134 MEMORIES OF MY LIFE 



few of my remaining mules after I had no further use 

 for them. All eight of the mules decamped later on, 

 when I had provided myself with oxen ; three of 

 them reached Schepmansdorf ; those that disappeared 

 on the way had probably been killed by lions. The 

 very first animal I shot in Africa was a lion, just after 

 my first arrival at Schepmansdorf. It had crossed 

 from the Swakop to the Kuisip and had seized a 

 small dog in the yard of the mission station, while 

 I was asleep in an almost doorless hut that opened 

 on the same yard. So much for lions. 



I pass over all the other difficulties, troubles, and 

 events that intervened, which have been related in 

 the books above mentioned. Suffice it to say that 

 by the end of September I was installed at Station 

 No. 2 under the kind care of Mr. Rath, the resident 

 missionary. Here I had the good fortune to meet 

 Hans Larsen, a Dane, who spoke English perfectly. 

 He had been a sailor, but obtained permission to quit 

 his ship at Walfish Bay and to enter the service of 

 a cattle-dealer. When that particular venture was 

 concluded, he joined a second cattle-dealer, and finally 

 found himself at large with a small herd of oxen, 

 which he intended to drive overland and to sell at 

 Cape Town. I had been most strongly urged to 

 acquire his services if I could, and I did so to my 

 very great advantage, partly, I may add, through my 

 medical experience. He was willing from the first 

 to go, were it not for a most painful whitlow which 

 disabled his arm, and gave him so much pain that 

 he could hardly sleep or eat ; and he was totally unfit 

 for the expected severe manual work. He therefore 

 had to make his acceptance dependent on getting 



