I was desirous of inspiring them. As I had principally endeavoured
to convince them that I wished to make them respect and esteem,
rather than fear, me, they were not made uneasy by these proceedings,
but seemed satisfied that they were just, and such as the
case required. As to Van Roye, I rejoiced to find that I had succeeded
in working a change in his feelings, which were at length, by
means of some serious and admonitory conversation which I afterwards
had with him in my waggon in the presence of Juli, converted
into those of a becoming humility and obedience: and although, unfortunately,
this change was not permanent, yet it continued for some
time to produce a good effect. The check which his and Cornelis’s
insolent temper now received, taught them and all my party, that
they would not be suffered easily to take the reins of affairs out
of the proper hands : unless, indeed, they resorted to open mutiny
and force; an experiment which I did not fear their being hardy
enough to attempt, as they could not but know that by proceeding
to that extremity they would render their return into the Colony
impossible, and forfeit to the laws every advantage which they might
expect, or hope to derive, from that quarter.
To maintain a command over these Hottentots, I was compelled,
by my peculiar circumstances, to assume an authority which legally
did not belong tom e; but this affair served to convince me how
important, and indispensably necessary, it is for the safety and success
of every similar expedition, that the leader of it should be fortified
with special power to enforce, if occasion required, the obedience
and due co-operation of its members : for, the perverseness of human
nature when uncontrolled, seems every where alike to seduce men
from unanimity, and strangely to mislead them to prefer turbulence
to peace.
26th. Observing a little child, apparently about five or six years
old, standing by our fire and anxiously watching my men in hopes
of getting a piece of meat, and seeing that its features were not those
of a Bachapin child, I had the curiosity to go nearer to examine
them. But I never beheld an object which more strongly excited
my compassion: the sight of this wretched poor little creature,
pained me to the heart, and I stood for some minutes shocked at
the view of its emaciated and more than half-starved figure. Those
who have seen a human skeleton of that age, may obtain an idea of
this child’s form, not greatly exaggerated, by imagining the bones
of the body and limbs, to be wrapped round with a wet cloth.
Those rounded shapes which are given to the human figure by flesh
only, had dwindled quite away. The legs and arms were merely
straight sticks; the calf was entirely gone; the Jibula and ulna were
plainly distinguishable; and'the knees and elbows were comparatively
large knots. The abdomen was contracted in an extraordinary
degree; and behind, scarcely any flesh concealed the shape of the
bones termed os sacrum, and os ilium. The collar-bones seemed to
project unnaturally; and the blade-bones, the spine and the ribs,
were in appearance covered only with skin. In short, this miserable
little boy, who from his age could not have been capable of harm, or
guilty of offence, was on the point of being starved to death.
A Bachapin who was sitting in the hut, seeing me look so
attentively and compassionately on this object, told me that it was
a Bushman’s child, and belonged to him; that in an attack upon a
Bushman kraal, he had siezed him, and carried him off as a prisoner
of war; that he was therefore his by right; and that, if I wished to
buy him, I should have him for a sheep !j
This is Man, without morality or religion ! This is the selfish
savage, without feeling! This man, because the unfortunate child
was not his own, did not think him worth feeding, although he
would gladly have sold him, for food to gratify his own gluttonous
appetite, and to have enabled him and his family, for about two
days, to feast without ceasing. Alas ! Man who vaunts himself the
noblest work of the creation ; how closely does he approach to Brute,
when reason lies dormant, or when the passions usurp its place!
The power of speech forms but a weakly distinctive character, for
him whose intellect is never exerted. The boasted human form will
hardly raise him in rank above some quadrupeds, when it serves no
better purpose than that only of ministering to animal appetite.
Other instances pf want of feeling, are to be found in this
VOL. II. 3 p