162 
AFRICAN HUNTING. 
to Merico, with nine oxen and five horses, and 
five guns, four dogs, &c., and arrived at Swartz’s 
in five days. We had the company of an Eng¬ 
lishman on the road, Metcalf by name, whom I 
met in the Merico country, and I offered to give 
him my beads, blankets, knives, &c., to trade 
for me on halves ; and, thinking this no doubt too 
good an offer to be overlooked, he forthwith hired 
a wagon, and turned up at Joubert’s the day be¬ 
fore we started to come here, so we made fast 
the cart behind the wagon, and all came toge¬ 
ther. I was not sorry to have a wagon to tie 
the horses and oxen to at night in the Lion veldt, 
instead of my cart; for, in the event of their 
paying us a visit, the beasts would most undoubtedly 
have smashed my cart all to pieces; however, we 
had a fine moon, and they did not come near us, 
though I saw ten in the day-time. 
The Merico country is a beautiful land, and most 
fertile and productive; the crops splendid, and 
fruit ad libitum . It is warm, and well wooded, 
but a little short of water. There are no rivers, 
only one or two small streams, and plenty of foun¬ 
tains ; but it is a charming country to live in— 
hilly, rather too stony, but with large fertile val¬ 
leys intervening. The only drawback is the great 
scarcity of game, and yet a more likely country 
I never saw, and I cannot account for it. My dogs 
are looking poor, and, were it not for some lung- 
sick oxen, which die very opportunely, I don’t 
