FOREST OF MIMOSAS. 129 



When this party of Griqnas came up to me, being 

 anxious to see as much as possible of the natives of 

 those parts which I traversed, I invited them to halt 

 and drink coffee with me, an invitation which a Griqua 

 was never yet known to decline. They informed me 

 that, in the mountain ranges to the northeast, koodoo 

 were to be met with, and they invited me to accompany 

 them on their chasse. When breakfast was finished 

 they sent their wagon in advance, with instructions to 

 wait for their arrival at the fountain, where they in- 

 tended to pitch their camp ; and, having saddled up, we 

 all set forward and rode east to hunt koodoos and harte- 

 beests, or any other game we might fall in with. After 

 riding three or four miles, on approaching the base of 

 the hills we entered an ancient forest of mimosas, every 

 tree being a study for an artist. There was also a con- 

 siderable under-cover of various sweet-smelling shrubs 

 and bushes. Here steinbok and duyker were abundant. 

 This venerable forest extended all around the bases of 

 various ranges of rocky hills, which stretched in dilTer- 

 ent directions through these plains. Close in, at tho 

 foot of one of the hills, we discovered a Bushman resi- 

 dence, consisting of three small huts, each about four 

 feet high, and about eight in diameter. They were 

 formed of boughs of trees, thatched over with rank 

 grass drawn up by the roots. The natives, as usual, 

 had fled on our approach, and no living creature was to 

 be seen. I entered each of the hats, and found lots of 

 well " braid" (or dressed) skins of all the wild beasts 

 of these parts. All their dishes were made either of 

 ostrich eggs or of the shells of land tortoises, and these 

 were ransred round the floor on one side of the hut. 

 Most of the ostrich egg-shells contained water. 



We crossed the hills by a stony neck ; and having 

 F 2 



