SOUTHERN AFRICA. 243 
been accustomed, and soon become capable of prompt and 
vigorous action. 
The Dutch sailors, it seems, are always glad of an oppor- 
tunity to serve in English ships, where they have the reputa- 
tion of being a quiet, orderly, and obedieut people. The 
manner in which they are fed, in their own ships, is little 
calculated to give them encouragement. The captains of the 
men of war are, at the same time, the pursers ; and they 
feed their men by contract, which, stipulating for quantity 
only, leaves the quality to tlie discretion and the conscience 
of the captain. The Dutch ships of war that were sent out, 
with the governor and troops on board, to take possession of 
the Cape, had a remarkably long passage, which occasioned 
the Dutch sailors on board our ships to observe, that the cap- 
tain's musty peas, rancid pork, and black bread were not 
consumed, before which it would not be his interest to come 
into port where better articles were to be had. The same 
sailors got hold of some of their bread, which they carried 
through the streets of Cape Town, tied to the end of a stick, 
by way of a joke, it being so very black as to have more 
the appearance of animal excrement, baked in the sun, than 
of bread. 
On the present plan of navigating their ships, the Dutch 
would find it impracticable to proceed from Europe to India 
without breaking the voyage. The unfavorable form of their 
vessels for moving quickly through the water, the little sail 
they carry, especially by night, the economical plan in which 
they are fitted out, forbidding the use of copper sheathing, 
I I 2 
