1811. 
ORDER OF TRAVELLING. — DRY RIVERS. 
215 
sewing : it is, by applying to the foot a piece of fresh hide with the 
hairy side outwards, and of such a shape as will just wrap round and 
enclose it. All along the edge, excepting that part which turns up 
behind the heel, a number of small holes are made, to receive a nar- 
row thong of leather, by which the hide is drawn tight round the 
foot, where it must remain till dried sufficiently to retain its form. 
It is a great objection to hide-shoes, that wet softens them so much, 
that, in that state, they can scarcely be kept on the feet ; and that 
they become extremely hard and stubborn in dry weather, when the 
soles are often rendered by use so slippery, as to put the wearer in 
continual danger of falling. Hide-shoes are generally worn by the 
Hottentots ; but many of the boors seldom wear any others. 
Our oxen having nearly exhausted all the water, leaving only a 
few muddy draughts for those who might happen to come after us, we 
resumed our journey in the afternoon, and, the road being very good, 
travelled at a brisk rate for six hours, without halting. Each waggon, 
agreeably to a rule we established, took its turn each day in leading 
the van, in order that every driver might bear a share in the care 
and attention required in driving the foremost team, which would be 
continually swerving from the track, unless restrained by the ox- 
leader. All the other teams gave scarcely any trouble in guiding 
them, as each one followed instinctively in the footsteps of the 
preceding. 
The Bokkeveld Karro is covered chiefly with various species 
of Fig-marigolds, of which a shrubby thorny kind *, with purple 
flowers, was the most abundant, and the most widely diffused. About 
the end of the rainy season, the Karro is said to assume a verdant 
hue, from the vast number of small plants which then make their 
transitory appearance above ground. 
At such times the rivers are filled with water, even enough, 
sometimes, to stop the passage of waggons. But all these streams 
are periodical, and, like the vegetable clothing of the country through 
* Mesembryanfhetmnn spinosum. Linn. 
