esteemed, and I have myself more than once seen a considerable uumber of colonists attending at the religious assemblies of the Brethren. In the year 1799, at the request of the three original missionaries, two others, of the names of Rose and Korhammer, were sent from Germany to join them; the former has now in Marsveld's place the direction of the whole institution, Both brought their wives with them, and brought over also wives for the Brethren already established, women of their own persuasion, who made no hesitation in crossing the seas to unite themselves in wedlock with persons wholly unknown to them. Since that time, the society has increased exceedingly both in numbers and importance. The same year the Brethren built a very neat church, from remittances sent them by the society in Europe, and the number of their disciples now amounts to nearly eleven hundred. Two hundred houses and huts, with gardens annexed to them, and built in regular rows, give this place the appearance of an European village; a sight which surprised me exceedingly, and for the first time brought in a lively manner to my mind the idea of my native country. Excepting this place, I never saw any thing in the whole colony bearing the least resemblance to a German village.

The five Brethren, with their wives, received us at the door of a house where they lived all together. One of them made a short speech to welcome us; after which, a chorus of perhaps a hundred Hottentots, men and women, ranged in two rows before the door, the women on the right hand, the men

to

on the left, sung a hymn, which was truly affecting and elevating to the heart. At first the whole number of voices sang the simple melody in slow time, then the verses were sung three voices t gether, by the men and the women alternately, and the melody was sung by two voices only till the last verse, when again they all join ed in chorus. I could not help remarking, that among all the men's voices there was not a counterbass, much less a bass. The natural tone of the voice of the Hottentots has a roughness, which makes ic little adapted to singing, yet it was by the low tones of their not over strained tenor, that the principal effect of the chorus was produced. In the full chorus the voices of the women were not to be distinguish ed above those of the men so much by their fulness as by their clearness and shrillness, but the strong⚫ est effect was produced when the men's voices predominated.

The Hottentots have a strong feeling of music, and are soon-impressed, with the harmony of our intervals; yet hitherto I had never supposed with these thin, and often sharp female voices, and these hoarse mens' voices, so much effect could be produced.

After we had rested a short time in the house, we were carried to a table extremely well set out, and all prepared by the good wives themselves, every one in her diffe rent department. Instead of a prayer before the meal, the five couple sang a verse of a hymn, and then with the utmost cheerfulness, and in a style equally removed from studied seriousness and from frivolity, entered into conver sation with us. This was carried

on in a manner which shewed so much correctness of thinking, and soundness of understanding, that our good opinion of them was increased at every moment: we were so well entertained that we did not break up the party till near midnight.

The next morning every different part of the institution was shewn to us; the church in the first place. It is a simple, neat quadrangular edifice, but the roof is too steep, and carried up to too sharp a ridge: this was done to give height to the building, and render it more conspicuous. With in are two rows of benches, and a simple pulpit; the utmost simplicity is, indeed, observable in every part of the building, but at the same time the due proportions are exceedingly well observed, and the workmanship is extremely neat. The timbers are all of sumach wood, the yellow tint and polish of which gives a sort of simple elegance to the appearance of the whole. The English government gave the Brethren permission to cut down as much timber as they wanted from the woods belonging to the company, free of expense.

By the side of the church is the garden of the pastors, in the midst of which stands the large old peartree, planted by Schmidt himself, the original founder of the institu tion: benches are standing under its shade, and this is a favourite place of resort among the Brethren. The garden is two hundred paces long, and about a hundred and fifty broad; it is well stored with all kinds of kitchen vegetables and pulse, and intersected all over with little channels, by which it is constantly well watered. Brother

Schwin, who is an excellent gardener, has the management of it. The churchyard is directly behind it, and is laid out exactly in the manner of the Herrenhuters in Germany: a walk divides it in two, on the right hand of which lie the men, on the left the women. The graves follow each other in regular rows, and the utmost care is taken of them: each has over it a little wooden cross, on which is inscribed the name of the deceased, his age, and the day of his death. The graves of two children of the Brethren have tomb-stones, and those of the Hottentots that had been baptized are distinguished from the rest.

The house inhabited by the Brethren has, besides the ball in which they assemble, and where they take their meals, two chambers for two of the couples, and various household conveniences; the other three couples lodge in small houses close by. Another house is appropriated to the manufacture of knives, of of which Kuhnel is the director, and which begins already to be very profitable. Four Hottentots were employed in it, who, when first they began learning had no pay; they are now paid wages by the day, and when they are perfect in their work are to be paid by the piece. The knives are strong and well made, and are much sought after at the Cape Town, though they are dear: pocket knives sell from a dollar to a dollar and a half. Kuhnel complained much of the want of tools, and the difficulty of getting them from Europe, so that he is obliged to make them almost all himself. Marsveld is the miller, and has built a water-mill after the European manner, in which

he

he grinds not only all the corn for the household and the Hottentots, but a great deal for the neighbouring colonists.

The church, with the nearest houses, lie in the deepest recess of the valley, at the foot of the Bavianskloof, from which, in winter, the water sometimes rushes with great force, so that it has more than once overflowed the whole valley. The channel has, therefore, lately been enclosed between two strong walls, and several bridges have been made over it; a work of no small labour, and affording an additional proof of the industry and activity of these people. The Brethren proposed carrying this canal on as a benefit to the lands lying without the valley, and when two years after I visited this spot, for the last time, it was already extended six hundred paces further.

