338 EXPEDITION INTO [Chap. XXXVIII. 



raft, a few miles higher up the river, of which he 

 had hitherto carefully kept us in ignorance. Pro- 

 ceeding thither, we found the river straightened, 

 between rocky sides, to one-third of its usual breadth; 

 and after we had bribed a man to swim across in 

 order to summon the proprietor of the float, whose 

 house was some miles distant, our waggons were 

 at length taken to pieces, and transported wheel 

 b\^ wheel, into the colony. This tedious operation 

 occupied an entire day, and so frightfully strong 

 was the current, that in bringing the oxen across, 

 poor Whitefoof, the only survivor of our JSaude 

 team, that till now had escaped unscathed, and had 

 never once failed us during our long pilgrimage, 

 was clumsily forced under the raft, and drowned. 

 Some consolation, however, was to be derived from 

 the information that our loss was comparatively 

 trifling, a loaded waggon having a short time before 

 slipped off the raft, and gone bodily to the bottom. 



At length then, we were fairly standing upon 

 the civilized ground of the Hantam. Loud was 

 the shouting and huzzaing, and many were the 

 discharges of musketry, that proclaimed the fact, 

 of which, however, the inhospitable conduct of an 

 insolent boor, named Pienaar, at whose farm we 

 passed the night, might almost have rendered us 

 sceptical. Not a blade of grass met the eye from 

 this moment ; and as we were penniless, we could 

 only obtain, with diflEiculty, provisions in- exchange 

 for tea, sugar, and tar ; which last, being used in the 

 composition for greasing the wheels, (an operation 



