and never had I felt the sun more powerful than on this occasion, the thermometer standing at 98° in the shade of my tent on the river's bank, and rising to 140° on exposure to the sun. Feeling now particularly anxious to ascertain how far distant we might be from Griqua Town, and in what direction it was situated, I made every inquiry of the Bushmen, who gave me to understand that they knew nothing of such a place; but that their chief Waterboer's kraal was about a day's journey on the other side of the river. We here found extremely useful the services of an active young Bush-boy, named Cupido, who had accompanied the farmer's son from Winterveldt. He had been brought up with the Boors, and spoke Dutch; we therefore made him our interpreter. Having with some difficulty prevailed upon one of the native Bushmen to accompany me to the "Groote kraal" of their Chief, which I conjectured to be the place I was in quest of, the next thing to be done was to convey our horses over the river, here about four hundred yards in breadth, and with an extremely rapid current. The Bushmen had a superstitious dread of crossing at the spot where we were stationed, saying, that it was "evil water," which often drowned people. They insisted on our going a considerable distance farther up, where they affirmed the water was good;" and where their women, from the opposite side, came down singing and clapping their hands, as if to soothe and pacify 66 the agitated stream, on which their husbands had embarked in their new capacities as horsemen. The Bushmen succeeded after much delay and trouble in swimming the horses across, although carried by the current a great distance down the river. While thus engaged, an immense cloud of locusts passed over our heads; they were the largest I had ever seen, and so numerous as literally to darken the sky, producing a dull rustling noise with their wings, as they continued their flight over our heads for upwards of an hour. The eastern writers have employed their pens in describing the desolating effects of these vast migratory flights of insects; but by none has the subject been so sublimely treated as by the prophet Joel, chapter ii. verse 2, &c. The horses having been at length safely conveyed across the river, the Bushmen cut down several trees, and having stripped off the bark, fastened them together, forming a sort of raft, on which I was launched upon the stream. Notwithstanding the exertions of some of the best swimmers among them, the raft was carried rapidly down the current, while the noise caused by their vociferating and plunging about in the water, was quite deafening. Having partially dried my clothes at a fire, which they had kindled on our landing, I soon mounted my horse, being very desirous of pursuing my journey towards Waterboer's kraal; but as the sun had gone down when I ascended the height from the river, in com pany with my Bushman guide, the prospect was somewhat gloomy. An interminable waste lay stretched before us, bounded in the distance by towering mountains through which we had to pass. The moon, however, shed her gentle light around our path; and on my inquiring of the Bushman when we might expect to arrive at the kraal, pointing to the moon, as she shone resplendently above us, he gave me to understand that we should not reach our destination much before dawn. Feeling exceedingly thirsty, I asked if we should find any water in our route, when he pointed to a spot in the deep valley which lay before us, and said, "There is the fountain." We descended, and taking a cautious survey, lest some of those wild animals so frequently found in such situations should be there lurking in ambush, we allayed our thirst at the muddy pool, which he had described by so alluring a title, and which had, to all appearance, been recently disturbed by some animals passing through it. Proceeding along the "dark kloof side,” we entered again upon an open plain, when the Bushman's keen eye discerned the glimmering light of a fire amidst the bushes. Dismounting immediately, he began to reconnoitre with great caution, and to listen most attentively as he advanced, but the only sound that broke the prevailing stillness was the lowing of cattle, evidently not far from us. Fearful that we might be approaching some marauding tribe, he seemed anxious to steal past them unobserved; but not participating in his apprehension, I proceeded towards the light, and on coming up found a party of natives asleep round the dying embers of a fire, under the shelter of some tall bushes; they had their guns by their sides, in readiness against surprise. We were enabled to approach and gaze upon the party without disturbing their slumbers, there being no dogs to give alarm,—rather an unusual circumstance among these people. On my uttering a loud shout, they sprang up and grasped their guns in an instant, glancing suspiciously round, and inquiring with some astonishment who we were, and whither we were bound. Perceiving that we were unarmed, and that there was nothing in our appearance to excite alarm, being satisfied also that we were alone, they sat down again, entered cheerfully into conversation, and afforded me the intelligence I desired respecting the place I was in search of. They mentioned that the country was in a very disturbed state, owing to a party of Griquas and Corannas having committed terrible depredations on a Zoulah Chief named Matakatzee, who had threatened vengeance in consequence, against all the Griquas; they were therefore fearful of his coming down to attack them, although not one of their Chief's people had been concerned in the aggression. Having, after some entreaty, obtained a draught of water from a large oxhorn which the natives are in the habit of carrying with them on crossing these desert plains, we left them to proceed on our journey: "Afar in the desert I love to ride, With the silent Bush-boy alone by my side: Where the white man's foot hath seldom passed, And the quiver'd Coranna or Bechuan A region of emptiness howling and drear, Which man hath abandoned from famine and fear; Like Elijah at Horeb's cave alone, 'A still small voice' comes through the wild Crossing the bed of a dried-up river, studded thickly with trees and bushes on either side, we disturbed a number of pintados, which had taken roost among the branches. Their sudden rising, as we sauntered heedlessly along, startled our horses, and threw us for the moment into considerable confusion. The ground in this neighbourhood was in many places so completely undermined by the burrows of various small animals, such as jennets or pole-cats, and ichneumons, that the horses sank up to their knees almost at every step. The moon now began |