THROUGH WATERBERG. 79 



debris left stranded in the tops of trees growing by the 

 banks of the river; many of the trees were at least 

 fifteen feet high, and one could thus realize the dan- 

 gerous and relentless force of these flooded streams. 

 After leaving this mountain pass, short scrubby trees 

 become plentiful, and the soil is loose and sandy. As 

 the journey is advanced, the country is found to be 

 much more wooded and is in pleasant and strong con- 

 trast to the monotony of the bare veld which marks the 

 higher lands. To drive along a narrow road through 

 thick w r oods was, indeed, a novel experience, and we 

 reached the banks of the Pienaars River about 4 P.M., 

 and shortly afterwards commenced the longest and 

 most severe stage of our journey. The " Waterberg 

 Flats " occupy a waterless region of some twenty-five 

 miles in width, where there are no stages, and the 

 mules have at least a four hours' stretch ; but on this 

 occasion, owing to the state of the road, in which the 

 wet rutty ground had dried just sufficient to be bad for 

 the feet of the mules, we were five hours in transit. 

 During the last hour one could not help sympathizing 

 with the poor jaded beasts, and the shouts of the driver 

 and the crack of the whip were constant sounds. Pas- 

 sengers and mules will probably soon be spared this 

 unbroken stage, as an enterprising American was then 

 sinking a well, already 108 feet deep, through the 

 rocky ground at his own expense. When he reached 

 water, and had completed the well, he proposed building 

 a store and stables, and as the spot is about midway 

 across the Flats, his enterprise should be repaid. It 

 was 9 P.M. when we reached the hotel which bears the 

 name of the Warm Baths. The warm water rises from 

 a mass of peat and reeds in the neighbourhood, and is 

 conveyed to the hotel by pipes. After the dust and 

 fatigue of the road these baths are most refreshing, and 

 now that the property is leased and managed by a 

 small British company in Pretoria, the spot bids fair to 

 be the retreat and sanitarium of the capital. The Boers 

 visit this spot and use the waters ; but in their case a 

 hole is made in the ground, into which the water 



