8 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. 



grass very luxuriant. Altogether, it was a glorious 

 change after the desert country along the Orange 

 river to which we had been lately accustomed. The 

 great drawback was, that there was no game whatever, 

 not even springbucks, the Kafirs having hunted 

 everything into the far interior, so that now there 

 is more game within five miles of Cape Town than 

 here where we were, more than six hundred miles up 

 country. 



We now turned south again, and on the evening 

 of February yth once more reached Potgieter's farm. 

 The two following days I spent in search of hartebeest, 

 but though I worked hard, I saw none. The next 

 morning two Bushmen came in and reported that 

 gemsbuck were common near the Scurfde Berg, a 

 chain of hills two days westwards from here ; so I 

 borrowed Potgieter's cart, and started with the Bush- 

 men to try my luck amongst them. 



February \^th. — Reached Witte Sand, a large hill 

 of pure white sand. This white sandhill, surrounded 

 as it is on all sides by the dark-red sand of the 

 neighbouring country, is certainly a very remarkable 

 phenomenon. Weather intensely hot. Passed the 

 night at a Bushman town. 



February iGth. — Started from Scurfde Berg. Saw 

 gemsbuck and blue wildebeest spoor, but could not 

 come up with the animals themselves. 



February i^th. — Reached Scurfde Berg, where 

 with great difficulty we gave the oxen water at two 

 deep rents in the solid rock. These rents were half- 

 way up the side of a steep craggy hill, and were 

 filled with rain-water. Saw no gemsbuck. Weather 

 intensely hot and sultry ; altogether terribly un- 

 propitious for hunting on foot in the deep sand. 



February \<^th. — The meat we started with from 



