u5 
383 DISTRUSTFUL BUSHMEN. 25, 26 Oct- 
and bearing berries of the same kind, were afterwards found to be 
plants of frequent occurrence in the regions farther northward. 
Phihp, judging it not prudent for me to be alone in a place so 
much frequented by Bushmen, very attentively came in search of me. 
But none ever made their appearance ; which, indeed, was the reason 
why he thought my safety doubtful, as this keeping out of sight is 
generally considered the sign of a distrustful and unfriendly dispo- 
sition. Yet it ought often to be attributed rather to fear, and to their 
not being assured of the peaceable intentions of the strangers. 
A small party Koras visited us in a friendly manner, and 
obtained a few pipes of tobacco. From this tribe we always con- 
sidered there was nothing to fear : nor did their presence ever excite 
an apprehension of any thing hostile. 
One of the women of our party, having heard that I was an 
admirer of flowers, good naturedly brought me a large quantity 
of a very pretty plant which grows here in abundance.* It was quite 
new, and its fine deep-orange colored flowers induced her to think it 
worth gathering ; for Hottentots, like the generality of Europeans, 
see no beauty in a plant unless it have a showy flower. 
Soon after setting out, the road became so intolerably rocky that 
it was impossible to endure the jolting of the waggon ; I was there- 
fore compelled to walk nearly the whole way, though the heat of the 
weather, even in the shade, was not less than 88°, and the length of 
this day's journey, seventeen miles. Under such circumstances, a 
distant view of the river, which we caught from the top of a ridge, 
could not fail to be a delightful and refreshing sight. 
Some of the waggons, having taken a course which brought them 
to a rocky place that was found impassable, occasioned a delay of half 
an hour, which gave me the time for collecting several new plants, f 
* Buchnera aurantiaca. Cat. Geog. 1727. Planta herbacea sub-viscosa, lasviter 
pubescens ; basi divisa in caulibus pluribiis sub-simplicibus. Folia bi-tripinnatifida. 
Flores aurantiaci alterni. 
+ Macromemum Junceum, B. [Clepme jun- femur, ob germinis et staminum I'e- 
cea. Linn.) a (j.cnxf,ov longum et ixt^qoi ceptaculum elongatum. 
