AFRICA. 45 
a few men, under the command of a corporal; . 
who, as foon as he perceives a veffel in the 
entrance of the Bay, fends an exprefs by land, 
to inform the governor. 
The cachalot "^'^ a kind of whale which 
the Dutch call ?ioord Izaaper^ is always found 
In great plenty fporting in the bafon. I have 
often fired balls at them, when they raifed 
themfelves upright above the furface of the 
water, but I never obferved that they made 
the leaft impreffion. We found a prodigious 
number of rabbits In the fmall iile of Schaa-- 
fen Eyland : It became our warren, and was 
an excellent refource for the feam^en. 
Game of all kinds is very abundant in the 
neighbourhood. — The principal are fmall an- 
telopes, and all thofe of which I have already 
fpoken. Partridges and hares are found here 
alfo ; but the difficulty of continually mount- 
ing or defcending among the fands wdth 
w^hich this place is bordered, renders it a 
very fatiguing and laborious tafk to purfue 
them. Panthers are common here, but they 
* The cachalot was generally known under the name of 
the fpermaceti whale, till Mr. Pennant very properly made 
a diftin^tion, by borrowing its name from the French. T, 
4 
