A CAPE CART JOURNEY. 



knee-haltered, and straightway roll in the sand or 

 soil, after which they feed for half-an-hour, have 

 some water occasionally, if it be handy, and the 

 journey is then resumed. This is an ancient and 

 invariable South African custom, and, strange as 

 it may seem to the uninitiated, it certainly serves 

 its purpose admirably, and the long treks, day 

 after day, are by this means comfortably got over. 

 Distances at the Cape are always computed by 

 hours, six miles an hour in a cart being about the 

 average pace. Passing Prins's Kraal, about three 

 hours from Uitenhage, we outspanned at the farm of 

 some young Scotch settlers. Here, while the cattle 

 were resting, we had a splendid and most welcome 

 bathe in a deep and rocky pool hidden in the bush 

 veldt near the house. This was a rare luxury indeed 

 in Cape Colony, where a plunge and short swim, such 

 as we enjoyed, are in many places unheard of and 

 unattainable. How we revelled in the cool and 

 limpid depths of that pool, and how reluctantly we 

 quitted it ! While we dressed upon a flat ledge of 

 rock a hammerkop (hammerhead) came down to the 

 water, but swerved off on seeing us. This — the 

 Scopus umbretta of Gmellen — is a curious looking 

 bird, having plumage of a dark purplish-brown 

 colour, a crested head, and a longish black bill. It 

 belongs to the heron family, and feeds principally on 

 fish and frogs. It has, further, a jackdaw-like taste 

 for odd bits of metal, bright buttons, and such like 

 treasures, which it hides away in its nest. From 

 this farmhouse there was a fine view of the rolling 

 bush veldt country lying everywhere around. Just 

 as we had inspanned and were starting, our best 

 pair of horses, whose heads were left for a few 



