26 Transactions of the South African Philosophical Society. 
grass country very suitable as cattle pasture; but here again the 
water difficulty presents itself, for there are miles upon miles of 
erass-veld which is useless as grazing ground because of its being too 
far away from water for stock. Here by water-boring and. well- | 
sinking a great deal could be done. Damaraland is not very 
suitable for sheep-rearing for wool, because of the thorny shrubs, 
and also because of the seed of the klitzgras, which, getting into 
the wool, knots it and causes much trouble, depreciating its value. 
As regards precious minerals, gold has been discovered in the 
Omaruru district, and copper in the districts of Omaruru and Otjim- 
binque, but, probably owing to expense of working, no development 
to speak of has taken place. 
After our fortnight’s quarantine at Hatsamas we continued our 
journey to Rehoboth. The first part of the way lay over sandstone 
formation, of a hilly nature, then we reached a large sandy and 
erassy plain, well wooded with kameeldoorn and _ hakjesdoorn. 
About 30 miles from Hatsamas the soil becomes gradually clayey, 
and after crossing the Usib River, 35 miles from Hatsamas we came 
upon a hard clay soil covered with low karoo bushes, principally 
the gannabush. This part of the country strongly resembles our 
north-western Karoo. 
Rehoboth is a mission station, chiefly occupied by the Bastards, 
who gain a livelihood by cattle and sheep rearing and transport 
riding. It is situated about 4,600 feet above sea-level. Below the 
sandstone and shale of this vicinity the limestone evidently still 
exists, for there is an extensive outcrop of it in the village of Reho- 
both, and out of this rises the water-supply of the village, in the 
form of hot springs, the temperature of which is 52°C. The 
journey from Gobabis to Rehoboth, a distance of 140 miles, occupied 
nine days. 
From Rehoboth we travelled south-eastwards, skirting the Oanob 
River for some distance, until we crossed the Usib River just before 
it joins the Oanob, and passing through good alluvial sandy loam 
for about 12 miles. After leaving the river we passed on to a 
sandy soil covered with grass and trees. At Lekkerwater, about 
37 miles from Rehoboth, the soil is again of a very clayey 
nature. After leaving Lekkerwater we crossed seven sandy plateaus, 
separated by seven ranges of sandhills. These sandy plateaus are 
poor in vegetation, the most plentiful growth being that of the 
tsammas, a small melon, which in the absence of water forms a 
useful substitute, and is very much in requisition, both for man and 
beast. Having crossed this sandy tract we came upon a formation 
principally composed of limestone tufa, and at a distance of 70 
