94- WHI T E * « J O U R N A L OF A
with a fteadinefs and regularity that was really aftonifting;
- v L L conlidering the flats theywere in . -but it is faid, and
J believe with feme truth, that a Dutchman, when half
drunk, ja : more Capable ©F parforming every kind o f bhfi-
nefs, than i f he were perfe&ly fober. After thefe annual
exhibitions,, the members o f the corps, meet their wires,
daughters, &c. (who take care to be prefent, that they
may he witnelfea of their military Ikill and atchievements)
at fame friend’s houfe, where they crown the night in
darning, &f which they are uncommonly fon^. To danc-
ing are added fuhftantial flippers, and potent libations?
in which they indulge not only upon this, but on- all
Other oecafions. A Dutch fopper to. me, at fir-ft, was a
«ia»tter of wonder, as I could never fee any kind of d i f e -
either in the quality or quantity, between them
mid their dinners, which were always.-- abra^anty
eoniiftiiag- chiefly ©£ heavy food.
- The inhabitants of the Cape, though in their* petfons*
large1, llobt,, -ahd- athtetic, have not -all that phltegmt
about them whieh is the ehara&eriftic of D^tehiin^a* i*n
general. The phyfleal influence of clima'te may in feme
degree1 account fi?« t?hi©j for k; isv well khown that mvhll
fduthern
sr* Hsp!
V o y a g e t o n e w s o u t h w a l e s .
Southern latitudes the temper and difpofition of the people *787.
more; : gay,::and that they are more inclined to luxury °#oW.
and amufements, of every kind, than the . inhabitants of ' '
the northern hemifphere.
f The-.kdiea :at the Cape are gqöd inured,
liar, and gay.. They referable * the women of England
more than any foreigners I have ever feen. Englifh fafhiorts
prevail ; among them , (the female part of the governor’s
family excepted, who imitate the. French), notwithstanding
their intercourfe with France is now .by far greater than
with England. The habits and enftoms of the women of
this place are extremely contrafted to tfeofe of the inhabitants
of Kio de Janeiro. Among the latter a great deal
of refer ve and rnodefly is apparent between the foxes
in public. ; Thofe who are difpofed to fay 'fondfer and
| |h m B Ü° a | l f | j muft k ^ fteahh, or breathe
their foft %hs through the lattice-Work of a window, or
the. grates of a convent. But at the Cape, if you- wifk
to be a fovourke with the- fiir, as thediaftom is, yod
muft in your own (Mende (if I may irfe the expreffion)
grapple the lady, and paw her in a manner that does not
Imrtake in the leaÉ of gentfenefo. Such a rough and uncouth
- ■ .Cv' conduÖ,