thinking to disengage it quietly with the other hand, both arms were
seized by these rapacious thorns, and the more I tried to extricate
myself, the more entangled I became; till at last it seized hold of
the hat also; and convinced me that there was no possibility for me
to free myself, but by main force, and at the expense of tearing all
my clothes. I therefore called out for help, and two of my men
came and released me by cutting off the branches by which I was
held. In revenge for this ill-treatment, I determined to give to the
tree a name which should serve to caution future travellers against
allowing themselves to venture within its clutches. *
On picking up from the stony ground, what was supposed a
curiously shaped pebble, it proved to be a plant, and an additional
new species to the numerous tribe of Mesembryanthemum-, but in color
and appearance bore the closest resemblance to the stones, between
which it was growing. On the same ground was found a species of the
Gryllus tribe amongst the stones, and so exactly like them in color
and even in-shape, that it could never have been discovered, had it not
been observed just at a moment when in motion; and as if more
completely to elude notice, it seldom stirred, and even then, but
slowly. The intention of Nature, in these instances, seems to have
been the same as when she gave to the Chameleon the power of
accommodating its color, in a certain degree, to that of the object
nearest to it, in order to compensate for the deficiency of its locomotive
powers. By their form and color, this insect may pass
unobserved by those birds, which otherwise would soon extirpate a
* Acacia detmens, B. Catal. Geog. 1628. Frutex 4 — 8-pedalis. (Vide iconem
capitulo xivto adjectam.) Spinæ 2 brevissimæ recurvas. Folia bipinnata, pinnis unijugis,
(sive, conjugato-pinnata). Folíola obovata. Peteoli pubescentes. Flores in capitulis
globosis. Legumen ovale complanaban membranaceum oligospermum.
At the Sand Pool I found new species of
Mesembryanthemum turhiniforme, C.G.
1630-2 Planta acaulis obconica,
supernè truncate obscure punctata.
Hermannia bipinnata. Ç. G. 1627.
Plante palinaris. Folia bipinnati-
fida. Flores inter majores.
Zjgopkylliim
Moræa
Marsilea
Justicia, 2 species
Cyanella
Acanthus ?
s p e c ie s so l i t t l e a b le to e lu d e it s p u r s u e r s , a n d th i s ju i c y l i t t l e
M e s em b r y a n th em um m a y g e n e r a lly e s c a p e t h e n o t i c e o f c a ttl e a n d
w ild a n im a ls . *
We agreed to rest a day at this place, as well to refresh our teams,
as to give the people an opportunity of hunting Elands, of which a
considerable number had been ,seen under the mountains. Those
who remained by the waggons, were busily employed in cutting up
the meat of the four Elands, brought home the day before, into large
slices generally less than an inch in thickness, which they hung on
the bushes to dry, as a stock to take home to Klaarwater. All the
b u s h e s around us, covered with large flaps of meat, Was to me, at
this time, a novel sight; but it was one of those to which,, in the
following years, I became completely habituated; as the nature of the
life we led, rendered it a regular business. The firmest and best
meat was, in this manner, cured without salt, in two or three days,
in proportion as the state of the weather was more or less dry.
The entrails, and other parts which had a greater tendency to putrefy,
were eaten while fresh.
Of the meat of a young Eland, which happened to be in good
case, I made my dinner, and considered it better tasted than the
finest beef; with which, in grain and color, it might be compared.
It seemed to possess a pure, game-like taste, which rendered it both
wholesome and easy of digestion.
Within the colony, this animal is becoming daily more scarce;
the boors, as well as the Hottentots, preferring its meat to that of
any other antelope, and therefore, on every occasion, hunting it with
the greatest eagerness. The principal cause of this preference, and
at the same time, a very remarkable circumstance, is, its being the
only one of the antelope genus, on which any considerable quantity
of fat is ever to be found; no other species yielding a hard fat
from which candles may be made. This remark, which probably
may be applicable to the whole genus of Antilope, and presents
* See also the remarks at page 226. of this volume.