MARCH.] JOURNEY TO BETHELSDORP. 
89 
more atrocious deeds than any I have ever heard 
the Hottentots charged with. I think the Hotten- 
tot mind is better cultivated than the minds of many in 
the lowest ranks in London ; and I should expect to 
be much better served, and to be more safe in tra- 
velling with twenty Hottentots, than with twenty 
Europeans. The rain falling down in torrents, the 
oxen could not proceed ; wherefore we halted at ten, 
P,M, and waited for better weather. 
18th. We began our journey at six, A.M. through a 
thick fog and rain ; of course w^e saw nothing but what 
was in our immediate neighbourhood. Passed a boor's 
house at eight, where we obtained three loaves. At 
eleven, A.M. we halted on a barren waste, surrounded 
by hills at a little distance. I walked to an eminence, 
whence I had an extensive view of the \^'ilderness 
around. Lions and tygers have surely a right to reign 
and roam here, as neither men nor domesticated ani- 
mals appear to inhabit it. The sight of a bird does not 
remove the gloom, which seems to overhang every 
riling; for its solitary situation rather excites pity 
than conveys pleasure. 
Thermometer at six, A.M. 66: — at noon, 64; 
cloudy: —at five, P.M. 62. 
Proceeded at three, P.M. At four the hills were 
so near each other, that there was barely room be- 
tween them for the waggon and a small brook, whose 
