1812. 
TRANQUILLITY RESTORED. 
419 
to carry home the game for ' them :' if he had here added ' selves' 
his meaning would have been better expressed ; but he explained 
it sufficiently when he confessed that he was glad to see how kind 
we were to his people in giving them part of what we shot. He 
concluded by saying, that he would let his brothers accompany my 
Hottentots in their hunts, that they might learn rightly the use of 
the gun. 
This conversation elucidates a prominent part of Mattivis cha- 
racter : as far as it expressed promises beneficial to his visitors, it 
meant nothing ; but where it implied any thing for his own benefit, 
it was sincere. He appeared to me to be selfish in a high degree, 
and cunning without sufficient depth of policy to conceal it : it 
required but little discernment to see the real meaning of all he said 
and did. Had he been a man of talent or reflection, he either, would 
not have given me palpable cause for complaint and remonstrance, or 
he would not have employed such weak arguments in defence of his 
conduct, or used so thin a veil to conceal his true motives. 
This favorable turn of, what my men considered to be, the crisis 
of our fate, rendered them so happy, that they gave themselves up 
this evening to a greater share of cheerfulness, and even of mirth, 
than I had witnessed in them since we came among this nation. Till 
now, all of them had appeared full of thought and anxiety, talking 
no longer in their usual tone of voice, but speaking only in a low 
timid manner which betrayed how much they desired to be away 
from this people. In the hut, they passed the evening in friendly 
familiarity with those who came to sit by their fire. The sound of 
the fiddle was heard, but instead of dancing, laughter indicated more 
truly that their minds were at ease. 
The natives, after having just beheld a storm gathering over 
themselves and us, were, I believe, not sorry at finding it disperse 
without harm. They seemed to associate with us in a more cordial 
manner ; and even took one or two of the Hottentots, with whom 
they had formed a more particular acquaintance, to their houses, 
where they remained a great part of the evening. These, at their 
return, reported that they had been kindly treated, and had ex- 
perienced, what must be considered as, great and unusual hospitality 
3 H 2 
