176 TRAVfeLS IN 
for not having taken proper precautions* 
I however followed thetn, and gave orders 
that they Ihould be narrowly watched ; 
and both I and Klaas perceived, though not 
without uneafinefs, by the manner in which 
they converfed together, and meafured the 
length and thicknefs of the bands that fur- 
rounded the wheels of my carriages, how 
much delighted they were with this treafure. 
Had thefe people been able to read, and had 
they found in certain books, replete with ex^ 
cellent morality, which are common in the 
hands of our ladies of fafliion, that the fim* 
pleft means of refifting temptation Is to yield 
to it — this maxim, which is rather too phi-* 
lofophical, would not have been confidered 
by the CafFres as a pleafantry, much lefs as 
an abfurdity, and my ruin would have been 
unavoidable. 
The jealous and fufpicious eyes of my 
Hottentots were however ftill attentive to 
every thing that pafled ; and, as if my own 
rem.arks had not been fufficient, they came 
every moment to add theirs, and to enter- 
tain mc with fome new fcene. I eafily gueff-' 
ed their motives, for 1 every moment faw a 
fpirit of difcord fomenting amongft them ; 
and 
