>775- waihed by the water, without fuffering the leaft inconve- nience. It is at the foot of the Zzvarteberg (or black mountain, as it is called) that the bath is iituated. Beneath this range of mountains is extended a confiderable plain, covered with fmall hills and dales, which was ihut in from the fea by a naked and hideous range of mountains of granite. Thefe limited profpeCts which are fo common in Africa, could not but be very unpleafant to me, who in Sweden was almoft always uied to fee the horizon perpetually verdant with groves of firs and pine. During my ftay here, the fpring, together with the month o f Auguft, made daily advances with her various beautiful bulbous plants, which afterwards, when the drought o f fummer came on, took their leave. Among ' thefe I now could number feveral different varieties of irifes. The roots, or more properly the bulbs o f thefe, it is common here to roaft in the aihes and eat: they are called oenkjes, and have nearly the fame tafte with potatoes. The Hottentots, with more reflection than generally falls to the fhare of favages, uie the word oenkjes in the fame, fenfe in which V ir g il ufed that of arijlce, that is, for reckoning of time; always beginning the new year, whenever the oenkjes puih out of the ground, and marking their age and other events by the number of times in which, in a certain period, this vegetable has made its appearance. . My courfe of bathing made me in general too languid to undertake any long excutfions, or to go a hunting, particularly up the neighbouring mountains. On the 12th, howhowever, a lame flave having gone up into the cliffs to gather wood and flumps o f trees, and having at the fame time taken with him feveral hounds, which I heard very bufy a hunting, I haftened up thither With a fmall gun, in hopes of meeting with a Jleenboch, but to my great aftonilh- ment found, that the hounds had driven the game up into a tree, and were laying clofe fiege to it round about the bottom. The flave, who likewife came hither with his burden, faid it was a tiger or a leopard; and added, that I muft take care to be fure o f my mark, or otherwife it might leap on to my ihoulders from the branches o f the tree, by which it was pretty well iheltered, and be revenged on me. As I recollected having heard that in Bengal, in order to provide in fome meaiure againft a cafe o f this kind, they held a fmall fpear over their heads, I now got ready a large knife, at the fame time that I gave fire with fome large fwan-ihot, upon which I let a ball run down in hafte. As for the reft, I thought I might very well depend on the hounds relieving me by taking him off; The ball miffed, and the ihot alone took place; however, the beaft at length came tumbling down, and proved to be nothing more than a large wild cat. It was of a grey coT lour, and, for aught I could fee, was exaCtly of the fame fpecies as our tame houfe cats; though, indeed, it weighed three times as much. I meafured it with an Engliih rule ; it muft therefore be obferved, that the Engliih inch- is larger than the Swedilh, and that the fize o f the animal is confequently given here according to the former, namely, From
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