148 
JOURNEY IN ALBANY. 
[1813. 
I saw, had not penetrated above half through the 
skin. 
This fort is the last towards the ocean ; of course, 
when we left it, at three, P.M. we had no more visible 
path. We travelled among long grass on the sides of 
the hills, accompanied by two Hottentot soldiers as 
guides, to the mouth of the Cowie or Buffalo River, 
which is the only place in that quarter where it can 
be crossed, and there we arrived about sun-set. The 
lightning, which is almost every night in Caffreland, 
near which we then were, was uncommonly vivid; 
about twenty flashes every minute, attended with much 
thunder over our heads. The sea raging and foaming 
only a few hundred yards distant, added much to the 
grandeur of the scene. The tent on which I was writing 
stood among trees. The night was dark and dismal ; but 
the lightning now and then made it resemble mid-day. 
When going to bed in the waggon, I readily found 
every thing I wanted, by means of the lightning. 
18th. After a good night's rest, I was pleased to 
find every thing tranquil in the morning. After wor- 
ship and breakfast we walked along the beach, ad- 
miring the ocean's foaming billows, as one of the works 
of God, and none of the least wonderful. When Mr. 
Smith had preached to our company, our guides con- 
sidered the tide nearly at its lowest ebb, wherefore we 
prepared to cross the river, by putting such things as 
were likely to be most injured by salt water, as high 
in the waggon as possible. About eleven, A.M. we 
