SOUTHERN AFRICA. 221 



neio'hbourhoodj Eichardson and myself drove him up to the 

 caravan, where his blood was eagerly quaffed both b}^ the 

 savao-es and Hottentots. 



In the total absence of materials for the construction of a 

 poundj the cattle became so restless during- the nig'ht, that 

 we were g"lad to resume our journey two hours before dawn. 

 Numerous hartebeests and quag-g-as were disturbed by our 

 advance ; and the white-tailed g'noo, which now occurred for 

 the first time since passing- Kuruman, startled at the approach 

 of our wag-g-ons, was again bellowing*, stamping-, and tossing- 

 its eccentric head. As the da}' broke, boundless meads kept 

 extending- to the 63^6, covered with luxuriant herbage, and 

 enamelled with rich parterres of brilliant flowers. These 

 were animated by droves of portly elands, moving in long 

 procession across the silent and treeless landscape. The rank 

 odour of these animals, resembling- the exhalation from a 

 cattle close, could be winded from a great distance ; and it 

 is a sing-ular fact that their bodies are infested by the ticks 

 and parasitic flies commonly found in such places. 



Pursuing a herd of many hundred elands, which literally 

 resembled a vast drove of stall-fed oxen, we were joined in 

 the chase by the prettily-striped foal of a quagga, which 

 neighed and frisked by the side of the horses for a consider- 

 able time, before it discovered its mistake. The lio-hter- 

 bodied cows skipped nimbly over each other's heads, while 

 their unwieldy lords laboured in the rear, their sleek sides 

 shaking- with fat, and frothing with perspiration. Two mi- 

 nutes were sufiicient to reduce them all to a walk, and al- 

 though some turned in desperation upon their pursuers, these 

 enormous creatures are so easily disposed of that the whole 

 herd might have been slaughtered. Their flesh being so 

 greatly superior to that of any other animal, was always 

 eagerty sought after 3 and on this occasion, we killed a suffi- 

 cient number to aftbrd a stock of tong-ues and briskets for 



