xii 
PREFACE. 
" I should have applauded myself during my whole life for undertaking 
" it !" The fact is, he has done little more, in the eastern part of his 
map, than copy from Sparrmann ; and the whole to the northward of 
Saint Helena Bay is a work of fancy. Two instances will be sufficient to 
shew how very little he is to be trusted. He places Camdeboo, and the 
beginning of the Snowy Mountains, in the latitude of about 28° south, 
instead of 32° 15' south, an error of more than 290 English miles ! And 
he makes the Orange River descend from the northward, nearly parallel to 
the coast, which, in fact, takes its rise near the eastern coast, and ascends 
towards the north-west. Messrs Truter and Somerville, who, in the years 
1801 and 1802, penetrated farther into the interior of Southern Africa 
than any Europeans had ever done before, calculated that they crossed this 
river in about 29° o' south, and between 23'' and 24° east of Greenwich. 
I skirted its banks from 29° 40' to 30° 15' south, and between the longi- 
tudes of 25° 45' and 26° 30' east, which shews, as I said before, that its 
course is north-westerly. Monsieur Le Vail/ant cannot be offended at my 
pointing out his mistakes, as he himself has observed, that " a traveller 
" ought to conceal nothing that may lead to error in the sciences." Be- 
sides I feel myself called upon to answer a charge, preferred against me 
by Monsieur Grandpre, the translator of the first volume of this work, 
that I have attempted to invalidate the truth tf Monsieur Le Vaillanfi 
travels, because they were from the pen of a Frenchman. I can very seriously 
assure Monsieur Grandpre^ that he is mistaken ; that I consider the work 
of Monsieur Le Yaillant as replete with valuable matter, and ingenious ob- 
servations ; but they are so jumbled together with fiction and romance, 
that none but those who have followed his steps can pretend to separate 
the one from the other. It is of little importance to mankind to know 
what exquisite amusement Monsieur Le Vaillant could derive from caress- 
ing his favorite ape ; or to tell the world that " Kees was still a virgin !" 
It is sometimes allowable for a traveller to be " himself the hero of each 
little tale but Monsieur Le Vaillant is an hero on every occasion. 
To magnify his courage and his perseverance, to detail the prudence of his 
measures, and to describe in glowing language his sufferings, were sooth- 
