302 EXPEDITION INTO [Chap. XXXIV. 



owing to the great quantity of rain that had fallen 

 during the nighty we found ourselves fairly water- 

 logged in the morning. This was considered a rare 

 opportunity for breaking in some of the oxen that 

 had never yet bowed their stiff necks to the yoke, 

 and their rebellious spirits once subdued by the 

 unsparing administration of the whip, they presently 

 dragged us out of our difficulties. Ascending 

 gradually to the base of the three table mountains, 

 which like natural buttresses protruded their bold 

 outlines into the monotonous landscape, an extensive 

 and stirring prospect burst upon our astonished 

 gaze. Gone were the level plains, over which the 

 lingering eye had wandered for days without once 

 finding an object upon which to repose. Hill and 

 dale, mountain and valley, stretched away at our 

 feet in fair variety, terminated in the remote horison 

 by the craggy summits of the well-known Witte- 

 bergen — those 



'' Sterile mountains, rough and steep. 

 That bound abrupt the valley deep, 

 Heaving to the clear, blue, sky 

 Their ribs of granite, bare and dry." 



Half crazy with delight, and never dreaming of 

 the distance that still intervened, or the troubles 

 that were yet in store, every one instantly aflected 

 to recognize some landmark with which he was 

 familiar ; and whilst many actually talked them- 

 selves into a belief that they could distinguish the 

 smoke from the missionary's chimney at Phillipolis, 

 still one hundred and fifty miles distant, Andries 



