SWARM OF LOCUSTS. 59 
posed to comply with his command, but proceeded a 
short distance up the valley, when I halted for the 
night. About midnight I was suddenly awoke with 
a strange uproar produced by the farmer, who had 
borrowed my saddle in the morning. He was ex- 
eeedingly enraged at having had to follow me a dis- 
tance of twenty miles. I was somewhat surprised to 
find him labouring under the foolish impression 
that I intended to accuse him before the magistrate 
at Beaufort of having stolen the saddle. 
As the weather had become fine, I was enabled to 
leave this place early in the morning, reached the 
Zout river about mid-day, and proceeded in the 
direction of Beaufort, through Corland’s Kloof. 
During our progress through this pass, which oecu- 
pied upwards of an hour, we passed through an 
immense swarm of locusts, which flew about on 
all sides, and frequently dashed with great violence 
against our faces. ‘Their numbers were so great 
as to occasion us no small degree of annoyance. 
The rains which had lately fallen had, from this 
place to Rhinoster Kop, where we halted, given 
‘to the whole country the appearance of a large 
marshy lake, a very unusual circumstance, since 
for some years past this district had been subject to 
long and continued drought. 
I reached Beaufort the following morning, where, 
after remaining a few days, I set out on my return 
towards the Cape, experiencing much colder weather 
