wete faved. But let me not anticipate moments of anguifh, of which the recollection will be fufficiently bitter when I come to defcribe them. What reafon had I then to applaud nelle for the precaution I took, and which doubtlefs fome good genius fuggelted to me, of increaf- Ing, | ing, while at the houfe of Slaber, the’ number of my goats! I purchafed feveral in the neigh- bourhood, and particularly young ones, which, though they afforded no milk as yet, would foon become more exuberant than their mo- thers. I added alfo to my ftock of cattle three milch cows. Among the articles too of do- meftic confumption, I provided myfelf with a few facks of flower: not that I flattered my(elf _ during my journey to be fupplied thereby with freth bread; fuch an expectation would have —been’madnefs ; but it would be poffible at leaft to have foups, paftry, and cakes; and thefe would be a fort of fubftitute. Every habit to which we accuftom ourfelves becomes infen- fibly a want. This I had: particularly experi- ~~ enced in the beginning of my firft journey. | To be all at once totally without bread had been extremely painful to me; and I hoped now, by means of this flower, gradually to wean myfelf from the cuflom, in order to be prepared againft a day of neceflity. Befides, if circumftances proved favourable to the mak- ing of bread, I had the wife of Klaas, who might render me this fervice. She had accom- panied him in our excurfion, with the hope that, 72 TRAVELS IN that, paffing near the. country where he had firft met with her, I fhould procure her an oppor- tunity of feeing again her horde and her friends. In the eyes of a cit, this love of coun- try, in favages whom he-difdains, and whofe exiftence appears to him a -fcene of uniform wretchednefs, will doubtlefs beregarded as im- probable. He -will.conceive that there can be no happinefs but in towns, and none of this . patriotif{m except in places where there are to be obtained what he calls the conveniences of life, that is, the gratification. of wants which he has created himfelf, and which afterwards become neceflaries. i I had fixed the 15th of June for my de~ -parture from the habitation of Slaber. On the 14th I made a general mufter of my equi- page and my people. Including the wife of Klaas, and my in{pector-general Swanepoel, I had altogether nineteen perfons, thirteen dogs in high condition, one male and ten female goats, three horfes, of which two, handfomely caparifoned, were thofe given me‘by Boers ; three milch cows, thirty-fix draft oxen for my three waggons, fourteen for relays, and two to carry the baggage of my Hottentots. Thefe fifty | AFRICA. E7y fifty head of horned cattle were fufficient’ for the prefent fervice ; but I meant to increafe them as it fhould become neceflary, and as | advanced farther from the colony, where, in the way of barter, I fhould be able to purchafe them at acheaper rate. The cock that, in my - farft journey, had afforded. me intervals of plea- fure, fuggefted the idea of having one again, and, that it might be happier than my other had been, I gave it a mate. Laftly, for my amufement, and, I may allo fay, for fociety, I took my ape Kees; Kees who, chained up. during my abode at the Cape, had apparently loft his gaiety, but who from the moment he regained his liberty gave himfelf up to {ports and anticks that were extremely diverting. Such was the company I affociated in my enterprife, and: which I had conceived to be neceflary, either to infure its fuccefs, or for the purpofe of affording me fome pleafant re- laxations. | | Next morning every thing was ready for my departure, according to the orders I had given, and: my people were waiting only for my fignal to begin their march. Whilft I was bidding a painful adieu to the Slabers, and while $74 TRAVELS IN ‘ while my heart fwelled with affectionate gras titude, I a thoufand and a thoufand times em- braced the kind family, who till that moment had continued to load me with marks of friend- fhip and care, and from whom I thought’ my- felf about to be feparated for ever. “When on the very point of quitting them, the young men ef the neighbourhood prefented themfelves to take leave of me, and to affift at my departure. Such is the etiquette of the country, when the inhabitants wifh to teftify their refped for thofe whom they efteem. The whole troop faluted me with a difcharge of mufketry ; and I, who’ expected fuch a teftimony of politenefs, re- turned ‘it by another from my Hettentots. When I mounted my horfe, thefe young peo- ple accompanied me on horfeback alfo to the diftance of above a league. At length, being obliged to feparate, and having ‘mutually fhaken hands, I was again faluted by a gene- tal difcharge, to which I replied by firing my own piece, arid caufing my people to fire theirs. To fpeak the truth, I regretted the lofs of my gun-powder wafted in this manner to no pur- pofe ; but cuftom required this facrifice, and I could not avoid it without a breach of polite-. nefs, PTA SURGIVG, AA 175 nefs, and without: offending men who volun= tatily conferred upon me’ the greateft honour which the prejudices of their country allow them to pay.c Some of the planters in the neighbourhood of the Cape keep {mall cannon on purpofe for fuch falutes. In the fouthern part of Africa-it is bate to make long» marches during the fine days of fummer, that is to fay in January, when the day confifts of fourteenhours; but at the folftice in June, when the fun is in the northern he- mifphere, the days being only nine hours and a half, the length of the night will not allow a traveller to advance as faft as he might with. Such was nearly the period at which I fet out. Befides, being obliged to traverfe the colony, I had reafon to expe that I fhould be every where retarded by the importunity and polite. — nefs of the planters; and indeed this was the eafe the very firft day. I had propofed to en- camp near the refidence of Louis Karften ; but that worthy and refpetable planter, of whom I have had occafion to fpeak in my firft jour- ney, and at whofe houfe I paffed fome agree- -. able moments during my ftay at Saldanha Bay, ia by his wife ae eight children, among whom 176 TRAVELS IN whom were four handfome daughters, came; with the ufual falutes, to invite me to pafs the night under his roof ; and I could not refufe: However, in my néxt day’s journey; to fave both my time arid my powdet, I firmly re- jected every folicitation of this kind, and — pitched my tent for the firft time; but as there had been a heavy fall of rain, and as, if it con- tinued, I might be ftopped by the overflowing of the Berg-rivier, I haftened to encamp the fecond day on its banks, and the day following I happily left it behind me. This river, which has its miouth in St. He- len’s Bay, but according to Kolben much higher up, bounds, on the eaft and north, the diftri& called Swart-Land (black-country), though the foil is far from being of that colour ; en the contrary, it is fandy, and yet produces’ erain of all forts except oats, which grow no where in the colonies, and in place of which barley is fubftituted for horfes. In Swart-Land, thefe animals have no other foed with their — barley but chopped ftraw. In fummer, there- fore, when grafs is {carce, on account of the rivers and ftreams being dried up, the planters are obliged to remove their cattle to diftricts lefe AP RT CHAS" 177 jéfs parched, and to keep at home only thofe abfolutely neceflary either for tilling the land oer conveying their corn to the town. Every kind of large game, without except- ing even the elephant, was found formerly in this country. At prefent nothing of that fort is to be feen but a few bubels, and very rarely fome pafans. The planters, by fettling here, have deftroyed or driven away all the reft, With regard to {mall game, fuch as the fteen-bock, the duyker, the grys-bock, hares, partridges, Qc. it is ftill very abun- dant, and, perhaps, too much fo for the hap- pinefs of the country; fince it draws thither _ hyznas, jackals, leopards, panthers, and above all, wild dogs, which are a real fcourge to the flocks in this diftri@. The lion feldom makes his appearance here. Either from haughtinefs or prudence this animal fhuns in- habited places; as if afraid of expofing him- felf in an unequal conteft, where his courage and his flrength would be oppofed by fire- arms. : To the north-eaft of Swart-Land is the charming and fertile diftri& of the Twenty- four-Rivers. With frefh pleafure I beheld this “MOL, I, N ter~ 178 TRAVERS AM . terreftrial paradife of Southern Africa; thofe {miling plains which I have elfewhere de~ {cribed ; and thofe odoriferous groves of orange and fhaddock trees, which feparate the habit- ations from each other, and which make us re gret that they are thereby too frequently broken and difcontinued. _ | Though determined, agreeably to the refo- Jution I had formed, not to ftop at the houfe. of any planter, I could not however difpenfe with paying my refpects, asI pafled, to Hans Liewenburg, a rich land-holder, who on va- rious occafions had treated me with confider- able kindnefs and efteem, and with whom Thad lodged in my preceding excurfion through this diftrid. ‘Though Liewenburg, as well as his neighbours, employed the moft preffing fo- licitations to detain me, I refifted along time ; but it was impoffible not to comply, when one of his fons, uniting his entreaties tothofe of »— his father, promifed to afford me an oppor-— tunity of killing two magnificent birds, which were continually feen near the plantation. At. firft, this vague promife appeared to me to be only one of thofe ingenious ftratagems which politenefs fometimes allows itfelf to employ. I gan APR TGA, 155 ptit therefore feveral queftions to the young man, begging him to defcribe the birds in queftion ; and he did it in a manner fo clear and fo natural, that I readily diftinguifhed in the defctiption the anhinga, ah uncommon