A P R r C Ao 
tot. I tkought lier alfo very well for th^ 
place where we w^^re, and indeed fhe was the 
Venus of the country. The fcantinefs of her' 
attire left great part of her charms expofed td 
view ; but ihe thought no more of indelicacy 
in exhibiting, than of modefty in concealing 
them. A man of lefs temperance w^ould have 
had no favour to afl^, and no denial to fean 
Meanwhile it appeared ftrange to me, that^ 
being defcended from a white parent^ and 
having it in her power to live among whites^ 
and fettle herfelf in a habitation like her father's^ 
flie Ihould renounce fach an advantage. This 
remark I made to her, and alked what motive 
£he had for preferring the wandering life of 
the Hottentots, and adopting a cafte lefs re- 
fpedable than that in which fhe wa& boni^ 
Her anfwer aftonifked me. It was ration^l^ 
and appeared to originate from a fort of na=^ 
tive philofophy which I certainly did not ex- 
ped: to find in fb giddy and vc btile a head. 
" It is true I am the daughter of a white 
" man," faid fhe, " but my mother is a Hot-* 
tentot. Thus allied by birth to two dif- 
" ferent races, I had to choofe with which of 
" them I would live. You know the pro- 
VOL. It E " found 
