SOUTHERN AFRICA. 4" 
middle with a string, and suspended from the roof. Her arm, 
above the elbow, measured 23 Dutch inches, or 23^ English, 
in circumference. Yet, in this helpless and deplorable situa- 
tion, Mademoiselle, for she was an unmarried lady, contrived 
to fulfil the end of her creation, by bringing into the world a 
fine healthy child, the father of which was said, but whether 
by way of joke I cannot pretend to say, to be an English 
officer. The fate, however, of this extraordinary person, as 
I have since been informed, was attended with very melan- 
choly circumstances. In the subsequent wars between the 
boors and the Hottentots, the house in which she lived was 
attacked and set on fire. All the rest of the family elfefted 
their escape, except this unfortunate creature, whom they 
found it impoffible, on account of her size, to get through 
the door, and were therefore under the necessity of leaving to 
perish in the flames. 
Having collected the forces that had been stationed along 
the banks of the Great Fish River, we set out upon our return 
to Algoa Bay. On approaching the Sunday Iliver, and per- 
ceiving that the Kaffers had made no preparations for depart- 
ing, it was thought advisable to renew the message to their 
chief Congo. In the mean time the troops and the waggons 
proceeded on their march. After waiting some time, the mes- 
senger returned without being able to speak to the chief. 
Whatever reluctance Congo had discovered to quit the station 
he had taken up among the colonists, it never entered into 
our calculations that he would be rash and imprudent enough 
to commence an attack against a large body of regular troops. 
Such, however, was the step he chose to take, at the insti- 
3 G 2 
