'142 TRAVELS IN 
unite fooii, enough, will neither have lelfur^ 
nor power to prevent. 
This baftard race Is eftlmated at a fixth 
of the number of all the Hottentots in the 
colonies ; and the origin of this mixture is 
only as old as the eftablifhment of the Dutch 
at the Cape, that is to fay, an hundred and 
thirty-fix years. It may be readily prefumed 
that, when the communication between the 
white- men and the Hottentot women was 
firft eftabliflied, it was neither fo eafy nor fo 
general as at prefent : and, on the other hand, 
the population of the colony did not amount, 
as it does now, to eighty thoufand white peo- 
ple. This obfervation alone may be fufficient 
to give an idea of the a6lual progreffion of 
both. The Hottentot race fubjed to the colo- 
nies deviates more and more every day from 
its charafter and origin : they become cor- 
rupted and confounded by a mixture of the 
blacks and the whites ; and, as this degene- 
ration accelerates, their diftlngulfliing marks 
will in time dlftppear altogether. The 
phlegmatic and cold conftltutlon of the Hot- 
tentots fufficiently checks the progrels of 
population already ; whilft the fame caufe in 
the women has a contrary effeil, and renders 
them 
