SOUTHERN AFRICA. 249 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 



JOURNEY RESUMED^ TO THE 'gY KOUP, OR VET RIVIERE 

 OF THE EMIGRANTS. 



Misfortunes, according* to the old adag-e, never come 

 singly ; and I have assuredly no grounds for recording a 

 special exception to the rule in our favour. Shortly after my 

 restoration on the 27th, the sudden brewing of a whirlwind, 

 or more properly speaking, of a simoom in miniature, whilst 

 it caused the partial destruction of one of the waggon 

 awnings, led also to the temporary loss of our live stock ; 

 the natural consequence of the latter calamity being, that 

 one of the best oxen fell into a pit, and two of the sheep 

 into the maw of the hyaena. This extraordinary squall of 

 dust and gravel, which raged as if all inanimate nature had 

 been stirred into commotion, was the forerunner of a thunder- 

 storm, that lasted the greater part of the night, and ulti- 

 mately g-ave place to a drenching and steady rain during the 

 whole of the following day. Towards evening, our alhes, 

 the Lihoya, honestly brought in the remaining sheep, and 

 our position being very exposed, we made an attempt to 

 reach the river j hut after travelling five miles, were com- 

 pelled to halt at a puddle of rain-water, where we passed 

 the dreary wet night of the 28th, as we had spent its pre- 

 decessor, without either fuel or shelter. 



The next morning' brought us to the scene of my bivouac 

 on Christmas night, and according to my prediction, we 

 experienced no little difficulty in discovering a spot where 

 the capriciously winding river might be crossed. The inter- 



