390 INUNDATION OF THE NU-GARIEP. 26 Oct. 
retreat, between some large trees of Royena, on the edge of the 
Acacia gi^ove. Hither I made a dozen of the people drag my wag- 
gon, or, as it might now be called, my house, which with some 
trouble was pushed in under the boughs, and completely concealed 
from the sun ; whose burning heat (94°) made us feel grateful to the 
trees for the kind protection they afforded us from his rays. This 
scene is represented in the engraving, at page 381. The distribu- 
tion of presents to a party of Bushmen, forms part of the subject. 
On taking a survey of surrounding objects, the first thing which 
struck me, and with no little astonishment, was, the enormous height 
to which the water of the river had risen above its ordinary level. 
Our waggons stood on the top of the lofty bank, in a situation 
similar to that described on my first arrival at the Gariep*, and yet 
at this elevation, the water was not two yards below our feet. 
Nothing of the willows was to be seen but their highest branches ; 
and many were quite covered by the flood. Even the Acacias in 
the second tier, appeared as if swimming in the stream, with their 
heads just above water. On the opposite bank, the summits of the 
largest willows, seemed like low bushes along the shore ; and, on our 
side of the river, the inundation had already begun to spread itself 
over a part of the adjoining country, which lay lower than the 
rest. Although the natives assured us that they did not expect it 
would rise any higher, I could not perfectly divest myself of appre- 
hensions of the possibility of our waggons being swept away. Yet 
it was not the Ky-gariep which thus swelled its own stream, for that 
river, five miles higher up, was at its natural level ; but, on directing 
my view a little downwards to the opposite side, I beheld the mouth 
of the Nu-gariep rolling into the Great River, a rapid and agitated 
tide of muddy water, swelled to a terrific height, overwhelming the 
trees on its banks, and thrown into waves by the force of its 
own impetuous current ; driving back, by a wide extended eddy, 
the waters of the river near us, to the alarming height that has 
* See page 316. 
