THE GROOTE KARROO. 97 



now approaching the Poorte, or passage to the 

 Karroo, a vast tract of arid and uninhabited desert, 

 forming the third terrace of Southern Africa, and 

 said to be about three hundred miles in length by 

 eighty in breadth, situated between the Zwart Sneeuw- 

 bergen — black and snow mountains. 



We halted at the place of M. de Plessie, and pur- 

 chased a few fowls and a sheep, which we salted down 

 for provisions, this being the last house between us 

 and the desert waste upon which we were about to 

 enter. During our stay here, we were overtaken by a 

 most violent storm of hail, which lasted for some time, 

 changing the face of the country from the mild ap- 

 pearance of summer to that of stern winter ; the heat 

 only a few hours before having been almost insup- 

 portable, and the weather now becoming intensely 

 cold. When the storm subsided, we again continued 

 our course. As we rode along, the rolling thunder 

 seemed to shake the ground, the surrounding moun- 

 tains reverberating its solemn peals. After passing 

 over the chain of mountains called the Poorte, we 

 entered at once upon the ' Groote Karroo.' It was 

 night, and the moon had risen, but dark thunder- 

 clouds obscured its light, except when an occasional 

 gleam burst through the tempest, revealing the ex- 

 tent of boundless solitude which we were now about 

 to traverse. We pursued our journey until midnight, 

 when we prepared for our usual bivouack near the 

 Drie Kops. 



VOL. I. H 



