and, indeed, most of the year, the short scrub which here takes the
place of grass is sombre in tint. Nevertheless cattle devour these
apparently withered shrubs with avidity and thrive upon them. Again,
when the warm tints of the setting sun flood the whole expanse of
desert, there is a short-lived beauty in the rugged kopjes with all
their fantastic outlines sharply silhouetted against the glowing sky.
The farms on the Karroo, and, in fact, generally throughout the more
northern parts of the colony, are of surprising size. It is quite common
to find a Dutchman farming some 10,000 acres. Arable land in the Karroo
is of course very rare, and one would think that the "Ooms" and the
"Tantas" and their young hopefuls would have their time fully occupied
even in keeping their large herds and flocks within bounds. One
continually sees half a dozen ostriches stalking solemnly about a huge
piece of the veldt, with no farm-house anywhere in sight, and it is
difficult to understand how these people contrive to catch their
animals.

At the lower extremity of the vast Nieuweveld range which shuts in the
Karroo on the west lies the little township of Matjesfontein, a
veritable oasis in the desert. Here lies the body of the gallant
Wauchope who perished in the disastrous attack on the Magersfontein
trenches. The whole line north of this point was patrolled by colonial
volunteers, amongst whom I noticed especially the Duke of Edinburgh's
Rifles, with gay ribbons round their "smasher" hats. Nothing could be
less exciting or interesting than their monotonous routine of work. We
continually came across a little band of, say, twenty or thirty men and
a couple of officers stationed near some culvert or bridge. Their tents
were pitched on a bit of stony ground, with not a trace of vegetation
near it, and here they stayed for months together, half dead from the
boredom of their existence. Nevertheless such work was quite essential