16 
FRIENDLY RECEPTION AT RIIZO'S KRAAL. 28, 29 Feb. 
We reached the Bushman hraal at a little before sunset. It con- 
sisted only of three huts, where we found no one at home but the 
women. They informed us that all the men were out hunting or in 
search of food, but would return in the evening. They seemed 
already satisfied of our friendly disposition, and appeared to rejoice 
at the arrival of men with fire-arms, for they immediately told us 
that a hippopotamus had just that moment been heard snorting in 
the river close by, and begged us go and shoot it for them. 
At about eight the Bushmen came home, but we found that the 
man whom we wished to see, and whose name was Riizo (Reezo), 
had parted from them and gone to a kraal situated at a consider- 
able distance farther down the river. Our communication with 
these people was attended with no difficulty, as three of our party 
fortvmately could speak their language ; Hans Lucas, Ruiter, and 
Nieuwveld : although the latter understood nothing of Dutch, but 
was sufficiently acquainted with that dialect of the Hottentotish, 
which is spoken by the people of Klaarwater. 
One of these natives was therefore immediately sent off to in- 
form Riizo of our wishes, and to desire him to come to us. In the 
mean time I had the satisfaction of learning that he and some others 
had long meditated an excursion to the southward, and, if it could 
been done with safety, a friendly visit to the borders of the colony. 
Owr station, with all its living appendages of men and cattle, 
presented a scene so romantic, so curious, and so fit for a picture, that 
I employed the remainder of the daylight in making a drawing of 
it. It was in a thick grove of acacias on the top of a high bank, at 
the foot of which flowed the Gariep, extending its stream to a greater 
breadth as it liere changed the direction of its course, glittering 
with the reflection of the warm harmonious colors of the western 
sky, and the last rays of the setting sun. Evening was quickly 
leading forward the darkness of night, when the broad moon in un- 
clouded brightness rose to give us a day of milder and serener light, 
and as she cast her beams obliquely through the branches of our 
s};lvan hall, made us forget the hour of rest, and pass our time as 
if the night were not yet come. On one side the Bushmen and my 
