■775- fo plump about the back and loins, as, I believe, in that Septembtr. ,n^ tQ be eqUaii€cl by any horfe; and though both quaggas and zebras- have fmall feet, yet at the fame time their hoofs are hard, and, perhaps, like afl.es, they are more fure-footed than horfes. I cannot deny, that with good horfes the people here are ufed to hunt down the zebras with eafe: hut who knows, whether both zebras and quaggas would not become quicker in their paces by frequent riding and exercife. Had the colonifts tamed them and ufed them inftead o f horfes,, in all probability they would have been in no danger of loiing them, either by the wolves or the epidemic diforder, to which the horfes here are fubjedt. Here was a vineyard planted for the ufe o f the family, and it was the firft 1 had feen fince I left the bath. The. wine produced by it did not come up to that at the Gape; which chiefly proceeded from the fituation of the vineyard, and perhaps, likewife, in fome meafure, from its not be* ing properly looked after. On the 3d we continued our journey till we came to Riet Valley. This was the laft farm to the eaftward belonging to government, and was fituated at a ihort diftance only from Zwellendam. A corporal, as he is ftyled, had the infpe&ion o f this farm, and likewife fuperintended divers wood-cutters who worked in the neighbouring wood (called Grooi Vaders Bofcb) on the company’s account. The people that had the care of the farm at Riet Valey were opulent and well-bre<j, and in a moft hofpitable manner abfolutely obliged us to pafs a couple of days with them at the fame time endeavouring to render themfelves both C A P E o f G O O D H O P E . 2 2 7 both agreeable and ufeful to us by the information they „ >775- ' J September. gave us, as well as t>y the affiftance they afforded us in ^ r s j our refearches ; fo much, indeed, that they even taught us, and made us pra&ife fpeaking the Hottentot language. This is certainly, with refpedt to the pronunciation, the moft difficult and Angular language in the univerfe. Al- moft every word is pronounced with a fmack or clacking o f the tongue againft the roof of the mouth. Words of many fyllables are accompanied with two clacks ; but what cannot but render this language ftill more difficult for ftrangers, is, that thefe clacks are faid to be performed, according to different circumftances, in three different ways, viz. more or lefs forward or backward on the palate. T his diftinétion, however, I had not from the Hottentots themfelves, who were, perhaps, too ignorant to go fo deep into the matter. For my part, I own that my ears were not nice enough to attend to fuch minute differences. I muft likewife confefs, that I did not take pains fufficient to get this point cleared up to me. Neverthelefs I difcovered, as foon as I got to Houtniquas, that another dialedt was fpoken there, and that it differed from the former in the more or lefs clacking ufed in the words. But it was fufficient for me to learn, in the courfe o f my journey, partly for pleafure, and partly for ufe, fome common words and phrafes in the Hottentot language. Some of thefe I have given at the end o f this journal. Thè fmacks, or clacking with the' torigue, I imagined it would be moft convenient to denote by a t’ with an apoftrophe over it.: f The Chine/e, or Snefe Hottentots, fo called ' from their complexion, which is yellower than that o f the Other Hot- G g 2 tentot
27f 72-1
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