448 
SOUTHERN AFRICA. 
" The government of the country may be 
described as a military one, and closely resem- 
bles that which Sir Harry Smith endeavoured, 
in vain, to introduce amongst the Kaffirs. The 
imposts are exceedingly light, consisting of a 
tax of eightpence on each hearth, and sixpence 
on each head of cattle. Something is also levied 
on gardens near the coast, and on weavers 
and smiths. The population is large, between 
500,000 and 600,000 souls, being under the 
sway of the Portuguese ; and, of this large 
number, the majority are free-born. In those 
districts, to the statistics of which I had access, 
the slaves did not form five per cent, of the en- 
tire population, and a very large proportion 
was dependent on agriculture alone. There 
are very few white slaves, comparatively ; and 
from the polite way in which persons of colour 
are addressed, and admitted to the table of the 
more affluent, it might be inferred, that there 
is as little prejudice against colour as in any 
country in the world. Nothing struck me as 
more remarkable, than the change produced on 
convicts, by their residence in this colony. No 
sooner do they arrive than they are enlisted 
into the 1st regiment of the line, and perform 
similar duties to our Foot Guards in London. 
The 11,000 inhabitants of Loando, go comfort- 
ably to bed every night, although they know 
