1811. 
THE LIONS' FOUNTAIN. 
289 
At Brakke rivier (Brackish river) in latitude 31° 16^ 14"*, we 
passed the night. 
1th. In the bed of this rivulet we found plenty of water, of 
good taste, but muddy, and of a yellow colour. The country, here, 
still continued open, having low flat hills in the distance. The 
hunters shot a quakka, and wounded a lion. The preceding day, a 
lioness, with her two cubs, was fallen in with ; and, it seems that we 
had now entered the territory of this " king of the beasts a king, 
however, who preys upon his own subjects. Nor is the title of 
" king of the forest" very applicable to an animal which, by myself 
at least, was never met with but on the plains ; and, certainly, never 
in any of the forests where I have been. 
A day's journey of twent3^-two miles over a surface, for the 
first part level, but for the last more hilly and uneven, brought us 
as far as Leeuwe Fontein. (Lions' Fountain.) f To me, the fresh 
relays were only a source of distress, as their speed of four miles in 
the hour, ill suited the lean and exhausted state of my own oxen ; 
yet, so anxious were the Hottentots to get to their homes, that even 
those who, like myself, had but single teams, pressed them on to 
the utmost of their strength. 
The method by which, during my travels, I ascertained, to a 
certain degree of correctness, the measure of each day's journey, 
was extremely simple ; and is, I think, the only practicable one that 
can be adapted to the circumstances of this mode of travelling. By 
repeated trials, I obtained the exact length of ground over which 
Aristida, praecedenti congener. Ermus. 
Hebenstreitia, sp. odore Rcsedce Zygophyllum. Frutex tripedalis 
odorata'. ramosus. 
Arctotis, " Goudsbloem" dicta. 
* 7th September. At the Brakke river, observed mer. alt. of the sun's upper limb, 
52° S8' 57". 
f At Lion fountain, I met with a handsome species of — 
Dais? Cat. Geog. 1522. which was Fteronia? 
found afterwards in great abun- Aptosimum. 
dance ; even so far as beyond the Senecio. 
Kamhanni Mountains. 
P P 
