MARCH TO VAAIi RIVER. 135 



or team of oxen to slip the wildebeest to oamp. He 

 afforded us a welcome supply of excellent flesh, as he 

 was in fine condition. I breakfasted on an ostrich egg, 

 Kleinboy having found a nest the preceding day. He 

 had, unfortunately, taken only eight of the eggs out of 

 the nest, foolishly leaving the other twelve, which on 

 his return he found smashed by the old birds, accord- 

 ing to their usual custom. 



CHAPTER Vin. 



We leave Stmk Vonteyn and reach Ae Vaal HWer— Wait-a-bit Thorns 

 —Chase and kill a Buck Koodoo, and bivonac on the Ground — Co- 

 bos and Jacob abBG(nidr— Boan Antelope — We recross the Vaal Eiver 

 — Griqna Encampment — Stink Vont^n again — ^A Flight of Locnsts — 

 A Salt-pan — Salubrious Climate— Boers attempt to cany off Bnyter 

 — 4 Cameel-dom Forest— A Brindled Gnoo bayed by Wild Do^ — 

 Habits of the latter. 



On the evening of the 24th we inspanned, and, leav- 

 ing " Stink Vonteyn," marched upon the Vaal River, 

 distant about twenty-five miles. Our road lay through 

 soft sand, rendering the work very severe for the oxen. 

 About 2 A.M. on the following morning we reached the 

 fair Vaal River by fine moonlight. Having sent mount- 

 ed men through the stream to ascertain its depth, and 

 finding a passage practicable, I resolved at once to cross 

 it — a rule generally adopted by all experienced in the 

 country, among whom a general maxim prevails never 

 to defer the passage of a river if at all fordable when 

 they reach it. Endless are the stories related by South 

 African travelers, who, by failing to adopt this plan, 

 have been compelled to remain for weeks, and even 



