1771 April. family and mothers; and there is scarcely a house that does not fwarm with children, The air is falutary in a high degree, fo that those who bring diseases hither from Europe, generally recover perfect health in a fhort time; but the diseases that are brought from India are not fo certainly cured. Notwithstanding the natural fterility of the climate, industry has fupplied this place with all the neceffaries, and even the luxuries of life, in the greatest profufion. The beef and mutton are excellent, though the cattle and fheep are natives of the country; the cattle are lighter than ours, more neatly made, and have horns that spread to a much wider extent. The sheep are cloathed with a fubftance between wool and hair, and have tails of an enormous fize; we faw fome that weighed twelve pounds, and were told that there were many much larger. Good butter is made of the milk of the cows, but the cheese is very much inferior to our own. Here are goats, but they are never eaten ; hogs, and a variety of poultry; hares are alfo found there, exactly like thofe of Europe; antelopes of many kinds, quails of two forts, and buftards, which are well flavoured, but not juicy. The fields produce European wheat and barley, and the gardens European vegetable, and fruit of all kinds, befides plantains, guavas, jambu, and fome other Indian fruits, but these are not in perfection; the plantains in particular are very bad, and the guavas no larger than gooseberries. The vineyards alfo produce wine of various forts, but not equal to thofe of Europe, except the Conftantia, which is made genuine only at one vineyard, about ten miles distant from the town. There is another vineyard near it, where wine is made that is called by the fame name, but it is greatly inferior. The common method in which strangers live here, is to lodge and board with fome of the inhabitants, many of whofe houses are always open for their reception: the rates are from five fhillings to two fhillings a day, for which all neceffaries are found. Coaches may be hired at four-and-twenty fhillings a day, and horses at fix fhillings; but the country affords very little temptation to use them. There are no public entertainments: and thofe that are private, to which strangers 1771. ftrangers of the rank of Gentlemen are always admitted, were fufpended while we were there by the break- April. ing out of the measles. At the farther end of the High-street the company have a garden, which is about two thirds of an English mile long; the whole is divided by walks, that interfect each other at right angles, and are planted with oaks that are clipped into wall hedges, except in the centre walk, where they are fuffered to grow to their full fize, and afford an agreeable shade, which is the more welcome, as, except the plantations by the fides of the two canals, there is not a fingle tree that would serve even for a shepherd's bush, within many miles of the town. The greater part of this garden is kitchen ground; but two small squares are allotted to botanical plants, which did not appear to be so numerous by one half as they were when Odenland wrote his catalogue, At the farther end of the garden is a menagerie, in which there are many birds and beafts that are never seen in Europe, particularly a beast called by the Hottentots Coe Doe, which is as large as a horfe, and has the fine spiral horns which are fometimes feen in private and public collections of curiofities. Of the natives of this country we could learn but little, except from report; for there were none of their habitations, where alone they retain their original cuftoms, within lefs than four days journey from the town; those that we faw at the Cape were all fervants to Dutch farmers, whofe cattle they take care of, and are employed in other drudgery of the meaneft kind. Thefe are in general of a flim make, and rather lean than plump, but remarkably ftrong, nimble, and active. Their fize is nearly the fame with that of Europeans, and we saw fome that were fix feet high; their eyes are dull, and without expreffion; their skins are of the colour of foot, but that is in a great measure caufed by the dirt, which is fo wrought into the grain that it cannot be diftinguished from the complexion; for I believe they never wash any part of their bodies. Their hair curls ftrongly, not like a negroe's but falls in ringlets about feven or eight inches long. Their cloathing confifts of a skin, generally that of a fheep, thrown over their fhoulders; befides which the men wear a small M m 2 1771. April. a fmall pouch in the middle of the waift, and the wo- To a European, their language appears to be fcarcely articulate; befides which it is distinguished by a very remarkable fingularity. At very frequent intervals, while they are fpeaking, they cluck with the tongue against the roof of the mouth: thefe clucks do not appear to have any meaning, but rather to divide what they fay into