283 EXPEDITION INTO 



Blending" their crag'g'y summits with the passing" clouds, 

 the lofty Sneuwberg'en next rose to view; and on the 21st 

 we struck into the hig-h road near D assies' Fontein, where 

 we had the happiness of finding- our ancient Kafir acquain- 

 tance inhaling" his dacca ^Y\i\\ unabated industry. Our 

 followers, more fantastically arrayed than a hand of banditti, 

 were here unexpectedly met by a party of their cronies with 

 wag"g'ons from GraafF Reinet, who g'reeted them as men 

 risen from the dead, with the astounding- intellig*ence that a 

 report had g-one forth, in the colony, of our whole party 

 having been put to death by the king-. It was known that 

 we were in the neig-hbourhood of the emig-rants at the time 

 of their massacre, and so long- a time having- elapsed without 

 any tiding-s been received of our safety, the tong-ue of 

 rumour had not been idle. Our colonial friends, who had 

 entertained so contemptuous an idea of our travelling* capa- 

 bilities, were by no means unprepared for this dismal intelli- 

 g-ence, which had spread far and wide, and was even credited 

 at the Cape. Unimportant thoug'h it may appear, it had 

 nevertheless proved the death-blow to the domestic happiness 

 of most of our followers — their faithless consorts having- 

 soon forg-otten their plig-hted vows, and embraced the earliest 

 opportunity of casting- aside their widow's weeds. The 

 report was subsequently traced to a Lothario from the 

 frontier, who had actually backed the offer of his hand and 

 heart to Ethaldur's relict, with the assurance that he had 

 himself performed the last melancholy offices for her honour- 

 ed lord, to whose corpse the infidels had offered indig-nities 

 too barbarous to be here recorded. 



Sixty-nine casualities had already occurred among-st our 

 oxen ; and on the 24th another victim being left in the 

 Sneuwberg'en, we had barely a sufficient number remaining- 

 to drag* our wag-gons into the villag-e of Graaff'Reinet. This 

 dreadful mortality, althoug-h partly attributable to the 



