1812. 
COMPLAINTS OF A HOTTENTOT BOY. 
179 
Here I sat nearly the whole of the night, with him for my com- 
panion ; and as he was both shrewd and communicative, I was for 
some time much amused by his remarks, and by his mode of viewing 
things. He had discovered from our conversation in the house, 
enough to know that I was not a boor ; and now, therefore, began to 
lay open all his complaints, in the usual Hottentot style. Oud baas, 
he said, never gave them enough to eat : a very common complaint 
of Hottentots, and often very ill-founded ; although possibly it might, 
in the present instance, be the truth exaggerated. Supposing the 
interior of Africa to be the country to which I belonged, and that 
I was now on my return home, he wished to make one of the party, 
and was delighted at the idea of going to a land where there were no 
boors ; for, said he, they care nothing for ' us black things :' the two 
other Hottentots would, he hinted, be glad to leave their place if 
they dared : in short, no one was comfortable. Thus he continued 
to run over a long list of grievances. 
These are the terms in which this people commonly speak of 
the colonists ; but I would recommend that their stories be received 
with caution. There may have been formerly, I have little doubt, 
sufficient foundation for such ; and it may be credited that among 
the white population of the colony, there exist even at this time, too 
many individuals destitute of a proper feeling towards this race ; but 
it should always be remembered that the Hottentots, from having origi- 
nally had just cause for complaint, may in later days, by hearing 
the tales often repeated, have acquired a habit of inveighing against 
the boors. The irregularities, to use a mild term, which have been 
committed in this part of the world, are not to be defended ; nor do 
they admit of any excuse : but, it may be asked, what would have 
been the state of any country in Europe, had society not been kept 
in order by the vigilance of proper laws ; or what would it now be- 
come, if those laws were to be relaxed, and men left to act as they 
pleased. 
2nd. I experienced from the old man no incivility at parting j and 
certainly he deserves my thanks for relenting, after having determined 
to refuse me all assistance. His son yoked six oxen to his waggon ; 
A A 2 