fentences. Most of these Hottentots speak Dutch, without any peculiarity of pronunciation. They are all modeft, even to sheepishness; for it was not without the greatest difficulty that we could perfuade any of them to dance, or even to speak in their own language to each other, in our prefence. We did however both fee them dance, and hear them fing; their dances are by turns active and fluggish to excefs; fometimes confifting of quick and violent motions, with ftrange distortions of the body, and unnatural leaps backwards, and forwards, with the legs croffing each other; and being sometimes so spiritless that the dancer only strikes the ground first with one foot, and then with the other, neither changing place nor moving any other part of his body: the fongs alfo are alternately to quick and flow movement, in the fame extremes as the dance. We made many inquiries concerning these people of the Dutch, and the following particulars are related upon the credit of their report: Within the boundaries of the Dutch fettlements there are several nations of these people, who very much differ from each other in their customs and manner of life: all however are friendly and peaceable, except one clan that is settled to the eastward, which the Dutch call Bosch men, and these live entirely by plunder, or rather rather by theft; for they never attack their neighbours Some nations have the art of melting and preparing copper, which is found among them, probably native, and of this they make broad plates, which they wear as ornaments upon their foreheads: Some of them also know how to harden bits of iron, which they procure from the Dutch, and form into knives, fo as to give them a temper fuperior to that of any they can buy. The Chiefs, many of whom are poffeffors of very numerous herds of cattle, are generally clad in the skins of lions, tygers, or zebras, to which they add fringes, and other ornaments, in a very good tafte. Both fexes frequently anoint the body with greafe, but never use any that is rancid or foetid, if fresh can be had. Mutton fuet and butter are generally used for this purpose; butter is preferred, which they make by fhaking the milk in a bag made of the skin of fome beast. We were told that the priest certainly gives the nuptial benediction by sprinkling the bride and bridegroom with his urine. But the Dutch univerfally declared, that the women never wrapped the entrails of sheep round their legs, as they have been faid to do, and afterwards make them part of their food. Semicastration was also abfolutely denied to be general; but it was acknowledged that fome among the particular nation which knew how to melt copper had fuffered that ope ration, 1771. April. 1771. April. ration, who were faid to be the best warriors, and particularly to excel in the art of throwing stones. We were very defirous to determine the great question among natural hiftorians, whether the women of this country have or have not that fleshy flap or apron which has been called the Sinus pudoris, and what we learned I fhall relate. Many of the Dutch and Malays, who faid they had received favours from Hottentot women, pofitively denied its exiftence; but a phyfician of the place declared that he had cured many hundreds of ve nereal complaints, and never faw one without two fleshy, or rather skinny appendages, proceeding from the upper part of the Labia, in appearance fomewhat refembling the teats of a cow, but flat; they hung down, he said, before the Pupendum, and were in different fubjects of different lengths, in fome not more than half an inch, in others three or four inches: thefe he imagined to be what fome writers have exaggerated into a flap, or apron, hanging down from the bottom of the abdomen, of fufficient extent to render an artificial covering of the neighbouring parts unneceffary. Thus much for the country, its productions, and inhabitants. The bay is large, fafe, and commodious; it lies open indeed to the north-west winds, but they feldom blow hard; yet as they fometimes fend in a great fea, the fhips moor N. E. and S. W. fo as to have an open hawfer with north-west winds; the fouth-eaft winds blow frequently with great violence; but as this direction is right out of the bay, they are not dangerous. Near the town a wharf of wood is run out to a proper distance for the convenience of landing and shipping goods. To this wharf water is conveyed in pipes, from which feveral boats may fill water at the fame time; and feveral large boats or hoys are kept by the Company to carry stores and provisions to and from the fhipping in the harbour. The bay is defended by a fquare fort, fituated close to the beach on the east fide of the town, and by feveral outworks and batteries extending along the fhore, as well on this fide of the town as the other; but they are fo fituated as to be cannonaded by shipping, and are in a manner defenceless against an enemy of any force by land. The garrison confifts |