MAY.] JOURNEY IN SNEUBERG. 183 
where there was grass. Our tent was erected, a fire 
lighted, and coffee prepared by the time the other 
watisons arrived. The boors remarked that the place 
should be called Lions' Valley, because they greatly 
abound there. We had much lightning and a little 
thunder, after which followed abundance of rain. 
1 8th. The rain continued to fall during the whole 
night, and this day till three, P.M. when it abated, and 
I ascended to the summit of a low hill to view the 
surrounding country. When on the hill two of the 
boors, Mr. Kicherer, and an armed Hottentot, came 
to inform me it was dangerous to walk alone in such 
places, as Bushmen might be concealed among the 
rocks. I was not aware of this, and thanked them for 
their attention to my safety. It being impossible to 
reach the next fountain before night, we resolved to 
postpone our departure until the morrow. We now 
commenced keeping watch during the night, immedi- 
ately after sun-set. I observed that the Hottentots 
watched chiefly on the lee side of the waggons; the 
reason for which I understood to be, that a lion or a 
Bushman never makes an attack from the windward 
side, because then the dogs soon smell tliem, and 
give the alarm. The night was cold and the ground 
damp. 
19 th. A titer prayer for protection we again pro- 
ceeded on our journey at seven, A.M. having now no 
road. We crossed a valley covered with heath, in 
which we observed the footmarks of a company of 
