258 TRAVELS IN 
and, not far from the same place, we crossed the route of the 
only troop of young locusts that had occurred in the vicinity 
of the river; these voracious insects having withdrawn from 
this quarter on account of the herbage being, as already 
noticed, wholly consumed. This troop covered a plot of 
ground at least a hundred yards in width and five miles in 
length. Its march was directed towards the river, which it 
seemed to be inclined to cross. Close to the waters edge 
these creatures were heaped together in clumps of five or six 
inches deep. Myriads had already entered the water, most 
of which had perished, and were borne away by the stream.. 
On the fifth of December we left the river, and, turning off 
to the southward, travelled over a flat country of a strong 
clayey soil, well covered with fine grass, but destitute of 
wood or bushes, and ill supplied with water. Springs here 
and there occurred; and these were easily discovered by the 
patches of tall reeds that surrounded them. Elands and 
gnoos, hares and partridges, were very plentiful, and none, 
except the second, difficult to procure. Most of the an- 
telope tribe allow themselves to be approached more closely 
on the plains, about one or two o'clock, when the heat of the 
sun is greatest, than at any other period of the day, perhaps 
from their being then in a state of languor, or from their eyes 
being dazzled by the strong light, which renders them in- 
capable of judging of distances. The thermometer stood 
at 88° in the shade, about the middle of the day. For eight 
or ten days past its greatest height had been 84°. The 
weather almost constantly calm, with a cloudless sky. 
