»96 TRAVELS IN 
their destruction. Not a, breath of wind rustled through the 
leaves, nota bird screamed, that were not supposed lo announce 
danger. Hunted, while at hbert}\ hke beasts of prey, and 
inhumanly treated by the fanners when carried into slavery, 
their condition in either case was desperate. The burden of 
their song was vengeance against the Dutch, This Uttle man 
was intended to have accompanied us ; but as he proceeded 
with reluctance, and seemed more inchned to abide by his 
wives, he was permitted to follow his uxorious inclinations. 
As we advanced to the northward, a curious but most de- 
plorable spectacle presented itself to our observation. It 
was a troop of locusts resting upon the ground. The spac© 
they covered was about one square mile in extent, and so- 
completely that the surface appeared to the eye^ at a little 
distance, to have been burned and strewed over with brown 
ashes. Not a shrub nor blade of grass was visible. The wag- 
gons passed directly through them, before which they rose up- 
in a cloud that darkened the air on each side. Desirous of 
seeing the whole troop on the wing, the Hottentots ran amongst 
them, and the horses were made to gallop through them, but 
without success; none but such as were immediately under 
the feet of the men and horses rose up. In all other parts 
they remained firm on the ground. The peasantry pretend 
that they are not to be driven away unless the signal for de- 
parture should be given from their commander in chief, one 
of which is supposed to accompany every troop» 
On the evening of the 23d, we encamped at the foot of a 
large mountain, remarkable for its pointed peak, and also on 
