275 



never thinks of shooting for amusement, but strictly con- 

 fines himself to such game as will repay him the expense of 

 his powder and shot. Partridges and pheasants are beneath 

 his notice ; nor will he burn powder even at wild geese, unless 

 he falls in with a flock, from which he can bring down half 

 a dozen at a shot. Excepting the ostrich, the only article of 

 feathered game he will venture on singly is the Paaw, or wild 

 peacock, which, weighing nearly a quarter of a hundred 

 weight, furnishes a comfortable meal for his whole house- 

 hold. Balls and buckshot are the only kinds of shot they 

 ever use. The latter they call ' Loupers.' A boor to 

 whom I once jjave some charges of small shot to kill a 

 Caffre Finch {E?nberiza longicauda) for me, returned some 

 days thereafter with a fine bird in his hand, which, on 

 examination, I found perforated with eight or nine of his 

 infernal loupers, the mangled carcase scarcely holding 

 together. The barbarian told me, with infinite compla- 

 cency, that he had fired away all my hagel^ but could not 

 hit anything with it. 



" This same boor was dining one day at our little mess, 

 and had just been helped to a liberal allowance of salt fish 

 and butter, which he was bolting down, when a roasted 

 fowl was placed before our President, Captain Lawrence, 

 with a request to carve and send it round. Finding some 

 difficulty in fixing the fowl to his satisfaction, the boor, 

 good-naturedly, made a long arm and stuck his fork, just 

 extracted from his jaws, into its side. ' Now Mynheer 

 Capitano,' said he, ' cut, ik sail hold it.' Lawrence, with 

 a rueful politeness, thanked his officious guest, while the 

 tragi-comic cast of his visage excited the risibility of every 

 one present. 



" Of the little learning diffused among this people, the 

 women possess the greater portion, though even that rarely 

 extends beyond the first rude elements of reading and writ- 

 ing. But, to their honour be it said, their ignorance is far 

 from voluntary. On the contrary, they show all possible 

 anxiety to procure for their children what share of education 

 they can. In many of the more respectable families, you 



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