194 
VALE OF THE HEX-RIVER. 
5, 6 July, 
and leaving directions with their Hottentots respecting the road 
they were to take, and where they should leave us, mounted their 
horses and returned home. Travelling a mile or two further, we 
halted in an open plain, to rest the oxen, and give them time to 
graze. 
We had now entered the Vale of the Hex-river, a long narrow 
country, surrounded on all sides by ridges of mountains. The soil 
was here more arid than on the western side of the kloof, and some 
change in its botanical features began to be observable : large trees 
of Lycium, some ten feet high, indicated the difference of climate. 
The road along this vale, though level, is very sandy and toilsome. 
The passage of the kloof, and the very irregular rate at which we 
advanced, rendered it difficult to estimate correctly the length of this 
day's journey ; but it could not be less than twenty-seven miles. 
At eight o'clock in the evening, we unyoked at a farm-house 
called Buffels-Kraal, where the owner, a widow, whose name was 
De Vos, received us with much civility. Her house, which was the 
best I had seen since leaving Tulbagh, exhibited signs of affluence 
and plenty ; and its inhabitants, who were probably all of her own 
family, appeared to be numerous. 
I was here told, that the late earthquakes, even at this distance 
from Cape Town, had been felt, although but in a slight degree. 
The parsonage at Tulbagh was the last dwelling in which I had 
passed the night : henceforward I was destined no more to sleep 
under a roof ; my waggon was to be my shelter, and my only abode, 
a lodging always preferable to the house of a boor, especially now, 
since by the purchase of a second waggon, this one had been rendered 
more convenient. At my declining her offer of a bed-room, the good 
lady expressed surprise that the Heer should think his waggon better 
than the house. 
6th. This dwelling was situated close under the range of moun- 
tains which bounds the northern side of the vale. The snow at 
this time lay on their rugged summits. Large umbrageous oaks, 
standing around the house, showed this farm to have been esta- 
