at the wool of European sheep would,
by no means, make up for their deficiency in this respect.[86] Indeed, I
have heard some sensible men here make the same observation. And there
seems to be foundation for it. For, admitting that European sheep were
to produce wool of the same quality here as in Europe, which experience
has shewn not to be the case, the Dutch had not hands, at the Cape of
Good Hope, to spare for the manufacturing even their own clothing. It is
certain that, were it not for the continual importation of slaves, this
settlement would have been thinner of people than any other inhabited
part of the world.

[Footnote 86: "The most remarkable thing in the Cape sheep, is the
length and thickness of their tails, which weigh from fifteen to twenty
pounds. The fat is not so tallowish as that of European mutton, and the
poorer sort use it for butter."--_Kolben's Cape of Good Hope_ (English
translation), vol. ii. p. 65. De la Caille, who finds every thing wrong
in Kolben, says, the weight of the tails of the Cape sheep is not above
five or six pounds.--_Voyage de la Caille_, p. 343. If the information
given to Captain Cook may be depended upon, it will prove, that, in this
instance at least, Kolben is unjustly accused of exaggeration.--D.

According to Mr Bingley and others, the tail of this sheep sometimes
weighs nearly one-third of the whole carcase, and consists of a
substance intermediate betwixt fat and marrow, which is often used
instead of butter. The fleeces are very fine, long and beautiful; and,
in Thibet, where the breed is also found, are worked into shawls. A
similar breed is said to be found in other countries, as Barbary,
Ethiopia, the vicinity of Aleppo, Persia, and Asiatic Russia. Kolben's
account is conceived to be perfectly credible.--E.]

While the ships were getting ready for the prosecution of our voyage,
some of our officers made an excursion to take a view of the
neighbouring country. Mr Anderson, my surgeon, who was one of the party,
gave me the following relation of their proceedings.[87]

[Footnote 87: In the Philosophical Transactions, vol. lxvi. p. 268 to
319, is an Account of Three Journies from the Cape Town into the
Southern Parts of Africa, in 1772, 1773, and 1774; by Mr Francis Masson,
who had been sent from England for the discovery of new plants, towards
the improvement of the Royal Botanical Garden at Kew. Much curious
information is contained in Mr Masson's account of