Immediately Mollemmi went to the Chief, and communicated
this to him. They both returned together, and took their seat in the
waggon. Mattivi commenced the conversation by saying, that I had
made him and his people exceedingly happy by letting them have a
gun; that I had done more for him than any one had ever done
before. He here repeated all the remarks which he had already made
on this subject. He now said that he would give me the six oxen he
had first promised; but, as if to excuse the unfairness of his conduct,
be assured me that he was just at this time very poor in cattle, having
given away a great number to MSssao’s son, who, having been lately
robbed of all his own, had come to him in much distress to beg relief.
I could not ascertain whether this act of generosity which he pleaded,
were really a fact; but the matter is so improbable, that I always
doubted the truth of this assertion ; especially as the plea of poverty
must have been totally unfounded, if one might rely on common
report for the number of large herds which he possessed. He expressed
thanks for the ammunition which I intended to give him; and
wished to have it on the next morning, as his people, he said, had put
off the grand hunt until they should have obtained the gun and powder.
I again told him how desirous I was of being always on good terms with
him and the Bachapins, whom I had come so far to see. He answered;
that he should have felt very sorry if I had suddenly left his country,
as he had hoped that I should remain a long time with them ; that it
gave him great pleasure to observe the friendly treatment which
many of his people received from my men, in being allowed to sit at
their fire and partake of their meat; that he would not have suffered
them to importune us and trouble us as they did, but it was not in
his power to keep them away. This last remark only served to convince
me that the men who had fastened themselves upon us, and
continued almost constantly day and night in the hut, were there
not only by his permission, but by his orders. The white-men, he
said, were great people, but he was only a Bachapin; and it would
exceedingly distress him to have their displeasure. As he had a
great number of servants, he would order some to remain in the
mootsi to assist us in fetching water and to go out with my hunters
to carry home the game for i t h e m i f he had here added ‘ selves’
his meaning would have been better expressed; but he explained
it sufficiently when he confessed that he was glad to see how kind
we were to his people in giving them part of what we shot He
concluded by saying, that he would let his brothers accompany my
Hottentots in their hunts, that they might learn rightly the use of
the gun.
This conversation elucidates a prominent part of Mattivis character
: as far as it expressed promises beneficial to his visitors, it
meant nothing; but where it implied any thing for his own benefit,
it was sincere. He appeared to me to be selfish in a high degree,
and cunning without sufficient depth of policy to conceal it : it
required but little discernment to see the real meaning of all he said
and did. Had he been a man of talent or reflection, he either, would
not have given me palpable cause for complaint and remonstrance, or
he would not have employed such weak arguments in defence of his
conduct, or used so thin a veil to conceal his true motives.
This favorable turn of, what my men considered to be, the crisis
of our fate, rendered them so happy, that they gave themselves up
this evening to a greater share of cheerfulness, and even of mirth,
than I had witnessed in them since we came among this nation. Till
now, all of them had appeared full of thought and anxiety, talking
no longer in their usual tone of voice, but speaking only in a low
timid manner which betrayed how much they desired to be away
from this people. In the hut, they passed the evening in friendly
familiarity with those who came to sit by their fire. The sound of
the fiddle was heard, but instead of dancing, laughter indicated more
truly that their minds were at ease.
The natives, after having just beheld a storm gathering over
themselves and us, were, I helieve, not sorry at finding it disperse
without harm. They seemed to associate with us in a more cordial
manner; and even took one or two of the Hottentots, with whom
they had formed a more particular acquaintance, to their houses,
where they remained a great part of the evening. These, at their
return, reported that they had been kindly treated, and had experienced,
what must be considered as, great and unusual hospitality
3 h 2