SOUTHERN AFRICA. 25 



and the air sensibly colder. That g-reatest of all rarities 

 in South Africa, a real turf or sod, was to be seen inter- 

 spersed with mat rushes. Around, nothing- presented itself 

 in the landscape but rocky mountains, of which the summits 

 were enveloped in mist and snow : the unsettled state of the 

 weather heig-htening' in no small deg-ree the sublimity and 

 frowning- grandeur of the scene. Peak towering- above peak, 

 the lofty and broken mountains appeared to crowd in one 

 upon the other — the Spitscop, a remarkable and pre-emi- 

 nently lofty crag-, soaring- above the whole : whilst the rude 

 and bold features of natm-e were for miles unmingled with 

 any trace of human works, be^'ond the beaten track that 

 we were folloA\ing- along- steep acclivities. But for this, and 

 an occasional wreath of smoke, ascending- from the bosom 

 of some sunken valle}', no one could have supposed that the 

 abode of man was to be found in a reg-ion, apparently so 

 deserted and inhospitable. 



A chilly mist overtaking- us, we resolved to halt for the 

 nig-ht at a kraal* of Fing-oes or tame Kafirs, where barely 

 a sufficient quantity of fuel, from a shrub called the rhinoceros 

 bush, could be obtained for culinary purposes. Althoug-h 

 still within the Cape Colony, our tobacco proved of use in 

 the purchase of g-oats' milk ; and I may here remark that 

 this precious weed, which may be denominated the current 

 coin of the realm, is carried about in Africa twisted in long- 

 thin ropes, which are coiled up in rolls. A roll is con- 

 sidered a splendid oblation to a prince, and an inch a hand^ 

 some present to a commoner j it is in fact a universal fa- 

 vourite, and, meted out by the span in traffic, will purchase 



* Notwithstanding- tliat it has been the habit to employ the terms, Kraal, 

 Caross, and Assegai, as respectively indicating a native village or cattlefold, 

 a skin cloak, and a dart or spear— not one of them have any signification in 

 the native languages, but are supposed to be a corruption of Dutch and Hotten- 

 tot. 



