carrying of loads, which are left for the ^ossewagen'. The paarde- 

 wagen is in fact the colonists waggon of pleasure. "^'^ A few re- 

 marks from a contemporaneous English writer on the efficiency of 

 this part of horse breeding would not be out of place here. Remark • 

 ing on the driving and teams he writes that ' ' The Four-in-hand Club 

 must not assume to itself the least precedency. They are compar- 

 atively children in the profession and would shrink before a boer, 

 who in an instant would get his team in hand and trotting them in 

 various directions with the greatest dexterity and completeness * * * 

 In truth, nothing would surprise an English coachman more, than 

 the sight and action of the pleasure waggon of a boer with its usual 

 appointments in spirited horses, driver, and well-painted waggon. ' '^^ 



Lichtenstein also very graphically describes pleasure trips in 

 such wagons and praises the dexterity and skill of the average 

 driver as far above anything he has seen and known in Europe. 

 More recently Sir James Bryce in his "Impressions of South Af- 

 rica" also amongst others expressed himself with admiration on the 

 excellent equipages and the splendid driving be it in the city or the 

 country. 



The horse-wagon was followed and ultimately superceded by 

 the Cape cart, a perfectly home made article used both as a means 

 of speedy travelling and as a carriage of pleasure. The Cape cart 

 and its pair is a great factor in the maintenance of the efficiency of 

 of our horses. However poor a small farmer may be he will not 

 consider himself of any standing unless he is the proud possessor 

 of an excellent pair of certain pedigree, — generally a certain breed- 

 er's name supply this. The possession of an excellent riding horse 

 and a shooting pony is a sine qua non in the farming equipment of 

 even the smallest farmer. 



The Cape cart holds its own, even against the ever increasing 

 motor traffic, for in a sum total of pleasure, convenience, and ele- 

 gance it would be hard to find any conveyance to beat the Cape cart 

 and a well trained and selected pair. The good horse, vnsely with- 

 drawn from hopeless competition and kept within proper spheres 

 of activity, which are plentiful in South Africa, need have no fear 

 of total defeat. 



The periodic visitations of "Horse Sickness" seemed to have 



(78) William Burchell "Travels in the Interior of South Africa." 



(79) William Wilherforce "State of the Cape of Good Hope in 1822. London 



1823. 



37 



