asupi-tam the truth of it. Revolving it often in my mind, I
endeavoured to imagine, what might be his motive for such a journey.
When I attributed it to that desire, so rare in a savage, of visiting
other countries for the purpose of enlightening his mind and of
acquiring a knowledge of civilized arts, I glowed with so pleasing an
idea, and almost regretted that I should not have the gratification
of conducting him thither, of showing to him the practical advantages
of those arts, and of inspiring him with sentiments which,
at his return to his own country, might stimulate him to the imitation
of what he had seen, and to the civilizing of his countrymen.
But his own countrymen, as far as I could yet see, had no
dreams of this nature : their thoughts embraced little beyond eating
and smoking. Our visitors begged for snuff and tobacco as soon
as they accosted m e; and when they had obtained this and some
meat, they seemed to enjoy as much happiness as man in a state of
mere animal existence, probably ever attains.
I was here much amused, and perhaps gained a new idea, by
observing in them the workings of an untaught mind. I had my
interpreter by my side, but wishing to put to the test, what I had
hitherto learnt, or rather, written down, of the Sichuana language,
I read to these men yarious words and sentences out of my book.
These were readily understood by them, who at first, supposing
me to have a tolerable knowledge of that tongue, talked a great
deal, to which I could give no answer; but when they at length discovered
that I could speak only when I looked in the book, they stood
with eyes and mouth wide open ; wondering both at the book and at
myself, and unable to conceive how it could be, that ‘ the white thing
in my hand,’ told me what to say; or how, by only looking at it, I
could know more than when I did not. But the most singular
part of this little comedy, was performed by Muchunka, whose
simple brain seemed not yet to contain a true idea of the nature of
writing or of the real purport and utility of our evening exercises at
the dictionary and vocabulary. As it would have been only a proof
of my own folly to have asked him to explain the operations and
conceptions of his mind on this subject, I am left to suppose that he
believed I always committed to memory his answers to my questions,
and that my making ‘ black scratches’ upon the paper with my pen,
was only what he had at Klaarwater seen and heard called schryvende
(writing). He was, he said, exceedingly surprised at my remembering
so well every thing he had taught me, and even those words
which he had never told me but once. When I explained, that it
was the marks which I had made in the book while he was in the
waggon, which now showed me what I was to say, he laughed most
heartily, and desired to see the very words which I was pronouncing.
On pointing them out, he laughed again; and his three countrymen,
whose mouth and eyes had by this time recovered from their expression
of surprise, joined in the laughter; while I myself, as I shut the
book, was unable to resist the impression which their ludicrous
appearance and distorted countenances made upon me.