CHAPTER VI.
R ETURN FROM GRAAFFREYNET TO TH E BOUNDARY OF TH E COLONY.
A pbil 28th. Every preparation for departure being now completed,
Mr. Kicherer assembled his family and servants, to whom were added
some visitors then stopping at his house and part of my own people,
for the purpose of joining in prayers on this occasion. I must have
had neither feeling nor religion, not to have been affected at beholding
an assembly of this kind, on their knees, praying ‘ with one accord ’
for my safety and for that of my people, and offering supplications
that we might be shielded from the many dangers to which we were
about to be exposed. When acts of devotion have the effect of
drawing man nearer not only to his Creator, but to his fellow-
creatures, he may feel assured that he possesses true religion. But
who will be so impious and weak as to assert that prayer can be
a useful exercise of the mind, unless it produce both these effects ?
It is not their professions, but the actions and conduct of men,
which prove their virtue or their sincerity. It is not the shadow of
forms, but the substance of upright conduct in life, which constitutes
real or practical religion. At the head of human nature stands the
honest man; at the bottom, the hypocrite.
This ceremony occupied a quarter of an hour; after which I
mustered my party, and sent them forward, with orders to make the
best of their way to Sneeuwberg, and wait for me at Herholdt’s, the
place appointed as our last rendezvous. For, Mr. Kicherer had proposed
that I should accompany him to the farm of an opulent boor,
named Barend Burgers, his particular friend, and who, at that time,
happened to be on a visit at his house, and had proposed taking us
thither in his paardewagen, promising that he would provide for me
the means of conveyance afterwards to Herholdt’s. To this proposal
there could be no objection, as it gave me an opportunity of seeing
another part of the Snow Mountains, and of acquiring further information
on the affairs of that part of the Colony.
Mr. Oloff Stockenstrom, whose friendly attentions were continued
during the whole time of my residence at Graaffreynet, politely
desired to accompany me a part of the way on my journey, as far as
my hut at the foot of the mountains, where, in so singular a manner,
I first had the pleasure of becoming acquainted with him and
Mr. Menzies.
It was nearly noon, before we took our departure from Graaffreynet.
In the environs, I passed my men, who, instead of hastening
forward, had been loitering in the village with their friends. These,
knowing that their separation must be for a long period, and not
quite free from the fear of never seeing them again, were as unwilling
to say farewell, as my people were to hear it. I could not therefore
be displeased at their disobedience to my orders, but permitted them
to indulge the feelings of nature, and merely required that they should
take their final leave before the day was too far advanced for travelling
with safety.
The plains which intervene between the Sunday river and the
mountains, were now enlivened with numerous herds of springbucks;
although none had been observed when -we passed here a month
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