1812. 
AN IMPORTANT QUESTION ANSWERED. 
203 
unfortunately, become a long established custom, at least for several 
generations. They are committed under the influence, too, of tempta- 
tion by the carelessness of the Hottentot shepherds and herdsmen, 
and by the very weak protection given to the numerous flocks which 
graze on the borders. Nor, in weighing this crime, would it be just 
to omit throwing something into the opposite scale, for poverty and 
want ; for an inveterate and inherited enmity to the boors ; for igno- 
rance ; and even, for their wild habits and lawless mode of life. 
I now could give myself the answer to that question which I 
had long marked as one of the desiderata of my travels * : but, alas ! 
it is in the negative ; and I must now believe, that these savages have 
not been rendered happier by their communication with Europeans ; 
I must too, believe, that they have not been made better or morally 
wiser; and I fear I must conclude that the present state of all the 
Hottentot race, is far less happy, far less peaceful, than it was before 
our discovery of the Cape of Good Hope. If they rob us of cattle, 
what is that crime to ours ! who have robbed so large a portion of 
these tribes, of their liberty and of the land of their fathers. If 
European policy require our taking possession of the country, (and 
I do not dispute that policy,) let us in return, as the smallest boon, 
be kind to its aborigines ; kind to men who may no longer tread the 
ground over which their forefathers have led their flocks ; over which 
their ancestors were probably the first to imprint the human footstep. 
When we departed, no one accompanied us, as I had expected. 
Uncertain of the exact course we ought to hold, as I had had no op- 
portunity of laying down my track from Quakka station, we took at 
first a north-westerly direction for two hours. This brought us in the 
neighbourhood of two kraals, lying at a distance from each other, of 
not more than two miles. We met three of their inhabitants ; from 
whom we learnt that the second belonged to those poor creatures 
who, at the time of my first journey, dwelt at Poverty Kraal. They 
were exceedingly pleased at seeing us again, and fortunately apprized 
* At pages 5 and 6, of the first volume. 
D D 2 
