IN SOUTH AFRICA. 31 
others considerably above it, slenderly but actively made; 
their colour not quite black, but a very dark umber-brown, 
totally different from the dirty yellowish-brown of the Hot- 
tentots, to whom, indeed, they have no resemblance, except 
in the woolly hair. They were, however, considerably in- 
ferior in personal appearance to the Caffers whom we after- 
wards saw ; the women in particular were far from prepos- 
sessing. Some of the men wore English clothing, which had 
been given them as a mark of favour or distinction, but the 
greater part had nothing but the sheep-skin cloak or kaross; 
the women wore the same kind of cloak and a scanty petti- 
coat. I shall treat more fully of the Fingoes in another 
chapter. 
From Leeuwenbosch we travelled in a S.E. direction, 
over an open and uninteresting country, to the Camtoos 
River, which we crossed by a floating bridge, a little above 
its mouth. This is one of the largest rivers in the colony; 
yet it is only after receiving the waters of the Kouga from the 
Long Kloof, that it becomes a perennial stream. At the 
time of Thunberg's travels (1773) the Camtoos was the 
eastern limit of the colony, and the country immediately to 
the east of it was inhabited by the Gonaquas, a mixed race, 
now extinct. It is likewise mentioned with honour by Le 
Vaillant, who spent some time on its banks, and met with 
many animals which he had not previously seen. At the 
place where we crossed it, the Camtoos is 220 yards wide, 
(as I was informed by the ferryman) and its waters are 
beautifully clear; a chain of wooded hills runs along its left 
bank. As soon as we cross this stream, a remarkable change 
takes place in the appearance of the country, which, from 
thence to Van Staaden's River, is really pretty, with a 
pleasing variety of hill and dale, and great masses of ever- 
green wood, or rather shrubbery, with broad grassy lawns 
between. Here begins the proper region of the Spekboom, 
the Boerboontjes, the succulent Euphorbias, and many other 
curious shrubs, which may be considered characteristic of — 
