244 TRAVELS IN 
tween the bands, with the point acting in a hollow place made 
in the surface of the former. In a few seconds of time the 
velocity and friction set the grass in a blaze. 
Miserable as the life of a Bosjesman appears to be, it is 
perhaps in reality not more so than that of most savage tribes. 
He has no invidious object of comparison to place against his 
condition. " He feels his little lot the lot of all." Universal 
equality prevails in his horde. When one feasts they all par- 
take, and when one hungers they all equally suffer. '* They take 
no thought for the morrow." They have no sort of manage- 
ment nor economy with regard to provisions- With them it is 
either a feast or a famine. When successful in bringing to the 
horde a herd of cattle, they slay them in such numbers that 
the kraal soon becomes a mass of putrefaction, and the whole 
air is tainted with the smell. The number of vultures that are 
attracted by the remains of the dead carcases are frequently 
the means of discovering to the colonists the kraals of Bosjes- 
mans. Like these voracious birds, they are equally filthy 
and gluttonous. The three little men who accompanied us 
to our waggons had a sheep given to them about five in the 
evening, which was entirely consumed by them before the 
noon of the following day. They continued, however, to eat 
all night, without sleep and without intermission, till they had 
finished the whole animal. After this their lank bellies were 
distended to such a degree that they looked less like human 
creatures than before. Accustomed to food of a strong and 
pungent quality, simple water seemed to have no relish for 
them ; they prepared a beverage that was excessively disgust- 
ing ; having cut the throat of the sheep, they opened tUe 
8 
