A F R I C A. 205 
A few days before, fuch of the horde as fup- 
pofed thernfelves in good health had retired 
towards the fouth, to avoid its influence; but 
the difeafed told us they had carried the feeds 
of it along with them; and that it would 
probably fhow itfelf before they had accom- 
plilhed their journey* 
I fhall here obferve, that this flight may 
ferve' to explain fome abfurd aflertions to be 
found in the works of certain ill-informed tra* 
vellers. Savage nations, according to their ac- 
count, when emigrating or on journeys, aban- 
don fuch old and infirm perfoas as are not m 
a condition to follow them. This is a ca- 
lumny founded upon an error, which the fa<fl 
above related may ferve to redify. 
The horrid fpedacle we had before our eyes 
filled with much alarm my whole caravan,^ 
and, above all, my Greater Nimiquas, who, 
moft fufceptible of terror, becaufe the moft 
timid and pufillanimous of the company, had 
befides fome experience of this" plague, which 
they had feen fpread itfelf among their nation^ 
and with the effeds of which they were con- 
fequently acquainted. 
They declared to me that, if I did not alter 
my 
