40 
JOURNEY ACROSS THE 
[1820; 
which we judged to be the right one, and fol- 
lowed it till midnight, when all traces of it were 
lost, and though the ground was examined with 
the hands in every direction for a considerable 
time, the track could not be discovered; we were 
therefore obliged to halt, and in the morning per- 
ceived, most unexpectedly, that the situation af- 
forded both good grass and wholesome water. 
We understood afterwards, that, had we not 
halted where we did, we should not have 
found water for two days. It was impossible 
not to see the finger of God on this occasion, and 
to feel grateful for His kind interposition. 
So great was the effect of the heat, that our 
sugar was as hard as a brick ; the ink was dried 
up in the inkstand ; the board I used in the 
waggon for a writing-table was split ; the water 
in all our vessels was as hot as tea is generally 
drank in Britain, and I could not touch without 
pain any part of the waggon that had been ex- 
posed to the sun. Therm, in shade at noon 96. 
Several Bushmen were with us all day. By 
means of our guide, who understood their lan- 
guage, we told them some things about God and 
the Saviour. I observed them smiling while he 
was interpreting to them, on which the guide 
turned about and significantly said, " Mynheer, 
they understand nothing about those things !" 
