VISIT TO SOUTH AFRICA. 219 
This beautiful valley is indeed, at present, the habitation of seve- 
ral wild animals, but would cease to be so, if inhabited by any 
number of human beings. It is now merely the passage of a few 
persons, between the farms at each end, except, that while they 
are military posts, some soldiers pass to and fro. We were 
told, that some time ago, a soldier, walking alone, came suddenly 
upon an elephant, (which may happen, if the creature is to lee- 
ward, so as not to perceive the approach of man by his smell). 
Whether the soldier made the first attack or not, is not known, but 
the elephant, after treading off his leg and thigh, hip and all, threw 
the body into the bushes. The limb, trodden to pieces, was found 
in the road, with his cap and accoutrements, but not the body, till 
after some days. The elephant and rhinoceros consider large bushes 
no more as impediments to their progress, than a man does tufts 
of grass in a field. They are not to be stopt by common fences or 
palings, and walk unconcerned through the thickest underwood, in 
a straight line, tearing up or pressing down even stout thorn-bushes, 
with stems as thick as a man's leg. Of this we saw frequent proofs 
in the Witte Revier Valley. If, therefore, a settlement were made 
here, the first settlers might certainly be in danger of sometimes 
having their gardens and fields invaded, and even trodden down or 
grubbed up by these animals, and perhaps suffer other losses by ra- 
venous beasts, who have hitherto considered the valley as their pa- 
- trimony. But, in a few years, the mischief would gradually cease, 
as these creatures retire from the habitations of man; which they 
are always known to do. 
In the records of Riebeck, the first Dutch Governor at the 
Cape, we read of the ravages committed by lions, tygers, and 
other ferocious animals in Capetown itself, the whole country 
around being infested by them. But now, though the population 
is so thin, they have retreated into the most distant parts of 
the colony. Before our missionaries settled at Bavians Kloof, 
the kloof was the haunt of hundreds of baboons and other wild 
animals. These also have, by degrees, retreated, and but sel- 
