WAY.] 
BUSHMEN^S COUNTRY. 
201 
and consequently stretch and break. Thermometer 
at noon, 50. 
About one P.M. the rain ceasing, we again pro- 
ceeded on our journey, and in half an hour came to 
an opening in the hills which led to what we named 
Wilks's Plain. To view it in every direction was fati- 
guing to the eye, as nothing was visible but short 
bushes of a dull black hue, it being winter. We 
traced the bed of the Brak River in a N.W. direction 
till the evening, when we halted near a little water. 
28th. The night was extremely cold, when I found 
my sheepskin covering a great protection. In the 1 
morning w^e had several hail showers. At eight A.M. 
we dispatched our interpreter and a Hottentot to visit 
a kraal of bushmen who were reported to live about 
ten miles off, to inform them of our design to be 
there in the afternoon, and to induce them to prevail 
on their chief to come and meet us. They returned 
with the information that the kraal was deserted, and 
having seen no person they could not learn where they 
were gone. 
I have observed three different methods which our 
Hottentot servants have of baking bread. 1. They 
place the loaf on a gridiron over the fire. 2. They 
cover the loaf with hot ashes. 3. After sweeping the 
ground upon which a fire has been for some time, 
they place the loaf there, and cover it with a pot 
D d 
