On our way we saw a good many pairs of the fawn-coloured lesser bustards, and some duykerbocks and steinbocks; the duykerbocks were grazing quietly, the steinbocks only visible when startled from the bushes. There were traces of hartebeests, and of the larger gnus, probably the striped gnu (Catoblepas taurina, Gorgon), which led us to hope that the animals themselves might not be far off; but we were hardly in the mood either to be very keen upon the game, or to appreciate the beauty of the forest scenery as we otherwise should, because we were undergoing the inconvenience of a total want of water.
We came upon a Batlapin settlement, and, according to the advice of some of the residents who entered into conversation with us, we were to follow a certain footpath, which would lead us to a plain, whence we could make our way without difficulty. During the twenty minutes we rested, we noticed the women making a new hedge of thorns to protect their goats, and the men sprinkling some damp earth on a couple of roughly-tanned hartebeest skins, to render them supple enough to make up into a dress.
BATLAPINS RETURNING FROM WORK.
The route we took on leaving seemed to be the most abundant in small game of all parts of Gassibone’s territory. Most prominent were the pretty little steinbocks; but we came in sight of three springbocks, which took flight without allowing us to come anywhere within gunshot of them, and a couple of secretary-birds, that were stalking up and down, devouring snakes and lizards, as if it were a solemn duty. Partridges, generally in pairs, were the most plentiful among the birds.
Although I felt the necessity of now travelling on as rapidly as possible, I could not resist the temptation, while I was still in the neighbourhood of the Vaal, to take one day’s fishing. We had scarcely chosen our station, and lighted our fire, when the owner of a farmhouse, about half a mile off, came bustling down, and told us that he could not allow us to spend the night there; by quitting the road we had rendered ourselves liable to a fine of 5l. to the Republic. I made no remonstrance, setting off at once on our way; but brief as had been our halt it had enabled one of my companions to catch a sheat-fish, weighing nearly three pounds, which at our next meal made an agreeable variety to our ordinary menu.
We reached Christiana about midnight, and were all disposed to enjoy a cup of tea after our long day’s wanderings; but, to our great disappointment, we found that somehow or other the cooking apparatus had all been lost. To myself the loss was especially vexatious, as my money was so nearly exhausted that I could not afford to replace it. One of my friends, however, was good enough to relieve me of my difficulty.
Having spent the forenoon at Christiana, we spent the rest of the day in making our way to the little native kraal that we had passed as we came from Gassibone, after leaving Klipdrift. Hence to the diamond-fields our route would be over an entirely new district, the most interesting part of which would be in the middle, amongst the hill-ridges by Hebron.
Right to the foot of the hills the country was flat. We passed several salt-pans which, though small, had retained their water to a later period than usual, and were even now frequented by wild geese (Chenalope) and cranes. The river took a wide circuit towards the left, and it was a stiff two days’ journey by which we traversed the secant of the curve. The magnificent grass plain that we crossed belonged already to the Transvaal; that on the other side, which was covered tolerably well with bushwood rising above the tall grass, was at that time claimed by Gassibone; but now both alike are included in the Transvaal. We saw, I think, more bustards than at any place I ever visited in all my travels; before us, behind us, in every direction, far and near, they seemed to swarm.
Taking Gert with me, I went into a wood adjoining our road in search of insects, and found some goat-chafers, as well as two kinds of bark-beetles (Bostrichidæ). Here and there we came across some skulls of gnus, sufficient in number to convince me that until quite recently they had frequented the district, though now they have retreated into the interior, and remain in the more northern plains between the Harts and Molapo Rivers, and in the plains of the Klipspruit, which, being more open, are far less favourable for antelope-stalking.