2U JOURNEY ACROSS THE [i813. 
chief, connected with Klaar Water, came to the 
other side to assist us. The kraals on this side are 
under him : the cattle are all his property, only the 
people have the milk for attending to them. Bern, the 
head or chief, is his brother, and employed by him. 
He informed us of a ford, a few days higher up the 
river, which he was confident we should be able to 
cross without the trouble of taking our waggons to 
pieces, and carrying them over on rafts composed of 
trees tied together. On receiving this information, we 
instantly began to prepare for proceeding toward it ; 
but why he concealed this information for four or five 
days I knew not, unless to secure our company. When 
every thing was ready for departing, except yoking the 
oxen, we found they were missing, through the inat- 
tention of our Hottentots, which detained us till after 
sun-set, (five, P.M.) when we again got in motion, to 
the great joy of our dogs, who expressed it in a very 
diverting manner. 
We stopped for some time at Bern's kraal as we 
passed. The poor creatures expressed regret at our 
leaving them, especially one young man, to Mr, R. 
I visited several of their huts, in which hardly any 
thing was to be seen but the fire ; yet they appeared 
cheerful and contented. In one hut I observed five or 
six young people scrambling among ashes for small 
roots resembling the crocus, which they had roasted, 
eating them greedily as they found them. Many of 
the people said in Dutch, " Good night." We pro- 
ceeded till about eight, P.M. when we halted near the 
