177^* March. fait as I could, in order to get out o f the rain. Though my. fteed, notwithftanding this, did not lofe any of his mettle, but, on the contrary, made feveral fudden ftarts and leaps, yet the poor animal was fo much affedted at tw o different times by, the violence of the thunder,-that he funk quite down to the ground. As I found that I run riiks in divers ways, and met with feveral obftacles in the courfe I was fleering, I thought it moft advifeable to endeavour, by the aififtance of the frequent flaihes of lightning, to regain the beaten road which I had quitted. In this attempt I at laft fucceeded, and lighted upon a farm that was newly laid out, without any other premifes upon it, than a folitary hut thatched with ftraw; in which, though I found no better company there than a parcel of Hottentots, I was very glad to have at leaft the comfort o f a roof over my head ; the fire being already quite burnt out, fo that I was obliged to fit there freezing and diipping wet till the next morning. In the mean while, I was extremely anxious concerning Mr. I m m e lm a n , who had fet out the fame evening, though later than I did; while he, having by means of a horfe which he led in hand, and which was perfectly acquainted with the road, arrived fafe at the place of our deftination ; and likewife miffing me, was not lefs uneafy on my account than I was on h i s ; and, after having made, to po purpofe, feveral fignals by firing a mufket, among other furmifes which prefented itfelf to his imagination, he could not help being apprehenfive that I was ftruck dead by lightning;, efpecially as he had appeared himfelf to have been in great danger from it, by a flaih having darted into the ground clofe by the fide of his horfes, in the fame inftant throwing them both both on their knees. It rained likewife the following '776- night, but without much thunder; and on the 1 3th, while LimJ we were on the road to Kukoi-rivier, it rained all day long. . On the 1 6th we came again to the farm o f Zand-plaat, near Klein-dorn-rivier, mentioned in Vol. I. page 299. Here they were at this time very bufy in preferving and drying raifins; which was done by macerating the grapes a longer or ihorter time, according to what fort they were of, in boiling water, and then fpreading them out on mats to dry. The uncommon drought which, this fummer in a greater or lefs degree, infefted the whole country, had, among many other inconveniencies produced here, as well as in many other places, a fcarcity of meal, fo that they had no bread at this farm. The cattle in many places died for want o f fodder; fo that at Falfe, or more properly Valfche- rivier, where, as I mentioned at page 244 o f Vol. I. I faw, the preceding September, feveral buckets of buttermilk thrown away, they complained that they had then hardly enough to wean a child with. In confequence o f this horrid drought, which, according to the account I read in the papers, was probably pretty general in other parts of the world, my draught-oxen fell away in their fleih, being quite fpent and worn out with fatigue, fo that feveral of them died one after the other; which obliged me to fupply their places with freili ones. On the a oth we came to Zaffraan-craal. On the 21ft, early in the morning, we entered the tedious and tirefome vale, called Artaquas-kloof \ and about the duik of the evening, at a precipice by the fide of the road, my waggon met with a worfe accident than it had done during the whole journey, T t 2 as
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