6 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. 



They had, however, been unsuccessful in their 

 negotiations. 



January \th. — Whilst poking about along the 

 river, looking for guinea-fowls, I came upon a Bush- 

 man's lair amongst the trees by the water's edge. 

 A io."^ boughs woven together and forming a sort of 

 canopy was all they had in the way of a habitation ; 

 the only weapons they possessed were rude-looking 

 bows and neatly-made poisoned arrows, some about 

 two and a half feet in length, fashioned from reeds, 

 whilst others were only a foot long. Their language 

 seemed even fuller of clicks and clucks than the 

 Koranna, and altogether to a casual observer they 

 appeared to be very few steps removed from the 

 brute creation. The following day three more 

 Bushmen came to the waggon begging for tobacco ; 

 they were taller and better-looking than those I had 

 first seen. 



January Gth. — Reached Klas Lucas's town, a 

 Koranna chief living (in the dry season) at a ford of 

 the Orange river called Olivenhout's drift. While 

 there a hut was struck by lightning, and of the seven 

 Korannas within, two were killed. Here we turned 

 back, and travelling on the same road by which we 

 had come, reached Keis again on the 19th of the 

 month. 



From Keis we trekked north to Lange Berg for 

 two days through very heavy sand, and without a 

 drop of water till we reached the farm of Anthony 

 Potgieter, a coloured man from the Cape Colony. 

 Our cattle, sheep, and goats were terribly thirsty, 

 and it was a sight to see how they all rushed into 

 the water. Old Anthony Potgieter turned out to be 

 a very good old fellow, sending us down lots of milk 

 and some bread, which latter was a great treat, for. 



