A F R I C 329 
me to keep mine feparate from them, and at a 
diftance from the kraal. 
Thefe precautions arofe from the bad opi- 
nion entertained of the Boflimen; and indeed 
the tales they related of them rendered their 
fufpicions excufable. Accordingto thefe Gheyf- 
fiquas, the Boflimen horde was nothing but 
the retreat of alTaffins, the afylum of thieves, 
compofed of deferters from twenty different 
nations; and fo much the more dangerous, 
becaufe, being formidable from their number, 
they attacked, openly and without diftindion, 
every little tribe from which they could expert 
any booty. 
Thefe focieties of Boflimen in no wife re- 
femble thofe I had feen in the eaft of Africa, 
The latter, compofed of thieves and runa- 
ways who diftruft one another, were few in 
number, and confifted of little feparate bands, 
from whom, of courfe, nothing more than 
fome bold ftroke or nodurnal furprife was to 
be feared. The others, on the contrary, thofe 
with whom I had at prefent to deal, compofe 
a formidable nation ; and, to fay the truth, I 
was aftoniflied that a fociety of men without 
^ reftraint. 
