WHITE'S JOURNAL OF A 
with a fteadinefs and regularity that was really aflonifhing, 
confidering the ftate they were in : but it is faid, and 
I believe with fome truth, that a Dutchman, when half 
drunk, is more capable of performing every kind of bufi- 
nefs, than if he were perfedtly fober. After thefe annual 
exhibitions, the members of the corps meet their wives, 
■daughters, &c. (who take care to be prefent, that they 
may be witneffes of their military fkill and atchievements) 
at fome friend's houfe, where they crown the night in 
dancing, of which they are uncommonly fond. To danc- 
ing are added fubftantial fuppers, and potent libations; 
in which they indulge not only upon this, but on all 
other occafions. A Dutch fupper to me, at firft, was a 
matter of wonder, as I could never fee any kind of differ- 
ence, either in the quality or quantity, between them 
and their dinners, which were always abundant, and 
eonfifting chiefly of heavy food. 
The inhabitants of the Cape, though in their perfons 
large, flout, and athletic, have not all that phlegm 
about them which is the charaderiftic of Dutchmen in 
general. The phyflcal influence of climate may in fome 
degree account for this ; for it is well known that in all 
fouthern 
