552 
MORAL CHARACTER. — GOOD ORDER. — SOBRIETY. 
people, and the rest were sent to a distant cattle-station for the use 
only of his herdsmen. 
Without bringing forward every foolish tale and absurd story 
which they thought proper to tell me, whether they seriously believed 
it or merely did it to amuse or deceive me, their religion may, in 
short, be characterized as an inconsistent jumble of superstition and 
ignorance, among which no signs were to be discovered of its having 
been ever derived from any purer source, or that it was aught else 
than the offspring of barbarous and uncultivated minds, in which 
some occasional traces of cunning might be perceived. 
The moral character of theBachapins, though in general lamentably 
debased, possesses, however, some virtues, and contains some points 
for which it may be admired and even held up for more general 
imitation. These people are, in common society, exceedingly well 
ordered, and conduct themselves with a remarkably careful attention 
to decorum in several respects. During the whole of my residence 
at their town and in my travels through their country, I never saw 
two men openly quarrelling, nor heard them using abusive language 
towards each other ; neither have I witnessed any of that tribe in a 
state of intoxication from drinking. The former may fairly be 
viewed as a positive merit ; for the observance of this rule, is, in 
their estimation, if we may depend on the character which they give 
of themselves, the highest proof of being a good man : the latter is 
but negative, as they are not sufficiently acquainted with the art of 
preparing spirituous liquors, to prove by experiment whether they 
can maintain their sobriety with more firmness, than the Hottentots 
have done since the introduction of brandy into their country. They 
are not altogether ignorant of the effects of fermented drink, as they, 
in common with the Hottentots, possess the art of making a beverage 
of this kind from honey and water put into a state of fermentation 
by the addition of a certain root or by the dregs of a former prepar- 
ation. This beverage is called bdidlloa by the Bachapins, and is 
well known to the Hottentots by the Dutch name of honing-bier 
(honey-beer). 
Although it has been stated that the Bachapins were never seen 
