1772. them feemed to hear my fatal prognoftic with pleafure, and made me drink a couple o f glaffes o f wine for my pains; and at the fame time offered to ihew me the church, which flood juft by. By this edifice I could plainly perceive, that thefe boors bellowed no more pains upon God’s houfe, than they did upon their own. This church was, indeed, as big as one o f our largeft iized hay-barns, and neatly covered, as the other houfes are, with dark-coloured reeds; but without any arching or ceiling, fo that the tranfoms and beams withinfide made a miferable appearance. Altars and altar- tables are, I believe, never ufed in the reformed church. There were benches on the iides for the men, but the women have each o f them their chair or ftool in the aifle. The pulpit was too plain and flovenly. From hence I fet off for home by a bye-way, as little known to my guide as to myfelf. Eighteen China oranges, which I had bought in Paarl for one fkelling Dutch, proved extremely ferviceable to me at this time ; and a large roll o f tobacco which my fervant had taken with him, was a .flill more deiirable vade mecum for him. He carried really a heavy load, which however appeared to be very little burden to him. On the other hand however, it mull be conr lidered, that he went on always in a ftrait line, while I continually ran from one fide to the other, peeping among the buihes. It was already dark when we arrived at a farm- houfe, where the boor himielf was not at hortxei During his abfence, I drew his wife into a converfation concerning houfhold affairs, and found (what I much wondered at in fo fubftantial a houfe) that they had feldom any great plenty o f milk; and this on account of the dry barren hills near near them, and other caufes not worth mentioning here ; but that on the other hand, they had a good flock o f W O fheep, fome arable land, and vineyards, which, by means of water-conduits, might be rendered fertile. She was a generous and good kind o f woman as one would wilh to fee, but unluckily happened to offer me juft every thing that I did not wifh for, wine, brandy, and tobacco. Her hufband, a very brifk lively old fellow, being at laft come home, immediately drank to me, faying, Perhaps youfup- pofe that nobody knows any thing but y ourfelf, with your herbs and you, but you f a l l f e e that we African pea/ants are not a ll fo ßu p id as you think fo r. Upon this, by way o f furprifing me, fie.difplayed a few good books, and a heap of tralh, on almoft every fcience; all o f which I could do no other than commend, as he did nothing but ion between me and his book-cafe, and read over the whole title- page of every book, the printer’s and bookfeller’s name not excepted. Tou fee, fays he, that I da not fpend my whole time in following the plough. We almoft called one another Coufin- Germans, he being a'Livonian and I a Swede. At night there was no danger'of ftarving for want of vidluals. You muß eat hearty with us farmers, faid the kind-hearted dame. Eat and fpare not; wedo not grudge it you. They had their butter and .cheefe, together with hung-beef, or rather buf- falo-flefh, from their grazing farms, almoft fix hundred miles up the country. By the appearance of the foup and green- peas I could plainly perceive, that my learned hoft had not ftudied any books of cookery, which in Africa would have been of much more ufe to him than poetry and the dead languages. The good woman of the houfe was obliged to g o ►
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