(Sparrow) *, a bird of about the size of the common sparrow, having
red feet, a long tail, and a cinereous brown-coloured plum-
age; the Capoc-vogel (Cotton-bird) f , so called on account of its
curious bottle-shaped nest, built of the cotton-like down of certain
plants; its manners and singing verj much resemble those of the
common wren: and a kind of finch j., of A ferrugineous brown color,
having a white collar and black head.
One of the missionaries’ oxen, which was much worn out b j
fatigue and sickness, died at this place. Its flesh, not being considered
eatable, was left on the spot where it fell, as food for the
crows and vultures; a food with which they are too often supplied
by the passage of this dreary Karro, where, from want of water and
pasturage, many an ox has fallen a sacrifice in the service of man.
The Hottentots of our party soon took off the hide, which they
cut in small pieces, for the purpose of making vehckoen § (hide-
shoes), as every man is his own' shoemaker. With this view, these
pieces, after their animal juices have been allowed to dry out, are
greased, and beaten or hammered, till half tawed, or reduced nearly
to the state of leather. The hide of an ox being too thick for any
other part than the sole, they use for the upper-leathers the skin of
goats, or any other kind equally pliable. They are sewed together
■with thread made of the sinews ||, taken from each side of the backbone
of sheep or goats, in such a manner that the stitches are all on the
inside, and which, passing but half through the sole, never wear out
or break away. There is another mode of making the hide-shoe, much
more simple, as consisting of a single piece,' and formed without any
* Perhaps Muts-vogel (Cap-bird), from its crest; or, possibly, M u is-w g d (Mousebird).
Colitis erytbropm of Linnaeus; L e Coli'ou Bj do's Wane of that beautiful work by
L e Vaillant, “ VH is to ir e NatureUe dcs Oiseaux (FAfrique” pianche 257.
The genus Colitis appears, in a Natural arrangement, to have some affinity with the
Corythaix of Illiger; Cuculus Persa of Linnaeus.
f Malurus of Cuv.; Motacilla macroura, Linn; Syst. Nat. ed. Gmel. vol. i. p. 953.;
L e Capocier, Le Vaili. Ois. (TAfr. pi. ISO.
t Fringilla; Loxia, Linn.
$ Or, as some pronounce it, Veld-schoen (Country-shoes).
I) The Iemgissimus dorsi, and the Spinalis dorsi.
sewing : it is, by applying to the foot a piece of fresh bide with the
hairy side outwards, and of such a shape as will just wrap round and
enclose it. All along the edge, excepting that part which turns up
behind the heel, a number of small holes are made, to receive a narrow
thong of leather, by which the hide is drawn tight round the
foot,, where it must remain till dried sufficiently to retain its form.
It is a great objection to hide-shoes, that wet softens them so much,
that, in that state, they can scarcely be kept on the feet ; and that
they beeome extremely hard and stubborn in dry weather, when the
soles are often rendered by use so slippery, as to put the wearer in
continual danger of falling. Hide-shoes are generally worn by the
Hottentots ; but many of the boors seldom wear any others.
Our oxen having nearly exhausted all the water, leaving only a
few muddy draughts for those who might happen to come after us, we
resumed our journey in the afternoon, and, the road being very good,
travelled at a brisk rate for six hours, without halting. Each waggon,
agreeably to a rule we established, took its turn each day in leading
the van, in order that every driver might bear a share in the care
and attention required in driving the foremost team, which would be
continually swerving from the track, unless restrained by the ox-
leader. All the other teams gave .scarcely any trouble in guiding
them, as each one followed instinctively in the footsteps of the
preceding.
The Bokkeveld Karro is covered chiefly with various species
of Fig-marigolds, of which a shrubby thorny kind*, with purple
flowers, was the most abundant, and the most widely diffused. About
the- end of the rainy season, the Karro is said to assume a verdant
hue, from the vast number of smaill plants which then make their
transitory appearance above ground.
At such times the rivers are filled with water, even enough,
sometimes, to stop the passage of waggons. But all these streams
are periodical, and, like the vegetable clothing of the country through
* Mesembryanfhénium spinosim, Linn.