for the night near the Brakke fontein, where they presently
had the great satisfaction to perceive, at some distance, a
party of boors and Hottentots and cattle hastening towards
them over the plain. Their joy, however, was of short duration,
and followed by vexation and disappointment; for, on
examining the oxen, the greater part were found to be very
young, totally unaccustomed to the yoke, and not a single
good team .could be selected from the whole drove.
Determined, notwithstanding this grievous disappointment,
to prosecute the journey they had undertaken, and being
now advanced beyond the limits of the colony, it was deemed
expedient, in the first place, to muster the party, to ascertain
the strength of the expedition, and to prescribe certain
regulations foY their conduct, which were rigidly to be adhered
to during the journey before them, whose distance and
duration were equally uncertain;
The account of the whole expedition was found to stand ’
as follows :
Mr. Truter, i
Mr. Somerville, 1 Commisskmers.
Mr. Daniell, secretary and draughtsman.
Mr. Borcherds, assistant secretary.
Mr. Scholtz, superintendant of the waggons.
Seven Dutch Boors, inhabitants of the Roggeveld.
Making in the whole twelve Christians.
24 Hottentots and Bastard Hottentots
4 Slaves
120 Draught oxen .
18 Saddle Horses, and
20 Large muskets.
“ With the blessing of God,” observes Mr. Truter, “ we
“ considered these our numbers and our means of defence
“ to be fully sufficient for our protection and preservation;
“ and, confiding in his goodness, we launched upon the
“ Karroo or desert plains on the -20th October.” Little occurred
in their journey over these dreary solitudes to engage!
the attention, except their uncommon sterility, and now. and
then a few quachas or wild horses, a solitary gemsbok, an eland, a
Jnwtebeest, or a pair of ostriches, which might perha.ps be observed
grazing at a distance, or scouring away to avoid the
party, when they happened to approach them unperceived. In
the course of the third' day they passed the ruins of an earthen
.building of considerable dimensions, surrounded By a number
of demolished huts, which they were informed were the remains
of an establishment attempted to be formed by the two
gospel missionaries Kicherer and Edwards; under the direction
of the society for Sending missions into Africa and the East.
Proceeding slowly till midnight, they halted on' the bank of the
Scc/r river, near which the next morning they observed another
kraal or hamlet in ruins, where these missionaries' had
held a temporary residence. At this place two miserable
looking wretches, of the tribe of men usually called Bosjes-
men by the colonists, perfectly naked, and 'apparently perishing
with hunger, advanced towards the encampment, and
7