CHAP, l] the 'NARA. 21 



respectable coat and a paii- of trousers, to be paid if 

 they brought the horses back — not otherwise. The 

 agreement was made, and off they started. I wish I 

 had brought more old clothes. Two coats and the 

 etceteras are a sad drain upon my wardrobe. Another 

 accident happened : my large white dog, that I begged 

 from the barracks, took fright at the waggon-whips 

 which we had landed, and were cracking : he ran straight 

 away, and was never seen by us again. Flamingos 

 gathered here in immense flocks ; their flight is very 

 curious ; the long projecting neck in front, and the long 

 legs behind, make them look in the distance more like 

 dragon-flies than birds. I broke a joelican's wing with 

 a cartridge of swan-shot, and had a chase of a good 

 mile after him before I came up : the Hottentots eat 

 him. The Bay seems, from all accounts, to swarm 

 with fish ; but, though I have a small seine net, I have 

 no time now to set it. 



August 23. — The horses are found ! They had 

 strayed nearly forty miles (I saw their tracks long after- 

 wards), and Frederick drove them to Scheppmansdorf 

 for food and water, as it was much nearer for them than 

 the Bay. He came to claim his apparel : I grudgingly 

 enough gave him the only coats I could ; they were 

 the workmanship of Stultz : I had intended them for 

 full-dress occasions at Missionary chapel-meetings, &c. 

 But it could not be helped; and the greasy savages 

 put them on, exulting in their altered appearance. 



I have mentioned above the 'Nara, a prickly gourd, 

 which grows here : it is the staple food of these 

 Hottentots, and a very curious plant. In the first 



