way of the inhabitants, who finding them unguarded might not have
been able to resist so favorable an opportunity for purloining something
: for, of the four men whom I kept in town, three were utterly
incapable, through fear, of taking any charge ; and so just were my
suspicions, that it was discovered the next morning, that every button
had been cut from off all the Hottentots’ great-coats which were left
in the hut under the care of Van Roye, Platje, Keyser, and Stuur-
man. This we supposed to have been done by women and children,
as many of them had frequented the enclosure in the course of the
day: but whether by women or by men, it was evident that they
were tempted by the absence or carelessness of those who ought to
have watched over them.
Did a Hottentot possess the notions of a European, I should
not have been sorry at this robbery, because it would have made him
more careful in future; and the inconvenience of a buttonless coot
would have daily reminded him of his neglect, and have taught him
a useful lesson. But his apathy gives him quite another character,
and renders him insensible to any stimulus of this kind: what he
has lost, he never thinks of afterwards; and rather than burden his
mind with any new or additional care, he is content to take the
chance of another loss, considering himself to be greatly the gainer
if he escape robbery the next time.
Platje, Andries, and Keyser were so completely subdued by their
fears, that they never spoke, not only to the natives, but even not
to their companions. While at the town, they concealed themselves
in the hut all day, and manifested so distressing a state of timidity
that they attracted the notice of the inhabitants. Mollemmi asked
us why they were so much afraid: They have not, said he, any occasion
to be so ; we shall do them no harm.
As soon as the hunters had set out this morning, the rest of
my men whom I had ordered to remain with me at the waggons,
deserted m e; or at least, I found myself left the whole day in the
town with no one near me but Stuurman and Andries, mere boys.
On inquiring for the others, they informed me that Platje was so
much in dread that the inhabitants, for the sake of plundering the
waggons, would come and murder the few who remained with them,
that he had taken his musket and gone away, intending to pass the
day out of the town, with Keyser, who was tending our cattle at
pasture. Van Roye was not less penetrated with fear; as his looks
too clearly betrayed: he had in the same manner absconded till the
evening.
Such was the state of the Hottentots, at this time. In Juli, no
undue, or unreasonable, fears had hitherto been observed; and I
viewed his steadiness and general conduct, with a satisfaction which
was increased by contrasting him with the others. In talking with
him on this subject, he confessed that, on the first appearance of bad
intentions towards us, on the part of the natives, it was much to be
feared" that every man of my party, excepting Speelman and Philip,
would run away and leave us to defend ourselves. This was precisely
my own opinion; and I derived, therefore, some pleasure from this
proof of his discernment; and some consolation from the assurance
that I had at least three men who would stand by the waggons in time
of danger; for, although Speelman had once or twice shown some
symptoms of timidity, I had sufficient confidence in his attachment,
to believe that he would not desert me at such a time. Neither
Philip nor Juli had betrayed any want of real courage.
I observed the skin of a very extraordinary animal lying on the
hedge of Mattivi’s cattle-enclosure, placed there, as I was told, to preserve
the cattle from the evil effects of sorcery. The name of it was
khdakti: it was of the genus Manis, but whether the pentadactyla, or a
new species, I could not at that time determine; because the feet,
head, and tail had been cut off, and the descriptions contained in the
books of my travelling library, were too imperfect to assist in the
decision. I neglected describing it from the mutilated skin, having
no doubt of procuring afterwards the complete animal; but in this
expectation I was disappointed, as it is not only a scarce creature, but
one which it is very difficult to secure. This skin was two feet long,
and covered with scales an inch and a half broad, of an obtuse or
roundish form, the outward edge of which was very sharp.
The sum of all the information which I could obtain from the