, they went to windward some hundred yards
and set fire to the grass in several places; the grass burnt quickly,
till it arrived at where it had been beaten down, and the fire was
extinguished. That this was a necessary precaution was fully proved,
for as the night closed in, the whole country for miles was on fire, and
the wind bore the flames down rapidly towards them.

The sky was covered with clouds, and the darkness of the night made the
flames appear still more vivid; the wind drove them along with a loud
crackling noise, sweeping over the undulating ground, now rising and now
disappearing in the hollows, the whole landscape lighted up for miles.

As our travellers watched the progress of the flames, and every now and
then observed a terrified antelope spring from its lair, and appearing
like a black figure in a phantasmagoria, suddenly the storm burst upon
them and the rain poured down in torrents, accompanied with large
hail-stones and thunder and lightning. The wind was instantly lulled,
and after the first burst of the storm a deathlike silence succeeded to
the crackling of the flames. A deluge of rain descended, and an instant
every spark of the conflagration was extinguished, and the pitchy
darkness of the night was unbroken by even a solitary star.

The next morning was bright and clear, and after breakfast, they
perceived the Hottentots who had been sent on their message to
Moselekatsee, on the opposite bank of the river, accompanied by three of
the natives: they soon crossed the river and came to the encampment.
The natives, who were Matabili, were tall, powerful men, well
proportioned, and with regular features; their hair was shorn, and
surmounted with an oval ring attached to the scalp, and the lobe of
their left ears was perforated with such a large hole, that it contained
a small gourd, which was used as a snuff-box. Their dress was a girdle
of strips of catskins, and they each carried two javelins and a knobbed
stick for throwing.

They were heartily welcomed by our travellers, who placed before them a
large quantity of eland-steaks, and filled their boxes with snuff. As
soon as they had finished eating, and drawn up a large quantity of snuff
into their nostrils, they explained through the Griquas, who could speak
their language, that they had come from the greatest of all monarchs in
the world, Moselekatsee, who wished to know who the strangers were, what
they wanted of him, and what presen