>775- Houtniquas and Lange Kloof, however, communicate with September. . • • v • c , , each other m one place, by means or a very baa roaa over a mountain lower than,the reft, near Trakudiku. I did pot go quite on to this place, but faw from Zwar te-rivier the fmoke of a chimney pear Trakudiku, and from the information I thus acquired,. gave this river in fome meafure its true fituatipn ip my map. The badnefs of the road, and the want of a proper guide, together with the enfeebled ftate of my oxen, more particularly prevented me from gçâng from this place to vifit Âlgoa-bay, which, however, I wiihed much to do. Be- fidcs, we could not venture to quit our waggons and make the trip to that bay alone op horfebaçk ; as almoft the whole province was involved in riot and drunkennefs, by means qf a hogihead of brandy that had been carried thither ; and my Hottentots, likewife, by the-fame means, had beep thrown into a ftate of lieeptioufnefs and con- fufion. There being no ftills in thofe parts, a peafant there had wrote to the Gape fqr a quantity o f the above-mentioned liquor, ip order to turn a penny by retailing it out ; but had in the mean while unfortunately drunk it himfelf by the wholefalc, fo, as to be night and day in the higheft de-, gree intoxicated whh it : and, indeed^ in his fury, would have iliot my companion dead on the fpot, had I not been luckily near at hand to prevent him. In another place, where our landlord, ip other refpeétç a worthy man, and o f a very gentle, difpolition, had made a purchafe of fome of this fame brandy,, be, turned his wife, with a childin arms, and feveral other children, fomewhat older, out of doors in the middle of the night. The laws o f hofpitality, and perhaps an apprehenfion fion o f meeting with fome refiftance, had, however, fo much J&jg , weight with him, that my companion and I were left in S^ v s j ' peace and quietnefs. In another place hereabouts, a peafant had been balking in the fun and drinking, in company with a parcel o f Hottentots, who, when he had got his fill, was not only well flogged by this Pagan crew, hut was upbraided by them for having been ufed to ileep1 with his houfekeeper, a Hottentot’s widow, who was fuppofedf beiides to.,*be in another way nearly related to him. I my- felf faW this man with a terrible wound on his head, o f which, however, he was aihamed to tell the caufe. I likewife had the pleafure of feeing his miftrefs, dizened out with brafs and leathern rings on her arms and legs, and with beads about her waifi and neck. She was clad in the ufual manner with a iheep-ikin pellijfe, and a well-greafed raw leathern apron, was well befmeared with foot beiides greafe, and could boaft o f as broad and flat a nofe as any Hottentot lady whatever. With all thefe perfections, however, lire feemed to me to be rather a cure for love, than-, an incentive to that paflion: notwithffanding this, it is not uncommon for the white people here (particularly men who are more licentious in their manners than the other fex) to be criminal in this point. That the Hottentot women are complying in this particular, does not only con- tradift their general char after of indifference in matters o f love, but alfo that zeal, which I have attributed to them, in the performance of their duties towards their own nation. Their diet, which, when they are in the fervice o f the Chriftians, is more plentiful and of a more ftrengthening O o a quality,.
27f 72-1
To see the actual publication please follow the link above