AFRICA. 335 
tier us more fufpiclous ; and on this account 
I doubled our guards, and Swanepoel and I 
went the rounds alternately ; while my 
faithful Klaas, at the head of a fmall de- 
tachment, vifited the valley and its en- 
virons* From time to time they fired their 
fufees, which fignals my herdfmen were 
obliged to anfwer ; and by thefe means I 
was affured that they had not fallen afleep^ 
and that they difcharged their duty with fi- 
delity. 
This precaution^ which I obferved for the 
fake of good order, and that I might have 
nothuig to reproach myfelf with in our pre- 
fent circumftances, was of very little utility 
in other refpefts. A Hottentot dreads a 
Bofhman much more than a lion : this falu- 
tary fear kept all mine on the watch, and 
even in the moft open places, which expofed 
them to excruciating torment from thirft; 
for the heat had now become almoft infup- 
portable. I myfelf was expofed to the fame 
inconvenience as much as they, but this did 
not make me abandon my hunting excur- 
fions. It was a matter of indiff^erence to me 
whether I walked or flood ftlU : my tent 
Was fo intolerably hot that I could not re- 
Z 2 jnaia 
