before. This animal, and, indeed, many other species of antelope,
remove from one part of the Gountry to another, and sometimes to
the distance of many day’s-journeys, according to the state of the
pastures, and season of the year.
As I passed my hut, I silently thanked it for the shelter which it
had so opportunely afforded m e; and without which, the fever might
possibly have gained a fatal ascendency.
The heap of manure in the cattle-kraal, which we found burning
at that time, was even now scarcely extinguished. If by any means
the ground of a cattle-pound, which consists entirely of manure,
happen to take fire, it will continue, without producing flame, to burn
for a great length of time, depending only on the quantity of fuel:
nor will rain very easily quench it The fire generally makes very
slow progress; creeping along the ground, and sometimes beneath
the surface, in a remarkable manner. It is the nitrous salts which so
long support the combustion.
When we ascended the mountain we turned to the west, leaving
my former road on the right, and soon afterwards came to the hut of
Hans Van der Merwe, where we halted to dine. At this place, near
the house, I was shown, as a remarkable circumstance, a deep glen,
enclosed by rocky cliffs or precipices, in which peach trees grew, as it
were, wild, and sowed themselves: the warm sheltered situation
causing them to bear abundance of fruit.
After this refreshment we resumed our journey, travelling over
a level country, bounded on either hand by mountains of the table-
form already noticed on our former passage over this part of
Sneeuwberg. The waggon halted while I went to examine a •waterfall
at a short distance on the left of the road; having just crossed the
stream by which it was supplied. By falling over a perpendicular
precipice of great depth, into a woody glen below, this stream forms
a very singular unbroken cascade, which would have afforded, from
different points of view, several interesting sketches. I was, however,
obliged to content myself with taking that one which best exhibited
its situation and nature.
Our road presented nothing remarkable; or rather,perhaps, the
rapid travelling of a vehicle drawn by six horses in hand, left little
time -for making remarks of any kind. We flew past every object,
and, hardly had I turned my eyes to any thing remarkable by the
roadside, than it was already behind us. Such expedition was,
indeed, a novelty to me, and very different from the rate to which I
had been accustomed during the last ten months ; but, as a traveller
desirous of observing the features and productions of a strange
country, I abhorred galloping horses, and would have preferred
sitting behind a team of my own oxen, whose steady pace seemed to
have been measured exactly to suit an observer and admirer of nature.
Yet, notwithstanding what appeared to me to be great expedition,
it was nine o’clock in the evening before we arrived at
Cootje Van Heerdens, where we had purposed to pass the night. This
farm house was superior, in most respects, to all which I had hitherto
seen in this quarter, and nearly equal to the best in the Cape
District. It was built on a larger scale, and in a more substantial
manner, than the general class of colonial dwellings, and therefore it
scarcely need be added, that the owner was in affluent circumstances.
My fellow travellers, being the intimate friends of Van Heerden,
were received, and myself also, in the most hospitable manner.
The appearance of the place and its inhabitants, was altogether as
respectable as any I had seen in the colony.
29th. At this farm were many servants: among them a girl
was pointed out to me, whose history was interesting; and who
was, besides, a surprising lusus naturce. Her parents were genuine
Caffres, and resided at this farm when she was an infant: on some
occasion they went back to their own country, while their child, under
pretence of being unequal to the fatigues of the journey, was left
at Van Heerden’s. But as they never afterwards returned for her, it
was supposed that her singular appearance had induced them to
desert her. At the time when I saw her, she was sixteen t years
old, of a very stout make, and of short stature: in which respect
she was not different from many Caffre girls, whom I saw about
a year afterwards. But the color of her skin, was that of the
fairest European; or, more correctly expressed, it was mere pink
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