'\ ■ 
S90 TRAVELS IN 
made this obfervatlon, not only on the do* 
meflic animals of the cantons which I tra- 
verfed, but alfo on thofe which were wild, 
and I really found them fmaller than thofc 
I had before feei) in the dry and parched 
countries. I remarked, in my tour among 
the Nimiquas, who Inhabit mere rocks and 
the moft barren parts perhaps of all Africa, 
that their oxen were the moft beautiful I 
had ever feen ; and that even the elephants 
and the hippopotami were much more robuft 
than any where elfe. The little pafture 
which is to be met with in thefe miferable 
places, is likewife exceedingly tender and 
fweet. This quality in the herbs may be 
eafily diftinguifhed, and I employed a parti- 
cular method to difcover it. After I arrived 
in any canton, when my cattle returned from 
pafture, I judged of the harfhnefs of the grafs 
upon which they had fed, by their difperfing 
themfelves all over my camp, and eagerly 
fearching for the bones left by my dogs, in 
order to eafe their teeth. As thefe bones 
w^ere of a calcareous nature, by gnawing 
them they blunted the force of that irrita- 
tion and acidity which tormented them. We 
therefore never threw our bones into the fire. 
When 
