often so much swollen by the rains, as to be, for a day or two, quite
impassable.
The unfavorable state of the weather prevented our halting for
a minute to take a look around u s: the rain poured down in such
torrents, as frequently to shut out our view entirely. To a traveller,
nothing is more vexatious, both to his patience and to his
curiosity, than to find himself in the midst of beautiful scenery,
without being permitted to contemplate and admire i t ; or even to
catch a glimpse of it but through streams of rain. We rode nearly
three quarters of an hour before we cleared the mountains, and
entered upon the open road. The course, and frequent falls of
the river, prove that the valley of Roodezand lies at a considerably
higher level than the country westward of these mountains.
In such weather, we could not enjoy our ride through the
division of Drakenstein, which is accounted the most cultivated
and beautiful part of the colony. It lay on our left, and occupies
the fertile flat country, stretching along the foot of the mountains,
from Roodezands Kloof to the village of the Paarl.
We halted for a few minutes at the door of a farm-house, to
procure a cup of wine, when its owner, Piet Van der Merwe, wished
to persuade us to remain under shelter, offering, at the same time,
to have a fire lighted in one of the rooms, that we might dry our
clothes; but, as it was not possible for the rain to make us more
wet than we were, we resolved to proceed. We passed Paardeberg
(Horse Mountain), which was situated at a little distance on our
right, and Wagenmaker’s Valley on the left. The former was so
named from the Wilde Paard (Wild Horse), which, at that time,
inhabited i t ; for, at the present day, not one is to be found there.
This beautiful animal has been hitherto confounded by naturalists
with the Zebra*. When these were first described by modern
* “ Nous ne savons pas comment Buffon a pu dire que le zèbre mâle était rayé de
“ jaune et de noir, et la femelle de blanc et de noir.” — Cuvier; * Menagerie du Muséum
National,’ article Zèbre: which, according to the figure and description there given, is the
Equus montanus.
writers, the Quakka * was considered to be the female Zebra; while
both that and the true Zebra bore in common, among the colonists,
the name of Quakka. The Wilde Paard, named Dauw j by the Hottentots,
and a much scarcer animal than the other two, was never
suspected to be a different species, although it be far more distinct
from the Quakka and Zebra, than these are from each other.
The hoofs of animals destined by nature to inhabit rocky mountains,
are, as far as I have observed, of a form very.different from
those intended for sandy plains; and this form is, in itself, sufficient
to point out the Dauw as a separate species. The stripes of the
skin will answer that purpose equally well, and show, at the same
time, the great affinity, and the specific distinction, of the Ass.(Equus
Asinus), which may be characterised by a single stripe across the
shoulders. The Quakka has many similar marks on the head and
fore-part o f the body: the Zebra is covered with stripes, over the head
and the whole of the body; but the legs are white: and the Wilde
Paard is striped over every part, even down to the feet. The Zebra
and Wilde Paard may bp further distinguished from each other, by
the stripes of the former being brown and white, and the brown stripe
being double; that is, having a paler stripe within it f : while the latter,
which may be named Equus montanus, is most regularly and
beautifully covered with single black and white stripes. Added to
this, the former is never to be found on the mountains, nor the latter
on the plains. §
The most beautiful part of Drakenstein is Wagen-makers’ (Wag-
gon-makers’) Valley; and the Dal van Josaphat (Vale of Josaphat) is
not less pleasant. The farms lie nearer together, and population
and fertility appeared to increase in proportion as we advanced
towards the Paarl.
We approached the Berg river with some anxiety, lest it should
* Equus Qtiagga, of authors.
f Pronounced Dow, as in the English word dower.
i See the Vignette at the end of Chapter X I.
§. I have presented all these three animals to the British Museum, where the distinctions
here pointed out may readily be seen.
T 2