SOUTHERN AFRICA. 
to affign a place to the whale in the fame clafs with liiim.cn 
beings. 
By indolent habits, excefs of food, and fondnefs for indulging 
in fleep, they become no lefs grofs in their perfons, than vul- 
gar in their manners. A young lady defcribed the Cape and its 
inhabitants in very few words. De menfchen %yn mole dik en vet 
de huizen moei wit en groen. " The people are all nice and plump ; ; 
" the honfes are prettily 'whiteivajloed and painted green^"* I be«- 
lieve there is no country in the world that affords fo large a 
proportion of unwieldy and bulky people; and I am certain 
there is none where the animal appetites are indulged with lefs 
reftraint, the moft predominant of which are eating and drink- 
ing, or where the powers of body or mind are capable of lefs 
exertion. " When the Devil catches a man idle he generally 
" fets him to work," is a proverb which is every day exempli- 
lied at the Cape of Good Hope. They are adive only in raif- 
chief; and crimes againft morality meet with applaufe if the 
end be fuccefsful. A man, who in his dealings can cheat his 
neighbour, is confidered as a Jlim menfch^ a clever fellow ; even 
dealing is not regarded as criminal, nor does it materially affedl 
the charader of the thief. Truth is not held as a moral virtue, . 
and lying paffes for ingenuity. 
There is a great want of affection among near relations; it 
has been obferved, indeed, that there are fcarcely two brothers 
in the Cape who will fpeak to each other. The manner in 
which children are brought up, and in which the economy of 
a. family is managed, is little favourable to locial intercoui fe, or 
likely 
