48 
TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 
7uiy ^^4^P^^^^ human beings. When a ftranger vifits them, 
■— >^ — ' he is treated with the greateft hofpitaUty ; and every thing 
they have is at his command. This, in general, is the cafe 
throughout the whole country. We proceeded on our jour- 
ney this day only about ten miles ; and in the evening came 
to a very mean cottage under the mountain. The inhabitants 
were poffelTed of a very large herd of cattle, particularly flieep ; 
but at this feafon many die of a difeafe, which they term, the 
Burning Sicknefs, in which they lofe moft of their hair. At 
this place is a palTage over the mountain ; but there was now 
no poffibility of croffing it ; we, therefore, proceeded to the 
weflward, by the dire£tion of the boors, where they affured us 
we Hiould find a much better pafs. At night we came to a 
fmall fiream of water, where we refted. Here I colle6led 
many curious plants of Geraniums, Ixias, Morseas, Gladiolufes, 
Sec. and alfo a moft beautiful fpecies of Euphorbia. 
After leaving this place, we directed our courfe north by 
weft, through a hilly country. On our way we faw feveral 
huts, which we fuppofed to belong to Hottentots ; but they 
proved fuch as I before defcribed, the winter refidence of the 
Dutch boors. At one of thefe huts was an European woman 
who had been wounded in the arm with a poifoned arrow. 
Great pains had been taken to cure her, but to no purpofe ; 
for at different periods of the year, an inflammation came on 
which was fucceeded by a partial mortification. She informed 
me, that the wound was not long in healing up; but that 
in two months afterwards there was a certainty of its break- 
ing out again ; and this had been the cafe for many years. 