bird which Ihad not yet feen in Africa. This difcovery attacked mie, fo to fpeak, on my weakeft fide. From that rhnoment I was hot at liberty to refufe; and I granted, to my _fhame be it fpoken, to two birds, which I was not yet fure of getting, what I had refufed to. the folicitations of friendthip. Next morning I reminded my youiig mati of his promife, and he conducted me towards a tree that was commonly frequented by thefe birds. I foon found that I had not been de- ceived in my conjectures; I actually perceived two anhingas, but of a particular fpecies, different from the two peculiar to America, and from that of Senegal, defcribed by Buffon. The young man, who had for a long time obferved their habits, told me that it would be neceflary for me to retire, if I withed to take a fure and advantageous aim. He conduéted me, there- fore, to a diftance of about two or three hun- dred paces from the tree; made me concéal | N 2 4, ye | 180 TRAVELS IN myfelf, and returned to the fpot himfelf,to put © them to flight, when, he affured me, they would undoubtedly pafs over my head. His conjecture was, however, not verified: thefe birds, more cunning than we, had perceived our ftratagem ; and feeing but one perfon, in- ftead of two, they fufpected that the abfence of the other was to be dreaded, and accord- ingly flew off in a different direction. By fearching the environs, it would probably have been eafy for me to find them again; but then I fhould have run the rifk of rendering them more fhy, and of making them, perhaps, de-. fert the country. Befides, I was not willing to fire at the one, till I fhould be certain that my fecond fhot would bring down the other. [I deferred the excurfion, therefore, till after din- ner, and we returned to the houfe. | | In the evening, juli before fun-fet, I again re- paired to my lurking-place; and that I might not be obferved by the anhingas, I went thither direcily, while young Liewenburg, on his part, preceeded alone tothe tree. This time the de- ception fueceeded: the two birds, having mo caufe of {ufpicion, pafled me at the diftance of twenty paces, and by means of my double- bar- AFRICA. 18% barrelled fufee I brought them both to the ground, . Become pofleffor of an objet fo valuable in my eyes, could I quit abruptly, after I had ob- tained it, the complaifant hofts to whom I was indebted for it? No:—gratitude, friendthip, _ and even decency, required that I fhould re- main fome days with them, and I obeyed the dictates of thefe fentiments. . Though I referve for my ornithology the particular defcription of thefe birds, I cannot — refrain from giving the reader a fhort fketch of it, The denomination of Slange-Hals-Voogel, ({nake-necked bird), which my Hottentots © gave to the anhinga, charaCterifes it in a very fimple and accurate manner. Buffon, who was equally ftruck with the conformation pecu- liar to birds of this kind, has delineated them by a fimilar expreffion. ‘The anhinga,”’ fays he, “ exhibits a reptile grafted on the body of “6 4 bird.” Indeed there is no perfon, who, upon feeing the head and neck only of an an- hinga, while the reft of the body is hid among the foliage of the tree on which it is perched, would not take it for one of thofe ferpents ac- cuftomed to climb and refide in trees; and the. N 3 or sie 182 TRAVELS IN miflake is fé much the eafier, as all j its tortuous motions fingularly favour the illufion. In whatever fituation the anhinga may be feen, whether perched on a tree, {wimming in the water, or flying in the air, the moft appa-’ rent and remarkable part of its body is fure to be its long and flender neck, which is con- tinually agitated by an ofcillatory motion, un- lefs in its flight, when it becomes immoveable and extended, and forms with its tail a perfe&ly {traight and horizontal line. iy The true place which nature feems to have afligned to the anhingas, in the numerous clafs of the palmipedes, is exa@ly between the cor- morant and the grebe*. They partake indeed equally of both thefe genera of birds, having the ftraight {lender bill and the long neck of the latter; while they approach the former by the conformity of their feet, the four toes of which are joined by a fingle membrane. They partake alfo of the cormorant by their flight ; _ * This bird is called by Willughby, the Greater [Loon, or Arfefoot ; ; by Edwards, the Greater Dobchick ; and by. Brifon, Colymbus and Grebe, of which he enumerates eleven diftinG {pecies. See his Ornithologie, vol. vis page 33. TT, , aa having AB Rds 2A 183 having like it the wings larger and fitter for the purpofe, than thofe of the grebe, which are fhort and weak. The tail of the anhingas is extremely long: a charaCteriftic very fingu- lar and remarkable in a water fowl, and which ought, it would feem, to render them totally diftin& from diving birds, which, in general, have little or no tail. By this trait, they approach ftill nearer to the cormorants*; for though the tails of the Jatter are fhorter, the tails of both have a great refemblance to each other, fince their quills are equally ftrong, elaflic, and proper to form a rudder when thefe fowls {wim through the water in puriuit of hth, which conftitute their principal nourifhment. When the anhinga feizes a fifth} he fwallows it intire if it be {mall enough, and if too large he carries it off to a rock, or the ftump of a tree, and, fixing it under one of hig feet, tears it to pieces with his bill. Though water is the favourite element of this bird, it builds its neft and rears its young * At the Cape there are four kinds of cormorants, one of which has a tail almoft as long as that of the an- hinga. ) Niq on 184 DL RAY Pan on rocks and trees; but it takes great care to place them in fuch a manner that it can preci- pitate them into a river as foon as they are able to fwim, or the fafety of the little Pisses may require it. There are, in general, few animals fo fierce and fo cunning as diving birds; but, in my. opinion, the one I am defcribing furpaffes in - fagacity all the other fpecies, particularly when furprifed fwimming ; for it is then very diffi- cult, I may fay indeed impoflible, to kill it, as its head, which is, the only part expofed, plunges and difappears the inftant the flint touches the hammer of the fufee; and if once miffed, it is in vain to think of approaching it a fecond time, as it never fhows itfelf more, but at very great diftances, and then only for the moment neceflary for breathing. In short, fo cunning is it, that it will often baffle the fportfman, by plunging at the diftance ofa hundred paces above him, and rifling again to breathe at the diftance of more than a thoufand paces below him; and if it has the good for- tune to find any reeds, it conceals ittelf there, and entirely difappears. The male anhinga, of which I here {peak, 4 differs AFRICA. 185 differs from the female, which is fmaller, in having the whole under part of the body, from the breaft to the root of the tail, of a beautiful black, while the latter has the fame parts of a yellow ifabellad colour.’ It has alfo, on each fide of its neck, a white ftripe, which extends from the eye to the middle of its length, and interfeCts a reddifh ground. A very fingular characteriftic, common to all the anhingas, is that of having the feathers of the tail deeply ftriated, and as it were ribbed. I fhall pafs over other fingularities, which will be found in my general defcriptions. During the time I refided at the igus of Liewenburg, I chiefly employed myfelf in again traverfing every part of the difiri@.. The family, according to the cuftom of the coun- try, exerted themfelves to procure me oppor- tunities of enjoying the pleafures of the chace; and, in conformity with the fame cuftom, the neighbours were invited to join in them. We killed a great quantity of {mall game, par- ticularly wood-cocks, which are very numerous on account of the abundance of rivers that every where form {mall marfhes ; and we wandered over ighote high mountains which are the boun- Ress daries Gs. TRAVELS IN daries of this delightful country. The fides of thefe mountains are covered with large trees, and among thefe we fell in with a pan- ther, which my dogs roufed from its den among the rocks.* In an inftant, and at one - leap, it fprang to the top of a tree, twenty feet in height above them ; and as the briars and fallen trunks which lay extended on the ground retarded the quicknefs of my pace, I could ‘not get within reach of it time enough to fire, which afforded it an opportunity of efcaping from tree to tree, as faft as it could have done on an open plain. Befides the antelopes of which I have fpoken, we found in the canton of the Twenty-four Rivers a number of zebras, pafans, bubels, and oftriches, which muft be hunted on horfeback; but the ground is: fo covered with bufhes, and fo encumbered by the arched nefts built there by the termites, or white ants, that it is very dangerous to purfue them full {peed, as the velocity of thefe animals requires. Naturalifts have for foirie time paft made us acquainted with this fpecies of ants, which, ad- vancing under ground like miners, conftruc for themfelves, at certain wai. a fort of dome AFRICA. 