§4 1 R A V E L S I N 
ficwed their OiFers.of rendering me every fef- 
tice in their power. The family confifted of 
two fons, One of whom w^as fix feet high*, 
and two daughters, one tall and handfome, 
the other an idiot* Three of the children 
only and the mother took part in the conver- 
fation. 1 he good man of the houfe^ feventy 
years of age, was reckoned as nobody, and fat 
in a corner liftening to what was faid without 
tittering a word. Under iht pretence of fparing 
his lungs j which were at times a little afthmatic, 
flie had long fince prefcribed for him the re-* 
gimen of filenee ; and whenever he put in a 
word, he w-as inftantly told, in a tone not the 
moft conciliating, that he would fatigue him-* 
felf, and had better hold his tongue. 
The exchange of his Hottentot ivlfe for a 
white one had proved but a forry fpeculation^ 
for which he had paid dearly. Governed from 
the beginning by this imperious tyrant, he Was 
become her entire fiave ; and, in confequence 
of this weaknefs, had even been obliged to 
join in the confpiracy ihe had formed, in con-* 
cert with her ions, againft the children of his 
^ * Frendi me-afure: fix feet and half EngKfh. T. 
2 formef 
