After a hot and dusty march we halted at noon to rest the oxen, near the ruined and deserted settlement of Ely, one of the military villages destroyed by the enemy at the commencement of the war; the houses of _wattle and daub_ still standing, though without doors or windows, appeared, from the numerous articles left in them, such as spades, axes, bayonets, assegais, bridles, and kettles, to have been most precipitately abandoned. A march of some miles further, and we encamped towards evening, about a mile from Fort Beaufort, within sight of the foreign-looking little town with its surrounding clusters of neatly built Fingoe kraals. Next morning we passed through the town, where there are large excellent stone-built barracks, and some snug-looking staff-quarters, with cool verandahs, and high hedges of prickly-pear, enclosing green compounds, adorned with shady trees and large American aloes. It was broiling hot, and we were followed, as usual, by hundreds of Fingoes and Hottentots, while others huddled round their kraals in motley groups, and in every stage of undress--old shrivelled patriarchs, with blear eyes and grizzly heads; haggard witches, with long withered breasts hanging down to their waists; mothers suckling the children tied on their backs; men, as an apology for dress, covering one shoulder with a short kaross; and women, with the most incredible posterior development, whose sole attire was a skin or kilt tied round the waist, reaching barely to the knee; while scores of naked little imps, with enormous stomachs, scuttled about in every direction. Crossing the Kat river, by a stone bridge, a curiosity in this part of the world, we marched through an uninteresting bushy country, to Clu-clu, where we halted and pitched our camp, half the tents being hidden from one another by the mimosa bushes. Though one of the commonest, this is certainly one of the prettiest trees of the country; its light and graceful form, bright green feathery foliage, golden clusters of globular blossom, filling the air with the most delicious perfume, and bristling array of gigantic white thorns, from three to six inches long, thickly studding every twig, make it at all times a striking object. Fortunately there was plenty of shade, and we lay till sundown under a fine tree, enjoying the unusual repose. The greater part of the native Levy attached to our brigade joined here, having marched from Fort Beaufort, after many parting cups, in a very independent and jovial manner, and contrived to shoot their officer on the road.