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306 TRAVELS IN 
another party was feleded from among the farmers of Agter 
Sneuwberg, as being beft acquainted with this eaftern part of 
, the country. Six colonifts and fix Hottentots, in addition to 
our own ftrength, were deemed fufficient to enable us to per- 
form this part of the journey with fafety. 
Direding our courfe to the fouth-eaftward, we came to a 
chain of four falt-water lakes, lying one immediately after the 
other. Three of them were fully as large as, and one fmaller 
than, that near Swart Kop's river ; but there was very little 
water in any of them. The bottoms were covered with a 
cruft of fait that in the thickeft part did not exceed an inch. 
Immediately under the fait was a thin coating of red fand, and 
below the fand a ftratum of foft impalpable blue clay two feet 
deep ; the next three feet confided of a coarfe friable yellow- 
ifh clay, containing fmall chryftals of fait ; under this was a 
fmall quantity of water, refting upon a covering of rotten pur- 
ple flate half an inch thick ; and below this a dry reddifh- 
colored foil that did not apparently contain a particle of fait. 
Clofe to the margin of the third falt-pan were feveral fprings 
of clear water, having a bitter earthy tafle j and along the rills 
that fell from thefe into the pan, grew tall reeds and rufhes 
into the very centre among the fait. The others were entirely 
naked, without a bufli or fhrub on their banks. The furround- 
ing country was alfo deftitute of plants, and the furface was 
ftrewed over in many places with thin pelhcles of fait. The 
quantity of game on the neighbouring plains, confifting chiefly 
of elands and fpringboks, was to us a fufficient inducement to 
pitch 
