“At seven a.m. we proceeded on our journey, and soon crossed the Ruchti River, a few miles beyond which we came to the farm of Mr. Meeding, a most respectable, industrious man, whose wife, children, and house were all neat and cleanly. He was at this time building a new house, the frame of which only was up, and being prepared like those intended in England for what is called ‘brick nogging’ very much resembled a huge bird-cage.
“In the preceding night they had caught a wild dog in a wolf trap. This is one of the most fearfully destructive animals in the country. They generally hunt in packs, spreading over a great breadth of ground, and having both scent and speed, it is very difficult for the object of their pursuit to escape them. In some districts they have almost exterminated the antelope tribe. The trap is a very simple contrivance, being a strong frame of about eight feet long, and four broad, and four or five in height, fixed firmly on the ground, and boarded over; a hole for entering is left at one end, and a live sheep is tied at the further end. The wolf in trying to reach it unavoidably passes over a board, with which is connected a rope suspending a sliding door; the least touch is sufficient to cast it loose, and the door falling, the wolf is enclosed, without the possibility of escape, and is shot.
“The farmers have also traps with spring guns, by which they kill many of these dangerous enemies of different descriptions. Colonel Graham had been sometime before at the house of a Boor, farther to the eastward, in a place much infested by lions, when he received the following detail of a circumstance which had recently taken place. The farmer, assisted by his Hottentot, had in the evening set one of these traps, and early the following morning he went to see if any animal had been taken in it. He used the precaution most providentially of taking his gun with him, and coming to the place, observed that the trap had been sprung, and as a quantity of blood was on the ground near it, and traces of the same were seen leading to an adjoining thicket, he followed the track, looking cautiously before him, with his gun cocked, expecting to find the wounded animal. Instead of that, to his great horror, he saw his unhappy servant actually lying under the paw of a huge lion, who was playing with him in the same manner that a cat acts with a mouse it has taken, previously to putting it to death. The farmer took a deliberate aim, and shot the lion through the head; his death was instantaneous, and the Hottentot was rescued from his apparently inevitable fate, very little injured by the teeth of the lion, in being dragged from the trap to the wood. The poor fellow it seems had been beforehand with his master in visiting the trap, but had not thought it necessary to arm himself. The blood on the ground was from the lion, which had been caught in the trap, and was supposed to have extricated himself by a sudden exertion on the approach of the Hottentot.
“Soon after leaving Mr. Meeding’s, we reached the Gowkamma, another stream, having its source in the Swartberg, and finding its way through broken crags and ravines, to the shores of the Knysna. Here we had a view of a little hamlet, delightfully situated in a valley at the foot of a gentle slope, covered with wood, with an extensive range of corn fields on each side, and in front. On a nearer approach the forest lost much of its imposing appearance, being composed chiefly of the milk-wood, and other stunted and insignificant trees. There was also an extensive marsh, which at first sight we took for pasturage; but although the hamlet lost much of its importance on our reaching it, the scene was full of beauty. The banks of the Gowkamma were less steep than those of the Kayman, but at the same time highly picturesque. We were now approaching the country of the elephants and buffaloes; both of these are dangerous at times, but the buffalo is always so. Some time before, the horse of a Boor had been killed by one of these ferocious animals, whilst he providentially escaped, I believe, by taking to a tree. The event took place close to the house we were approaching,—Turnbull’s.
“From a hill which we ascended on the left bank of the Gowkamma, we got our first view of the Knysna, and splendid indeed was the prospect; this beautiful harbour, for such it has proved to be, appearing like a large lake, with a very narrow entrance from the sea, enclosed on each side by high and rocky cliffs; the eastern side of the lake clothed with magnificent forests to the water’s edge, green and level islands dispersed in various parts of the harbour, offering secure pasturage to herds of cattle. The western side of the Knysna is as bare and apparently barren as the opposite is fertile. Those who have only seen the Knysna from this spot would be justified in supposing that all entrance to it from the sea was impracticable. A range of breakers is seen apparently stretching quite across the mouth; but this arises from rocky points running out from each shore, intersecting each other in the direction in which they are viewed.
