VISIT TO SOUTH AFRICA. 5Q 
ocean to this land. Having remounted the waggons, we proceed- 
ed with them and forded the river. The water reached to the mid- 
dle of the bodies of our oxen. 
Gnadenthal lies about an English mile from the ford, and as we 
drew nearer, the number of those, who came to meet us, every 
moment increased. The entrance into the village is through lanes 
enclosed by hedge-rows, and the dwellings of the missionaries 
appear under a grove planted by the first three Brethren, Marsveld, 
Schwinn, and Kuehnel, sometime after their arrival in 1792. 
Little do I now wonder at the rapture, Avith which this place 
is spoken of by travellers, who, after traversing a dreary, unculti- 
vated country, without a tree to screen them from the scorching 
rays of the sun, find themselves transported into a situation, by 
nature the most barren and wild, but now rendered fruitful and 
inviting, by the persevering diligence and energy of a few plain, 
pious, sensible, and judicious men, who came hither, not seeking 
their own profit, but that of the most despised of nations ; and 
while they directed their own and their hearers' hearts to the 
dwellings of bliss and glory above, taught them those things, 
which have made even their earthly dwelling, comparatively, a 
kind of paradise, and changed filth and misery into comfort and 
peace. 
The missionaries and their wives received us with the greatest 
kindness and hospitality, while a fresh company of Hottentots, 
standing under some venerable and wide-spreading oaks, which 
overshadow the court, welcomed us by singing a hymn, and by 
every token of affectionate regard. We joined with our whole 
hearts in their thanksgivings to God our Preserver, for the num- 
berless favours received at His hands throughout the whole of our 
travels by land and sea. 
