VISIT TO SOUTH AFRICA. 
143 
and o-dt safe to shore. The thunder-showers of last night had 
considerably increased the waters of the brook, but the tide coming 
in, had now swelled it into the appearance of a large river, farther 
doAvn the valley. 
Having a desire to see the missionary institution called Hoogte 
Kraal, under the superintendency of the reverend Mr. Pacalt, 
sent out b}'^ the Missionary Society in London, we left the above- 
mentioned party to proceed alone to George, and turned to the 
right. The ascent from the brook led us to another grassy plain, 
intersected by two narrow and rocky glens, by which we arrived 
about six in the evening at Hoogte Kraal. We were received 
with much friendly attention by Mr. Pacalt, but not having a 
house spacious enough to harbour so large a party, he proposed, 
that we should put down our mattresses in his chapel, after the 
usual evening-service. This, however, did not begin till nine 
o'clock, to give the Hottentots time to return from their work in 
the neighbouring farms. Mean-while, the time was agreeably 
spent in conversation. At nine, the people were called together 
by the sound of a cow^s horn, blown by a maid-servant, in place 
of a bell. About a hundred men and women attended. The 
men and women sit separate, as in most foreign churches, on 
benches, and are addressed from a table and desk, as with us. 
The chapel is a temporary building, with one door at the gable- 
end. By a judicious arrangement, therefore, on leaving it, the 
women go out first, then the men, and the minister follows. The 
service consisted of two hymns, an exposition of a portion of scrip- 
ture, which this evening was the beginning of our Saviour's sermon 
on the mount, a prayer, and a concluding hymn. The voices of the 
congregation were excessively loud, and the tunes sung, some of 
the most lively now in use in some chapels in England, but, both 
in their character and the manner of singing them, bidding defiance 
to all solemnity and good taste. After Mr. Pacalt had spoken 
about two minutes, a woman began to make a strange tremulous 
noise. Supposing her to be suddenly seized with illness, I was 
