ramble, which, according to the road we took, could not have been
le§s than twenty-five miles.
On the lM , Mr. Anderson came to . tell me that he had just
received a letter from the settlement at Klaarwater, in which his
brother-missionary, residing there, informed him that a party of
Hottentots from that place would arrive at Cape Town about the
middle of April, bringing with them the oxen necessary for the performance
of his journey, thither; it being his intention to return and
resume his labours at that station, from which he had now been absent
two years. Notice had also been given to him,- of a report which
had reached the Landdrost of Tulbagh, that five hundred emigrant
Caffres * had passed along the borders of the district of Graaffreynett,
in their way to the Gariep, or Orange River, on the banks of which
they had formed a strong and independent settlement, not far from
Klaarwater.
.Being a warlike set of men, discontented and irritated at the
treatment they had received from all quarters, *and at variance with
the colonists, he was apprehensive that they would make an attack
on any party travelling that way, which should not muster, strong
enough to defend itself against them ; and he therefore came to propose,
for our mutual safety and defence, as well against these Caffres,
as against the Bushmen j', that we should travel in company as far as
Klaarwater, if I could consent to put off my departure from Cape
Town, till the middle of May.
This proposal appearing objectionable, on account of the delay
it required, I hesitated in adopting it: but in ten .days afterwards,
* The word Cqffre, or Kaffer, is generally, at the Cape, applied exclusively to the
tribes inhabiting the country beyond the eastern boundary of the colony.
f This is often written Bosjesman, and Boschman, which being merely Dutch words
signifying men living wild among the bushes, and applied generally to several tribes of the
Hottentot race, I have preferred using the English orthography, viewing it rather as a descriptive,
than as a proper, name. They call themselves Sdqua; those, at least, who inhabit
the country southward of the Gariep. Yet it is difficult to avoid inaccuracy, in the
application of one collective name to a race of people who divide themselves into many
separate tribes.
having reconsidered all circumstances, I rode to Salt River, where
he was then residing, and finally agreed to join his party. I determined,
therefore, on giving immediately orders for the building of
my waggon. At the same time, it was recommended to me to hire,
for my waggon-driver, a Hottentot named Jan Tamboer, who, having
been as far as Litakun, would be found to be a useful and trustworthy
man, and who, as I was informed, was living somewhere in
the vicinity of Cape Town.
March 14th. After many ehquiries, I-at last learnt that this
Hottentot had enlisted into the Cape regiment, and was at this
time at the camp at Wyriberg. This gave me another opportunity
of enjoying the scenery along that road, certainly the most beautiful
ride within that distance of Cape Town. This ride was
rendered more than usually pleasant, by the extraordinary clearness
of the atmosphere, which had the curious effect of making
distant objects appear, comparatively, quite near : the St,ellenbosch
and Hottentot-Holland mountains, though twenty-seven miles distant,
seemed to be not more than three miles from us ; and Table
Mountain might have been fancied almost close over our heads. The ■
clefts and divisions of the rocks, were as plain and distinct as if
viewed through a telescope. This phenomenon was, perhaps, the
effect of the south-easter, which had been blowing with great violence
during the two preceding days; and, as I have observed a
similar kind of effhct from a continued heavy rain, succeeded by
a cold and clo'qdiess day, it may possibly be explained by the supposition,
that these two causes operate in clearing the air of all haze
and imperceptible vapors ; notwithstanding the contrary opinion, that
moisture produces transparency, and that the densest haze is observed
in calm hot days. But that opinion is applicable only to
solid bodies ; and from this it can only be inferred, that the heat of
the day extracts the hazy vapour from the earth or sea, at a time
when there is no current of air, which, if warmer, would dissipate, or,
if colder, condense i t
By the politeness of Dr. Glaeser, the surgeon of the regiment,
K