AVQ.] JOURNEY ACROSS, &c. 377 
upon many of the trees, we had abundance of firewood. 
To witness generations of trees piled one upon ano- 
ther is solemn, impressive, and instructive ; one cannot 
help musing on this striking representation of the ra- 
vages of time on the generations of mankind. Thermo- 
meter at sun-rise 40 : at noon 76. 
Qlst Thermometer at sun-rise 76, with strong wind 
blowing clouds of sand upon us. We had a little boy, 
named Dookstens, (or Asbestos,) travelling with us. I 
had supposed that much of his blackness was owing to 
dirt covering his skin; I therefore took him to the 
Great River, to try if I could wash him white ; but 
though I washed long, with the aid of soap, I found 
him to be the Ethiopian, whose skin could not be 
made white, 
A little before dinner we were gratified by the sight 
of our strayed oxen again. There were altogether up- 
wards of fifty, thirty-three of which belonged to the 
society instead of eighteen, as I at first understood* 
They had actually returned to Rowland-Hill-Dorp, 
just at the time some Corannas arrived there who 
were to accompany us down the river, who brought 
them along with them. Our people had returned to " 
the other side of the river after a very laborious though 
unsuccessful search for them in the desert. One of 
them, Keyser, had nearly lost his life for want of water. 
He felt as if fire had been about the middle of his 
back; he frequently thrust his head into the middle 
of a bush to smell the damp that might be there, while 
3 c 
