FOURTH JOURNEY. 117 
inquire whether there was any poffibility of proceeding on our ^779^ 
journey to the eaftward ; but of this the natives feemed una- ' — . — ^ 
ble to give us any information. We obferved that all thofe 
people had loft the firft joint of their little finger ; the reafon 
they gave for cutting it off was, that it was a cure for a parti- 
cular ficknefs to which they were fubje6l when young. 
The laft day we intended to remain at this part of the river, 
we employed in fifhing, and were vifited by our friends from 
the oppofite fliore. I obferved they eat, with a very good ap- 
petite, fome old fhoes which fome of our Hottentots gave them. 
Their own flioes are made of a piece of leather which merely 
defends the foles of their feet from thorns, and is in general 
faft-ened to their toes and ankle. As we obferved a great num- 
ber of huts along the iliore which were uninhabited, and yet 
found only eleven perfons dwelling in this part of the country,, 
we conjectured that by fome accident feveral of thefe people 
had perifhed. Thofe that remain are diftinguifhed by the 
name of the Shore Bolhmen. By a very accurate obfervation 
we found the mouth of the river to be in latitude twenty- 
eight degrees, thirty-three minutes ; the longitude differs but 
little from that of the Cape. 
The morning, of the twenty-fifth, we profecuted our journey 
to the eaftward, keeping along the banks of the river, being 
informed that there were many Hippopotami, one of which we 
were quite near ; but we had left our guns in the waggon, 
which occafioned us n;iuch vexation, as we had fcarcely any 
