91 



PART THE SECOND. 



CHAPTER I. 



Departure overland from Cape Town. — Antelopes. — The New Kloof. 

 — Hex River. — Groote Karroo. — Scarcity of Water. — Thunder- 

 storm. — The Gamka, or Lion River. — Springboks and Vultures. 

 — Nieuw veld Mountains. — Beaufort. — Account of depredations by 

 the Bushmen. — The Commando System, &c. 



After having made every preparatory arrange- 

 ment requisite for undertaking a long journey 

 through a wild and lonely country, destitute of those 

 accommodations afforded to the traveller in more 

 populous and cultivated lands, I left Cape Town 

 with some friend returning to Beaufort on the 

 30th of September, 1830, each party having a 

 covered waggon, drawn by ten oxen, carrying a tent, 

 with a supply of suitable provisions, that we might 

 avoid as much as possible taxing the well-known 

 hospitality of the friendly Boors, who inhabit the in- 

 terior districts. 



It was our intention to have reached Pampoon 

 kraal as our first uitspan-Tpl&ce *, but we had not 

 proceeded farther than Tiger-bay when we found it 

 impossible to accomplish our object, the sand being 



* A term used by the Dutch Colonists for unyoking the oxen. 



