222 JOURNAL OF A 
live in huts, constructed of reeds and rushes. The farmer and 
his wife were hardly civil to us, and we had to wait long for the 
relays, ordered to meet us at this place. Standing with Mr. Mel- 
ville and Brother Schmitt near a Hottentot hut, I heard a wo- 
man, with a good voice, singing a hymn to a very jiggish and 
trifling tune. I observed to my friends, how much it was to be 
regretted, that through ignorance and bad taste, such wretched 
compositions had been introduced, and were now sung by many 
congregations, instead of the grave and devotional old church- 
tunes, upon which a soldier, who stood near us, and every now 
and then had put in his unasked-for opinion on the subject of our 
discourse, interposed, and with much impertinence, cloaked in 
religious expressions, asserted, that the tunes were very fine, and 
pleased him wonderfully; " but," added he, " mayhap you are one 
of those gentlemen, who are enemies to the w^ork of faith." After 
a vain attempt to convince him, that an enemy of bad music might 
yet be a friend to a genuine w ork of faith, we left him to the en- 
joyment of the quavering song, and the satisfaction of having 
boldly opposed an unbeliever. It is by such rudeness, that ig- 
norant novices bring religion into disrepute with the world, for- 
getting the courteousness taught and practised by our Saviour 
and His apostles, as consistent with that humility and lowliness 
of spirit, which those should learn of Him, who profess to take 
His yoke upon them. 
We now proceeded towards the Zuurberg, and after some time, 
entered a w^oody country. In one place, a road has been cut 
through the bushes and wood, parallel to the old worn-out track. 
The nearer we approached the mountain, the more were we en- 
tertained with the surrounding scenery, the road winding through 
narrow valleys, or over eminences, covered or crowned with 
wood. On arriving at the foot of the mountain, which is very 
steep, the oxen made a dead stand, and it was long before they 
could be brought to go forward. When driven, they turned about, 
or backed, so as to endanger the safety of the waggons. Having 