187 dome or arch feveral feet in height. Smeathman communicated many years ago to the Royal Society of London a very minute defcription of them, a tranflation of which has been inferted in the French edition of Sparman’s Travels by the editor, In this account we are told of the _heightand figure of the domes conftructed by the termites; of the danger experienced by habita- tions in the neighbourhood of thefe infects; and of the deftruction they frequently occafion, fo as to deftroy in one night the whole fur- _ niture of a houfe; but thefe details are not ap- plicable to the termites of the Cape of Good- Hope, or at leaft to thofe I have had an oppor- tunity of feeing, either in Camdebo, or the - diftriG of Twenty-four-Rivers. I have found more than once termites in Africa; but they were neither fo dangerous nor fo deftructive as thofe mentioned by Smeathman. ‘The higheft of their huts, which I faw, did not exceed four feet ; and they were more or lefs folid, accord- _ ing to the folidity of the ground in which they were conftruéted. In fhort, inftead of being covered with mofs and grafs like thofe feen by the Englifh traveller, they are always, in the part in which | travelled, perfectly {mooth, | and , 188 TR AVi kde sal N and of the fame colour as the earth of which they have been formed. | The Hottentots eat the nymphs of thefe ants, which they confider as a very great deli- cacy ; and mine, when they found an opportu- nity, did not fail to. open the nefts to get at them.. There are alfo many birds and quadru- peds which carry on war againft thefe infects ; but their moft dangerous eneniy isa fpecies of ant-bear, called by the planters erd-varken, (earth-hog), which makes them its principal nourifhment. When thefe retreats have been fearched and deferted, they become bee-hives, and {warms of wild- bees take poffeflion of them in order to depofit there their honey and their young. My ape Kees fhewed a wonderful inftin@ in difcovering thefe fecret repofitories of dainties, which he announced by repeatedly fkipping and jumping, and of which we thared with him the profits: as for me, when I found any of thefe nefts empty, and when, having been opened only on the fides, their arched roofs remained entire and unhurt, I applied them to a very ufeful purpofe ; I made natural ~ ovens of them in which we cooked our victuals. Very little preparation was neceflary, except Ti 52 | AYER 1/G, &. 189 to clean them well, and afterwards to heat them with brufhwood. Our victuals could then be cooked in the utmoft perfection. If we believe Kolben, Swart-Land and the diftri& of the Twenty-four-Rivers, when the - Dutch firft fettled there, were inhabited by fe- veral tribes of favages, the names of which he mentions. At prefent, not one of thefe primi- tive and original nations is to be found, nor does tradition even {peak of their exiftence. I have certainly too great a horror for crimes to attempt to excufe them, wherever they may be found; and if the firft planters got pofleffion of the two difiritts I have mentioned, only by exterminating the inhabitants; they were monfters whofe name and remembrance ought to be devoted to eternal execration. But before we condemn them, fhould we not convinceour- felves by evidence that they are really guilty? May not Kolben, who in every page of his work commits fo many miftakes, be erroneous alfo in this refpect? Have the people he men- tions really exifted, and can we believe that the Dutch deftroyed them, when fo many hordes of Hottentots, whom they have pre-. | | ferved, 196 TRAVELS IN ferved, fubfift in the country around and ever in the midft of them to this very day ? However this may be; the diftri& of thé Twetity Ae eRe 1 © kt 809 tala have died in the fpace of a few mi- nutes. Such is the inconvenience of a country newly inhabited. Man continually fees his tranquil- | lity interrupted, and his life endangered there by troublefome infeéts, ferocious beafts, and venomous reptiles. Coché, by way of caution, told me that the Looper-kapel was very common in the diftrict through which I was about to travel. After this intelligence, | formed a re- folution that I conceived to be highly necef- - fary ; which was, not to pafs the night in my tent, but to fleep in my carriage, where I fhould have much lefs to apprehend from the formi- dable vifits of thefe alarming guefts. - Whilft I was concluding a bargain with the farmer for a few fheep, my carriages and their drivers croffed the Kruys, and I purfued my journey, keeping along the banks of the river ; but I could not proceed far that day, as we had _ to travel over fand, and to crofs and re-crofs _ the Kruys fix times. Next day our fitua- tion was ftill worfe; the fand was fo deep and fo loofe, that the wheels of my waggons funk almoft to the axle-tree; and for each ve- hicle I was obliged to add feos more oxen to rior. f. F the 210 TRAVERS AN the twelve that already compofed the team. In. this manner we pafled the plantation of Jofias Ingelbregt, and at length quitted the ferpen- tine courfe of the Kruys, which waters this . wretched country, and reached Swart-bas- Kraal. There are however men who, fandy and miferable as it is, inhabit this diftri@, and cultivate the few fpots of lefs barren land which are to be found there, One of them, named Hans Van Aart, had a plantation at Lange Valey (Long Lake), where I was obliged to fpend the night, and farther on was another belonging to Hermanes Lauw. I did not ftop at the houfe of the latter ; in confequence of which I was forced to encamp on a dry plain, where I could not find a fingle drop of water to refrefh my cattle. By the way I had met with a prodigious number of partridges, and had killed about thirty, which I intended for my own fupper and that. of my people. My cuftom, on fuch occafions, was to boil my game; for 1 had obferved that, when broil- ed or roafted, the {mell of the meat, being conveyed to a diftance by the winds, attracted during the night a-number of hyenas and jackalls; which being obferved and driven away 7 “al AFRICA. ort _ by my dogs, the howling and barking was fo inceflant that it was impoflible to enjoy a.mo- ment’s repofe. As I could not in the prefent inftance, for want of water, caufe my partridges to be boiled, I put one on the gridiron for myfelf, and gave up the reft to my people, who roafted them upon {mall fpits, which they placed round the fire: but what I was afraid of | aGtually happened: a number of carnivorous animals, drawn towardsus by the {mell of the game, kept prowling round my camp, and my dogs barking at them did not allow us to fhut our eyes for an inftant. To this fatigue of the night was added thoughtfulnefs for the morrow. I did not know whether we fhould be fo fortunate as to find. any water; and had reafon to apprehend that, after one day of thirft, my people and my cat- tle would have to fuffer a fecond flill more painful. When the morrow came, we found nothing but a fandy defert covered with briers and rufhes; but while I gave myfelf up to the moft melancholy refleGions, I was roufed from my revery by the cry of a bird which pafled over my head. It was a derg-eend (mountain duck ), or rather a beneficent genius which came P 2 : to 21% “TAR AV Ei St IN to revive my hopes by announcing a difcovery I had no reafon to exped. Perfuaded that this bird was flying in fearch of water, and that it would not fail to alight wherever, it fhould find any, I put fpurs to- my horfe, and followed it on a full gallop, that I might not lofe fight of it. I was right in my conjeCure: after a few minutes purfuit, I ob-- ferved it defcend towards a large and high rock, — where it alighted.” I afeended this rock on foot, and found a large cavity, forming a natu~ ral bafon, filled with rain water, in which the animal was {wimming, plunging, and flapping its wings, with much apparent fatisfaction. It would have been eafy for me to kill it; but, after the fervice which it had rendered me, how fhameful would have been the ingrati- tude! I contented mylelf with endeavouring to put it to flight, in hopes that, as it had en- joyed for a fhort time only the pleafure of this bath, it would. go in queft of another fome- where in the neighbourhood, and thus point out tome a new ciflern. My expeCations, - however, were on this occafion difappointed : ‘the bird indeed flew away; but, feared per- haps for the firft time in its life by a human being, AP ROR TCr A. 213 being, it continued its flight to a great diftance, and I foon loft fight of it. From the top of the rock I had made a fig- nal to my people to advance towards me. When they arrived, I ordered them to fill my jars. I had feveral in my waggons ; and I cer- tainly, upon leaving Lange Valey, would not have fuffered them to be empty, had it been poffible for me to forefee the drought that awaited us. The jars being filled, I directed my people to water my horfes and a few of the {maller animals belonging to my caravan, Thefe repeated draughts exhaufted my ciftern, fo that nothing was left for my poor oxen: but I knew that ruminating animals can en- dure both hunger and thirft for a confiderable period; and I befides flattered myfelf that, be- fore the day was clofed, I fhould meet with another fortunate incident, fimilar to that which I had juft experienced. My hopes, how- ever,, were vain; during the whole day we had nothing but a dry and burning defert to traverfe. After dinner two of my oxen, ex- haufted by thirft and fatigue, dropped down, and I was under the neceflity of leaving them behind—fad and melancholy prefage of the , P32 3 misfortunes o14 TRAVELS IN misfortunes that awaited me! In fhort, I was obliged in the evening, as the day before, to unyoke my cattle, and encamp on a {pot to- tally deftitute of water, with the expe@ation of a fate ftill more difmal the day following. A heavy fall of rain which happily took place during the night,revived my hopes; but, heavy as lt was, It appeared to me at the time as if it could be of no fervice to my cattle ; for what-relief were they likely to derive from water which difappeared as foon as it fell, and was iniftantly loft in the fand ? They neverthe- lefs found means to drink of this rain, which I thought would be ufelefs to them, by a method, the poffibility of which f could never have fuf- pected, and which afforded me a new oppor- tunity of admiring the fagacity of animal in- ftin@. The water as it fell upon them formed itfelf into drops, which, uniting, ran down their fides in {mall ftreams. On the commence- ment of the ftorm they had aflembled in gtoups, and in this pofition, thronged one againft the other, licked and collected each from the body of its