. FRIENDLY RECEPTION AT RIIZO’S KRAAL. 28,29 Fib .
We reached the Bushman kraal at a little before sunset. It consisted
only of three huts, where we found no one at home but the
women. They informed us that all the men were out hunting or in
search of food, but would return in the evening. They seemed
already satisfied of our friendly disposition, and appeared to rejoice
at the arrival of men with fire-arms, for- they immediately told us
that a hippopotamus had just that moment been heard snorting in
the river close by, and begged us go and shoot it for them.
At about eight the Bushmen came home, but we found that the
man whom we wished to see, and whose name was Biizo (Reezo),
had parted from them and gone to a kraal situated at a cbnsider-
able distance farther down the river. Our communication with
these people was attended with no difficulty, as three of our party
fortunately could speak their language; Hans Lucas, Ruiter, and
Nieuwveld t although the latter understood nothing of Dutch, but
was sufficiently acquainted with that dialect of the Hottentotish,
which is spoken by the people of Klaarwater.
One of these natives was therefore' immediately sent off to inform
Riizo of our wishes, and to desire him to come to us. In the
mean time I had the satisfaction of learning that he and some others
had long meditated an excursion to the southward, and, if it could
been done with safety, a friendly visit to the borders of the colony.
Our station, with all its living appendages of men and cattle,
presented a scene so romantic, so curious, and so fit for a picture, that
I employed the remainder of the daylight in making a drawing of
it. It was in a thick grove of acacias on the top of a high bank, at
the foot of which flowed the Gariep, extending its stream to a greater
breadth as it here changed the direction of its course, glittering
with the reflection of the warm harmonious colors of the western
sky, and the last rays of the setting Sun. Evening was quickly
leading forward the darkness of night, when the broad moon in unclouded
brightness rose to give us a day of milder and serener light,
and as she cast her beams obliquely through the branches of our
sylvan hall, made us forget the hour of rest, and pass our time as
if the night were not yet come. On one side the Bushmen and my
SCENE ON THE BANKS OF THE GARIEP. 1 7
own men mingled in a group round the fire, sat with mutual confidence,
talking and laughing with each other, or silently engaged in
smoking, though frequently taking the pipe from the mouth to
join in the laugh. The subject of their conversation I could not
discover; but the women were eager to bear their share in it, and it
was I believe merely a natural overflowing of pleasure which they
felt at receiving a present of tobacco. In another quarter, our patient
oxen lay quietly chewing the cud; and nearer at hand the sheep with
their heads turned towards the light, stood peacefully looking on.
Some of the dogs lay in different places, asleep at the foot of the
trees, while others familiarly took their place in the circle round the
fire. Various parts of our baggage, the guns and the saddle, the
karosses and skins of my Hottentots, were hanging on the branches.
Every nearer object within the grove was partially illuminated by
the blaze, and their reddened hue contrasted strongly the pale silvery
light which the bright moon shed on all without, and which here and
there gleamed between the stems, or played upon the thin and
feathery foliage. On the edge of the bank, under a wide-spreading
acacia of many stems, my own sleeping-place and baggage appeared
at the distance of a few paces, in a more retired situation; while
close at hand, but lower down the bank, stood my horse made
fast to one of the trees. Between the light foliage above our heads,
the twinkling stars enlivened our aerial canopy; and at that hour the
brilliant Sirius in the zenith, rivalled the brightest of the planets.
For a long time after I had lain down for the purpose of taking my
night’s rest, the novelty and singularly romantic character of the scene
kept me from sleep; and admiration at the objects by whicli I was
surrounded, gave rise to the most agreeable sensations and reflections,
the pleasure of which was enhanced more especially by the friendly
reception which, it now began to appear, we were likely to meet
with.
29th. I awoke long before sunrise, and watched the gradual
approach of day. As soon as the eastern sky began to assume
the rosy tints of morning, the moon faded slowly away, and a
VOL. II. I)