Swanevelt stated that the high grass had been fired by some means or
another, and as it threatened to come down upon the encampment, the
Hottentots and Griquas were very busy beating down the grass round about
them. When they had so done, they went to windward some hundred yards
and set fire to the grass in several places; the grass burned 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 toward 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 travelers 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
hailstones 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 in 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 travelers, 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,