who were able to sustain the fatigue,.were desirous of going. To
this I consented; and retained by the baggage, only old Cobus, who
complained of being unwell, and Hans Lucas, whose services, in the
meantime, as interpreter, could not be dispensed with. It was
previously agreed on that the horse, which I allowed them to make
use of on this occasion, should be sent back for me, in the case of
their being successful.
Soon after their departure, I received, as a present from Kaabi,
a whole goat skinned and cleaned ready for cooking. So unexpected a
thing as a present from the indigent Bushmen, was an incident which
afforded me, situated as we were, peculiar pleasure, and was rendered
affecting by the truly benevolent air with which he gave it, and the
undisguised simplicity with which he acknowledged that ‘ I had been
very good to him during our journey from the Gariep, and therefore
he had wished to do some good to me.’ There can be no man
possessing any sensibility, who would not have been moved at witnessing
his artless manner, and the kind expression of his countenance
; both so indicative of gratitude and sincerity.
I was prevented from accompanying the hunters, by the necessity
of recording in my journal the observations of the past day,
before the impressions which they had made became weakened, or
mingled with those of succeeding objects and occurrences.
I was, however, not suffered to remain long alone; for, in the
course of the morning, many visitors, chiefly old people, came to me
at the bush under which I had slept and taken up my station.
Sometimes in parties they seated themselves around me, while I
amused, and possibly instructed, them by exhibiting various articles
of my baggage, and explaining their uses, the nature of their manufacture
and their construction. Yet, whatever was totally different
in principle and use, from any thing to which they had been accustomed
among themselves ; such things, very contrary to what we
should expect from the influence of curiosity, excited little surprise
or attention: but my blankets, which approached, in the nature and
use of them, to their own sheep-skin karosses, were greatly admired;
and many of my visitors rose from their places to examine them.
The leather of my pistol-belt was highly approved of, because it was
within the reach of their capacity to comprehend its nature, and to
perceive that it was prepared in a manner much superior to their
own leather; but its make and form, as adapted to the use of carrying
pistols, was neither understood nor in any manner attended to.
While these explanations were being made to them, my attention
was attracted by a little affair which had upon my stomach, an
effect similar to that which Speelman felt at seeing the Bushman eat
lizards’ eggs. One of the women, who had a child at her back,
seemed to be eagerly in search of something which she saw between
the folds of her kaross and the twists of her bracelets, and leathern
necklace. I noticed that her hand was frequently lifted to her mouth,
or held out to her babe. My curiosity induced me to look more
narrowly into these operations, and I discovered, not without some
strong sensations, that the objects of her active and earnest pursuit,
were certain little crawling things which, though in England viewed
with disgust, were here sought for with complacence, and presented
by an affectionate mother, to her tender infant, who held out its little
innocent hand to receive them as bonbons.
The fidelity of my narration has required me to relate the pleasing,
as well as the unpleasing, parts of this people’s character; but
justice to them obliges me, at the same time, to say, that I do not
believe this filthy practice to be general among them, however such
examples as this, of depraved taste, may often be met with : yet I
never witnessed a similar circumstance, on any other occasion, during
the whole of my travels.
Foitunately, the arrival of Buiter with the horse and intelligence
that Speelman had shot a rhinoceros, put a stop to this barbarous
employment, and turned my thoughts another way. The news instantly
spread to every hut in the kraal; the joy was universal: the
men, never travelling without them, quickly snatched up their arms,
and hastened away to the westward, to the spot where the animal was
reported to lie. Those who remained at home, came dancing and
singing down the hill, as if suddenly seized with a fit of goodhumoured
insanity, unable to suppress their thankfulness to me for having
allowed my men to hunt for them. Our five pack-oxen were quickly
fetched in from pasture and saddled; and the Bushmen immediately