1812. ONGELUKS FOUNTAIN. 237 
Ongeluks Fontein (Accident Fountain) being an inhabited place, 
it was to be expected that firewood would not, at night, easily be 
found near the kraal, and my men, therefore, took the precaution, 
when passing a spot where bushes abounded, to load up in the 
waggon, enough for our use till morning : as we found, it would be 
dark before we arrived there. This spring derived its name from the 
circumstance of a Hottentot having here lost his life by the gun of 
one of his companions accidentally exploding ; by which he was 
severely wounded : yet there appeared, it was said, every favorable 
chance of his recovery, until the report of a musket, thoughtlessly 
discharged too near him, threw the unfortunate man into so violent a 
state of alarm and agitation, that his death soon followed. 
Qth. At Ongeluks Fountain, about fifteen huts placed irregularly, 
and dispersed so wide apart that some were out of sight of the 
others, form a kraal or outpost where many of the Klaarwater 
Hottentots reside with their cattle, as long as any pasturage can be 
found in the vicinity. Its size, and the number of its inhabitants, 
are, like those of all the Hottentot outposts, so fluctuating that some- 
times the spot is quite deserted : nor does it seem that at any season, 
the least attempt at cultivation is ever made here ; as the ground no 
where appeared to have been broken. 
Van Roi/e, unknown to me, had passed the night at one of the 
distant huts ; and though he heard us arrive, he left me till this 
morning in some anxiety on account of his absence. I should have 
supposed that his visit to Europe, and the instructions which he had 
received, would have taught him the propriety of letting me know 
that he was at the kraal ; but he came to the waggons the next day 
without making any excuse, or even a remark. 
Speelman, Platje, and Keyser, with the same Hottentot uncon- 
cern, made their appearance in the morning after having also passed 
the night at one of the huts. This kind of apathy is very common 
among Hottentots, and forms one of the unpleasant features of their 
character. 
I had yesterday sent them a second time to Taaibosch for the 
sheep, of which we were beginning to be in want, as my flock was 
