3o8 ■ TRAVELS IN 
On the twelfth we entered the district of Stellenbosch, by 
crossing the river Zonder-end, and proceeded to Zoete Melk 
valley, a patch of excellent land belonging to government, 
and lately converted by it into a station for cavalry. 
Proceeding up the valley through which the Endless river 
meanders, we halted, late in the evening, at a place called the 
Eavian's kloof, where there is a small establishment of Mora- 
vian missionaries, or Hernhiiters, so called from a village in 
Saxony v^here an asylum was offered to them after their ex- 
pulsion from Moravia. These people have been several 
years in this colony, for the express purpose of instructing the 
Hottentots in the doctrines of Christianity, but had met with 
little encouragement, in the object of their mission, under the 
Dutch government. The number of their proselytes have in- 
creased of late to such a degree, that they have found it ne- 
cessary to send to Europe for more teachers of the gospel. 
Early in the morning I was awakened by the noise of some 
of the finest voices I ever heard, and, on looking out, 
saw a group of female Hottentots sitting on the ground. It 
was Sunday, and they had assembled thus early to chaunt the 
morning hymn. They were all neatly dressed in printed cot- 
ton gowns. A sight so very different from what we had hitherto 
been in the habit of observing, with regard to this unhappy 
class of beings, could not fail of being grateful ; and, at the 
same time, it excited a greater degree of curiosity as to the 
nature of the establishment. The good fathers, who were 
three in number, were well disposed to satisfy every question 
