to it from the day of its birth. While her head was turned aside to
talk to her companions, I drew a sketch of her unperceived. •
From the concurrent assertions of all the Hottentots, I now
learnt the singular fact, that the teeth of the Bushmen do not, in the
course of time, decay, as those of most other nations do; but become,
in old age, quite ground down by use, in the same manner as
those of sheep. I have frequently, in corroboration of this, noticed
that the front teeth of old people had the appearance of being worn
down to mere stumps; but 1 confess I never had an opportunity of
confirming it by a closer examination, and therefore leave the assertion
as I found it.
We plentifully feasted these poor creatures, and, I believe, made
them happier than they had been for a long while. Through an
interpreter, they asked me my name, and expressed, in artless terms,
how much pleasure I had given them by so bountiful a present
of tobacco. Desirous of transfusing into the minds of others those
powerful feelings of interest which I myself experienced on beholding
and conversing with this little family of Bushmen, heightened by
the consideration that I now stood amongst them on their own soil,
I never, more than at this moment, longed to possess that command
of language, and that talent of descriptive representation, which
might enable me to impart all those peculiar sensations with which
my first interview with this singular nation, inspired me.
When we departed from Lions’ Fountain, the whole of this
party left us, excepting three, whom we prevailed upon, by a promise
of some sheep and tobacco, to accompany us, for the purpose
of guiding us from one spring to another, till we reached the Great
* An engraving from this drawing is given at the end of the chapter. The meagre
proportions there observed are such as are common to these people. A description of
the Hottentot dress in general, will be found in Chapter XVI., under the date of the
28th of October. I t will suffice, at present, to explain, that in this figure it is entirely of
leather, and that the jore-kaross or apron, consists of a great number of thin strips of
leather, resembling cords; or, .to speak more exactly, of two or three leathern aprons cut
completely into strips, excepting only the upper edge, by which it is tied round the waist.
river; as we supposed that, by taking a new route, either to the right
or the left, we should have a greater chance of falling in with water;
for it was known that, in the usual track* it was every where nearly
dried up. There was no doubt that the natives, who daily roam in
all directions, were acquainted with every spring; and we even
offered them as many live sheep as there were waggons in our
caravan, if they would conduct us by a route in which water could
be found at all seasons of the year.
In the evening we reached Klip Fontein (Rock Fountain), and
collected the waggons together on a stony level, just above the
spring.
9th. Daylight the next morning brought to view a desolate,
wild, and singular landscape. From our station on the top of a
steep descent, the mountains of the Karreebergen (Dry Mountains)
appeared before us. The only color we beheld was a sterile brown,
softened into azure or purple in the distance: the eye sought in vain
for some tint of verdure; nothing but rocks and stones lay scattered
every where arourid. But that which rendered the view most remarkable,
was the form of the mountains, presenting a multitude of
flat, broad, level tops, and creating the idea of a congress of Table
mountains. These were but a small part of the Karreebergen, a
range which consists of an innumerable assemblage of mountains, all
of this kind without exception, forming a belt across the country of
from five to ten miles in breadth, and stretching out of sight on
either hand, apparently m a north-westerly and south-easterly direction.
Their extent is quite unknown, as they have never been
traversed in any other part than that in which they were now
crossed by us.
I made a careful sketch of a portion of this view, including, in
the foreground, a part of our caravan; the various groups of which
always formed both picturesque and interesting objects.
After this I was obliged to dedicate a couple of hours to the
business of putting dry paper to my botanical specimens; which,
being a mere mechanical employment, and recurring almost every