DISAPPOINTMENT. 417 



previous life in review. I had penetrated into deserts almost 

 unknown to civilized man ; had suffered the extremity of 

 hunger and thirst, cold and heat ; and had undergone des- 

 perate toil, sometimes nearly in solitude, and often without 

 shelter during dreary nights in vast wildernesses haunted by 

 beasts of prey. My companions were mostly savages. I 

 was exposed to numerous perils by land and by water, and 

 endured torments from wounds inflicted by wild animals. 

 But I was mercifully preserved by the Creator through the 

 manifold dangers that hovered round my path. To Him are 

 due all homage, thanksgiving, and adoration. 



After feasting my eyes for a while on the interesting scene 

 before me, we descended from the higher ground toward the 

 Lake, which we reached in about an hour and a half. But, 

 though we breathed a fresher atmosphere, no perfumed or 

 balmy scents, as might have been anticipated on the borders 

 of a tropical lake, were wafted on the breeze. 



Whether my expectations had been raised to too high a 

 pitch, or that the grandeur of this inland sea and the luxu- 

 riance of the surrounding vegetation had been somewhat ex- 

 aggerated by travelers, I must confess that, on a closer in- 

 spection, I felt rather disappointed. In saying this, I must 

 admit having visited it at a season of the year little favora- 

 ble to the display of its grandeur. But, if I am not mis- 

 taken, its discoverers, Messrs. Oswell, Livingstone, and Mur- 

 ray, saw it under no more auspicious circumstances. The 

 eastern extremity, however, the only portion ever seen by the 

 gentlemen in question, certainly possesses superior attrac- 

 tions to the western, or where I first struck upon the Ngami. 



The Lake was now very low, and, at the point first seen 

 by us, exceedingly shallow. The water, which had a very 

 bitter and disagreeable taste, was only approachable in a few 

 places, partly on account of the mud, and partly because of 

 the thick coating of reeds and rushes that lined the shore, 

 and which were a favorite resort of a great variety of water- 



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