4o5 TRAVELS IN 
the very driefl feafons. The ground is produdlve of good 
grafs, and yields abundant harvefts. The cold in winter obliges 
the inhabitants to drive their cattle upon the Karroo plains, 
but not to quit their houfes, as is the cafe v^ith thofe of the 
Roggeveld. 
On the twenty-feventh of May I repaiTed the great chain of 
mountains, through a ravine called the Eland's kloof. Here 
once more I had an opportunity of contemplating the venerable 
ruins that lay fcattered around, ftrongly difplaying the havoc 
of old Time. The road over this part of the mountains was 
much better than I had any reafon to expe£t from the repre- 
fentations of the peafantry. Indeed at this time it was by much 
the beft of the four pafTes through which I had now crolTed 
this great range of mountains. 
The 01ifant*s river runs along the feet of the great chain on 
the v\^eft fide, and is hemmed in between it and a parallel range 
of high hills, called the Kardoiiw. From one of thefe ilTues a 
plentiful fpring of chalybeate water, of the temperature of io8° 
of Fahrenheit's thermometer. The Dutch government caufed 
a houfe to be erefted at this place for the accommodation of 
fuch as might be inclined to ufe the waters, but, like all the 
public buildings of tlie colony, it has been fufFered to go out 
of repair. 
On the weft fide of the Kardouw lies the dlvifion of the Four- 
• and- twenty Rivers, extending from thence to the banks of the 
Berg river. This part of the country to the fea-fhore, including 
Zwartland, 
r 
