188 
JOURNAL OF A 
At three in the afternoon, we reached Essenbosch, and the 
weather having become unpleasant, with much wind, and threaten- 
ing rain, we ordered the drivers to pass the farm-house, and descend 
into a woody glen, through which ran a clear brook, falling in small 
cascades down the rocky declivity, and altogether appearing a 
romantic retreat. The place first chosen for our tent being 
much exposed to the wind, we found another, more sheltered, and, 
as the oxen had been some time unyoked, and were gone away, 
we performed, in their place, the service of drawing the waggons 
to it. 
Our tent was now pitched on a grassy spot, surrounded with 
bushes, and defended by high trees against the wind, which had 
risen to a pretty heavy gale. It blew and rained all night, but hav- 
ing reached this snug sheltering- place, before the rain began, we 
did not suffer much by it. 
After dinner, as Sister Schmitt was going to fetch something 
from the waggon, she was alarmed by the sight of an animal, in 
appearance as large as a mastilf, running out of one thicket into 
another, the light of the fire showing his shape pretty distinctly. 
Though she was laughed at for her fears, we all felt some degree 
of alarm, and rekindled our two fires, for we were in a region, where 
wild beasts were said to abound, and where cover enough was to 
be found for them among the rocks and bushes. 
During the night, I awoke, and heard distinctly an unknown 
noise, seemingly not far from the tent, resembling both the growl 
of an angry cat, and the low bleating of a calf. Perceiving Brother 
Schmitt to be awake, I asked softly, " Do you hear that?" " Aye,'' 
said he, " I have been listening to it for some time: no good comes 
out of that throat!" In the morning, the Hottentots, who had 
likewise heard it, pronounced it to have been the roar of a tyger, 
probably of the creature, seen by Sister Schmitt. 
April 1st. To our great joy, all the clouds had fled, together 
with the wind, and the sun shone bright. We now first saw and 
were delighted with the snugness of our encampment, and the 
