120 EXPEDITION INTO 



candles. Conceiving'^ however^ that our compliance with 

 this unreasonable request would but lead to further exac- 

 tionS; we excused ourselves^ sending- in lieu a tin mould and 

 a bundle of cotton wicks^ ^^ ith abundant compliments^ and 

 brief instructions in the art of manufacturino- '' tallows" 

 from the fat of the eland. 



Having' thus freed ourselves from the duns^ it was dis- 

 covered that the oxen had g-one off in search of water — 

 not one of the Hottentots having* thought proper to remain 

 with them^ althoug'h positively enjoined to do so. Three 

 hours elapsed ere they w^ere recovered^ and before we had 

 proceeded many miles, the sheep were missed. Andries 

 being immediately sent back upon horseback, found Fre- 

 derick lying- under a bush in a state of stupefaction, the 

 consequence of his frequent libations to the jolly g'od. The 

 sheep, as mig'ht have been expected, had availed themselves 

 of his drowsiness to levant^ but were traced up and reco- 

 vered. 



In spite of all these provoking* delays, we contrived early 

 in the afternoon to reach the Mariqua, about thirty miles 

 below the point where it issues from the mountain chain. 

 The approach to this small but beautiful river, is pictu- 

 resque in the hig-hest deg-ree. Emerging' suddenly from an 

 extensive wood of magnificent thorn-trees, we passed a 

 village surrounded by green corn-fields, and then descended 

 by a Avinding path on to a lawn covered with a thick and 

 verdant carpet of the richest grass, bounded by a deep and 

 shady belt of the many stemmed acaisia. These beautiful 

 trees margined the river on either hand far as the view 

 extended — and clothed with a vest of golden blossoms, 

 diffused a delicious and grateful odour around. Single mo- 

 kaalas, and detached clumps of slender mimosas, hung with 

 festoons of flowering creepers, heightened the effect, screen- 

 ing with their soft and feathery foliage considerable portions 