But in order to form a just estimate of the worth of these excellent men, their manner of conducting themselves towards the Hottentots must be seen; the mildness, yet dignity with which they instruct them, and the effect which has already been produced in improving the condition of their uncivilized brethren, is truly admirable. It is the more astonishing, since all has been accomplished by persuasion and exhortation, no violence, or even harshness, has ever been employed. No other punishment is known but being prohibited from attending divine service, or being banished the society; but it is very rarely that they are obliged to have recourse to these things, only when repeated exhortations and remonstrances bave failed, and a determined perverseness of disposition appears,

which cannot otherwise be subdued.. The highest reward of industry, and good behaviour, is to be baptised and received into the society. Of this, however, they are so sparing, that the whole number of the baptised scarcely yet amounts to fifty. To the most distinguished among these the still higher honours are granted of being appointed to little offices in the church, such as elders and deacons. The latter are also, very naturally, from their diligence and industry, in the best circumstances of any of the community, and have houses built by themselves, not at all inferior to those of the colonists on the borders. The men are clothed like the peasants, in linen jackets, and leather small clothes, and wear hats; the women have woollen petticoats, cotton jackets, with long sleeves, and caps: the lower class are still clothed in skins, but they are made to keep themselves and their clothing clean, and no nakedness is permitted.

Every family of Hottentots has a garden behind the house, planted with vegetables, pulse, and fruit- trees, with a portion of land, according to the number of persons to be fed from it; this they cultivate themselves, under the direction of the father, as he is called, and they have the implements of agriculture and the seedcorn given them. Industry is rewarded by an occasional addition to the portion of land, negligence by being deprived of a part: but the Brethren still find a disposition to indolence, the greatest subject of complaint they have against their disciples: many of them will only gain their slender sustenance by the same occasional labours to

which they have been accustomed in the service of the colonists, by assisting in the harvest for example, by attending upon their cattle, or by working at their buildings. The women and children are left behind when they go out to work in this way, a burden upon the community, and are not without difficulty incited to gain a trifle, by working in the gardens of the Brethren, or of their more substantial fellowcountrymen. Those who are baptised are all Bastards, since among the pure Hottentots exhortation alone cannot produce a sufficient effect to induce them to throw aside their careless and indolent ways.

How much superior is such an institution to those that have been established in other parts of Southern Africa, by English and Dutch missionaries. While the Herrenhuters, wherever they have gone, have excited universal respect, and have endeavoured to inspire a spirit of industry, with a sense of true religion, while they have sought to make the savages men before they thought of making them christians, the missionaries above mentioned, with few exceptions, have shewn themselves idle vagabonds, or senseless fanatics, beginning their task of conversion by

teaching the doctrine of the Trinity, and baptising their disciples, and have concerned themselves little with seeking to give them habits of industry, to inspire them with the feelings of men: they have commenced with the superstructure, without thinking of laying the proper foundation by which it was to be supported. As all the communities of Brethren over the whole earth, at the same hour, morning and evening, are united in singing the hymn appointed for that day, so are they all inspired with an equal ardour in seeking tó arrive at the same goal. It is not among them single men that labour; it is the united strength of many thousands working together, and the fruit of their diligence and savings goes all into the com mon stock; the remotest branch is supported and nourished from the trunk. According to the testimony of the Brethren here, the little branch of which they have the care, notwithstanding the favours shewn it on the part of the government, has received in the eleven years that have elapsed since its establishment, no less than 25,000 dollars from Europe, and the yearly expenses seem rather to increase than diminish.

931

NATURAL

THE

HE whale, when full grown, is from 50 to 65 feet in length, and from 30 to 40 in circumference, immediately before the fins. It is thickest a little behind the fius, and from thence gradually tapers towards the tail, and slightly towards the neck. It is cylindrical from the neck until near about the junction of the tail and body, where it becomes ridged. The head has a triangular shape. The bones of the head are very porous, and full of a fine kind of oil. When the oil is drained out, the bone is so light as to swim in water. The jaw-bones, the most striking portions of the head, are from 20 to 25 feet in length, are curved, and the space between them is 9 or 10 feet, by 18 or 20. They give shape to the under part of the head, which is almost perfectly flat, and is about 20 feet in length, by 12 in breadth. The tongue is of great size, and yields a ton or more of oil. The lips, which are at right angles to the flat part of the base of the head, are firm

and hard, and yield about two tons of oil.

To the upper jaw is attached the substance called whalebone, which is straight in some individuals, and in others convex, The lamine or blades are not all of equal length: neither are the largest exactly in the middle of the series, but somewhat nearer the throat from this point they become gradually shorter each way. In each side of the mouth are about 200 lamina of whalebone. They are not perfectly flat; for besides the longitudinal curvature already mentioned, they are curved transversely. The largest lamina are from 10 to 14 feet in length, very rarely 15 feet in length. The breadth of the largest at the thick ends, or where they are attached to the jaw, is about a foot The Greenland fishers estimate the size of the whale by the length of the whalebone: where the whalebone is six feet long, then the whale is said to be a size fish. In suckers, or young whales still under the protection of