46 
JOURNAL OF A 
west of the farm. It is a steep bank, covered in most places with 
shrubs and brush- wood. A deep gully divides it from the hill, on 
which the burial-ground is situated, being the effect of torrents during 
the rainy season. The earth is everj^where coloured by iron, and of a 
deep brown or yellowish hue. The pebbles, with which the surface 
is plentifully strewed, are chiefly iron-stone, though mixed Avith some 
small fragments of quartz of so hard a texture, that it strikes fire, 
and was mistaken for flint. The waste produces some beautiful 
plants, among which I particularly noticed the Fahlblar, a species 
of aloe, the leaves of which are round, of a pale blue colour, and 
spreading near the ground, the stalk about a foot long, and the 
flowers, which are bell-shaped, and of a deep scarlet, hanging down 
in clusters. They adorn the bank behind Brother Schmitt's garden. 
3d. Being a day appointed for the candidates for baptism, to 
converse with the missionaries and receive their advice, I attended, 
and was much pleased with the unreserved manner, in which they 
expressed their thoughts and the state of their minds. Whoever 
charges the Hottentots with being inferior to other people of the 
same class, as to education and the means of improvement, knows 
nothing about them. They are possessed of good sense and even of 
considerable gifts, in speaking on various subjects, within the reach of 
their apprehension. Some accompany their speech with gesticula- 
tions, which are natural and very unlike the grimaces of certain 
Europeans. The manner of the missionaries in conversing with, 
and instructing them, struck me as peculiarly calculated to call forth 
their confidence, as well as to impress their minds with great serious- 
ness. When / ventured to address the Hottentots, I felt myself a 
great way behind these worthy men. 
While we were thus engaged, a letter announced the approach 
of the missionaries Marsveld and Bonatz from Gnadenthal, whose 
waggons were seen moving slowly across the waste from the Das- 
senberg. Men and women went out to meet them. It was to 
ine an affecting sight to see, with what joy the Hottentots bid them 
welcome as they alighted at the dooi-. They flocked round Father 
