CQHjtroul, he exercifcs Jhf fame feverity of puniihment that
-his own irr^ularjtieg had incurred wrhen he was in the ranks.
A very confiderable portion of the inhabitants of the town
is compofed of people o f this defcription. Grown into affluence
.fey the genera} prosperity .that followed the conqueft of
the fi^tjcpient, fetjeants, and corporals, arid trmppeters, fee n,o,w
men of the firft confequeuqe, feep their flav^s, and horfes, and
.carriages» and wallow in all the luxuries that the colony affords.
Bqt though they afpire to the rank of gentlemen, they cannot
,difguife the clp.ven foot. Thpy are grfes in their manners, and
vulgar m their cpnverfatipn. Their language,, in. the prefenpe
of women, is fo coarfe and indecent, as would not he tolerated
.among civilized fqciety. A. fingle: ioftapcp of this will be fuffi-
cient to. Ciew to what a low degree of delicacy and refinement
they are yet advanced. One of this vulgar herd, who is con-
fidqred as a great man in the Cape, took his wife and daughters
to fee a whale, that had been thrown aihore near Green Point.
It happened to be a female and was lying on its back. The
burgher being ftruck with the near refembjace o f’ certain parts
to thofe of the human fpecies, with great exultation/ am} in the
mod ynlgar and indelicate terms, pointed out his cUfaovery to
the ladies, who feemed to relifh all the good jokes the burgher
laid on this occafion; and, in prefence of a number of fpeda-
tors, the old dame adually afljfted him in a very clpfp, and by
no means fuperjicial, examination into this Angular phenomenon
in natur,al biftpry, which, among other properties, analogous to
animals that fuckle their young, determined the great Linn^qs
to
to affig'n a place to the whale in the fame clafs with human
I beings.
By indolent habits, excefs of food, and fondnefs for indulging
in fleep, they, become no lefs grofs in their perfons, than vulgar
in their manners. A young lady defcribed the Cape and its
inhabitants in very few words.. De menfcheri zyn moie d'ik en vet
de huizen moei wit en groen. “ The people are all nice and plump;
“ the houfes are prettily 'whitewajhed and'painted green.” I believe
there is no country in the world that affords fo large a
proportion of unwieldy and bulky people; and I am certain
there is none where the animal appetites are indulged with lefs
reftraint, the moft predominant of which are eating and drinking,
or where the powers of body or mind are capable of lefs
exertion. When the Devil catches a man idle he generally
“ fets him to work," is a proverb which is every day exemplified
at the Cape of Good Hope. They are adive only in mif-
chief; and crimes agairift: morality meet with applaufe if the
end be fuocefsful. A man, who in his dealings can cheat his
neighbour, is confidered as a Jlim menfch, a clever fellow; ■ even
ftealing is not regarded as criminal, nor does it materially affed
the charader of the thief. Truth is not held as-a moral virtue,
and lying paffes for ingenuity.
There is a great want of affedion among near, relations; it'
.has been obferved, indeed, that there are fcarcely two brothers'
in the Cape who will fpeak to each other. • The manner in
which children are brought up, and in which the economy of
a family is managed,, is little favourable to focial intercourfe, or
likely