AFRICAN EXPLORERS OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 91 
aspect of the Cape had completely changed. When the 
traveller left he admired the modest bearing of the 
Dutch women ; on his return he found them thinking 
only of amusement and dress. Ostrich feathers were 
so much in vogue that they had to be imported from 
Europe and Asia. All those brought by our traveller 
were quickly bought up. The birds which he had sent 
A GROUP OP OSTRICHES. 
to the colony on every possible opportunity now 
amounted to one thousand and twenty-four specimens ; 
and Mr. Boers’s house, where they were kept, was con¬ 
verted into a regular natural history museum. 
Le Vaillant’s journey had been so successful that he 
could not but wish to begin another. Although his 
friend Boers had returned to Europe, he was able, with 
the aid of the many other friends he had made, to collect 
the materials for a fresh trip. On the 15th June, 1783, 
