342 
JOURNEY BEYOND THE GREAT RIVER. [1813. 
which seems providentially to prognosticate great things 
to Africa ; for the all-wise Creator makes nothing in 
vain. If what he has made in one quarter does not 
suit the purpose and pursuits of one generation, it 
may suit those of another. At present all is lying as 
useless as the ruins of Palmyra or Persepolis. 
At eleven A.M. we arrived at the confluence of 
the two rivers; both of which were large, but the 
Yellow River had the pre-eminence. We could see 
up the new river, which came from the S.E. about two 
miles ; the rising banks of which, being covered with 
trees, had an elegant appearance. We enquired if it 
had any name, when our Griquaas told us that this 
river and one a little below, which was still larger, had 
only been lately known to them ; of course they had 
no names for them, except that they spoke of this as 
the mud and the other as the black river. From 
this information we agreed to name this one the 
Alexander River, after the Colonial Secretary 
at Cape-town, and the other the Cradock River, 
after His Excellency Sir John Cradock, the Governor 
of the colony of the Cape of Good Hope. We 
informed them that both these gentlemen were good 
friends to Hottentots. They seemed pleased with 
these names being given to the rivers, and frequently 
repeated them, to fix them on their memories. The 
scenery being so grand, we felt reluctant to leave it, 
however we tore ourselves away from it, and reached 
our waggons about one P.M. and proceeded with 
