primitive formation; and on this, rtest the laminated argillaceous
mountains. This limestone rock in no place rises into mountains,
but often forms the surface of a great extent of country. I never
saw in it any marks of extraneous fossils. The soil on the higher
grounds surrounding the valley, is remarkably red, being a mixture
of sand and clay, which produces bushes and a variety of plants; but
is subject to great drought during the summer.
The number of Hottentot houses immediately round the church,
is not greater than twenty-five*; but at a distance, within the same
valley, nearly as many more are scattered about; and there are three
* The view o f Klaanmtcr, represented in Plate 8, was taken from the rocky ridge
above-mentioned, and shows the whole of the village, and the surrounding country.
The mat-houses of the Hottentots may be distinguished by their hemispherical form.
The largest oblong building is the church, or meeting-house; in a line with which stand
the dwellings of the missionaries, and their storehouses. In a line just above the church,
are seen the trees of the garden, the tallest of which are the Gariepine willow; the rest are
peach-trees. The waggon on the left, is proceeding on the road towards Ongeluks Fontein,
a part of which is seen crossing the ridge in the distance. Above the waggon is the willow-
tree, the history of which is given under the date of the 9th of December following. Behind
the waggon, the foundations of a new meeting-house are conspicuous; near which is
the conical thatched hut used as a storehouse. Another round thatched building, in a line
below the fire, is also a storehouse. Various huts of the Hottentots are scattered in the
distance. Near the church and dwelling-houses, the missionaries’ waggons are, according
to the practice of the Cape colony, stationed in the open air; sheds for such purposes being
very rarely seen among the boors. The centre of the picture is occupied by the kraals, or
pounds, for oxen and sheep, fenced in with large branches of trees. The mead is distinguished
by a more verdant colouring. In the distance, my own station is pointed out by
the two waggons, and the party of visitors assembled round our fire. Behind ft low rocky
hill on the right, in the middle distance, the top of a waggon marks the spot of the sleeping
scene represented in the engraving at the end of this’ volume; and the waggon a little
further to the left, at the point of the same hill, shows the place where my waggons were
stationed during my absence to Graaffreynet. On both sides of this rocky hill, the waters
collected in the mead find an dutlet along the valley to Leewwenkuil (Lion’s-den). The
road from the Asbestos Mountains descends just behind the bushy ridge' on the left of the
picture. In the foreground, various groups of Hottentots are seen basking in the sun;
some sitting smoking or conversing at the door of their huts; some-stretched out upon
sheepskins spread on the ground; one on the left of the picture preparing a skin for
leather; three on the right, beating a large vel-kombdars (or sheepskin coverlet), a frequent
and very necessary operation. Of the bushes on the foreground, some are of the
kind described at page 348, under the name of Spartium cuspidosum, and others, a new
Rhus, specifically designated by that of concinmm.