49 



and then before us, and, bounding to a short distance, 

 turn and gaze at us until we passed ; but when we started 

 a solitary Steenbock, which happened more than once, it 

 sprang along the plain with surprising agility, and never 

 stopped until it had got out of sight. It is the character of 

 almost all animals to be timid when solitary, and to pluck up 

 courage in proportion to their numbers. 



" The village of Bavians Kloof, Gnathendhal, as the mis- 

 sionaries call it, is situated at the foot of a high rugged 

 mountain. A copious stream, bursting through a deep chasm 

 in its side, traverses the village, and after watering a long 

 suite of small gardens, discharges itself into the Sonderend. 

 It was on the banks of this stream I first saw that beautiful 

 plant, the Wachendorfia thyisiflora. The upper part of the 

 village, occupied by the missionaries, consists of a line 

 of houses, divided into separate apartments, to each of 

 which is attached a workshop ; of a mess-room, where the 

 whole society eat in common ; a church, a school-house, and 

 an inn or sleeping-place for the accommodation of strangers. 

 There are at present five Europaeans attached to the establish- 

 ment, each of whom is master of a mechanical trade, at 

 which he labours daily, assisted by a certain number of Hot- 

 tentot youths, who are regularly apprenticed, and instructed 

 in their respective trades. Most of them are married, and 

 their wives are distinguished by a head-dress of a peculiarly 

 primitive form. Among the latter, we were agreeably sur- 

 prised in recognizing a countrywoman of our own, a native 

 of Cumberland. She appeared as much gratified as ourselves 

 at the meeting, and paid us a great deal of attention. The 

 men are all past the middle age, sleek, cheerful, and disposed 

 to gratify every rational inquiry respecting the institution. 

 There is a good orchard and a small vineyard attached to 

 it, from the former of which they are supplied with abun- 

 dance of excellent fruit, and from the latter, a few leggers of a 

 wine that scarcely merits the same encomium. 



" The Hottentot quarter, extending nearly a mile from the 

 church, consists of huts, of all shapes and sizes, scattered 

 along the banks of the stream. Many of these cabins display 



VOL. II. E 



