THE AUTHOR'S WARDROBE.

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sweet, sour, or curdled; for the Namaquas had not the art of preparing it in the manner of the Bechuanas, which will afterwards be described. I had frequently pretty long fasts, and have had recourse to the "fasting-girdle," as it is called; on more than one occasion after the morning service, I have shouldered my gun, and gone to the plain or the mountain brow in search of something to eat, and, when unsuccessful, have returned, laid down my piece, taken the Word of Life, and addressed my congregation. I never liked begging, and have frequently been hard put to; but many a time has an unknown friend placed in my hut a portion of food, on which I have looked with feelings better conceived than described. I shall never forget the kindness of Titus Africaner, who, when he visited the station, would come and ask what he could do for me, and, on receiving a few shots, would go to the field, and almost always bring me home something, for he was an extraordinary marksman.

my

The contents of my wardrobe bore the same impress of poverty. The supply of clothes which I had received in London were, as is too often the case, made after the dandy fashion, and I being still a growing youth, they soon went to pieces. There were no laundry-maids there, nor anything like ironing or mangling. The old woman who washed linen sometimes with soap, but oftener without, was wont to make one shirt into a bag, and stuff the others into it, and I just took them out as they were, and more than once have I turned one to feel the comfort of a clean shirt. My dear old mother, to keep us out of mischief in the long winter evenings, taught me both to sew and knit; and when I would tell her I intended being a man, she would reply, "Lad, ye dinna ken whur your lot will be cast." She was right, for I have often had occasion to use the needle since. I remember once she showed me how a shirt might be smoothed, by folding it properly, and hammering it with a piece of wood. Resolving one day to have a nice shirt for the sabbath, I folded up one, and having prepared a suitable block, I laid it on, not a smooth hearth-stone, but fine granite, and hammered away in good earnest, when Africaner coming by said, "What are you doing?" "Smoothing my shirt," I replied. "That is one way," said he. So it was, for on holding it up to view, it was riddled with holes, some as large as the point of my finger. When I left the country I had not half a dozen shirts with two sleeves a-piece.

CHAPTER XI.

AFTER continuing for many months this manner of life, cheered in a dry and thirsty land, with the early and latter rains on the seeds sown in the hearts of the people, it was resolved to make another attempt to find a more convenient spot on which to conduct the mission; and before closing the account of my sojourn in Great Namaqua-land, I will just add the particulars of a journey undertaken at the request of Africaner. He wished me to visit the Griqua country, to the east of the desert, to inspect a situation offered to him and his people, to which he might remove with the full sanction of the chiefs of the Griquas. Africaner was most anxious to leave Namaqua-land, and the present offer, which had the approval of Mr. Anderson, the missionary at that place, being attended with some political difficulties, I felt some reluctance, but at the urgent solicitations of the people, I went. David and Simon, the two brothers of Africaner, and Jonker, his son, with Jantye Vanderbyle, the chief guide, were my attendants; we had about eight horses, good and bad, when we started. We each took a caross, or sheepskin blanket, with us, and trusted entirely for food to what we might shoot and obtain from the Corannas on the road.

Our course lay principally on the north side of the Orange River. Though we journeyed on the banks of a river in which there was an abundance of water, and though the country was well inhabited, we suffered afflictively from thirst, as well as hunger; few villages being on the north side of the river, along which we travelled. We were sometimes compelled to scramble over rocky passes in the hills, only a fit abode for baboons, which were as plentiful as they were impudent. At other times we had to cross the river, to avoid the mountains on the opposite side, which arose, in the wildest grandeur, from the water's edge. On reaching the waterfalls, we were kindly received and treated by a Coranna chief, called Paul, (to whom I shall have occasion to refer when treating of the Bechuana mission,) and there we halted one day. He had visited our station,

him.

66

and felt exceedingly thankful for the kindness I had shown I was glad of this renewed opportunity to preach, and he was glad to hear again the message of Divine grace. The Orange River here presents the appearance of a plain, miles in breadth, entirely covered with mimosa trees, among which the many branches of the river run, and then tumble over the precipices, raising clouds of mist, when there is any volume of water. As it was arranged that we should not start before sunset, I wandered at noon towards the river; and supposing the falls (from the noise) were not very distant, I walked towards them; but feeling excessively tired, I sat down under the shadow of a bush, and was soon fast asleep, having had little rest the night before. Towards evening the hue and cry was raised that the master was missing, and a number sought my spoor, or footmarks, and followed till they found me. The first thing I heard, on awaking was, " Mynheer, are you not afraid of the panthers?" We proceeded on our journey, and entered a valley covered with a species of mimosa, the thorns of which resembled fish-hooks. Anxious to reach the high ground on the hills on the opposite side before the lions, whose roaring was heard on the heights above, should come down towards the river, we quickened our pace. But the darkness increasing, and being unable to define the edges of the bushes, the rider was frequently caught and thrown to the ground, or left a piece of jacket or trowsers on the thorns, so that when we reached the other side of the dale we were both ragged and bleeding. To avoid following the serpentine course of some parts of the river, we often directed our course, without a path, to the next turn of the stream. One of these we reached at a late hour, and it being very dark, and the banks precipitous, we heard the water murmuring below, but dared not go down, fearing a plunge, and the company of the hippopotami.

