118 
DU TOIT'S 
13, 14 April, 
as travelling in distant parts of the colony ; game and wild beasts ; 
Bushmen and CafFres ; oxen, sheep, and pastures, a boor carries 
on a conversation with considerable interest, as these are to him 
subjects of chief importance. But in respect to the cultivation 
of mental capacity, and an extensive variety of ideas, it is unrea- 
sonable to expect more in a Dutch peasant of this colony than 
we can meet with in the peasantry of Europe. To cast this re- 
proach on the boors of the Cape, as a national character, is an 
act of injustice, which, if not to be excused by ignorance, must 
be attributed to some worse motive. 
At about half an hour after nine, all retired to rest ; some to a 
mat on the floor in the voorhuis (entrance-room, or hall), which 
is a large room used for general purposes, and occupying the middle 
and principal part of the ground-floor; the master to the bed- 
room at one end of the voorhuis, and the guests to a small chamber 
at the other. 
Those bearing the name of Du Toil are said to be the descend- 
ants of one of those Protestant French families spoken of in the 
third chapter, as having fled to the Cape to avoid religious per- 
secution. It is a singular instance of complaisance, that they them- 
selves have relinquished the French pronunciation of their name, 
and adopted that of the boors their neighbours, speaking it as 
if written in English, Du Towey. 
I'Uh. The next morning, we were shown his kraal ^ or cattle- 
pound, in which he had not less than a hundred oxen and cows ; but of 
those which he had for sale, none appeared fit for my purpose. His 
income depended chiefly on the produce of his vineyard ; and, since 
the Cape has been in the hands of the English, it has yielded a much 
greater profit than before. In his, as in most of the gardens of these 
districts, I noticed all the common culinary vegetables of Europe ; 
and, of fruit-trees, the peach, apple, pear, apricot, fig, banana or 
plantain, guava, orange, lemon, mulberry, and medlar, seemed to 
thrive perfectly well. 
The quince-tree formed the usual hedges of the gardens in 
most parts of the colony j which purpose they answer exceedingly 
