156 TRAVELS IN 
his noftrils : he then blew as before, and the 
wind iffuing from his nofe with a fort of 
fnuffling, which deadened the found, the efFe£t 
ofanechow^as fo perfedly imitated, that it 
was impoffible not to be ftruck with the re- 
femblance. 
The white woman being the only perfon in 
the horde who underftood Dutch, I could con- 
verfe with no one elfe. I fhall never forget, 
that when fhe was one day vehemently extol* 
ling the excellence of the country {he inha-s- 
bited^ fhe afferted, by way of convincing me 
of its fuperiority, that flie had nev^r feen a 
flea in it. According to her, this was a fin^ 
gular kindnefs of nature, and a peculiarity of 
the climate : but this fame nature, whofe pre- 
tended affcSion had protected it from fleas, 
had at the fame time not exempted it from 
another parafitical animal, in my opinion far 
more troublefome and difgufting, with which 
the poor w^man iwarmed as well as her fub- 
jeds, 
Another and ftill greater inconvenience, 
which diftinguiflhed this happy fpot, was the 
millions of flies and gnats, which formed fuch 
fvvarms, that th^ kraal was covered and thq 
