DEPART FROM TJOPOPA'S WERFT. 209 



was no alternative ; and in this instance, to do justice to the 

 men, I must. say they not only spoke the truth, but perform- 

 ed their services most satisfactorily. 



Without bidding farewell to Tjopopa, who throughout had 

 treated us inhospitably, we yoked our oxen on the 5th of 

 July, and after about three days' travel arrived in the Omu- 

 ramba. At this point the river (or rather the river-bed) ap- 

 peared to cease altogether ; but the natives declared that it 

 continued to flow toward the Ovatjona or Matjo'na. I have 

 since ascertained that they alluded to the Bechuana country. 

 Hence we traveled steadily up toward its source. Its bed, 

 which sometimes spread out into a flat, and at others formed 

 a narrow channel, afforded us always a good and open road. 

 The country on both sides was hemmed in by an apparently 

 endless thorn coppice. We usually found water daily, at first 

 in pools, but afterward exclusively in wells, varying in depth 

 from a few feet to as much as forty. These were generally 

 choked up with sand, and it often occupied us half a day to 

 clean them out. I remember, on one occasion, working hard, 

 with a party consisting of about thirty men and women, 

 during upward of twenty hours, before we could obtain a 

 sufficiency of water. It was cold work ; for about sunrise 

 the ice was often half an inch thick, and we had no water- 

 proof boots to protect our feet. 



Game now became abundant. We managed to kill suffi- 

 cient for the table without being obliged to have recourse to 

 our few remaining live-stock. I saw here for the first time 

 that magnificent antelope, the eland. 



Beasts of prey were likewise numerous. Indeed, they 

 always follow the larger game. During the nights we were 

 constantly annoyed by the dismal bowlings of the hyaenas ; 

 and we had some very exciting foot-chases after these animals. 



While out hunting early one morning I espied a small 

 troop of gnoos quietly grazing at a bend of the river. Cau- 

 tiously approaching them under shelter of the intervening 



