I02 TRAVELS IN 
The Black Mountains only were near, and they were to lee- 
ward ; the light wind that blew being from the weft, in which 
quarter fcarcely a hillock occurred for the fpace of an hundred 
miles. 
On the twenty-fifth we fkirted the banks of the Traka about 
ten miles, pafled the Ghowka or Boor's river, which was per- 
fectly dried up, and in the evening arrived at the Great Loory 
fonteyn, in which was only a very fmall quantity of water 
(landing in holes, and this was muddy, fait, and bitter. As 
there was neither herbaceous nor fhrubby plants, and as, fmce 
our departure from Zwarteberg, the oxen had fcarcely tafted 
vegetable food, for, independent of the little time allowed them 
to browfe, the defert offered only the fhrivelled ftems of the 
mefembryanthemum tribe, it was thought advifeable to con- 
tinue our journey, though in the dark, in fearch of a better 
place for the refrefhment of our cattle : and as there was reafon 
to fufped: that it would be fome time before we fhould meet 
with water, we filled our cafks with the execrable mixture of 
the Great Loory fonteyn. In the middle of the night we 
arrived at a place where once had flowed a rill of water, and 
where ftill were growing clumps of mimofas, patches of the fal- 
fola, and a few other fucculent plants. Thefe, like fome ani- 
mals that are faid to have the faculty of fupplying their own 
nutriment, are capable of exifting for a length of time by the 
juices which their own roots throw out. Our oxen devoured 
them with great avidity ; and the horfes made a hearty meal 
on the branches of the mimofa, at the expence of a confider- 
able quantity of blood which the ftrong fharp thorns drew 
from 
