SOUTHERN AFRICA. 393 
justice of the decision; whereas in the other case, as it 
generally happens, the pubHc are more ready to blame 
the severity of martial law than to acknowledge the cri- 
minality of those upon whom it is inflicted. The General 
having thus got rid of the rebel chiefs, and thereby put an end, 
as he thought, to further disturbances, concluded that little 
now remained to be done but to collect his scattered forces 
from the different parts of the district, and to assemble them 
at head-quarters in Bruyntjes Hoogte ; part of which he meant 
to embark on board the Rattlesnake, and the remainder to 
send over land, by easy marches, to the Cape. 
In crossing the country from Algoa Bay to the northward, 
in order to put his plan in execution, to our no less surprize 
than mortification, w^e fell in with a large party of Hottentots, 
so disguised, and dressed out in such a whimsical and fan- 
tastical manner^ that we were totally at a loss to conjecture 
what to make of them. Some wore large three cornered hats, 
with green or blue breeches, the rest of the body naked ; 
some had jackets of cloth over their sheep-skin covering, and 
others had sheep-skins thrown over linen shirts. The women 
were laden with bundles, and the men were all armed with 
musquets. We soon discovered, which indeed they readily 
confessed, that they had been plundering the boors. A Hot- 
tentot, among the many good qualities he possesses, has one 
which he is master of in an eminent degree, — I mean a rigid 
adherence to truth. When accused of a crime, of which he 
has been guilty, with native simplicity he always states the 
fact as it happened ; but, at the same time, he has always a 
justification at hand for what he has done. From lying and 
stealing, the predominant and inseparable vices of the condi* 
VOL. I. 3 E 
