chap. viii. ENCAMPMENT AT THE OEANGE EIYER. a 15 
place of some Hottentot families. The men belonging to 
them were employed about the ferry; and a small space, 
inclosed with a wall of loose stones, formed their pen or fold, 
into which a few goats were driven at night. Nearer the 
water were one or two huts belonging to the man in charge 
of the ferry; and, still further to the right, the waggons or 
tents of the boers, with a number of more fragile sleeping- 
places for the coloured people attending them. There were 
on our side of the river eleven waggons, and a couple of 
carts, forming quite a village. As I passed along, I noticed 
recently-killed sheep, or parts of carcases, and long strips of 
flesh hanging from the branches of the mimosa bushes around 
the waggons which constituted the moveable houses of their 
owners. The horses, oxen, and sheep, had gone forth to 
graze; but the kids skipped about amongst the rocks, and 
the hens and chickens were busily occupied under the 
waggons. A number of men were engaged in shaping the 
trunk of a tree into a windlass for the large ferry-boat; and 
some good, matronly-looking women were at their needle¬ 
work under a spreading mimosa, having a polished rose¬ 
wood work-box open on the sand before them. Not far off 
a stout young farmer was nursing a baby in a long white 
frock; and, in the rear, Hottentot mothers were attending to 
their infants ; while the larger children were rolling about on 
the sand. Near most of the waggons was a fireplace, ge¬ 
nerally composed of three stones fixed in the sand, and 
around these fireplaces the Hottentot servants were pre¬ 
paring the morning meal. Most of the parties had tea¬ 
kettles, and tea or coffee seemed to be in general use. When 
the food was prepared, it was carried to the shady side of an 
adjacent bush, where the family gathered around it. In the 
afternoon the men brought in bundles of fire-wood, and the 
women fetched water from the river, carrying tall jars, or 
other vessels, full of water, upon their heads, without any 
P 4 