neighbour the ftreamlets of rain as it trickled down. My cattle, by this unex- pected fupply, having quenched their thirft, . ate ait AtBaRE CA. ee ahh and being at the fame time refrefhed, recover- ed their firength: but what increafed my aftonifhment was, that the two I had left on the road, worn out and expiring, had been al- fo revived, and doubtlefs in the fame manner ; for they both joined my camp in the night; and Klaas, who always took delight in being the firft to communicate agreéable intelligence, came to me at day-break, elated with joy, to ' inform me of the circumftance. I was now only a day's journey from Heere- Jogement (matter’s refidence), where 1 fhould find, I was told,.a very abundant fpring of wa- ter, a moft agreeable retreat, and groves and srottos covered with infcriptions and figures. By the defcription that was given me, it ap- peared as if a fecond Angelica, or fome Hotten- tot Medor, had vifited and embellithed this {cene of enchantment. I banifhed, however, from my mind all this improbable romance, and indulged only the hope of finding the - fountain. My wants were urgent; I looked forward to it, therefore, with longing expeta- tion, and refolved, if poffible, to reach it before night. I arrived; I found it; and, with what- ever refpedt the defcription of it ought to have Py) - infpired 216 TRAVELS/IN infpired me, its waters were foon rendered tur-: bid by my Hottentots and cattle. With regard: » to the grotto, the infcriptions, the creeping fhrubs hanging in feftoons, all thefe like a dream: vanifhed on our approach. I faw only a large. | cavern, which ferved to fhelter me and my caravan. It was fpacious and lofty ; and, being. open at the eaft, we were covered without be-: — ing fhut up in it. Situated upon a {mall mount, it overlooked on one fide my camp and the plain, which, by the uniform and dreary pro- {pect it prefented, filled me with melancholy. — and difcouragement; and on the other was joined to an immenfe chain of dry mountains, extending in the form of an amphitheatre, the nakednefs of which, and the different tints of ochre, grey, and white, with which they were — variegated, exhibited a view at once terrifying and majeftic. The remains of a habitation, now fallen into ruins, attefted that the proprie- | tor had been long forced to ‘abandon this wild and unproductive wafte. I made preparations for pailing the night in the grotto; but I was — obliged to fhare it with jackdaws and wood- pigeons which repaired to it at the clofe of the day, and perched i in hundreds on a tree, the roots. ‘4; , * ‘ Re ¥ tie we : | t : | | ) a ! Te Fi MY TY) es Aucly t mua jiMtiitit SSS SSS SSS ree 4 ee Se ee aa EC.IV: ENCAMPEMENT AT HERRE LOGEMENT. AN Lhe OP CMe A PRA: 217 roots of which were implanted in an enor- mous crevice, while one of its branches over-~ {fpread the floor of this natural hall. The figures and infcriptions confifted only of a few caricatures of the elephant and oftrich, with the names of three or four travellers who had probably ftopped here formerly, like my- felf, to refrefh themfelves. Though the fountain contained a greater abundance of water than I expeGted, my un- eafinefs was not on that account diminifhed.. We had ftill to traverfe extenfive plains of fand; and every thing announced that I fhould, per- haps, not find in them fo much as a {pring to cool our thirft. A ray of hope, however, dil- fipated for a moment my fear. In the morn- ing, two large clouds which rofe on the horizon, and which approached towards us, feemed to promife an abundant rain. Meanwhile no- thing more fatal could have prefented itfelf to our view; for thefe clouds confifted of myriads of locufts, voracious and deftructive infeéts, brought from afar by the winds. The fight of them threw my people into the utmoft con- fiernation, by whom they were confidered as the 2.48 TRAVELS IN. the harbingers of drought and fterility. My ape alone was a ftranger to this general alarm : he fhewed, on the contrary, figns of joy and exiiltation, and followed with his eyes the di- reGtion of the locufts, expe@ting with impa- - tience that fome of them would drop, that he “might feize and devour them at pleafure. Whilf we were indulged at the fountain of Heere-logement with a temporary enjoyment of the neceflary refrefhments, we did not neglect our ufual labours and refearches. Among the rocks, and on the mountains which furrounded us, we found abundance of thofe fmall qua- drupeds called in the country daffen, and by Buffon the damah. I knew already by ex- perience that this {mall animal was excellent eating. ‘To people who for a long time had lived on lean beef and mutton, this was a for- tunate opportunity of varying our food; and the flefh of this animal, however fat it might be, could not but be confidered by us as a de- licious treat. My people devoured it with their eyes, even before it wasin our pofleffion. We all, therefore, fet out in purfuit of the damans, and each procured as many as he 4 could, RERI CA bad eould. I had already killed afew, when, on turning a rock, I roufed a panther, which I fired at; but the fhot in my fufee being too fmall to ftrike it inftantly dead, it efcaped. It was probable, however, that, having found a fort of warren there to fupply it with food, it would not retire far from its haunt, and that_ I fhould meet with it again. I according- dy fearched the environs with my dogs, and fucceeded in finding its ufual place of retreat, where I faw feveral heaps of the bones of damans, and the remains of various kinds of finall antelopes. | This difcovery promifed me a double fatif- faGtion ; that of killing the panther when it Should return to its hiding-place, and that of © finding game in the neighbourhood for my table, as the animal had found for its repaft. Thefe pleafures, however, were not realized : for neither | nor my people met with any ante- lopes, which perhaps had all been deftroyed by the panther; and with regard to the ani- mal itfelf, I in vain {pent two wearifome hours of the night waiting for it in ambuth: it did not appear ; which induced me to believe that IT had 220 TRAVELS AN.” I had really wounded it, and that it had pro~ bably gone elfewhere to die. During my hunting excurfion I fell in it a Hottentot, fervant to a planter in the neigh- bourhood, for whom he was looking after a flock of fheep. Though I had already, among my animals, a tolerable lot of fheep; yet, as the barrennefs of the country I had begun to tra- verfe made me apprehenfive that, with all my economy, they might not be fufficient for our confumption, I withed to increafe the number by purchafing fome from the Hottentot. As a keeper, it is true, this man had no right to difpofe of them; but I offered him fo advan- tageous a price, that his mafter could not but have been fatisfied with his bargain. He per- fifted, however, in refufing me; and the only benefit I derived from our interview was a knowledge of my beft and fhorteft road to the Elephants-River, where I was anxious to arrive. According to this fhepherd, I had ftill a long day’s journey to travel, which it would be neceffary when I fet out to accomplifh as fpeedily as pofible, without interruption and without hateing as during the: whole route neither AFR I]€ 3A, 22% neither water nor pafturage would be found. He informed me alfo, that beyond the river I fhould meet with the fame inconveniences, till L arrived at the country of the Nimiquas ; and added, that though it was now the rainy feafon, the rain had univerfally failed; that a ‘dreadful drought was every where pooled enced; and that never in the remembrance of man had this part of Africa fuffered fuch diftrefs. This intelligence sanited and difquieted my mind. I forefaw nothing but misfortunes to my enterprife; and we even already began to experience them. Six weeks only ba elapfed fince I quitted the Cape, yet my oxen were as much fatigued as they had been during | my firft journey after a march of fix months. To give them time to reft themfelves and re- cover their itrength, I remained at Heere- logement feven whole days, during which our table occafioned fuch a confumption of dafen or damans, that even my Hottentots began to loathe them. At length, however, on the fourth of July, the war we had declared againft thefe poor animals ceafed, and I quitted the place, after having left my name and the date 9 of ae oo TRAVELS IN of my arrival in the grotto, according to the cuftom of preceding travellers, — Agreeably to the advice of the fhepherd, I fet out at break of day; and after a very fa- tizuing march we perceived towards night, from the elevated point on which we then were, the Elephants-River winding below us, at the diftance of about half a league ; but as 1 knew by experience the danger of defending moun- tains in the night time, I refolved to encamp on the eminence, and, notwithftanding the extreme fatigue of my cattle, to wait for the morning, before I fhould proceed to the river. On each fide it was bordered with very large mimolas, and various kinds of white trees of the fpecies of the willow ; but the ground was every where {corched and dry, and the fmalleft trace of verdure. was not to be perceived even under the trees. In vain did I fearch a-' Jong the banks in hopes of finding fome lefs parched. {pot which might afford grafs for my cattle: I could not ditcover‘a fingle tuft of herbage ; fo that they were obliged to be fatif- fed with a few oily plants, and the leaves of fhrubs. A At a little diftance from the river was a houfe ACH BE IC. A. £49 boule inhabited by a widow, Van-Zeil, and her family, which I difcovered by feeing fome cultivated fields. I repaired to it, and met with the moft friendly reception. The widow fold me fome fheep, and alfo four hundred pounds of tobacco, which I thought proper to add to my ftock. For this tobacco, which was of her own growth, I paid at the rate of two-pence Dutch money per pound, which made