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chap. viii. ENCAMPMENT AT THE ORANGE RIYER. 215 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 hoers, 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