426 A JOURNEY IN 
gro\^e of mimosas ; erected an altai' on ■whicli he encou- 
raged these sill}'' peojyle to make their offerings selected from 
the best of their flocks and herds ; with solemn mummery he- 
burned part of the victim, and appropriated the rest to him- 
self; sometimes taking the advantage of a thunder-storm, or 
of the overflowing of the river, he was more exorbitant in 
his demands, and even found it expedient to require the 
young damsels to be brought to the temple. He carried this 
religious mockery still farther. At a little distance behind the 
wood there was a mountain of a considerable height, whicli 
this high priest of his own constituted religion regularly 
ascended every morning quite alone, on the summit of which 
he was generally seen Avrapped in a volume of smoke, occa- 
sioned by his setting fire to the dry grass, or making a blaze 
with gunpowder. He ascended this mountain, as he pre- 
tended to the ignorant Hottentots, in order to receive his 
instructions from heaven ; but the real fact was that, inde- 
pendent of the view he had of imposing on the simple 
Koras^ he marched to the summit of this hill, commanding 
an extensive view over the plains to the southward, to ascer- 
tain whether the officers of justice were in pursuit of him, an 
event of which the appearance of waggons at a distance 
would have given him timely notice to effect his escape. 
These impious proceedings being at length communicated 
to the missionaries of the gospel, they resolved, if possible, to- 
seize the culprit, and to deliver him into the hands of justice-; 
but this sly impostor being apprized of their design, aban- 
doned his temple and his fl.ocky and fled towards the western^ 
4 
