84 
EERSTE RIVER. 
8 April, 
labor of such an expedition, and wherein so much depended on the 
good quaHties of these animals. 
April 8tli. Our equipment consisted of a horse and a small port- 
manteau each, to which I added some requisites for drawing, and a 
few other instruments of little bulk and weight. Early in the 
morning we commenced our journey, and, passing Roodebloem and 
Salt-river, entered upon the Kaapsche Duinen, (or Cape Downs) and 
the Sandy Isthmus, the whole length of which lay in this day's ride. 
The numberless tracks and roads by which it was traversed in every 
direction, made us often at a loss to decide which we should take ; 
but as the greater proportion of these lead to Hottentot-Holland 
Kloof, which we had always in sight, though at a great distance, 
that beacon was our only guide. 
These downs are covered with bushes three or four feet high, 
and the soil appeared to be everywhere the same as that which has 
already been noticed * ; a loose white sand, of a depth varying from 
one to five feet, with a substratum of hard clay. Springs of fresh 
water are very scarce on these flats ; but it is probable that by dig- 
ging through the clay, wells would supply a sufficient quantity to 
render them habitable. Here and there are scattered a few solitary 
huts of Hottentots, who earn a living by collecting fire-wood, or by 
attending such cattle as are kept on this miserable pasture, where 
they have no other support than browzing on the hard dry shrubs 
and rushes. 
As we approached the Eerste river j" (the First river) or the 
Stellenbosch river, as it is sometimes called, several picturesque 
scenes , present themselves. Hillocks of pure, snow-white sand in 
the foreground, contrasted with, and backed by, the blue of the dis- 
tant lofty mountains, have a singular and pleasing effect. 
Having ridden all the forenoon over nothing but deep sands, and 
* See 3lst January, at pages 53 and 54. 
f This would be more correctly written Eerste rivier, according to Dutch Or- 
thography ; but in this and in every like case it will, perhaps, be more convenient to use 
the English word river. 
