THE

JUVENILE MISSIONARY MAGAZINE.

SEPTEMBER, 1848.

CROSSING THE ORANGE RIVER, SOUTH AFRICA*.

THE Orange River is the principal stream of South Africa, it rises in the district of Graaff Reinet, flows at first towards the north west, then nearly due west, and falls into the Atlantic in the Namacqua country. Its whole length is about 600 miles. It has been called by the Dutch farmers "De Groote Rivier," the Great River, but was named by Colonel Gordon the "Orange River," from the colour of its waters. The river is frequently much swollen by the rains, and crossing is then attended with inconvenience and risk; sometimes parties are compelled to wait several days before they can venture to go over. Campbell in his Travels (1813) gives a lively account of his adventures there. He says, "The eyes of all were directed towards it, admiring its grand and majestic appearance, and expressing a strong desire to drink of its pure waters. Now that we beheld this tempting object, we grudged every minute which detained us from it. It might already, in a certain sense, be called a river of life,' for even the sight gave fresh strength, vigour and animation to every one of us.

The Frontispiece is copied from an engraving in a very interesting work by Messrs. Arbousset and Daumas, French Missionaries in South Africa, and which contains their tour to the north west of the colony of the Cape.

On reaching its banks every one rushed towards it and drank eagerly till satisfied. Being accustomed to thick and brackish water, we extolled the purity and sweetness of the Great River water. Neither the thickets with which its banks were covered, nor the steepness of its sides, seemed any impediment to the cattle approaching it; they pushed heedlessly forwards till their mouths reached it, when the rapid motions of every tail indicated satisfaction and enjoyment. As we had eaten nothing since the preceding day, in consequence of our haste to reach the river, we had no sooner satisfied our thirst than we felt our hunger, and hastened to remove that also. The cattle had thousands of acres of high grass at hand, to which they instantly ran on quenching their thirst.

"The river being here as broad as the Thames at London Bridge, and being also deep and rapid, the crossing with waggons appeared somewhat formidable.

"We travelled some distance along the eastern bank to reach a ford higher up the river. Some of us walked to Bern's Kraal. It stood on a barren spot, all gravel, without an inch of cultivation; but the scenery about the river was charming. Boozak (a Hottentot) sat in the middle of a group for about two hours, telling them of the true God and Jesus Christ, whom He had sent into the world to save sinners. The interest which a young man, who sat immediately behind him, seemed to take in what he said, I shall not soon forget. After it was over the young man said, 'From what I have just heard I feel as if I were a new man, as if I had entered into a new life. I wonder that God has preserved me from lions, tigers, and elephants, which I have encountered, that I might hear the things which I have been told to-day.'. His eyes were constantly fixed on the

lips of Boozak, and a most significant smile was continually on his countenance.

"Bern informed us of a kraal a few days higher up the river, which he was confident we should be able to cross without the trouble of taking our waggons to pieces and carrying them over on rafts composed of trees tied together. When everything was ready for departing except yoking the oxen, we found they were missing; this detained us till sun-set, when we got again in motion, to the great joy of our dogs, who expressed it in a very diverting manner.

"At two o'clock next day Bern drove 30 oxen across to us from the other side; the stream carried them down with great speed for a quarter of a mile, but all came over except one, which returned and would not enter the river again. Two men followed the oxen on what they call a wooden horse, which is a thick branch of a tree with a long pin stuck into it. On this they lie flat, suspending their clothes on a stick, and driving themselves forward by their feet as a person swimming. A third crossed on a real horse; for a considerable time nothing was seen above water but their heads.

"There is a bush abounding here, significantly named Stop awhile. Its branches are full of thorns, exactly the shape of a fishing hook, so that if they catch hold of your clothes as you pass, you must stop awhile, sometimes a long while, before you get clear of them. In clearing one arm from it another is caught, and without the cautious assistance of a second person there is no escaping from its hold, but by main force, and losing part of your dress.

"Now arrived the time for crossing the formidable river. The morning was providentially fine. Soon after day-break one of our people entered the river on horse