December the x gth the thermometer was at 60 degrees, and the fame day at twelve o’clock it rofe to 84, and at three in the afternoon to 95, being hung under the tilt of the Waggon. I found about this fpot a kind of purjlainy fome- What tougher than the common cultivated fort, and having very fmall leaves one or two inches long, and thofe of a light green colour, (Joliis linearibus, marginib. ad rachid. revolutis, caule berbaceo, Juperius fubquadrangl.) As I had brought with ifte a pint and a half o f vinegar, in cafe o f our being feized with an inflammation o f the brain, proceeding from our .heads being ftruck by the perpendicular rays o f the fun, I put a fmall quantity o f it, together with a little fugar, to the herb above-mentioned, in order to treat myfelf with a little iallad, which, however, was tough enough, and ate almoft like grafs. One o f my Bolhies-men, who faw me prepare this diih, gave me to underftand by figns, that I began at the Wrong end o f the plant, and dug up the root of it, which, though I ate it raw, was better tailed than the plant it- fe lf; being nearly ihaped like a carrot, and of a white colour, a palm and a half in length, and an inch and a h a lf in diameter, (Ju/iformis, albid. Jefqttfpaim. diametro JeJquiunciali. On another occafion I learned from this Hottentot, Who, contrary to the cuftom o f his nation, was very communicative, that the root o f the da- t'kai, {p. 27. o f this Volume) a ihrub o f the mefembryanthemum kind pretty common here, eaten raw, was, in fait, very Well-ta'fted, yielding a fweetifh iub- 'Itance, which might be fucked or otherwise feparated froifi the more woody and .fibrous parts in which it was contain- ded. J fet the greater value upon by this difcovery, as fome events events might eafily happen, which might make it ne- De'c^ er celfary for us to have recourfe to this plant, in order to >J- keep us from ftarving. The African colonifts, who are not near fo forward to invelligate the virtues o f the plants of this country as by encroachments to increafe their property in the country itfelf, were as yet ignorant o f the ufe o f this root; neither were the Hottentots, Who followed me from Zwellendam acquainted with i t ; and the Bolhies-men themfelves were at this time too idle to dig for the root, when they could gorge themfelves, as it were, with flelh. The Hottentot who was our belt ihot, had turned out this morning before dawn to go a hunting, together with two of the others one; o f whom was conftantly his armour bearer, in order that he him&lf, being difengaged from the incumbrance o f his arms, might have a fteadier hand, and he more at liberty, when he found it requifite, to creep on all fours and difoharge his piece, or elfe in cafes of danger to make a precipitate retreat from the vengeance of the enraged animal. At times, likewife, he often fent the man who carried his arms to reconnoitre the beaft, and follow its traces. The three Hottentots I mentioned as having gone out in the morning, came hack in the evening, and fet themfelves dowm quite fpent by the well to cool themfelves. I aiked them feveral times, i f they had ihot any thing ? to which after fome time they anfwered, “ to be fure there was a great fcarcity of game in thefe parts;” and at length gave me indirectly to underftand, that they had ihot two fhino- cerofes. I mention this trifling incident in fo circumftantial a manner, as it affords an inftanee of that fpecies o f referve 4 peculiar
27f 72-2
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