man and his companions made their appearance, driving before them
the whole of our little flock. We had thus a double cause for rejoicing
j but when we found that the sheep had been followed by
means of their track, as far as our station at the confluence of the
Black River, every one was surprised that they had not been scattered
and destroyed, at least by the wild beasts; among which the
Wilde Hond (Wild Dog), a new and distinct species of Hyena *, is
here the most destructive to the flocks. The Hottentots had fallen
in with some straggling Bushmen, whose behaviour towards them
was perfectly friendly.
In this vicinity we discovered a kraal of Bushmen. Their numbers
did not exceed twenty* and their abode was merely a cavern in
the side of the mountain, sheltered by huge impending crags. They
had no earthly possessions whatever, excepting the miserable bit of
dirty skin which hung round them ; their bows and arrows, a few
hassagays, a knife, and two or three ostrich egg-shells. They had
not. even a hut, or a few mats, like most of their countrymen.
Neither beads, nor any thing intended as ornament, were to be seen
upon them: their persons, meagre and filthy, too plainly bespoke
that hunger had often been their lot. Except when any game was
caught in their pitfalls, which, they complained, seldom happened,
the only procurable support of life, was the wild roots which they
daily dug up in the plains; and these, not found but by long and
wearisome search : the eggs of ants, the bodies of snakes or lizards,
a tortoise, or an ostrich egg, met with accidentally, formed the only
variety in their wretched food. Their life, and that of the wild
beasts, their fellow inhabitants of the land, were the same. Of both,
the only care seemed to be that of feeding themselves, and of bringing
up their young. The four men who visited us to-day, exhibited
their lank, shrivelled bodies, and dry parched arms and legs, to
convince us how much they needed provisions, and how long they
* Hyena venatica. B. Fusca, undique maculis irregularibus nigris, Cum paucis
albis, variegata* Linea nigra faciem percurrens. Auriculae maximse lato-ovatae nigrae sub-
nudae. Cauda villosa, extrema parte alba, annulo unico nigro. Metacarpi longissimi.
A more particular account of this animal will be given in another place.
had been without grease or animal food. They looked first wishfully
at our pots which stood on the fire, and then submissively at
us. Truly, these were the most destitute of beings, and the lowest
in the scale of man. Their miserable poverty-stricken appearance
excited the greatest compassion ; and as they stood before me, this
wretched picture of human nature created a train of reflections perfectly
new to my mind. What I had as yet seen of man in a wild
state, had amused while it interested and instructed m e ; but this
sad resemblance, in outward shape, to those great, intellectual and
elevated characters, whose genius and talents have made their names
immortal among us, distressed me to melancholy; and while my
eyes were fixed in painful observation on their vacant countenances,
I asked myself, What is man ? and had almost said; Surely all the
inhabitants of the globe never sprang from the same origin ! These
men seemed, indeed, the outcast of the Bushman race. Yet, not to
be unjust to them, I must own that I have seen many like them ; but
not, however, till a later period of my travels. I have now, I think,
beheld and known the lowest of the human species ; and it has
taught me a lesson of humility and gratitude; it has rendered still
greater, my admiration and respect for men of intellect and cultivated
minds ; it has also taught me to be thankful to the industrious
workman; to feel kind compassion for the uneducated and the uncivilized
; and to despise the idle, the arrogant, and vain.
To feed the hungry, is one of the pleasures of the philanthropist;
but that pleasure was here somewhat alloyed by the dog-like voracity
with which they ate the meat we gave them, and their selfishness in
not saving any of it to take home to their families. To this repast
we added some pipes of tobacco, which raised their enjoyment to its
highest. They squatted on the ground by the fire, with the rest of
our people; and remained till late in the evening before they thought
of returning home to their kraal. I took my seat also amongst them,
that I might the better watch their manners; but finding at last that
their smoking absorbed all their thoughts, and created an incapacity,
as well as a disinclination, for conversation, I retired to my waggon,
to try if the sound of my flute would have any effect upon them.
. 3 N