90 
A VIOLENT THUNDER-STORM. 
13, 14 March, 
tion or idleness in neglecting to inquire the proper name. In the 
present case, however, the boy, whenever we asked him his name, 
always declared that he had none j a circumstance which much 
amused my people who considered themselves in a high state of 
civilization, because they wore clothes of European make, carried a 
gun, spoke Dutch, and had two names. 
We took leave amidst the grateful salutations of the kraal ; our 
party now consisting of three Bushmen in addition to my own men. 
Soon after we set out, the clouds began to collect, and for more 
than three hours it rained without ceasing. As we rode along I 
observed, in many places, considerable quantities of hail lying under 
the bushes, and which the air was not warm enough to thaw. The 
weather was very unsettled, and the wind blew extremely cold during 
the whole of the day. 
When we had travelled twelve miles, we again fell in with the 
river, and crossed to its left bank. Here we were met by a shower of 
rain and hail so violent that my horse refused to face it, and we were 
therefore obliged to halt and turn our backs to the storm. The 
loudest claps of thunder burst over our heads, and followed the flashes 
of lightning without any perceptible interval of time. I could not 
discover in our Bushmen any symptoms of fear, though nothing 
could be more awful than the thunder, which seemed close above us 
and exploded with a violence almost sufficient to destroy the hearing. 
About four miles farther, we crossed to the right bank of the 
river, which appeared to have taken a winding course from a consi- 
derable distance westward, where some high mountains were in sight. 
Here many herds of quakkas were observed ; but as they grazed 
only in the middle of these extensive plains, it was found impossible 
to approach within musket-shot.* 
At a mile beyond the river, our Bushmen brought us to a spring 
of excellent water, situated in a kloof, or opening through a range of 
* In these plains a small species of Loranthus was observed, growing on the branches 
of the larger shrubs, and, being of a hoaiy appearance, was named 
Loranthus canescens, B. Catal. Geogr. 2119. 5. Planta parva tota canescens, ut etiam 
flores. Folia ovalia obtusa parva canescentia. Crescens in campis aridis, in ramis 
Lyciorum. 
