as
Paarl and Diamant. These sunlit crests were the only things in sight,
however, that had any glitter of the realm of Mono-motapa, and after a
little further advance into the unknown field, Gabbema's party turned
back.
The
next excursion was more daring. By promising rich rewards van Riebeeck
formed a party of thirty volunteers headed by Jan Danckert. They took
along a small stock of bread on three pack oxen, relying for their main
supply of food on the game which they might kill on their way. These
hardy volunteers plodded north, inclining to the west along the foot of
the coast range. They saw whirlwinds of dust and a few roving Bushmen,
but nowhere any trace of a monarchy except what they called " A Kingdom
of Moles," where the burrowed ground sank under their feet and they
could hardly flounder along. In December they reached a river flowing
toward the Atlantic, on whose farther shore they saw a herd of more
than two hundred elephants feeding. So they called the stream Olifants
River, a name which it has borne since that day, and trudged back
wearily to tell their story to the commandant at the Cape. Within ten
days after their return, January 20, 1661, van Riebeeck, the untiring,
mustered another party, of thirteen adventurers and two Hottentot
attendants, and sent them away on the track of the discoverers of
Olifants River.
Corporal
Pieter Cruythof led off this party, which succeeded in crossing the
river of the elephants and reaching the land of the Namaquas, a
Hottentot tribe of the highest class. Here the explorers found natives
who had rude copper ornaments twisted in tufts of their hair, and wore
rings of copper and ivory on their arms. They entertained the white
visitors with cheering hospitality and gave a grand dance in honor of
the embassy. This was the nearest approach to the civilization of the
traditional empire that had hitherto been reached by Dutch
exploration, and the return of the adventurers on March 11, 1661,
after forty days' wandering, was warmly welcomed by van Riebeeck.
Before two weeks had passed he had another excursion under
