AFRICA.. 7 
rived at the end 6f the defile, and found our- 
felves in the open country, where we faw Klaas 
and his comrades traverfing a fpot on which 
were fome ruined huts. I made a fign to them 
to join me ; and in the mean time I afcended a 
neighbouring height, from which I could dif- 
cover whether there were any people to whom 
the huts belonged in the furrounding plain. 
All I could difcover with my glafs was an af- 
femblage of cabins at a diftance, which I con- 
ceived to be thofe of Hottentots ; and among 
the reft there was one, which appeared to me 
larger than ordinary. Was this adually a 
Hottentot kraal ? Or was it one of thofe tempo- 
rary ftations, which Bafter, whom I fought, 
and who lived in the Hottentot manner, had 
chofen for himfeff and his people ? But whe- 
ther it were a kraal, or an abode of Barter, in 
order to obtain diredions or affiftance, it was 
neceffary for me to repair to it without delay ; 
which I accordingly did. 
On my arrival, I perceived, to my forrow, 
that they were all as empty as the former. 
They even appeared to have been deferted for 
feveral weeks. In the large one, however, I 
found one of thofe hand-mills which the 
B 4 planter-s 
