1772. April. me to an elegant houfe, the property of a private gentleman. After I had flood out the attacks o f a number of dogs* there came out a heap of ilaves, from lixteen to twenty. Thefe fellows were fo malicious as not to anfwer me, though certainly fome o f them underftood me extremely well, and though, after having promifed them fomething to drink, I ,aiked them the way in tolerable good Dutch; on the contrary, they conferred with each other in broken Portuguefe or Malay, in fuch a manner, as to make me fufpedt, that they had no better will towards me, than they have to others o f a different nation from themfelves, who are accuftomed to fell them here, after having partly by robbery and open violence, and partly in the way o f bargain or purchafe, got them from their native country, and thus eventually-brought them to the grievous evils they then fuftained. Had the matter of the houfe been at this time at home, o f which however I much doubt, it would have made very little difference to me, as even in that cafel could not have fpoken with him; for every body in this country is obliged to bolt the door o f his chamber at night, and keep loaded fire-arms by him, for fear of the revengeful difpofition of his ilaves. .This being the cafe, it was ftill eafier for them to murder me, and afterwards conceal the deed by burying my body, or drag it into a thicket to be devoured by wild beafts; I therefore took again to the road, in fearch of a better fate. T o this end I gave my horfe the bridle, in hopes that he would hit upon the right road better than myfelf. In confe- quence of this he made fuch ufe of his liberty, as to quit all the beaten tracks, perhaps with a view to find the fhorteft way home: home : fo- that I foon found myfelf in a heavy marihy ground, overgrown with buihes, and full of brooks and O y O rivulets,. till at length he made a fudden leap, on which we botli tumbled head’ over heels into a pit,, and parted. My, horfe’s fudden flight gave me reafon to fear, that feme wild heaft being near us was the occafion of i t ; for which reafon, not thinking myfelf over and above fecure, I immediately prepared to defend myfelf with a large knife, which I generally carried about me for the purpofe o f digging up the roots o f plants. The beft ftep I could now take,, was, like many more foot-paffengers, to make up to. fome farm-yard, and run the riik of being torn to pieces by great dogs, which are let loofe at- night for the purpofe of keeping off thieves. To pais the night in the open air, at a time when the weather feemed fet in for rain, was as difagreeable as dangerous. In the mean time I took to walking about,, to keep myfelf warm. In the fpace of a few minutes, after I had gone over a little hill, I found myfelf near a farm-houfe. It being dark, I was obliged to coniider fome time before I could know it again to be my own houfe. I found, my horfe already at the ftable-door,. Handing quite ftill and quiet, and was lucky enough into the bargain, to be able to conceal the whole adventure from the family,, as the particular footing' on which I was at that time required. Oonftantia is a. diftridt confifting of two farms, which, produce the well-known, wine ib much, prized in Europe, and known by the name o f Cape, or Conjiantia-wine. This place is fituated at the diftance o f a mile and a half from Alpheti) in a bending, formed, by, and nearly under- the 2 ridge
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