JOURNEY I. 
AN ACCOUNT OF THE FIRST JOURNEY. 
O N the i oth of December, 1772 , 1 fet out from the 
Cape Town, towards the evening, attended by a 
Dutchman, and a Hottentot who drove my waggon, which 
was drawn by eight oxen; this being the manner of tra- 
velling there. They prefer oxen to horfes, becaufe they are 
much cheaper, and more ealily maintained. At fun-fet 
we croffed the Salt River, about two miles diftance from 
the Cape Town, where is placed a high flag-flaff with a 
large old piece of cannon, intended to give lignals to pre- 
vent a furprize from an enemy : thefe fignals are anlwered 
by others, placed upon eminences at proper diflances, 
and alarm the adjacent country in a fhort time. In the 
night we travelled over a large fandy plain; and towards 
the morning flopped at a fmall cottage called Ellis Kraal. 
The next day we partook of the diverfion of hunting a 
fmall fpecies of antelope, which the Dutch call Steen- 
bock. We croffed great part of this fandy plain, which 
is very extenfive, reaching from the Tyger Berg to Bay 
Falfo, upwards of twenty miles ; from the Table Moun- 
tain to Hottentot Holland Mountains, about thirty miles. 
The foil of this plain is unfit for cultivation; being a pure 
white fand, blown by the S.E. wind from the fiiore of 
Falfo Bay, and often forming large hillocks; it is, never- 
thelefs, overgrown with an infinite variety of plants, pe- 
culiar to this country. 
7 
nth,. 
