210 
JOURNEY ACROSS THE [1815. 
We travelled along the banks of the Great River in 
an easterly direction, among tall withered grass, in the 
following order : 1 st. Eight Bushmen riding on oxen, 
2nd. Our baggage waggon and twelve oxen. 3rd. A 
Bushman on oxback, and our guide on horseback. 
4th. My waggon and ten oxen. 5th. Our flock of 
sheep and goats. 6th. Our third waggon and ten oxen. 
7th. The chief and his son on oxen, with two of our 
people on horseback. 8th. Our spare oxen. 9th. Our 
armed Hottentots, walking scattered. The whole 
formed a curious caravan, which, had it proceeded 
along the streets of London, would have collected a 
crowd of spectators equal to that on His Majesty's 
going to St. Paul's. 
We arrived at a place opposite to the ford a little 
after sun-set, when the chief rode off to his kraal, to 
bring more of his people to attend our evening wor- 
ship. In about an hour he returned with them. We 
invited him to our tent, and gave him a cup of coffee, 
which he relished. While taking it, Mr. Read asked 
him if he knew Sneuberg, in the district of Graaf 
Reynet, which he said he did. He then asked him 
how long he thought we had been in travelUing from 
thence to the place where we now were. After think- 
ing a little, he said, he supposed two months. He was 
greatly surprised when we informed him we had only 
taken twelve days ; for the road by which he supposed 
we must have come was extremely circuitous : of 
course he had no conception that he h^id been living 
so near the colony. 
