28 JOURNEY DEFERRED. 



ward, and had, moreover, threatened to kill any person who 

 should attempt to pass through their territories with the in- 

 tention of penetrating to Lake Ngami. This intelligence 

 being equally unexpected and unwelcome, we were at a loss 

 on what to decide. On asking the opinion of the Governor 

 of the Cape, Sir Harry Smith, to whose kindness and hospi- 

 tality we were, on several occasions, indebted, he strongly 

 dissuaded us from attempting the route in question. " The 

 Boers," he said, " are determined men ; and, although I have 

 no fear for the safety of your lives, they will assuredly rob 

 you of all your goods and cattle, and thus prevent your pro- 

 ceeding farther." The counsel given us by his excellency 

 settled the point. We were, however, determined not to be 

 idle ; but it was by no means easy to decide on what course 

 to pursue. As the whole of the interior, by which a passage 

 could be obtained to the lake, was either occupied by the 

 Boers, or served as their hunting-ground, we were coifipelled 

 to choose between the eastern and western coasts. The for- 

 mer of these, however, was well known to be infected by 

 fevers fatal to Europeans; while the latter presented, for a 

 considerable distance northward, nothing but a sandy shore, 

 destitute of fresh water and vegetation. The country inter- 

 vening between the western coast and the lake, moreover, 

 was represented as very unhealthy. 



Wliile in this state of uncertainty, we made the acquaint- 

 ance of a Mr. M , who lately had an establishment at 



Walfisch Bay, on the west coast of Africa, about seven hund- 

 red geographical miles north of the Cape. He strongly rec- 

 ommended us to select this place as the starting-point for our 

 journey into the interior, which opinion was confirmed by 

 some missionaries whom we met in Cape-Town, and who 

 had a settlement in the neighborhood of the bay in question. 



This route was ultimately adopted by us ; but, as vessels 

 only frequented Walfisch Bay once or twice in the course of 

 every two years, Mr. Galton at once chartered a small schoon- 



