andenng inclination, and the fame propenfity to the chace
and_to plunder, with the other Bosjefmans. The Briequa
batters, who inhabit the country clofe behind them, are very
con 1 erable fufferers from fuch daring neighbours. , O f thefe
peop e, the Koranas not only carry off large herds of cattle, but
they aIfo feize and make Haves o f their children, fome of whom
. ave been brought into the colony, and purchafed by the farmers
in exchange for cattle. The Briequas, with their haffa-
gais, have Uttle chance of Handing againft poifoned arrows.
e fluelds too o f the Koranas are enormoufly large, and fo
thick that the haffagai cannot penetrate them. . I faw one
made from the hide of an eland, that meafured fix feet by four.'
i hefe people make regular attacks, in large parties o f four or
five hundred Though very good friends among each other
hile poor from the moment they have obtained by plunder a
quantity of cattle, they begin to quarrel about the divifion of
the fpoil; and they are find to carry this fometimes to fuch an
excefs, that they, continue the fight and maiiacre till, like the
foldiers o f Cadmus, very few remain in the field,
" ------- iuoque
* ' Marte cadunt fubiti per mutua vulnera fratres.”
The miferable bad roads, the nakednefs o f the country, and
he very few animals that are found in a Hate o f nature.upon
the Roggeveld mountain, make it a difagreeable, uninterefting
that f ° US -fUte ° ne Wh° traV£ls With no ° ther ^ew than
f vgrf r S Cmi° rnY‘ Cr°WS> kites> vultures are
almoft the 6nly kinds o f birds that are met with. O f the’ laft,
I broke
I broke the wing of one of that fpecies called by Ornithologifls
the Condor,,of an amazing large fize. The fpread of its wings
was ten feet and one inch* It kept three dogs for fome time
completely at bay, and having at length feized one of them
with its claws, and torn away a large piece of fleih from its
thigh, they all .immediately retreated.
Having proceeded for twelve days along the fummit o f the
Roggeveld, till L fell in nearly with the track that had carried
me on a former journey to Graaff Reynet, I defcended to the
Karroo plains, which, in this part, employed me three days in
croffing. Thefe plains are every where of the fame nature,
prefenting to the traveller u a iccne of dreadful uniformity;
“ where a barren level is bounded only by the horizon:; where
“ no change of profpedt, or variety of images^ relieves the
<c traveller from a fenfe of toil and d a n g e r o f whirlwinds;
“ which, in a moment, may bury him in the fand; and of
“ thirft, which the wealthy have given half their poffeffions to,
“ allay.” '
Bordering thefe arid plains, on the weft fide, are feverai
clumps of high mountains, enclofing meadows and valliesj
covered with good grafs, that are alfo called the Bokkeveld, but
diftinguiihed from the other by the names of Little Bokkeveld
and Cold "Bokkeveld. Thefe are ramifications of the .Great
Chain mentioned in the former part o f this chapter; and the
vallies and meadows within them appear to have been the beds
of lakes, in which there ftill remains a number of fprings and
fwamps, that never fail to furniih a copious fupply of water in
the