S E C T. IV. Trip to Paarl. 1772; O I N C E my defign, as I have already faid, is to give my 3 readers the defeription o f this country -and people in the fame order and manner, in which I myfelf became acquainted with them, I have thought proper to infert in this, place an account of an excuriion I: took to Paarl and its environs;, juft as 1 drew it,up immediately on my return home, in a letter to a worthy friend and quondam Ihip-mate. It is written in the true fea-ftyle, the defcrip- tions and narrative being plentifully interlarded with divers phrafes in common ufe among the gallant fons of Neptune. S 1 R , With a carcafe quite wearied out, I am juft returned home from a journey on foot over the parched and torrid plains of Africa, after having had occafion to viiit feveral African boors. So they here call a fet of hearty honeft fellows, who, though they do not, indeed, differ in rank from our Swediih peafants, and make no better figure than the yeomen in our country, are yet for the moft part extremely tremely wealthy- On the 9th o f October in this prefent year, I fet out for the Cape, to fee the burghers perform their exercife, and likewifev according to a previous agreement with Mr. O g , a countryman of our’s, to take a view of the vegetable and animal productions o f this country By this you will find, Sir, that I intended to kill two birds with one ftone. With regard to the military operations, the brave warriors kept within doors on the 10 th on account of the high wind, which indeed was fo violent at the bottom o f Lion-mountain,. whither I went out a botanizing, that I was feveral times obliged to lay myfelf down upon the ground. On the 1 ith the whole burgeffy turned out. into the field;; the coats, as well o f the horfe as .of the foot, were,, to be fiire, all blue, but of: fuch, different ihades, that they might as well have been red, purple and yellow. Their waiftcoats, particularly thofe o f the infantry, were brown, blue and white,, in ihprt all the. colours o f the rainbow. A French prieft, clothed in black,,, with red heels to his ihoes, flood near me, and, could not help .exprefiing to me his.amazement at.feeing fuch a party- coloured equipment. However, this did not hinder them from going through their exercife extremely well, as a great number o f them were Europeans, who had ferved in the laft war in Germany, and fince that:time had been in gar- rifon at the Cape, when, in confequence o f having ferved five years, they had become denizens o f the country- Ambitious, therefore, of keeping up their military reputation, and puffed up with pride in confequence o f their fuperiority in point of fortune, they took it into their heads feveral years ago to confider it as a very difgraceful circumftance, that H 2 they 1772. April. -I El mu 1a I I
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