about eighty livres for the whole quan- tity. I purchafed alfo fome ftrong liquor, to - fupply the place of that which I had already confumed. The widow, in the courfe of our converfation, confirmed the account of the Hottentot fhepherd refpecting the difaftrous drought by which the country was delfolated ; a drought indeed fo exceflive, that-all the hordes of the Leffler Nimiquas had quitted the interior parts of the country, in order to ap- proach the fea-coaft. By the dreary profpect before me, I was en- abled to judge what the country would be in- to which I was about to enter; and yet I fiill entertained hopes, and endeavoured, as I may fay, to quiet my fears by delufion: fo poffible and even probable does that appear, which co- incides 204 TRAVELS IN - incides with our ardent withes. If the cotinie try of the Leffler Nimiquas, faid I, has been de* prived of rain, this fcarcity of water has per haps been only local ; the diftri€s fituated beyond it may not have experienced the fame drought, and may have had an abun- dant fupply of what has been hitherto want- ing in thofe through which I have travel- led. | Reafoning thus from very uncettain proba- bilities, [ employed my thoughts in devifing means for traverfing a country, the drynefs of which, however terrifying, might -not be an invincible difficulty ; and I hoped that it would be fucceeded by another better watered, the temperature and fertility of which would per- haps make amends for all my fatigue. When the widow found that I was deter- mined to depart, notwithftanding her advice and remonftrances, fhe prepared for me a {mall fupply of bifcuit, and defired hertwo fonsto ~ - fhow me the only ford at which I could crofs _ the river without danger. We were obliged togo along the bank downwards to a confi+ derable diftance to find this paflage, to which my guides conducted me with their oxen; | and | AFRICA. 225 and as a teftimony of their friendfhip they withed to accompany me to the other fide, and to remain with me till the next morning; but I declined their offer, becaufe, as the weather vifibly threatened rain, I was apprehenfive that the water might fuddenly rife, and prevent their return. It was indeed fortunate for me that I croffed the river that evening; for dur- ing the night there came on a deluge, which continued, without interruption, for three en-_ tire days, and which flattered me with new hopes of the happy fuccefs of my journey. Its violence was even_fo great, from the very firft moment it began, that I was obliged to halt, and to encamp on the border of the river. I was here favoured by my good fortune; fince, had I been one day later, I fhould have found no ford, and fhould have been reduced to the neceflity of crofling on rafts; a laborious me- . thod, which would have occafioned to my people much fatigue, and to me a great lofs of time; befides that, the ftream being rapid and enclofed between fteep banks, the ufe of a raft, during an inundation, would have been at- tended with confiderable danger. The fecond day the waters {welled fo much Vou. 1. . | as 226 TRAV Ef 8.tN as to teach my waggons; and I was obliged, therefore, to remove my camp to a greatet diftance towards the plain. Had the rife taken place during the night, my camp might have been {wept entirely away; and my own life, and the lives of my people, have been expofed to the moft imminent peril. At the Cape, I had often heard of the rifk which a traveller runs in this part of Africa, when he encamps too near rivers. Refpecting thefe dangers the planters had even told me wonderful tales, to which I gave little credit, confidering them only as the exaggerations of the narrators; but experience has fince con- vinced me of their truth. Many atime, when encamped during the moft beautiful weather, and even after a very great drought, near {mall rivers, and at a diftance from their banks, have I feen them fo fwell on a fudden, by the burft- ing of a ftorm, as, in lefs than three hours, to rife above the trees on their banks, inundate the plains to a confiderable diftance, and soni around me an an eate lake. Tt j is, therefore, prudent in a traveller never to encamp near rivers, except on an eminence which, when at their greateft height, they can- not i AFRICA, 224 not feach; and it is eafy to afcertain this boun- dary by infpecting the trees on their banks. In their overflow they carry along with them reeds and grafs, which, being caught by the _branches, remain fufpended, and atteft how far the water has rifen. In the day-time we may without danger {tation ourfelves on the banks, under the thelter of the trees. In general, in- deed, no fhade is to be found any where elfe; and if an inundation fhould happen, there would at leaft be little or no rifk, as nothing could “prevent its being feen; but to remain thus fituated in the night, would be expofing our- felves imprudently, and efpecially during the winter monfoon. The rain having at length ceafed the third day, I proceeded on my journey ; and follow- ing for three hours the courfe of the ftream downwards, I arrived at the confluence of a ri- vulet, called in the Hottentot language Koje- nas, and by the Dutch Dwars-rivier (crofs- river), This ftream, which, like the greater part of thofe in Africa, flows only during the rainy feafon, was fo deeply enclofed between banks in the place where we could crofs, that we did not obferve it till we were clofe upon | Fe aie. its aang TRAY Be So aN its brink. ‘The paflage acrofs this rivulet, to {peak the truth, gave me great uneafinefs ; not indeed on account of the Koignas itfelf, which is very narrow, and, réceiving little water from other ftreams, had not been much in- creafed by the rain; but on account of the dif+ ficulty of approaching it, oceafioned by the fteepnefs and height of its banks. The foil, befides, confifted of glutinous earth, which the rains had rendered fo flippery, that the defcent was extremely dangerous for my carriages. — ‘Thus did drought and rain both confpire to de- feat my intentions; and every thing, in fhort, feemed in combination to prefent at every ftep new obftacles to my progrefs, Klaas, wifhing to contribute by his care to. the happy fuccefs of our paflage, teok upon him to direc the firft waggon, and put him- felf at the head of the oxen: but his foot hav ing flipped in defcending, he fell down; and before he had time to rife he was not only trod upon by the firft pair of oxen, but the other four alfo paffed over his body. Luckily I had obferved him fall, and my cries brought to his aid his companions, who, favouring by their refifiance the efforts made by the driver to | : , keep fe Sis ee) ea 229. keep back the laft yoke, ftopped the carriage at the very moment that it was about to de- {cend, and juft ready to roll over my unfor- tunate favourite. I dragged him from below the oxen; and it is impoffible for me to ex- prefs the joy I felt, when, having placed him on his legs again, and interrogated him refpect- ing his fall, he informed me that he had ‘Yeceived no material injury. He had however ‘fuffered fome contufions from the oxen; but thefe animals, though hurried down the de- {cent, had, from an inftin& of which I admired the fagacity, fpared him as much as circum- fiances would allow: and indeed it is almoft incredible that fo many feet fhould have paffed over him without crufhing him to death. Having landed on the right bank of the Koignas, I directed my route, according to the information I had received from the widow Van-Zeil, towards the Vicermuys-Klip (rock -@f bats). As LT advanced, I obferved the track of a lion quite frefh. This difcovery, which fince my departure from the Cape was the firft of the kind, warned me to be upon my guard in our encampment during the night. The animal had been lurking among the bufhes Q3 bear 230 TRAV-ELS IN ‘near the river, at the time of our crofling it, and had doubtlefs been determined to fly to the plain by the noile of my caravan. I went in purfuit of him with one of my hunters and fome dogs, and we followed him the greater part of the day ; but the approach of night, and » the fear of lofing our way, as it was at laft fo dark that I could no longer diftinguifh the tracks of the wheels of my carriages, compelled me to return tO My camp. Swanepcel, to fupply me with a beacon by which to dire&t my courfe, had caufed the fires to be lighted fooner than ufual. I have al- ready faid that it was cuftomary for us to kindle feveral every evening ; they ferved both to fecure us againft the cold during the night, and to frighten away hurtful and dangerous animals; but on this occalion they attracted a particular {pecies, from which it was impoflible for us to defend ourfelves. The rock I have "mentioned, near which we were encamped, contained an immenfe quantity of bats, and it is from this circumftance it takes its name. Of - thefe animals fome, feared by a light that was new to them,.made in their holes fo frightful a noife as almoft to ftun me; while others fluttered A-F R LC. As 23% fluttered in hundreds around us, fqueaking, and every now and then flapping their wings in our faces. In vain did we attempt to defend ourfelves ; the threatening crowd only in- created, and we received blows from every quarter, Favoured by the darknefs, I perhaps might have fecured myfelf againft their infults | by returning to my waggon ; but how efcape from the piercing din of this countlefs multi- tude, which made the very rocks refound with — their cries? My cattle alfo were as much an- noyed by them as ourfelves; and every thing . announced a difagreeable night, without the _ hope of relief. In this diftrefling fituation, I faw only one courfe to be purfued; which was, to decamp immediately, and leave the field of battle to thefe troublefome and obfti- nate enemies, I accordingly gave orders to firike our tents and yoke the cattle, and, proceeding down the Elephants-River, encamped at a place called