Being ignorant of the locality, and not knowing where the inhabitants (Bushmen) might be, we made no fire, lest we should be discovered, and we had nothing to roast. There were no trees, and we lay down between ridges or hills of deep sand. The wind was cold, and we had little covering, having left the half of our horses knocked up, and with them most of our carosses. The plan adopted by Mr. Haensel, a Moravian missionary, in similar circumstances, occurred to me, and, like him, I made a hole in the sand, and buried myself, leaving the head out. I soon felt very comfortable, and, extolling the plan, one of my companions

110

SCENERY ON THE ORANGE RIVER.

imitated my example, and got under the earth. I then told him that the missionary whom we were imitating, having once submerged himself in the sand near the sea-shore, was occasionally disturbed by huge crabs approaching him, and these his faithful dog kept at a distance. My companion asked, “And what are we to do if a lion comes?” “We are safe," I replied, “ for he will not eat heads when he can get whole bodies." This removed his fears; and I do not remember to have slept so comfortably during the whole journey, in which we had often very sorry accommodations.

The windings of the river sometimes flowed through immense chasms, overhung with stupendous precipices; and then like a translucent lake, with the beautiful towering mimosas and willows reflected from its bosom; and a rich variety of birds, of fine plumage, though without a song; wild geese, ducks, snipes, flamingoes, in perfect security, feeding on the banks, beneath the green shade, or basking in the sun's rays on the verdant islands, far from the fowler's snare. The swallows also, mounting aloft, or skimming the surface of the mirror stream; while the ravens, with their hoarse note, might be seen seeking their daily food among the watery tribe, or cawing on the bending tops of the weeping willows.

Flocks of Guinea fowl would occasionally add to the varied scene, with their shrill cry, and whirling flight from the open plain to the umbrage of the sloping bank, where they pass the night amidst the branches of the tall acacias. But here too the curse reigns; for the kites and hawks might be seen hovering in the air, watching the motions of the creatures beneath, and ready to dart down, with the fleetness of an arrow, on a duckling straying from its parent, or on a bird or a hare moving too far from the shelter of a bush or tree. The fox also might be seen, stealing slowly along from the desert waste, to slake his thirst in the refreshing stream, and seek for some unfortunate brood which might fall within his reach; and the cobra and green serpent, ascending the trees, to suck the eggs, or to devour the young birds; while the feathered tribe, uniting against the common enemy, gather around, and rend the air with their screams. The African tiger, too, comes in for a share of the feathered spoil. With his sharp claws he ascends the trees, in the dead of night, and seizes the Guinea fowls on their aerial roost. The hyena, also, here seeks his spoil, and gorges some strayed kid, or pursues the troop for the new-fallen an

THE CROW AND THE TORTOISE.

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telope or foal; and, to fill up the picture, the lion may be heard in the distance, roaring for his prey; while man,

"The great enemy to man,"

is no less so to fish or fowl, or spotted deer. Wherever he wanders he seeks to regale his varied appetite; and more than this, he, as the enemy of enemies, fears not to attack the ponderous elephant, face the lion's glare, and for his amusement lay prostrate in the dust the innocent.

Reclining on a rock one day, waiting till my shirt, which I had washed, was dry, I noticed a crow rise from the earth, carrying something dangling in its talons. On directing my companions to the sight, they said, "It is only a crow with a tortoise; you will see it fall presently;" and down it fell. The crow descended, and up went the tortoise again to a still greater height, from which it dropped, and the crow instantly followed. I hastened with one of the men to the spot, and scared away the crow from the mangled tortoise, on which it was enjoying a feast. On looking around the flat rock there were many wrecks of former years; and on my remarking I did not think the crow was so cunning, my companion replied, “The kites do the same thing;" which I have since frequently observed.

In our journey along the banks of the river we met few of the inhabitants, as most of them had removed to the other side. We passed two of the reed huts of Mr. Sass, who, with Mr. Helm, had for many years moved about with the Corannas, living a self-denying life on the sterile banks of the Orange River, which has been not unaptly compared, from its extreme heat, to an oven. When we happened to meet with any who had been under the tuition of these devoted men, we felt at home, and received more than the rewarded boon of a cup of cold water. Others we met, who would give us neither meat nor drink, but appoint our place of night's repose, after a toilsome day, where the lion came his nightly round: but mercy encompassed us about.

On one occasion I was remarkably preserved, when all expected that my race was run. We had reached the river early in the afternoon, after a dreadfully scorching ride across a plain. Three of my companions, who were in advance, rode forward to a Bushman village, on an ascent some hundred yards from the river. I went, because my horse would go, towards a little pool on a dry branch, from which the flood or torrent had receded to the larger course. Dismounting, I pushed through a narrow opening in the