92 
JOURNEY TO BETHELSDORP. [1815. 
the age of her children, she seemed as much surprised 
at the question, as if I had inquired how many hairs 
they had upon their heads. I then asked her how 
many times the sun had come near them since her 
eldest daughter was born : she supposed, three times; 
wijich I judged to be correct, as the child appeared 
to be about three years old. 
We considered our present progress to be slow ; but 
slow and swift are only comparative terms. The mail 
coach in England moves slowly compared with the 
flight of a pigeon ; and the motion of a pigeon is no- 
thing when compared with that of a planet ; and that 
of a planet is slow when compared with the motion of 
light. The progress of our oxen is swift when com 
pared with that of a snail or cameleon. Such con- 
siderations promote patience. At six, P.M. we had a 
view of the ocean, which helped to vary the scene. 
Cupido pointed to a distant hill that was within two 
hours' journey of Bethelsdorp. At seven, P.M. we 
came down a steep descent, when the hinder wheels 
of our waggons were frequently raised from the 
ground. Four years ago a boor was killed when going 
down the same place, by the waggon overturning upon 
him. At the rising of the moon we were much grati- 
fied by the sight of a lunar rainbow. About nine 
my waggon was nearly overturned by one of the 
wheels sinking into a deep hole. During the night 
there was much vivid lightning, attended with thunder 
and rain. 
