198 
VISITS TO MADAGASCAR 
ciiap. viir. 
just coming into flower. In the afternoon of this day we 
passed a couple of ostriches. They were feeding among the 
heath, or rather the low shrubby Rheinorsten bush, and did 
not attempt to run until we had approached within twenty 
yards, when they raised up their long necks, apparently seven 
or eight feet high, and then quietly trotted away, the elastic 
springing of the feathers of their wings and tail imparting to 
their movements a singular appearance. Though the road was 
in some parts extremely rough, we travelled about fifty-two 
miles during the day; and arrived at Dysalsdorp a little 
before sunset. 
The next day we visited, in company with Mr. Anderson, 
many objects of interest at the station, amongst others the 
dam across the Elephant’s river, a valuable watercourse con¬ 
structed by the people for irrigating their land; and early on 
the following morning we set off to visit a settlement recently 
formed at the base of the Zwartz mountains. On our way we 
again passed a couple of ostriches and several pairs of the Cape 
turkey, a species of bustard. After travelling about sixteen 
miles we halted at Silvermansdorp. Here Mr. Schoeman, an 
hospitable boer, invited us to his house, and furnished us with 
an excellent breakfast. We were now joined by another party, 
including a Swedish naturalist, proceeding to the celebrated 
Cango Caverns, which we also intended to visit. 
From this point we proceeded on horseback, threading our 
way through thickets of mimosa, or among fragments of 
rock, by the margin of a stream which flowed along the 
bottom of a deep wooded valley. This stream we frequently 
crossed—at times passing for a considerable distance along its 
course—the water, in some places, scarcely covering the 
horses’ fetlocks, in others reaching to the girths. Here I 
found a new kind of vegetation. The speckboom or elephant’s 
food, Portulacaria Afra, was abundant; but I was most 
gratified on meeting, as with old friends, with several sorts of 
