3i6 TRAVELS IN 
and the second to Groene kloof, about sixteen miles fartlier on 
a deep sandy road, \vhich proved a bard day's drag for a dozen 
oxen. 
Groene kloof is a division of the Cape district, consisting 
of several clumps of small hills, that cross the sandy slip, 
extending along the western coast. On the dales that lie 
within these hills are copious springs of good water, and ex- 
cellent pasturage for cattle and horses. None of the ground 
near the Cape can be considered as remarkably productive in 
grain ; it requires manure, or to lie fallow for two or three 
years, and even then affords nothing that in England would 
be considered as a crop. It appears from the returns of 
grain, which the farmers are obliged to deliver annually to 
government, that the average produce is under tenfold. In 
places close to the town, the returns are much less, the 
ground being worn out by a continual succession of crops 
of grain. 
Among the hills of Groene kloof are considerable numbers 
of Steenboks, Duykers, and Reeboks, and a few Hartebeests, 
but frequent visits of sportsmen from the Cape have made 
them very shy. Hares, korhaens, grouse, and partridges, were 
sufficiently plentiful. Various species of the liliaceous tribe, 
particularly of the amaryllis, and other bulbous rooted plants, 
were now in bloom, but the long drought had left little ver- 
dure on the sides of the hills. At this season of the year that 
refreshing tint is only to be looked for in the neighbourhood 
of springs and rivulets. 
