16 BOTANICAL EXCURSIONS 
the observations which I was able to make under such un- 
favourable circumstances. 
The waggons of the party, three in number, set out from 
Government House at nine A.M., on the 22d of March: the 
leading waggon, in which were Major Michell, George 
Napier, and myself, being drawn by eight horses, the others 
each by ten. Beyond the immediate neighbourhood of the 
town, these waggons are the only vehicles that can travel on 
thehorrible roads of the country, and they are among the 
most striking objects to the eye ofa stranger. The generality 
of them, especially those which come from distant parts of 
the interior are drawn by oxen, of which an enormous 
number are yoked to each; it is a curious sight to see, as 
one may, any day at the Cape, a team of twelve, fourteen, or 
even as many as twenty bullocks drawing one of these 
waggons; appearing from a distance, as they wind slowly 
over the sands, like some strange centipede; the crack of 
the driver's huge whip resounding like a musket shot. 
March 22, 1838.—To return to our proceedings: the 
first day's journey, of thirty-five miles, was tolerably 
easy. We crossed the Flats in a direction to the South- 
ward of E., and about 3 p.m. reached their limit at the 
Erst (or First) River, a stream at this time incon- 
siderable, but often formidable in winter. From hence on- 
ward, the loose white sand of the Flats was succeeded by a 
hard ironstone gravel. Presently we entered the fine vale of 
Hottentot Holland, half enclosed by craggy and picturesque 
mountains, which, curving round like part of an amphi- 
theatre, bounded the view on our left and in front. On the — 
right was False Bay, hemmed in by a continuation ofthe same _ 
chain of mountains, which terminates to the S. in Cape > ; 
Hangklip, the point opposite to the Cape of Good Hope. T. 
We stopped, after eight hours’ travelling, at a small inn - 
situated just at the foot of the mountains, and after dark we 
were joined by the Governor and the rest of the party, who, E 
jonrneying on horseback, had set out much later from Cape ; 
Town. 
