254 EXPEDITION INTO 



horizon^ is spread out from the Cashan mountains^ into one 

 level and treeless expanse of serene and sunny plain. In 

 vain we seek for the bewitching* variety of hill or dale^ forest 

 or g-lade^ which constitutes the charm of landscape — the eye 

 wanders on without the smallest check over endless flats^ 

 which are utterly wearisome from their extent and monoton}^ 

 Yet Nature has endeavoured in some measure to supply the 

 deficiency by decking- them out in her grayest flowers, and in 

 some of the most eccentric and attractive forms that exist 

 in the veg'etable world. The chandelier plant, and pm*ple 

 amaryllis, with many other splendid bulbs, g-row wild in 

 profusion ; and being' interspersed with g-eraniums, several 

 species of the cactus, and an endless variety of the succulent 

 g-reen-house plant called the Hottentot fig", literally impart 

 to the waste the appearance of a flower-g^arden. 



The monotony of this extraordinary wilderness is at leng-th 

 broken in upon by the AVitteberg-en, or Quathlamba Moun- 

 tains, a broad basaltic belt that skirts the eastern coast at a 

 distance varying* from sixt}^ to ninety miles from the shore, 

 and divides Caffi*aria from Bechuana land. This wild chaos 

 of rocks and cliffs — of barren ridg*es and towering* peaks, 

 worn by time into castellated fortresses, and other fantastic 

 shapes, resembles the ruins of a world ', and being* inter- . 

 sected by yawning* chasms, offers an impassable barrier. 

 Both the Caledon, and the Nu-Gareep, take their source in 

 this vast chain, and its wild fastnesses not only afford shelter 

 to the MantateeSy under King* Sikonyela, and to many other 

 broken tribes who have been driven from their native homes 

 by ^^ war's alarms" — but they have lately been discovered 

 by adventurous French Missionaries, to be the haunts of 

 two cannibal tribes, called the JBarimo and Ba-Mahahana. 



December and January constituting* the hottest season, 

 we crossed the plains of the Vaal River at the proper time 

 for suffering" all the inconvenience of rain, without enjoying" 