in the Hottentot language Krekenaf, and in Dutch Back- hoove. Notwithftanding, the vexation and ill hu- mour into which this noGturnal decampment, - and the adventure that occafioned it, had Q4 throwa 232 TRAVERS OM ‘thrown 1 us, I was pleafed with the idea of ade vancing, from the hope of finding convenient pafturage for my animals, which were all re- duced to a moft deplorable condition, and par- — ticularly my oxen and horfes, which, fince we left Heere-logement, having had nothing but fuch oily plants to feed upon as had been {pared by the drought, were feized with a loofenefs, which gave me very great uneafinefs. ‘That: they might recover, [ allowed them a few days reft; during which, defirous of turning this de- lay to advantage, I refolved to traverfe theneigh- bourhood, and to explore thecountry, efpecially the mouth of the Elephants-River, which, from the information I had received, could be only a fhort diftance from my new camp. Klaas, though he ftill felt fome pains from his fall, was ecarneft in his defire to accompany me. I fet out, therefore, attended by him and three more of my people, among whom was one of thofe Hottentots he had engaged in my fervice, and who wag loaded with my private tent, the only baggage I thought it neceflary ta take with me. My intention was to proceed along the bank of the river; and I conceived that by thus following its courfe I fhould fhorten © A ER DC A; 233 fhorten the way, as J fhould run thereby the lefs rifk of lofing myfelf: but the rain had the day before fo {welled the river, that it had in many parts overflowed, and had formed, efpe~ cially in the low lands, immenfe lakes. Thefe colleGtions of water, which often prefented themfelves, rendered it neceflary for us to make long windings, that greatly retarded our pro- prefs; and to reach the fea, | was therefore. obliged to -mploy more time than, under other circumfiances, fuch a diftance would have re- quired. Iwould not, however, alter my route, becaufe the lakes were covered with an im- menfe multitude of aquatic birds of every kind, and particularly gulls, fea-fwallows, and fla- mingos, which I faw in thoufands. I thought I muft find among thefe innu- 'merable flocks new objeGis worthy of being added to my coile€tion. I indeed killed feveral, _ and among thefe a charming bird three feet in height, which at prefent makes a part of my cabinet of natural hiftory. Its head and throat, which are entirely bare, are covered with a | {kin of the brighteft red, terminated by a band of a beautiful orange, which feparates the naked part from that covered with feathers. 4 | The 34. ». TRAVELS AW The upper part of the wings, having broad firipes of a fine violet colour, agreeably thaded, is bordered by a white band of feathers, the thick and filky beards of which, feparated from each other, have a perfeét refemblance toa rich fringe. ‘The quills of the wings and tail are of a greenith black, which, as it receives the light in a more or lefs oblique direction, affumes the appearance of violet or purple. The reft of the plumage is of a beautiful white: The bill, which is long and fomewhat crooked, is yellow, as are the feet. ‘This bird belongs to the genus of the ibis, of which we are already acquainted with feveral {pecies, : Having at length arrived before night at the fea-fhore, I caufed my tent to be erected, and a fire to be kindled; but notwithftanding our great fatigue none of us could clofe our eyes. ‘The fea breeze was'fo fharp, and the cold fo exceflive, that we were obliged to employ the whole night in warming ourfelves. This ftate of fuffering made me wait with impatience for the day; and as foon as it appeared I fet out in queft of game with three of my people, ad~ vancing along the banks of the river. My companions foon left me, and went to ~~ hunt AF Rel €.As | 235 hunt among the fand-hills, with a view of finding fome bird or animal with which I was unacquainted, or any other extraordinary ob- jet proper to gratify my curiofity. They gave themfelves confiderable trouble ; but their zeal was unaccompanied with rales All their fearch ended in the difcovery of a few antelopes (ree-bock), at which they fired ;. and which, flying towards me, followed each other in a ftring, as they pafled the {pot where I ftood. J had an opportunity of firing at them in my turn; but at that moment I was engaged in viewing a prodigious number of vultures, and other birds of prey, which I faw flying round, or hovering in the air, and then alighting at the diftance of a quarter of a league - before me. My people had killed two of thofe antelopes called fteen-bocks; but, regardlefs of this acquifition, I was devouring with my eyes the carnivorous birds I had difcovered, which were becoming every moment more nume- rous; and my curiolity was doubled, when I was told by my people that thefe birds were attracted by the {mell of a dead elephant, or {ome other animal, on which it was probable _ they were feeding. . When 236 TRAVELS IN When we approached, we actually found on the fhore a fpermaceti whale about fifty feet in length. It was lying at the diftance of more than a hundred paces from the fea; and had doubilefs been forced thither by the waves; but the fea muft certainly have experienced a moft tremendous ftorm, to be able to throw fo far a mafs fo enormous. It was attacked by a variety of carnivorous birds, and by a num- ber of crows; but particularly by different {pecies of thofe {mall quadrupeds, of the genus of the polecat and weafel, which, at the Cape, are known under the general name of muys- bond, All thefe animals were bufily feeding upon the whale, of which a confiderable part had already been devoured by them; but our approach difturbed the enjoyment of their re- paft. The birds betook themfelves to flight ; the muys-bonden {campered away; the crows, however, a. fpecies of carnivorous animals more obftinate than any other, remained and were loth to quit their prey: without being | frightened by our vifit, they hovered round the carcafe, and over our heads, croaking in the mot frightful manner. The fand, to the diftance of more than fifteen feet AFRICA, 239 feet round the whale, was moiftened with its blubber, which had been converted into oil by the heat of the fun. The lofs of this greafe, dif- -perfed in this manner, wasa fource of affliction to my Hottentots, who regretted that they had not within their reach one of my carriages load- ed with a dozen barrels, that they might fill them with oil; an event which would have rendered them happy during the whole jour- ney. Defire, however, foon begets induftry ; they thought of their antelopes, and requefted my permiffion to difpofe of them. Having obtained it, they returned to the {pot where they were hid, and, flaying them, made bags of their {kins, of which each was capable of hold- ing more than forty pounds of oil. I endeavoured myfelf to derive fome benefit from the whale. Examining it with attention, I obferved various kinds of beetles crawling over this immenfe body of carrion, and em- ployed alfo in devouring it. Having counted fourteen different fpecies, I began to hunt thefe {warms of infects; and fome individuals {e- lected from each {pecies were, in turn, facri- ficed to my favourite paflion, and ferved to en tich my fimall colleQion. The repofitory in which 38. TRAVELS “LN which I preferved them was a flat light box made of deal, which I placed above the crown of my hat ; and in order that it might be car= ried the more commodioufly, it was, like the hat itfelf, of a round form, and fecured as well as fhaded by the oftrich-feathers with which I was accuitomed to ornament my head. | More fatisfied with what I had colleGed than with the immenfe provifion of oil made by my Hottentots, I returned to my tent, which had been guarded in my abfence by one of my people. Having feen by the way, among the fand-hills, a confiderable quantity of the dung of elephants; I was induced to believe that thefe animals muft abound in this diftriG, and that the river had not unjuftly ac- guired its name from them. None of the dung was indeed frefh; but I concluded from this circumftance that the elephants ufually fres quented the right bank of the river, and that, forced at this feafon by the drought to quit a fpot that was now become barren, they had croffed over to the left, which I fuppofed to art lefs parched. Thefe, however, were only conjectures; and pr oba= probability, perhaps, ought rather to have led me to believe that théfe animals, without changing from the one bank to the other, had — _ retired into the interior parts of the country. A defire of meeting with a herd or two, and of hunting them, had neverthelefs fo heated my imagination, that, by attempting to gratify it, I expoled my(felf to the danger of being irrepa- rably loft, with the beft Hottentot of my ca- ravan. I fhall here give a particular account of this celebrated inftance of fool-hardinefs, which was nothing lefs than to crofs with my fire-arms, baggage, and attendants, a confider- able river {welled by inundations, in order to encamp on the oppolite fide. Fortunately I had with me excellent fwim- mers, to whom the crofling of a river, what- ever might be its breadth, could be no caufe of uneafinefs. With me the cafe was entirely dif- ferent. The reader will recolle@t that [ once before imprudently rifqued my life, in my firft journey, when purfuing an eagle on the banks of the Queer-Boom. Warned by this danger, I had fince exerciled myfelf frequently in {wim- ming, and had indeed never neglected it when an opportunity occurred, 1. was however as yet B40 TRAVEL § AN yet very imperfedtly acquainted with the art and I by no means found myfelf fufiiciently confident to attempt an overflowing river, which was at the fame time extremely rapid and of an immenfe breadth. I held a confulta- tion therefore with my people on the courfe to be purfued, and the beft and moft prudent