202 
THE STEENBOK. 
7—9 July, 
which they are convertible whenever the grazier takes them to town ; 
or they are sometimes negotiated in payment with his neighbours. 
Speelman brought home a Steenbok (Stone-buck*) he had shot 
on the rocky plain under the mountains. This is a small antelope, 
of nearly the same size as the Duyker f, but of a lighter and reddish 
color, having the under part of the body white ; a white spot under 
each eye, and a small mark of the same color on the chin ; but there 
is not, as in the Duyker, any tuft of hair between the ears. 
^th. Early this morning the thermometer was very few degrees 
above the freezing point ; and, even at noon, it rose no higher than 52° 
(8*8 R. ; 11*1 C). The weather, although cold, was invigorating ; but 
finding it too chilly for sitting in the waggon, I took my seat by the 
fire-side, in the house, where the sight of some of my instruments af- 
forded amusement to the family, and excited considerable curiosity to 
know their uses. The Meester, ready on all occasions to cornmunicate 
his knowledge, gave them so extraordinary an explanation of the na- 
ture and properties of the magnetic needle, that I was no less surprised 
at it than they were ; but my subsequent comments (I was almost 
sorry at having made them) on the schoolmaster's doctrine, very 
much reduced their wondering and his vanity ; and, I was happy to 
find, without at all hurting his feelings. 
In the evening, as a compliment to the Englishman, he dis- 
played his vocal powers, in singing " God save the King and his 
pupils, well acquainted with the air, sometimes joined in chorus, 
with Dutch words, but of a different import. 
Qth. Having been shown, at this house, some cubic pyrites of , 
irow, got from the neighbouring mountains, I took a walk in the after- 
noon to the spot, having one of Jacobs's Hottentots as a guide. The 
mountain is composed of a red, compact sand-stone, in which these 
cubes are closely embedded. :j: They are scattered in the stony 
* Antilope rupestris. f Described at page 187. 
\ As may be seen by the following engraving, which represents a specimen of the 
lock, and the separate cubes, of the natural size. The two cubes on the left show the 
dimensions of the largest and of the smallest which I met with ; and the two on the right 
may give an idea of the compound cubes. 
