BATIIURST. 81 



abandoned. Captain Owen in his Journal expressed 

 his surprise at the forlorn condition in which it 

 appeared when he last passed it, on his homeward 

 voyage. 



The ride from this place to Bathurst was particu- 

 larly delightful ; the view on all sides had the ap- 

 pearance of park scenery, rather than that of an 

 unenclosed waste, and was much enlivened by the 

 vast number of graceful antelopes to be seen bound- 

 ing over the plain. In the evening I arrived at the 

 house of a friend, with whom I sat up in conversa- 

 tion until a late hour. Just as we Avere on the point 

 of retiring to rest, the dogs gave intimation of some 

 marauder approaching the cattle kraal, which we 

 suspected by its howl to be a laughing hysena. 

 The moon shone with great brilliancy, and as I was 

 anxious to obtain a specimen of this animal, we 

 mounted our horses, collected the dogs, and pursued 

 him for some time through several gloomy avenues, 

 until he escaped over the rocky heights, where we 

 found it difficult to follow. On returning we fell in 

 with a porcupine, hystrix cristata, an animal which 

 usually forages by night, and causes sad devastation 

 among the crops of vegetables : the Dutch colonists 

 call it yzev varfce, or the iron hog, and its flesh 

 when salted and dried is esteemed by them as a 

 great delicacy. 



On the following morning we returned to Gra- 

 ham's Town. This place is situated nearly in the 



VOL. i. g 