means to enfure its fuccefs. : The firft idea that fuggefted itfelf to us was that of a raft; which was the moft natural as well as the moft convenient mode of convey- ance, and that which I had tried before without any accident, but on rivers, it is true, lefs dan- -gerous. ‘Trufting to the ftrength of my {wim- mers, | imagined for a moment that it would bean eafy tafk for them to drag it to the op- pofite bank ; but on examining the difficulties more minutely, we apprehended, and with reafon, that, as the raft would form an ex- tenfive furface, it might acquire a velocity which it would not be poffible for the fwim- mers to overcome and to direct. It was necef- fary however to find or to conflrué fome fpecies of float that would bear me, and they might be able to condua&. My Hottentots had no {kill upon this fubje@t. How indeed fhould ancy PAA eR IVC: A; 241 they be ingenious in refources of which none of them had any need? And by what {trange accident did it happen, that there ftood upon this fhore a native of Surinam, educated at Paris, and incapable of f{wimming? The inca-- pacity was all my own: it was therefore jut that I fhould invent the means of relieving it. I propofed to launch upon the ftream the trunk of a tree, upon which I fhould feat myfeif aftride ; and my four companions unanimoufly exhorted me to have courage, and they would. anfwer with their lives for my fafe atrival on the oppofite thore. Thus animated, I felt no longer the Gridlleg hefitation : it remained only to find the fpecies of float requifite for my purpofe, Of trunks, indeed, there was an abundance; for the in- undation, as is fure to be the cafe in thofe countries where trees and plants, -paffing _ through the various flages of vegetable life, perifh as they ftand, and wither on their roots, had overturned great numbers, and fcattered them along the banks; but the majority of them ftill retained their branches, and of thofe without branches, fome were too {fhort, fome too long, and otherstoo flender. It was necel- Vou. IL : R fary 242 TRAVIEDS «rey fary to fix upon one that was in all refpects favourable to our projet; andafter proceed- ing to a confiderable diftance up the river, we at length fucceeded. ‘The difficulty that had attended this refearch had been accompanied 9 with no little murmuring; meanwhile to this very circumftance, in the end, were we in- debted for our lives. Ke Our firft operation was to launch the tree, and to fix to one end of it two ftrings of leather, to enable the f{wimmers to drag it after them. We then rolled up in a bundle their kroffes and my tent, which we faftened to the middle of the float, tying firmly at the fame “time to this bundle the two leathern veflels of — oil, one on each fide. ‘Thefe veflels I thought would not only ferve to diminifh the weight of the machine, but alfo prevent it from over- fetting and plunging me into the water. It remained to find a method of tranfporting our powder-fiafks and artillery, and particularly of preferving them dry. This care I took upon myfelf. It would be pofflible, I imagined, to hold my fufees refting on my fhoulders; and as to the powder-fiafks, Ifufpended them from my neck, with my watch, The preparations | being Ny, aghidexay PASSAGE OF THE ELEPHANTS RIVER. AF RICH 243 being finifhed, and every arrangement made for fo fingular a paflage, I proceed, accoutred in this grotef{que mannef, to my ftation. I enter. the water aftride on my log, place myfelf ere, as if ona faddle, that is to fay, upon the krofles and tent between the leathern veffels; my fwim- mers dart forward, they take hold of the ftrings, they draw along the frail and perilous bark, - with its cargo and paffenger, and I behold my-= felf adrift upon the ftream. | So many precautions might fuffice to fecure me againft every accident. I was therefore free from apprehenfion. At the fame time, not to exhauft my {wimmers, to whom fo wide a paflage muft prove trying, I fettled with them that there fhould be only two of them in the front to pull me along, while the other two, refting upon the hinder part of the raft, might {trike with their feet, and pufh me forward with their bodies; thefe laft ferving to relieve the others as occafion fhould require: a plea- fant kind of Tritons, who were foon to give a high degree of alarm to their N eptune. At firft we proceeded delightfully ; becaufe the part of the river which had overflowed the banks, {carcely pofleffing any motion, offered K2 of 244. TRAVELS AN of courfe very little refiftance. The fwimmers, therefore, dragged me along without difficulty; they were even ridiculing the fear they had _ entertained of not fucceeding, and I myfelf was making merry at my own expence. I could not help laughing at my ftiff and conftrained attitude ; with my two arms raifed aloft hold- ing in the air my inftruments of death; with the collar that was about my neck, and the bageage which furrounded my waift, ferving as ballaft to the moft fingular conveyance that the mind of man perhaps had ever invented: but the fcene was prefently changed, and the accents of our voices became expreflive of very different fentiments. Scarcely had we entered the current when, its rapidity overpowering our efforts, we faw ourfelves gradually drifted out of our courfe ; and foon its violence was fo great that, notwith- ftanding the courage and dexterity with which my negroes combated with the water, we found ourfelves haftening towards the fea. Had we been adtually carried thither, no exertion could have faved me: I muft infallibly have perifhed. However, as my good for- tune would have it, the wind, blowing from the — ‘ RF RoC Ag | 245 the fea, counteracted in fome meafure the cur- ‘ yent, and retarded our deftruGiion: but, at the fame time, it excited waves that prevented us from advancing to our deftination, and which betides fo continually covered us with water, that we were every inftant hid from each other. By an inconvenience alfo which it was not pollible to have forefeen, and which would now admit of no remedy, the trunk, which had hitherto continued fteadily in its horizontal pofition, could no longer be kept in it by any effort. Sometimes it preffed with violence upon the fwimmers that conducted it, and ren- dered it impoflible to preferve the thongs at their full extent, or to derive any advantage from them, Sometimes it was urged with equal force in the oppofite diretion; in which cafe it hung with irrefiftible weight upon the thongs, pulling back the guides, and fhak- ing them completely out of their courfe. But, what was worle, it often funk entirely under water at one end, while the other was raifed to » a fituation nearly vertical, In this pofture, the afiftance of the fwimmers behind was rendered ufelefs; and I faw myfelf, in fpite of all my R Hotten- hae TRAVELS IN Hottentots could do, carried along by the cur- rent, tofled this wayand that, and ready every moment to lofe my equilibrium. The danger was imminent. The fwimmers — in the rear precipitately quitted their poft, and, feizing the thongs, all four endeavoured to pull me forward with their utmoft ftrength. I at- tempted by the ufe of my feet to aflift their ef- forts. Their exertions were incredible : they had promifed to. place me in fafety on the op- polite fhore, and they deemed themfelves obliged rather to die than to quit their under~ taking; but, notwithftanding their unfhaken fidelity, I began to defpair. The force of the current feemed ftronger and ftronger; it drew me every moment towards the fea; and I faw no profpect of fafety but in quitting the trunk, the accoutrements about my neck, my guns, and all my conveniences, and cafting myfelf upon the mercy of my Hottentots, hoping that they, by furrounding me, would be able to keep me above water, and convey me either to the fhore we fought, or the fhore we had left. twit 7 , In the midft of the moft lively alarm I had ever experienced, would it be fuppofed what was PAGER ¥ @: A: 247 was the nature of the confolation that dimi- - nifhed my horror ? I ftrongly felt upon this oc- cafion how much the calamities of man are leffened by being divided. I commiferated the poflible fate of my brave attendants, who feem- ed upon the point of facrificing their lives to their attachment to me: yet this attachment took away'the bitternefs of death: I fhould at leaft not be abandoned till I had experienced all the attentions of friendthip. Meanwhile my poor Hottentots, panting, exhaufted, and deprived of ftrength, called on each other with a feeble voice to perfevere. Not one relaxed his hold of the thong; not one ceafed to {wim, or to oppofe fome fort of re- fiftance to the ftream; they had recourfe to {kill | where ftrength failed, and were attentive to improve every poflible advantage. One of them was wholly new to my fervice, a ftranger _ to my intercourfe and my perfon; yet he did not-yield to his comrades in pertinacity, and I believe would have been one of the firft to — perifh in the exertion. Death feemed to fiare us in tie face, when I began to perceive, by the diminifhed re- fiflance, that we had fufficiently cleared the 4 OE Ae: centre 048 (‘RA ES centre of the current; they perceived it too 7 they colleGed all their force; they took breath; they found themfelves in a perfect calm; and prefently they gained the fhallow, where they could touch the bottom with their feet. The firft - who felt itannounced it by a fhout, which was repeated by the reft. In vain fhould I attempt to paint the emotion which now burft forth from us all. I. difengaged myfelf from the » grotefque fituation, which had excited alter- nately our pleafantry and our alarms; I leaped upon the fhore; 1 threw myfelf upon the neck ef my deliverers, and they embraced me with tran{port. Our frft care was to kindle a large fire, by which to warm ourfelves and dry our clothes. From the combined effeét of fear and the water, we fhivered as with an ague. My fwim- mers, by a happy forefight, had provided themfelves with a calabafh of brandy. Not- withflanding my repugnance to this liquor, in the prefent initance I partook of it with plea- jure; and though the quantity I drank was fmall, it braced up my nerves and inftilled new life into my frame. In order to have the free ufe of my hands in clinging to the trunk, I had AFRICA. 