CHAP. via. ENCAMPMENT AT THE ORANGE EIVER. 215 



place of some Hottentot families. The men belonging to 

 them were employed about the ferry ; and a small space, 

 inclosed with a wall of loose stones, formed their pen or fold, 

 into which a few goats were driven at night. Nearer the 

 Avater were one or two huts belonging to the man in charge 

 of the ferry ; and, still further to the right, the waggons or 

 tents of the boers, with a number of more fragile sleeping- 

 places for the coloured people attending them. There were 

 on om- side of the river eleven waggons, and a couple oi 

 carts, forming quite a village. As I passed along, I noticed 

 recently-killed sheep, or parts of carcases, and long strips of 

 flesh hanging from the branches of the mimosa bushes around 

 the wacrcfons which constituted the moveable houses of their 

 owners. The horses, oxen, and sheep, had gone forth to 

 graze ; but the kids skipped about amongst the rocks, and 

 the hens and chickens were busily occupied under the 

 waggons. A number of men were engaged in shaping the 

 trunk of a tree into a windlass for the large ferry-boat; and 

 some good, matronly-looking women were at their needle- 

 work under a spreading mimosa, having a polished rose- 

 wood work-box open on the sand before them. Not far off 

 a stout young farmer, was nursing a baby in a long white 

 frock ; and, in the rear, Hottentot mothers were attending to 

 their infants ; while the larger children were rolling about on 

 the sand. Near most of the waggons was a fireplace, ge- 

 nerally composed of three stones fixed in the sand, and 

 around these fireplaces the Hottentot servants were pre- 

 paring the morning meal. Most of the parties had tea- 

 kettles, and tea or coffee seemed to be in general use. "WTien 

 the food was prepared, it was carried to the shady side of an 

 adjacent bush, v/here the family gathered around it. In the 

 afternoon the men brought in bundles of fire-wood, and the 

 women fetched water from the river, carrying tall jars, or 

 other vessels, full of water, upon their heads, without any 



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