back-ground during the converfation, as did alfo Zambie, the
uncle and ufurper, who was then a prifoner at large in the village.
The young king’s treatment o f this man did him great
honor. All his former attendants, his cattle, and his fix wives,
were reftored to him, with as much liberty as the reft of his
fubjefts, except that he was always obliged to be in the fame
village with the king.
Gaika was a young man, at this time under twenty years of
age, o f an elegant form, and a graceful and manly deportment;
his height about five feet ten inches ; his face of a deep bronze
color, approaching nearly to black ; his ikin foft and fmooth;
his eyes dark brown, and full o f animation ; his teeth regular,
well-fet, and white as the pureft ivory ; his countenance open,
but more marked with the habit of reflexion than is1 ufually ob-
ferved in that o f a Kaffer: he had the appearance, -indeed, of
poflefiing in an eminent degree a folid underftanding and a clear
head : to every queftion that related to their manners, cuftoms,
laws, and various other points, he gave, without embarrafimen't
or referve, dire£t and unequivocal anfwers; and it is to hint
I am principally indebted for the little informatibii' I am
enabled to give concerning the Kaffer nation: his underftand-
ing was not more ftrong than his difpofition appeared to be
amiable : he feemed to be the adored objeft o f his fubjefts 5 the
name o f Gaika was in every mouth, and it was feldom pronounced
without fymptoms of joy. He had one wife only,
very young, and, fetting afide the prejudice againft color, very
pretty, by whom he had a little girl called Jafa. Like the
chiefs in the colony he wore a brafs chain fulpended, on the
left
left fide, from a wreath o f copper heads that encircled his head :
on his arm he had five large rings cut out of the folid tufks of
elephants, and round his neck was a chain of beads: his cloak
was faced with ikins of leopards ; but he threw this drefs afide,
and, like the reft of his people, appeared entirely naked.
The queen had nothing to diftinguifh her from the other
women, except that her cloak feemed to haye had more pains
bellowed upon it in the drefling, and had three rows behind of
brafs-buttons extending from the hood to the bottom of the
ikirts, and fo clofe that they touched each other. The reft of
the women were contented with a few of thefe ftraggling over
different parts. of the cloak. This weighty covering is never
laid afide in the hotteft weather ; but they wear nothing what-
foever under it, except the little apron that the Hottentot women
take fuch pains to decorate. The Kaffer ladies are not
lefs anxious to appear fmart about the head. Their fkin-caps
were ornamented with buttons, buckles, beads, or ihells, according
as fancy might fuggeft or their wardrobe could fupply.. j
Though the country between the Keiikamma and the refi-
dence of the king had been rugged,, poor, and mountainous, it
here began to affume a very different appearance. The knolls
of grafs were thickly covered, and the hanging woods on the
fteep fides of the high mountains, to the northward were extremely
beautiful. The village, it feemed, at which he now
lived, was but a temporary refidence. It was fituated upon the
Kooquanie, a finall ftream that fell into the K'eijkamma; it con-
fifted o f about forty or fifty huts of the form of beehives. That
which.