care of a stronger party. In a former year, when they preferred running
the risk of keeping them at the village in the Asbestos mountains,
out of eighty horses, there died of this distemper not fewer
than seventy.
14th. So favorable an opportunity for sending letters to my
friends in Cape Town and England, was not allowed to pass unheeded;
but the pleasure of so delightful a task, was considerably diminished
by not having it in my power to inform them, at the same time,
that every thing here succeeded equal to my expectations. For
I now began clearly to foresee some part of the difficulties in obtain-,
ing men for the journey. These difficulties I could not reftain
from expressing ; although, at that time, little aware of the turn they
were soon afterwards to give to all my movements;
My situation and sentiments, at this time, are' best expressed
in the words of my letters, which, «though written in haste, are
preferable, as being penned under the impression of present
circumstances. To my esteemed friend, Mr. Hesse, I wrote,
‘ My dear friend,-^An opportunity now .suddenly presents
g itself, for sending a letter to Cape Town, by some men
‘ who are going on horseback as far as the Roggeveld; and
‘ although I mean to reserve my principal and final communication
‘ till Mr. Jansz goes, which will be in about March or April, yet I
jj cannot lose this opportunity of letting you know that I am in very
‘ good health, and have found the journey pleasant and not too
‘ fatiguing, though very laborious in the scientific part of it, as so
‘ much new work every day claims my attention. We arrived at this
1 place, (Mr. A., &c. on the 20th of September, and I on the 30th,)
‘ without any other unpleasant occurrence than the want of water
‘ between the Karreebergen and the Orange river (Gariep) and the
‘ loss of two of my oxen, strayed away in the night. Since I have
i been at Klaarwater, I have made a month’s excursion, accompanied
‘ by Mr. Jansz, to explore the Zwart, the Vaal, and Modder rivers,
‘ three large branches of the Orange river ; where my party shot two
‘ Hippopotami. The tongue of one o f them is preserved for you,
‘ but the other, intended for our friend Polemann, was spoiled by
‘ the heat of the weather ; together with more than the half of the
meat. Here I had an opportunity of making some observations
‘ on the wild Bushmen; and really, what I saw has considerably
‘ cleared my ideas respecting human nature in an uncivilized state.
‘ In the light in which I view every thing that presents itself to me,
‘ I have derived the greatest gratification from this beginning of my
‘ journey. What pleasure, therefore, may I not promise myself, in
‘ proceeding to examine and study those tribes and nations which lie
‘ more northward ! I feel, indeed, that my means and abilities are
‘ not competent to so great a task; yet I shall certainly make the
‘ attempt: although, from the state in which affairs are at pre-
‘ sent, (having only two effective men), I do not consider it very
‘ probable that I shall accomplish the task I had assigned to myself;
‘ that of exploring the country as far as Benguela, or St. Paul de
‘ Loando. The chief obstacle to this is the want of men; for since
‘ the two that Dr. Cowan took with him from here, are not returned,
‘ there is not one individual who will venture on a similar journey;
‘ and, though I have been making incessant enquiries for men, none
‘ offered themselves till I assured them that I was not going on
‘ such an expedition as the late one, but would travel no farther
‘ than I found it safe; upon which two have agreed to accompany
‘ me. One was persuaded by Speelman, who is his cousin: and if
‘ I cannot procure more men at any other rate, I must give tip the
‘ idea of proceeding so far, unless I can hereafter, by promising some
‘ great reward, induce them to go forward. -Thus there is a proba-
‘ bility of my having the pleasure of seeing you, and my Cape
‘ friends, once more. I do not believe any one has witnessed much
‘ idleness in me since I left Cape Town; and it is not without
■ inconceivable labor that my collections in Natural History have
‘ been made, and are daily increasing. They at this time amount to
‘ 163 birds of 29 different genera ; about 400 insects,; a few small
■ quadrupeds, not having at present room in my waggons for the
‘ larger skins; about 1,000 species of plants; with mineralogical
‘ specimens, &c.; and 110 drawings of a variety of subjects. I have
‘ not been fortunate in the botanical part, as the weather has been