SOUTH-WEST AFRICA 133 



carried to Mr. Barn's station, No. 1 on the map, and 

 it was finally arranged that Mr. Stewardson should 

 guide us up country to Mission Station No. 2. 



My disasters began soon. The journey across the 

 arid plain that separated the Kuisip from the Swakop 

 taxed the strength of the mules, who were wholly 

 unused to such a strain. It was necessary to give 

 them immediate rest and food as soon as the pasturage 

 of the Swakop was reached. Tracks of wild animals 

 were looked for on the sand of the river-bed, but none 

 were found, so Stewardson urged that our mules and 

 horses should be left free during the ni-ht to rest and 

 feed themselves. The result was that a troop of lions 

 dashed down upon them in the dark, killing one 

 mule and one of my two horses. The remainder 

 galloped off unscathed, and were recovered in the 

 afternoon. The tracks of the lions by the side of 

 those of the animals up to the two fatal springs told 

 the story clearly. I had no reserve of food, so it was 

 necessary to utilise the horse flesh, which I cut off 

 and stored in an apparently safe hole in the side of 

 a cliff. When I returned towards nightfall to remove 

 it, one of my enemies had out-generalled me. He 

 had clambered from behind and unseen to a ledge five 

 or six yards above the hiding-place, and could be seen 

 there by the party below, crouched like a cat above 

 a mouse-hole. I got down safely, meat and all, and 

 saw the head and the pricked ears of the brute as 

 he kept his position. A shot struck the rock under 

 his chin, and he decamped. 



I had little further trouble with lions during my 

 journey, though they were often heard roaring at 

 night. I think I only lost one cow, and apparently a 



