122 ADVENTURES IN SOUTH AFRICA. 



the vicinity of which I might find koodoos and sassay- 

 bies, in addition to the varieties of game which I had 

 already hunted. I walked through their garden, which , 

 besides vegetables in great variety, contained several 

 kinds of fruit-trees, such as peaches, apricotsj &c. ; 

 these throve well, their branches being laden with 

 abundance of fruit. On the forenoon of the 19th, hav- 

 ing twice enjoyed the luxury of bathing, I saddled up, 

 and rode north to an. extensive range of rocky hills to 

 seek for koodoos. Crossing an extensive plain which 

 intervened, I came upon an ostrich's nest containing 

 two eggs ; the cock was sitting on the nest, and, im- 

 agining that we would pass without observing him, he 

 allowed us to ride within sixty yards before he started. 

 I found the hiUs for which I rode of so stony and rocky 

 a character that it was impossible to ride through them. 

 They, however, bore a goodly coating of rank grass of 

 various kinds, and the hollows contained a few dwarf- 

 ish bushes. Leaving my steed in charge of my after- 

 rider, I traversed, with my rifle, several of these rocky 

 ranges, but failed to find any traces of koodoos. It 

 was the sort of country exactly suited for the raebok, 

 to which I have already alluded, and of these antelopes 

 I discovered three small herds. On ascending to the 

 summit of the highest hill in my vioinity, I command- 

 ed a grand panoramic view of the surrounding scenery. 

 An endless succession of bold mountains, of consider- 

 able height, extended as far as I could see in a north- 

 erly and easterly direction. Some of them were tab- 

 ular, but others of conical and pyramidal shapes tow- 

 ered above their fellows, their abrupt forms standing 

 forth in grand relief above the surroundiiig country. 

 Throughout all these mountain ranges plains of con- 

 siderable extent, more or less undulating, intervened. 



