64 ADVENTURES IN SOUTH AFRICA. 



twice, when I halted for some hours upon its bank on 

 account of my oxen, the grass in the vicinity of the 

 town having been very bare. This was the fifth and 

 last time that we crossed the Great Fish River. Here 

 about a dozen wagons passed us on their way to Cra- 

 dock, containing Dutch Boers with their fraus and 

 families. Several of these were horse-wagons, drawn 

 by eight and ten horses in each wagon, harnessed two 

 abreast, and drawing by straps across their breasts in- 

 stead of collars. These straps are generally manufac- 

 tured of the skin of the lion when it is to be obtained, 

 that being reckoned by the Boers to be tougher and 

 more enduring than any other. These long teams are 

 well managed and dexterously driven by the Boers, one 

 man holding the reins and another the whip. In the 

 afternoon I again inspanned, and continued my march 

 till sundown. The road since I left Cradock had im- 

 proved, and was now fine and level, leading through a 

 wide, open, undulating strath along the northeastern 

 bank of the Fish River. The surrounding country pre- 

 sented in every direction endless chains of barren, stony 

 mountains ; the bold range of the Rhinaster Bergs stand- 

 ing forth in grand relief to the westward ; not a tree 

 to be seen, except a few thorny mimosas in some of the 

 more favored hollows of the hills and along the banks of 

 the river ; the country covered with grass and heaths, 

 dwarfish shrubs, and small thorny bushes. 



The sun during the day was powerful, but a cool 

 breeze prevailed from the south. Ever since I left 

 Grahamstown the weather had been very pleasant, and 

 seldom oppressively hot, saving in the low-lying hol- 

 lows where the breezes are not felt. South Africa, 

 though its climate is dry and sultry, is nevertheless 

 very salubrious, being surrounded on three sides by the 



