80 
AFRICA AND ITS EXPLORATION. 
many excursions in the neighbourhood, and attempt the 
somewhat dangerous ascent of the Table Mountain. By 
these means he became acquainted with the manners and 
customs of the Boers, and their treatment of their slaves. 
The violence of the latter was so great that the inhabi¬ 
tants of the town were obliged to sleep with locked 
doors, and provided with fire-arms close at hand. 
Nearly all over the colony a rough hospitality en¬ 
sured a certain welcome for the traveller. Sparrman 
relates several curious experiences of his own. 
“ I arrived one evening,” he says, “ at the dwelling of 
a farmer named Van der Spooei, a widower, born in 
Africa, and father of the proprietor of the Red Constance, 
or the Old Constance. 
“ Making believe not to see me approach, he re¬ 
mained stationary in the entry of his house. As I 
approached him he offered his hand, still without 
attempting to come forward, and said, ‘ Good day ! You 
are welcome ! How are you ? T Vho are you ? A glass of 
wine perhaps ? or a pipe % Will you partake of some¬ 
thing ? ’ I answered his questions laconically, and 
accepted his offers in the same style as they were offered. 
His daughter, a well-made girl of some fourteen or 
fifteen years of age, brought in dinner, which consisted 
of a fine breast of lamb, stewed with carrots. The meal 
over, she offered me tea so pleasantly that I was quite 
puzzled whether to admire the dinner or my charming 
hostess the most Both father and daughter showed 
the greatest kindness and good will. I spoke to my 
host several times, in hopes of breaking his silence ; but 
his replies were brief; and I observed that he only once 
commenced a conversation himself, when he pressed me 
to remain overnight in his house. I bid him farewell, 
deeply impressed with his hospitality.” 
Sparrman undertook several similar expeditions, 
among others, one to Hout Bay and Paarl, in which he 
had frequent occasion to notice the exaggerations to be 
met with in the narrative of Kolbe, his predecessor. 
He intended to continue his explorations during the 
winter, and projected a journey into the interior, when 
