labor of such an expedition, and wherein so much depended on the
good qualities of these animals.
April 8th. Our equipment consisted of a horse and a small portmanteau
each, to which I added some requisites for drawing, and a
few other instruments of little bulk and weight. Early in the
morning we commenced our journey, and, passing Roodebloem. and
Salt-river, entered upon the Kaapsche Duinen, (or Cape Downs) and
the Sandy Isthmus, the whole length of which lay in this day’s ride.
The numberless tracks and roads by which it was traversed in every
direction, made us often at a loss to decide which we should take;
but as the greater proportion of these lead to Hottentot-Holland
Kloof, which we had always in sight, though at a great distance,
that beacon was our only guide.
These downs are covered with bushes three or four feet high,
and the soil appeared to be everywhere the same as that which has
already been noticed * ; a loose white sand, of a depth varying from
one to five feet, with a substratum of hard clay. Springs of. fresh
water are very scarce on these flats ; but it is probable that by digging
through the clay, wells would supply a sufficient quantity to
render them habitable. Here and there are scattered a few solitary
huts of Hottentots, who earn a living by collecting fire-wood, or by
attending such cattle as are kept on this miserable pasture, where
they have no other support than browzing on the hard dry shrubs
and rushes.
As we approached the Eerste river j* (the First river) or the
Stellenbosch river, as it is sometimes called, several picturesque
scenes present themselves. Hillocks of pure, snow-white sand in
the foreground, contrasted with, and backed by, the blue of the distant
lofty mountains, have a singular and pleasing effect.
Having ridden all the forenoon over nothing but deep sands, and
* See SItf January, at pages 58 and 54.
f This would be more correctly written Eerste rivier, according to Dutch orthography
; but in this and in every like case it will, perhaps, be more convenient to usé
the English word river.
our horses beginning to grow weary, we halted about one o’clock at
the Eerste river, at the house of an opulent farmer named Meyburg.
Here we were immediately invited to take our seat at the family
table, where we found several other travellers, who, in the same
manner, had halted there merely with the intention of taking their
dinner. This house, and many others along the roads most frequented,
is seldom free from visitors of this kind, who often have
but slight pretensions to any previous acquaintance with their hospitable
host.
At the Eerste river the sand downs cease, and are succeeded
by a more fertile soil. ' Here we entered the level tract of country
called Hottentot-Holland *, in the middle of which is a large grassy
mountain called Schaapenberg (Sheep-hill). Our road now became
very good and hard, and the country assumed a more rural appearance
; with houses and farms, at short distances from each other,
and several rivulets of good water. It is along these rivulets that
the houses are generally situated; most of them being large white
buildings of respectable appearance. This country produces good
corn, and, with a proportionate increase of labouring population,
would probably yield ten times its present produce. As we advanced,
False Bay came in view; and as day-light faded away, an
atmospherical effect was produced on the mountains, by which they
seemed to be nearer to us than they really were. We continued the
last hour of our ride by moonlight, and arrived at the place called For-
tuintje, belonging to a gentleman named Watermeyer, where his servant,
an Englishman, in consequence of a letter we brought from
him, provided us with a supper and good beds. This place is not
more than a moderate walk from Vischer’s-hoek (Fishermen’s corner),
* In Dutch this word would be more correctly written Hottmlotsch Holland; but it
has been thought unnecessary in this, and in similar cases, to adhere rigidly to the proper
orthography; conceiving it to be more convenient to adopt an Anglicised mode of writing
such words as do not differ much in the two languages. This name, in English, might
be written more strictly Hattejitottisk Holland; but the term Hottentold Holland is - an
erroneous interpretation of the name.