249 had tive cbliped during our paflage to faften | my artillery to my knees; it had accordingly been wetted; and I biatsdeied to repair the mifchief by wiping and drying it. Twenty times hadI been drenched myfelf by the waves ; yet the water had fortunately neither penetrated my powder-flafks, nor injured my watch. | What reafon had I to rejoice that I had fo far perfevered as not to abandon the raft! The lofs of my fire-arms and my tent would have been irreparable ; and not only would it have de- feated the objeé&t for which I had croffed the - river, but have greatly incommoded me in my general expedition. At the time, however, other thoughts occu- pied my mind. I congratulated my‘felf folely onthe danger we had efcaped; of the greatnefs of which I had no conception, till I obferved from our landing-place the diftance we had paffed. Then it was that I reflected with ferioufnefs on the extravagance of my folly, and the rafhnefs of the enterprife. Upon viewing the pafiage, © I fhuddered with terror. It was not a river that we had crofled, but a vaft inundation, of which the eye could {carcely reach the extent. As I had no infiruments to meafure it, it is 9 impoflible 2.50 TRAVELS! LN impoffible for me to fpeak with accuracy of its breadth; but fome eftimation may be formed from the time we were upon the water, which I obferved to be a full half-hour: mean- while an allowance muft be made for the ra- ~ pidity of the ftream, which drifted us from our courfe and retarded our paflage. Perceiving my Hottentots to be recovered a little from their fatigue, I began to think of the moft effectual means of rewarding their fidelity ;, and I requefted them to afk of me with freedom whatever they pleafed. Klaas was at this moment fitting by my fide, fqueezing me by the hand, and teftifying in the moft affectionate manner the pleafure he felt at having once more contributed to my fafety. ‘* I have a favour,” faid he, “ to afk “ of you, not for myfelf, but for another. If “ you think that my friend Jonker” (which was the name of my new Hottentot) “ has “ aéted like a youth of courage, I could with * you to beftow on him a fufee. It was I “ who engaged him in your fervice; it is I “‘ who am refponfible for his condué& ;_ and be “¢ affured he will never ans you caule to re= ** pent this indulgence.” To ‘ BPR TC: A, ast To underftand this requeft the reader muft _ _ know, that I impofed on myfelf very fevere laws in the diftribution of my fire-arms.. They were not given to all my people indifcrimi. nately. On the contrary, I had granted this favour to thofe alone with whofe character I was thoroughly acquainted, and who had fig- alized themfelves as much by their fidelity, as by their courage and-addrefs; and thefe I farther diftinguifhed by the name of hunters. Every month I gave them alfo a ducatoon (a. piece of coin of about nine livres) as pay ; while the reft received only a rix-dollar, which is one third lefs: This pay, to men who had no need, during our journey, to be at any ex~ pence, added to other little profits which it was my intention one day to beftow upon them, could not but afford them the hopes of con- fiderable enjoyment when my excurfion fhould be completed, and they fhould return to the Cape. : | I promifed to Jonker what Klaas had afked for him ; that is to fay, to give him, on my return to ourcamp at Krekenap, a fufee, with complete accoutrements and ammunition. I even conferred on him another favour; that of 7 appoint~ 253 TRAVELS IN appointing him one of the condudtors of my _ principal waggon,’ the benefits arifing from which, added to his pay as a hunter, increafed his income one half. Thus did I enjoy the pleafure of diftributing rewards and granting promotion to my companions, witliout the in- fluence of any bafe intrigue, any infidious re- commendation, that might induce me to be la- vith towards fome, and niggardly and unjuft towards others, In fhort, I happily governed my {mall caravan without the affiftance of thofe plodding intriguers, who vain of their _know- ledge, and intruding themielves every where, arrogaté to themfelves the right of meting out rewards, and pronouncing definitively eo ing the merits of others. | Thefe marks of diftinétion, thefe various honours, conferred all at once upon my new Hottentot, fo elated him with joy, that he could not find words with which to exprefs to me his gratitude. Poffeffed of a fufee, and be- come the condudtor of the carriage of his mafter, he was in his own eftimation equal in importance to a grandee of Spain. To liften’ - to this Hottentot, he had all the difpofitions requilite ina fport{man, He felt, he faid, the ereatelt Xe eR: TC. A, 253 ereateft defire imaginable to become a good markfman ;.and though he had few opportuni- ties of improving himfelf, he found his {kill little inferior to his moft experienced neigh- bours. In fhort, he expatiated fo much, and with fuch fimplicity, upon the method he practifed for hitting the mark, as to afford ex- treme amufement to his countrymen who knew him. Seeing how much they enjoyed the joke, { propofed a trial of fkill, nothing doubting that our new knight-errant would prove an inexhauftible fource of entertainment. His three companions were all of them expert in what they undertook: as to himfelf, the pot of fafety, by way of eminence, would have | been to have placed one’s-felf precifely before the mark. As I faw he looked fomewhat afhamed, and took the point to heart, and as he was even afraid that his mifcarriage would injure him with me, I was eager to revive his confidence: I told him that, when I firft attempted to. handle a gun, I fhot farther from my mark than he did, and that I had no doubt, with his enthufiafm upon the fubject, he would foon prove a very excellent markfman. I fhould ; have a4 TRAVELS IN have been lefs forward in my compliments to a {pruce petit-maitre of my own country, moft efpecially if his foppery betrayed itfelf in the putting on a pair of {pectacles.. What I had predicted in pleafantry was after wards confirmed : Jonker became in reality the moft intelligent, and the firft of my pur- _veyors. A few obfervations will explain this fingularity. Hunting in Africa is a very dif- ferent purfuit from what it isin Europe. There the talent of the hunter does not, as here, con- fift only in having a fteady hand, and a fure eye : with thefe qualities he muft poflefs others {till more effential, and without which nothing is to be done againft the cunning of the an- telopes of the defert. He muft have an aeute fight, fo as to difcover the game at a confider- able diftance before they difeover him; he muft employ great art to lure and to feat them; above all, he mutt poflefs an active body, capable of affuming every pofition, and of drawing itfelf patiently for a long time upon the ground, in order to get within reach with- out being perceived. Thefe are the qualifica- tions of good African hunters; this itis which — gives them that rare character, fo highly — eat efteemed AFR-IC A, as5 efteemed by the planters and the Hottentots, and on account of which they are diftinguifhed by the name of wild-bekruyper, an appellation equivalent to that of creeper-after-game. Such a fport{man, though he may not {hoot fo well as another deftitute of this African talent, will at the fame time kill more game ; becaufe, by his fupplenefs and addrefs, he will contrive to drag himfelf along, till he approach fo near the animal that the moft unfkilful fhooter would find it impoffible to mifs, The Bofhmen are generally confidered as the beft bekruyfers ; meanwhile Ihave had frequent opportunities of admiring the fame agility in Jonker, His fight was fo keen, that he could often diftinguifh an antelope as it lay upon the ground, at a diftance that I could not obferve it | even with my glafs; and, excepting Kees, he had the moft penetrating eye of my whole ca- ravan. . | _ Wild animals poffefs the fenfe of feeing in the greateft perfeGtion ; becaufe, from the kind of life which they lead, having great diftances to traverfe, the faculty isin continual exercile, by the frequent need they have of meafuring thofe diftances. For the fame reafon, men alfo — 256 TRAVELS IN alfo in a ftate of nature enjoy this fenfe ina degree fcarcely lefs exquifite; and if thofe in civilifed fociety are deficient in this quality, it is becaufe their profpedts being almoft always more confined, they have much lefs occafion to develop it; becaufe every thing that fur- rounds them, fuch as filks, gilding, reverberated and multiplied lights, obje&ts of luxury, va- riegated and dazzling colours, fatigue, without improving their fight; and laftly, becaufe their profeffions, practices, and habits, their writing, reading, and the ftrange abufe of pleafures, muft tend early to impair a fenfe continually {trained and perverted, while nothing is at the | fame time prefented that can bring it to per- fection. Why have hunters, who refide in the country, and above all mountaineers, better fight than the inhabitants of cities? The reafon is plain; and I mayadduce myfelf as an example. Before my artival in Africa, my fight was fo _ weak that, to read or write, I was obliged to hold the book or paper clofe to my eye. But having fpent feveral years in the open air, tra- verfing mountains and valleys, and croffing vaft deferts, it has been confiderably ftrengthened ; and I can now fee as far as another. When A F RilC. A | 257 When we had amufed ourfelves for fome time in firing at a mark, ! thought it would be prudent to employ my powder in a more ufe- ful manner.