240 
A ROGGEVELD BOOR.— SOIL OF THE KARRO. 24— 30 July, 
being an Englishman : this I thought very moderate for such a 
privilege. 
In common with all the boors of the Roggeveld, Snyman's 
whole property consisted in sheep and horses. Of the former, he 
possessed a flock of twenty-five hundred, exclusive of the lambs. 
This, he told me, was considered a small number ; as a boor with 
five thousand could scarcely be called affluent. 
Very little corn being grown in that district, they are accus- 
tomed to live almost entirely on mutton. While 1 remained at 
Snyman's, they had three meals of mutton every day ; at half-past 
eight in the morning, at half-past one, and at eight o'clock in the 
evening. During the latter part of this time, they had no bread ; 
yet, as a substitute, and by him regarded as a rarity, he produced 
some potatoes grown on his farm in the Roggeveld, which were as 
good as any I had seen in Europe. At this time the family had no 
other drink than water or coffee. 
Jt seems to be the custom, more particularly in this part of the 
colony, lor every one to use at dinner the knife which he always 
carries about him. Consequently, the first day, nothing was laid for 
me but a fork; and as soon as he perceived that I was not equipped 
with a knife of my own, I was accommodated with a small one not 
much bigger than a penknife, which he pulled out of his pocket. 
His fork served for a variety of purposes, and I now had an oppor- 
tunity of seeing how dexterously it may be used as a tooth-pick. 
In the evening the air began to feel cold, and, there being no 
fire-place in the house, a large iron pot full of wood embers brought 
in and placed in the middle of the room, soon afforded a comfortable 
warmth. In conversing on the nature of the Karro, he was pleased 
at finding that my opinion agreed with his, that the soil was of a 
fertile kind, and that nothing but the great want of water and rain 
prevented its being a productive district. This is confirmed by the 
fruitful appearance it assumes during the short continuance of the 
rains ; but he told me, as a proof of the precarious nature of this 
fertility, that no rain had fallen in the Karro during the last two 
months. 
