in the evening, forty-two. At night we came to a farm on the Breed Rivier. The weather was fo bad on the twenty-ninth, that we could not proceed; but during the day I was able to make an ex- curfion towards the hills, where I found fome very curious plants. A gentleman, who came from the weftward, advifed us not to proceed any farther in that direction, as it would not be poffible to crofs the rivers for many days, the mountains being covered very deep with fnow ; the melting of which would keep them very high. The accounts he gave us were fo u n favourable, that I agreed to return and to crofs the mountains at another place to the eaftward, called Plata Kloaf, where we arrived on the eighth of July. We croifed the mountains with fome difficulty, on the tenth, and entered a country, (which I had occalion to notice in my firit journey) called Channa Land. From this place we proceeded to the weftward, and in the courfe of our day’s journey I added greatly to my cohesion of the Mezembryan- thimum tribe. In the evening we came to a hot bath, which appeared to be much the fame in its qualities with thofe already mentioned ; only more temperate. The heat of the bath, by the thermometer, is one hundred and feven ; and where it fprings out of the rock, one hundred and ten. We flayed here a few days, and difpatched our waggon early in the morning of the thirteenth, having a very long day’s journey before us. About ten in the morning, we overtook our baggage, and were informed by the driver, that two Lions had paITed about an hour before. This part of the country abounds with beafts of prey, which renders travelling extremely dangerous. The ground is covered with fhrubs about four feet high, called by the natives Guerrie, a fpecies of Royena, which affords a covert fufficiently ihady to conceal Lions, Tigers, and the variety of animals which fport, during the day, in the more uninhabited parts, and at night commit depredations on the adjacent farms. The foil of this country is a loofe mouldy clay, fo little favourable to fertility, that though this was the beft feafon, there was fcarcely a blade of grafs to be feen, I found many fucculent plants in flower ; and alfo a fpecies of the Geranium Spinofum, which I had never feen before. After a very hard day’s journey, we arrived on the thirteenth at a ftream of water, where we refted the remaining part of the night. We had much rain, with loud claps of thunder. The thermometer, at eight in the evening, was at forty-feven degrees. The next morning, finding a Hottentot Kraal about, two miles off, I hired one of the inhabitants as a guide ; for the whole of our party were entirely unacquainted with this part of the country. My companion, Mr. Van R enan, and myfelf, left the waggon, and purfued a different direftion, in order to fee as much of the country as poffible, and to colleft plants. About four in the afternoon, we thought it was time to look
27f 61
To see the actual publication please follow the link above