46 TRAVELS IN 
novice. The reader, however, muft not In- 
fer, from what I have faid, that the Hotten- 
tot women pay fo much attention to drefs as 
to negled thofe daily and ufeful occupations 
to which nature and their ufages call them. 
I never heard them fpeak of it but on certain 
feftivals which happen very rarely. Sepa- 
rated from Europe by an immenfity of fea, 
and from the Dutch colonies by defart 
mountains and impaffable rocks, too much 
communication with thefe people has not 
yet led them to the exceffes of our deprava- 
tion : on the contrary, when they have the 
happinefs of being mothers, Nature addreffe« 
them in a different language ; they affume, 
more than in any other country, a fpirit 
fuitable to their ftate, and readily give them- 
felves up to thofe cares which fhe Imperi- 
oufly requires from them. As foon as a 
child is born, it never quits the back of its 
mother ; flie there fixes her dear burden by 
means of an apron, which keeps it clofe to 
her body ; and another tied with thongs under 
the infant's thighs, fupports it, and prevents 
it from gliding down. This fecond apron, 
formed, like the firft, of the Ikin of fome 
wild animal, is generally ornamented with 
beads ; 
