Captain D- Has Been In Capetown, And Bought A
Horse, Which He Rode Home Seventy-Five Miles In A Day And A Half, -
The Beast None The Worse Nor Tired.
I am to ride him, and so shall
see the country if the vile cold winds keep off.
This morning I walked on the Veld, and met a young black shepherd
leading his sheep and goats, and playing on a guitar composed of an
old tin mug covered with a bit of sheepskin and a handle of rough
wood, with pegs, and three strings of sheep-gut. I asked him to
sing, and he flung himself at my feet in an attitude that would
make Watts crazy with delight, and CROONED queer little mournful
ditties. I gave him sixpence, and told him not to get drunk. He
said, 'Oh no; I will buy bread enough to make my belly stiff - I
almost never had my belly stiff.' He likewise informed me he had
just been in the Tronk (prison), and on my asking why, replied:
'Oh, for fighting, and telling lies;' Die liebe Unschuld! (Dear
innocence!)
Hottentot figs are rather nice - a green fig-shaped thing,
containing about a spoonful of SALT-SWEET insipid glue, which you
suck out. This does not sound nice, but it is. The plant has a
thick, succulent, triangular leaf, creeping on the ground, and
growing anywhere, without earth or water. Figs proper are common
here, but tasteless; and the people pick all their fruit green, and
eat it so too.
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