OCT.] 
NAMACQUA LAND. 
461 
over long hills of deep sand, we halted at eight P.M. 
at Koris Fountain, where there is a boor's house in 
ruins, and four huts for the accommodation of those 
who attend his sheep. Most of the country is covered 
with bushes, many of which are of the succulent kind, 
and all in flower, which renders the near prospects 
extremely beautiful, but when viewed at a distance 
they have no better effect upon the scene than the 
wildest heath. 
5 th. Thermometer at sun-rise, 86. At noon in the 
shade 101, which was rather alarming, as noon is 
never the hottest part of the day. A breeze of wind 
rendered it more tolerable than it must otherwise have 
been. The common flies were numerous and trouble- 
some ; the perspiration on the face attracted them, and 
though driven away, they returned in an instant, 
walking over the whole face, especially about the eyes. 
They likewise rested on the inky part of my pen, so 
that I could not see what I wrote ; to drive them away 
was useless, it was only making way for successors. 
The lowness of the ground which was surrounded by 
hills increased the heat. At half past three P.M. the 
thermometer stood at 102 when compleatly shaded 
from the sun. My silver snuff box in my pocket felt 
as if lately taken out of a Are, though I sat under covert 
of the tent ; all the water was warm, and our butter 
turned into oil. Our dogs, though covered from the 
rays of the sun, lay breathing quick, with their mouths 
open, and their tongues hanging out, as if in a high 
fever. My ink, though mixed witli water, got thick in 
