AFRICA. 15 
tanlcal travellers, who are mad after galls 
and fenna, as a punifhment becaufe I did not 
difcover foon enough, or when I wdfhed, fuch 
and fuch a diaphoretic plant, or fuch and 
fuch an imperceptible infe<3: ; but policy had 
made me prefcribe this rule to myfelf, as a 
fundamental law. The length of my beard 
was owing neither to flovenlinefs nor neglect. 
The fcrupulous cleanlinefs of the Dutch I 
delight in ; and, for an American Creole, it is 
not a mere want, proceeding from cuftom ; 
it is a pleafure. In my journeys I changed 
my linen and clothes three or four times a 
day ; but the plan of fuffering my beard to 
grow, was formed before I departed from the 
Cape. I had heard of the w^ars between the 
CafFres and the planters, and that the latter 
were detefled by the favages ; and, as I ex- 
pefted to meet either the one or the other, 
it was highly neceffary that I fhould give 
myfelf, by my external appearance, as well 
as by my manners and conduft, an air abfo- 
lutely ftrange, to prove that I had no refem- 
blance to the planters* This plan fucceeded 
perfedly; for, among all the hordes through 
which I pafled, I was received as an extraor- 
dinary being, and as a man of a new fpecies. 
5 My 
