177;- July. A V O Y A G E t o THE lifts. In general, they excel our European birds in the brilliancy of their plumage; hut, on the other regard to what adds greater life to nature, and which capable of charming us more, and operating more powerfully on our fenfes, viz. the delightful warbling and f g peculiar to the feathered race, there are very few of them that deferve our notice in this point. ' The manner in which I employed the remainder of my time, while I ftaid at the warm bath, was in vlijtinS rich farmer »ho »as iick, and lived about w o mdes and a half off. I had now better reafon than ever to be pleafed with the knowledge I had attained in the Aifculapian art, though my reward confifted in nothing more than a ihoul- der of mutton now and then, and a p i e c e of vemfon, which fomerimes »as prett, plen.iful there r and that at every vifit they gave me a pitcher full of milk, which I took home with me on the pummel of my faddle. As this latter was never fuffered to go out of the houfe for money, and the company at the wells were very irregularly ferved with provifions, and even thefe were f c a r c e , it occafioned m frequently to r e p e a t m y vifits to my patient, efpecia y the copious evacuations by fweat required plenty of noun ment to fupply the place of what was thus diffipated 5 an apophthegm, of which many of thofe, who ufed the bath, Jem reminded by an excellent appetite. As from the fame motive I was once obliged to go as far as Bott-rivier, !!! order to get in a ftock o f butcher’s meat and garden-ftuff, which I brought home with me on a led horfe, 1 hadthe fatisfaftion, in the exteniive trails above-mentioned, w iliv a r e between the bath and this river, of feeing fome of the w - dog kind in their wild ftate. Thefe wild dogs are fome o f the moft pernicious beafts of prey, particularly with refpeil to ilieep and goats, that either the African colonifts or the Hottentot hoards are ex- pofed to. ; They are reported not to be content merely with fatisfying their hunger, but even to deftroy and wound every thing they meet with. They always herd together in companies, and wander about day and night after their prey. The noife they make in hunting is faid much to refembie the yftping of our common hounds, only to be fomething fofter. It is afferted, that .they even have the courage to try their ftrength with larger dogs, as well tame as wild; and that they were once bold enough in their turns, to purfue a fportfman, who was out after them on horfe- back, but was unlucky enough to mifs fire. It has been ohferved, that they hunt with much fagacky, a£ting perfectly in concert with each other; while at the fame time each o f them in particular does his beft to overtake or meet the game, till at length it falls a prey to the pack. They are faid to be always as lean as ikeletons, and confequently ugly, and at the fame time that they have feveral fpots bare of hair. . One fort is faid to be larger, and at the fame time of a reddiih colour, and fpotted black;. the other lefs and browner. Thofe that I then faw at the diftance o f two hundred paces, were probably of the larger kind, for they were two feet high, Ihort haired,, and reddiih. No one yet has tried to tame them; fome of the country people* however, may have had opportunities o f experiencing* how near thefe grim a n d fierce animals of prey may
27f 72-1
To see the actual publication please follow the link above