48 ADVENTURES IN SOUTH AFRICA. 



actively employed for two hours in digging out and ofF- 

 loading the wagon, after which Leonard and the Hot- 

 tentot set about preparing the breakfast, while I pro- 

 ceeded to darn my worsted stockings, having had the 

 good fortune to obtain some hanks of worsted from the 

 wife of a Scotch sergeant in Grahamstown, after vain- 

 y seeking that article in the shops of all the haber- 

 dashers in the town. While we were thus employed, 

 Captain Codrington and Mr. Fichett rode up to us, and 

 seemed very much amused at our situation. Having 

 drunk a cup of coftee with me, Fichett and Cot\rington 

 returned home, previously engaging me to dine with 

 them, as I had resolved to retrace my steps and try an- 

 other line of country. About 11 A.M. the Hottentots 

 returned with our oxen, when, with the united efforts 

 of the teams, we succeeded in extricating my now 

 lightened wagon. The two oxen I purchased from 

 Thompson, though well-favored, proving indolent in a 

 heavy pull, I exchanged them with Leonard for the 

 liberty to pick any two out of his span, giving him a 

 sovereign to boot. His team consisted of twelve tough 

 little red Zoolah oxen, from the district of Natal, which, 

 like the Albany cattle, are termed " Zuur-feldt." This 

 colonial phrase is applied to all oxen bred and reared 

 near the sea-coast, in districts where the majority of 

 the grass is sour. Those from about the frontiers of 

 the colony, or any where beyond the Orange River, 

 are termed " Sweet-feldt" oxen. The Zuur-feldt cat- 

 tle possess a superiority over the Sweet-feldt as trek- 

 oxen, inasmuch as they thrive on any pasture, whereas 

 the latter die if detained more than a few days in Zuur- 

 feldt districts. Leonard's account of the road before 

 me was so bad, his wagon having been upset four times 

 on the preceding day, that I resolved to put about, and 