“On the left of the entrance, and on a gentle declivity sloping down to the water, stands the house of the principal proprietor of this part of the country, Mr. Rex. It is called Milkwood Kraal. The grounds round this delightful spot had all the appearance of a park, from the clumps of large trees dispersed over a wide extent of grass land. The house is beautifully situated, the high hills in the back ground are clothed with timber to the very summit; it commands in front a view of the whole estuary of the Knysna, from the nearest part of which it is not half a mile distant. The water in the harbour is in general smooth as a small lake.
“We reached the banks of this beautiful river at a place called the west ford, the only spot were it can be crossed in safety, and this only after half ebb. On the right bank is a small plain abounding in good pasturage for cattle, and it is accordingly reserved for an out-span place. It is enclosed between an abrupt turn of the river and a range of hills to the northward, finely wooded. There is a farm on the rising ground overhanging a part of the stream, in a most romantic situation, surrounded by the most delightful scenery imaginable, in which every feature of the picturesque is combined; mountain and stream, cascade and still water, precipices, over-hanging rocks, and gentle declivities, all are included in the view, but so mingled as to excite universal admiration.
“The water at the time of our reaching the ford being too high to enable us to pass on horseback, we availed ourselves of some wood wagons laden with planks, which were crossing, on which we got over dry, unloading our wagon and taking our baggage with us. From the left bank our road lay over a high hill, from which we had a prospect of the same character with those which had kept our admiration on the stretch for the last two days. On descending from this hill we had to cross a small stream running into the Knysna, from the eastward, called the east ford. From this place the river becomes navigable for small vessels, and a road runs along the banks of the Knysna for wagons up to Milkwood Kraal. It was at this time very bad, but capable of being made tolerable by carrying it further back, out of the reach of the high tides. A quantity of underwood skirting the forest must first be cleared away, after which the road might be made good with little labour.
“We arrived at Mr. Rex’s at three o’clock, and were received with the utmost hospitality. The arrival of the Cornelia Arnoldina, a small schooner belonging to Mr. Van Rienan, the following morning, was a remarkable coincidence. The moment we heard that she was in the offing, we mounted our horses and galloped to the eastern head, nearly two miles, where we had a fine view of her, entering with a light breeze, and the disadvantage of a heavy swell, occasioning a tremendous surf on the shore. She was loudly cheered by all our party, now tolerably numerous, as every one from Milkwood Kraal had collected to see her. The master had never been in before, nor had any one on board. He followed the direction of Mr. Walker, the master of the Dispatch, and found no difficulty. The appearance of this narrow inlet is certainly alarming. It is not nearly as wide as the entrance to St. John’s Harbour, Newfoundland, which it much resembles; and the projecting rocks on each side throwing back the breakers, spread the foam a great way over, and render the passage still more awful. But the vessel had no sooner entered the narrows than the tide sent her through with great velocity. The wreck of the Emu was lying under the eastern head, on the bank to which she had drifted after striking on the rock.
“We next proceeded to inspect that part of the forest lying between the Poort and the sea. The Poort is a pass through the great forest, running over a very steep ridge, on each side of which are deep ravines, and others branching out from them in various directions into the depth of the forest, all thickly wooded, and in some instances filled with very large timber trees. The slope from the ridge to the right is more gradual than that on the other side, and leads to the forest of Springfield, where the greater part of the timber for the Dutch and English governments has been cut from the earliest period. On the left a part of the forest overhangs some tremendous ravines, from whence it had hitherto been deemed impossible to get out the noble timber which is growing in them. In the present state of abundance, it is not necessary perhaps to make the effort, but should a scarcity of valuable timber ever be felt, there is little doubt of the energy of the Dutch settlers procuring it from situations even still more difficult. We were accompanied in this inspection by Mr. Rex and Mr. Squire, the naval Resident and Inspector, and by several active and intelligent wood-cutters, and were highly gratified with the opportunity thus afforded us, of forming a judgment respecting the means which this part of the forest held out, for a supply of timber and plank, for naval, colonial, and commercial purposes.