184 CRADOCK. 



laneous objects that lay huddled together in strange 

 disorder before him. Pointing to this he gave me 

 to understand that he wished to know what quantity 

 I would bestow upon him for his services : though 

 satisfied with what I offered, he nevertheless declined 

 to use those exertions for which I had been stipulating, 

 until the terms of the contract were previously com- 

 plied with. He would not move before he had obtained 

 the promised portion of tobacco, having probably 

 suffered on some prior occasion from the bad faith of 

 his civilized neighbours. Upon my compliance with 

 his wishes, he threw off his kaross, and by his Her- 

 culean exertions we succeeded at last, though with 

 much difficulty, in effecting our object. As the 

 waggon had not sustained any serious damage, we 

 were enabled to proceed to the village of Cradock, 

 which we reached about dusk, having been most 

 laboriously occupied the whole day under the rays of 

 an ardent sun. 



The village of Cradock is situated on the left 

 bank of the great Fish River, and contains from 

 forty to fifty houses, with about three hundred and 

 fifty inhabitants. The church forms a prominent 

 object, and is capable of containing a thousand 

 persons. During " naacht-maal" (the administra- 

 tion of the Lord's Supper,) the village becomes a 

 scene of great bustle and activity, owing to the 

 number of waggons which assemble on such occa- 

 sions from various parts of the district, sometimes 





