J775^ as at that time the company, in which we found him fmoking his pipe confifted only o f females; for the men (excepting fome few who lay ill of a putrid fever) were all out, fome of them to hunt a lion, which had lately committed ravages among their cattle; and the others, it was faid, were gone to a great diftance, in order to gather a certain fuc- culent plant, which they made ufe o f for chewing, either for the fake of palling the time away, or on account of its being o f a pleafant tafte, and having the property o f af- fuaging their hunger. Captain K i e s , therefore, abfo- lutely denied our requeft; which Was, that he would let us have fome of his Hottentots by way of guides, who might likewife be a neceifary aififtance to us, and reinforcement o f our company in the journey we were going to make through the wildernefs. In the meanwhile, I could not help being rather afhamed of the rude behaviour of my third Hottentot or markfman, P l a t t j e ; for though I had hitherto never feen him at all blunt in his behaviour, hut had remarked, on the contrary, that he had always addreifed thefe Hottentot patriarchs with fome kind o f refpedt, I now obferved, that immediately on our coming into the prefence o f a perfon o f fuch great authority, without the leaft bow or ceremony o f any kind, he went uninvited and fat himfelf down by-the fide of him, at the fame time filling his pipe out o f the other’s pouch, and calling about him for milk to drink. This behaviour, neverthelefs, did not feem to be at aH taken iH; on the contrary, they immediately brought him a cup of bagged milk. I obferved at this time, as well as on my return hither, that Kies like Captain R u n d g a n g -e r , of whom whom I made mention at page 240, of Volume I. always had clamber. his captain’s llaff in his hand or elfe clofe by him ; and this W O ftaff, was every way as plain and fimple as R u n d g a n g e r ’s : but though K ie s was much better circumftanced with regard both to the number of his people and of his cattle, yet he as good as dwelt with his court and the reft o f his fubje&s in the open air; his palace confifting only o f a few poles fet up flanting in the earth with a ragged mat thrown over them, which o f courfe admitted the wind in feveral places, and let in the rain in wet weather. This fired, thus open on three fides, and in a great mea- fure at the top, was, however, ufeful enough at that time of the year, and in that warm climate. The winter, or more properly fpeaking, the rainy feafon, would, probably, oblige them to provide themfelves with a better dwelling. That fame day we continued our journey, making towards Loory-rivier, where we took up our abode at night. Here we met with a farmer, who in his ox-waggon had followed the courfe o f Zondags-rivier all the way from Camdebo; a country o f that kind which I have defcribed at page 246 of Volume I. under the denomination o f Carrow. He informed us, that this year, in which the drought was unufually great in all parts, it was remarkably fo there, as fcarcely a drop o f rain had fallen there in the fpace o f eight months; but juft as he was leaving thofe parts, he had had feveral ihowers along the courfe of that river. He, therefore, difluaded us from taking that road, as it was, for the greater part o f it, entirely unbeaten, arid, and rugged; and likewife, becaufe both water and game were B 2 . extremely
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