SOUTHERN AFRICA. 369 
company ; the other we occupied. This, it seemed, was made 
to answer the four-fold purpose of bed-chamber, work-shop, 
cellar, and storehouse. The heat of the weather, the closeness 
of the room, which had only one small aperture to admit the 
light, added to the mingled odours arising from stinking lea- 
ther, bunches of onions, butchers' meat swarming with flies, 
fumes of tobacco, dregs of wine and gin and Cape brandy, 
standing in pools on the claj^ed floor ; in a word, such " a con- 
" gregation of foul and pestilential vapours," was sufficient 
to nauseate stomachs much less squeamish than ours. Nor 
was the sense of feeling less annoyed by an innumerable quan- 
tity of bugs, fleas, and musquitoes. Perhaps, indeed, it might 
be considered as an advantage in having two or three senses 
tormented at once ; as the pain affecting one might, in a cer- 
tain degree, be deadened by the acuteness of feeling in an- 
other. How often, in the course of this night, did I bless my 
good fortune, in having used my waggon for my lodging house 
in all my former long journies through this miserable country ; 
inhabited by a still more miserable race of mortals ! How 
many sleepless nights, and nauseous scenes, have I not 
avoided by adopting such a plan ! 
To add to our present uncomfortable situation, the guests 
were perpetually interrupting us in their application to the 
wine cask, or the brandy bottle. Our patience, at length, 
being quite exhausted, we resolved to barricade the door. 
This, however, failed of success. The votaries of Bacchus 
Avere not so easily to be disappointed of their weekly libations. 
After several fruitless attempts to force the door, they thought 
of trying the window ; but this small pigeon-hole, being much 
