1811. 
VISITORS FROM THE KRAAL. 
331 
They introduced themselves first by a sakitation of Dag Mynheer ! * 
and then proceeded to admire the make and strength of the wag- 
gon ; which, although I was sitting within, writing, they uncere- 
moniously shook, in order to know whether it ran lightly or heavily. 
One, having satisfied himself of its good qualities, proposed to ex- 
change waggons with me, and foolishly offered to give ten oxen into 
the bargain, although his own was quite new, and just arrived from 
the Cape : he was much vexed at his proposal being rejected. 
Another offered his services as huntsman during my stay at the 
Kloof, for which he wished to have, as a remuneration, the half of 
the game he might shoot. Some experience which I had acquired 
on the journey, induced me to suspect that, after supplying him 
with a great deal more powder than he would use, I should get only 
a share of my share of the game. The value of gunpowder naturally 
increases in the proportion of the distance from Cape Town ; and it 
was already become too valuable, and of too much importance, to 
allow us to waste a single charge. On declining his services, he still 
continued, for some time, begging for ammunition. Many others 
solicited, with equal importunity, for the same article, but with no 
better success. 
Each visitor, as soon as a few minutes had passed after the first 
salutation, and a few of my questions answered, began to beg strenu- 
ously for some article in the waggon ; and, when that was refused, 
asked, unabashed, for something else : for it appeared that nothing- 
would come amiss, and that every thing they saw, seemed, in their 
* With respect to the pronunciation of the various Dutch names which occur in these 
travels, the following remarks should have been added to those contained in the note at page 1 5 
of this volume. The D at the end of words, or syllables, may be pronounced as a T; 
and the G, in similar situations, as a K. The G has a peculiar guttural sound, especially 
at the commencement of words ; but which there is no necessity, for the present purpose, 
to aim at acquiring. It may be partly represented by imaginino^ such words spelled with 
a Gil. The V at the beginning of words may be spoken as if it were an F; and the Z in 
like places sounds as an S. 
By attending to these precepts, together with those for the vowels at page 1 5, the 
English reader may, if not approach to a correct jx)nunciation, at least avoid a ridiculous 
one. 
u u 2 
