76 
TRAVELS IN 
All the appearances of Hex-river valley declare it, at one 
time, to have been a lake, the head of which having given way 
at the kloef, has fufFered the water to force itfelf out upon the 
next lower terrace, leaving only a bog in the middle, to which 
the ftoney bafes of the mountains fhelve on each fide. Should 
the falls of Niagara once fweep away the barrier that occafions 
them, the lake Erie would then become a plain or valley, like 
that of the Hex-river, and many others that occur within the 
chains of mountains in Southern Africa. 
At the head of this little valley we were to take leave of 
every human habitation for at leaft fixteen days, the time re- 
quired to crofs over the Great Karroo, or arid defert, that lay 
between us and the diftant difl:ri£t of Oraaff Reynet. It there- 
fore became neceflary to fupply ourfelves with, a ftock of pro- 
vifions, as nothing whatfoever is to be had on the defert except 
now and then an antelope. To thofe travellers who are fur- 
nifhed with a good waggon and a tent, the want of habitations 
is no great lofs ; for few of them, behind the firft range of 
mountains, have any fort of convenience, comfort, or even 
cleanlinefs. Among the planters of Africa it is true there are 
fome who live in a decent manner, particularly the cultivators 
of the grape. Many of thefe are defcendants of the French 
families who, a little more than a century ago, found an 
afylum at the Cape of Good Hope from the religious perfecu- 
tions that drove them from their own country. But a true 
Dutch peafant, or boor as he ftyles himfelf, has not the fmalleft 
idea of what an Englifh farmer means by the word comfort. 
Placed in a country where not only the necelTaries, but almoft 
