286 . / FALSE PRIDE AMONG HOTTENTOTS. 26 June, 
tridge-box among them : I was at length obliged to give up the 
point ; and in a month or two, all the people reverted to their kogel- 
tas or bullet-pouch. 
Even Van Roye and Cornelis were as stupid, and as unwilling to 
adopt improvement, as the rest : and the expectations which I had 
been induced to form of the great usefulness of the former, on 
account of his having seen Europe and been exhibited as a select 
example of an improved Hottentot, were already completely disap- 
pointed. None were more lazy than these two ; and they seemed 
to consider themselves as hired only to ride along with me for the 
gratification of their own curiosity to see the country. They had done, 
literally, no work since the day when they first entered my service ; 
yet, on account of their being Christemensch, they rated themselves so 
high, that they actually regarded it as degrading, to do the same work 
as a Hottentot. They carried this ignorant mischievous pride so far, 
as to deny all knowledge of the Hottentot language ; which, with 
respect to Van Roye, I knew certainly to be an untruth, and always 
believed the other to be better acquainted with it than he pretended. 
It was disgusting, though ridiculous, to hear these two woolly-headed 
men, call their companions, Hottentots, as an appellation of inferiority 
good enough for Heathens, and proper for making these sensible of 
the superiority of Christians. This unbecoming spirit was frequently 
the cause of broils and discords ; and their tempers and conduct, so 
very different from what I had expected, were the source of continual 
vexation to me, and the germ from which many of my difficulties 
and disappointments sprang ; an example of laziness and insubordi- 
nation which in time infected the others, and required the utmost 
vigilance and resolution, to check it. 
As the men had been living on animal food for nearly three 
weeks, I gave to each a ration of vinegar as a corrective of the sup- 
posed unwholesome effects of such diet when unmixed with vege- 
table juices. This, they were all glad to receive ; not indeed, in the 
light in which it was given ; but, because its stimulating quality gave 
it some similitude to wine or brandy. Muchunka, who perhaps 
had never tasted any before, and appeared ignorant of its nature, 
