202 
THE GREAT TREE-ALOE OF DAMARA-LAND. 
[Nature and Art, December 1, 1866, 
could be imagined. On the plain he called my 
attention to a small creeping plant which, somewhat 
later, bears a beautifully-marked pink or crimson 
flower, followed by that peculiarly thorny seed 
known as the G-rappler, which, if its complicated 
arrangement of hooks, projecting at every conceiv- 
able angle, happens to catch the lips of a grazing 
animal, causes the poor creature to stand in helpless 
and painful entanglement, moaning piteously for 
assistance. The seed is frequently brought as a 
curiosity to the colony, and a resident there once 
purposed to plant a quantity around his orchard as 
a terror to barefoot urchin depredators. I am 
happy to add, however, that his project for its ac- 
climatization was never carried into effect. Among 
the mimosas we caught several brilliant butterflies 
and beetles, one of them of a rich emerald-green, 
with white longitudinal stripes on the wing-cases. 
Mr. E. Layard, of the Cape Museum, supposed it 
to be new, and proposed to call it Hutchinsonici. 
The Elephant beetle, so named from its peculiar 
form, especially about the head and trunk, and of a 
dull black colour with red stripes, was also common ; 
but the Rhinoceros beetle I did not see till after- 
wards. 
On Wednesday, 22nd, we started for “the Bay,” 
but, being detained by the straying of the loose 
cattle and sheep, were glad to obtain a supply of 
meat from Mr. Wilson’s waggon, which joined us 
at Chobies. Onesimus, however, shook his head 
ruefully over the groceries ; remarking, “ De zuiker 
raakt gedaan en de pad niet ” (our sweets are getting 
done faster than our journey). The improvement 
caused by the late rains was wonderful. Tufts of 
tall feathery grass hid the nakedness of the soil, and 
the bush was adorned with flowers of every hue. 
One of these, of a bright yellow, was succeeded by 
seed-pods, varying through every tint of orange to 
deep red, and producing in combination the richest 
possible effect. Large stemless Euphorbias, with 
many-angled spirally-twisted leaves, and exuding, 
when cut, an acrid, glutinous, and milky -looking 
juice, grew among the rocks. They were called by 
the Damaras “ oodwoa,” and by the Hottentots 
“ ghooro,” or “ ghooloo,” and known in Dutch by 
the common appellation of “ gyft ” (or poison) 
“ boscli.” 
We saw a few gemsboks ( Oryx Capensis ), with 
their long straight horns, and black liarness-like 
markings on their cream-coloured bodies ; but to 
follow these swift-footed creatures on foot was out 
of the question, especially near the waggon-road, 
where it was impossible to “ bekruyp ” (or stalk) 
them. A harsh noise, between the croaking of a 
hoarse crow and the impatient yelping of an ill- 
conditioned cur, suddenly broke the silence. This 
I found proceeded from a kind of toucan, similar 
to that known in the Colony and Kafirland as 
“ Vlou Haarting” (or faint-hearted), from its short 
and ill-sustained flight ; and, as I showed myself 
above the ridge, a number of “ Klip Dassen,” or 
rock rabbits ( Hyrax Capensis ), — the coney of the 
sacred writings — scuttled away into the stony 
rocks which are their refuge so quickly that, 
though the mark of the bullet on the cliff showed 
that I must have hit the exact spot, I do not be- 
lieve I touched the nimble animal I aimed at. 
A few deserted Damara huts did not exalt my 
ideas of native architecture. A rough framework 
of sticks covered with reeds, just close enough to 
allow “ kraal mist ” to be plastered on them, and 
a door-hole big enough to let a man crawl through 
like a snake, seemed habitation enough for them. 
It must be remembered, however, that these were 
but cattle-watchers in the veldt, and not settled 
villagers. The only fruit of my morning rambles 
was a sketch of a pair of beautiful lizards sunning 
themselves on the hot and naked blocks of granite, 
and far too shy and active to be caught, although 
they would allow me to stand quite close enough 
for observation, confident that at my first advance 
they could at once vanish into the fissure just 
beneath them. One had a yellow head and streak 
down the back, with red spots upon the shoulder; 
the other, a red head, yellow dorsal stripe, and half 
the tail from the base yellow, and the rest red : the 
body of each was dark. 
On Saturday, May the 25th, we turned into 
Andersson’s new road, which, though perhaps more 
rugged than the old, avoids the great detour to the 
south of the Roode-berg. In passing through a 
narrow poort, I saw, upon the hills, a small tree, 
bearing a marvellous resemblance to a stunted 
baobab. In fact, in the stem and branches, I 
could see but little difference ; but the leaves, 
instead of spreading like those of the chestnut, from 
one stalk, were small, nearly round, and arranged 
in pairs opposite each other. It was, probably, one 
of the sterculias which abound here. In the 
distance I observed several trees, which reminded 
me of Humboldt’s print, — familiar, I should think, 
to everyone,- — “the Dragon-tree of Orotava. ” I 
found the waggons outspanned in the poort, under 
a pretty clump of kameel-doorns, beside a nameless 
and waterless sandy river ; and the rough veldt 
being now covered with seeds like miniatures of 
the spiked balls on the clubs of Gog and Magog, I 
turned to repair my dilapidated boots, to replace 
the canvas slippers I had been obliged to wear. I 
saw a troop of ostriches, but, being armed only 
with light shot-gun, I dropped out of sight as quick 
as possible, and ran back for my rifle. The noise of 
the coming waggons, however, had alarmed them, 
and as the singular granite peaks, called by the 
white people Wollaston’s or Andersson’s “Ears,” 
and by the Namaquas “ Anison,” or the “ horned 
owl,” were now before me, with two or three of the 
supposed dragon-trees standing boldly on an inter- 
vening ridge, I stayed and made a careful sketch, 
allowing the waggons (light, and with young and 
fresh oxen be it remembered) to pass me while I 
did so. 
To observe its character more closely, I turned 
aside toward the largest tree, and, to my astonish- 
ment, saw that it was in reality a gigantic aloe. 
Kneeling down so as to bring my arms low enough 
to embrace the solid trunk, I found the circum- 
ference to be nearly twelve feet. Above this it 
