168 KLOOF AND KARROO. 



ex-Oxonian, and the more loquacious of the two, " of 

 a most extraordinary yarn I heard from a man I fell 

 in with some years back, stranded in the 'thirst-land' 

 north-west of Shoshong. Poor chap! he was in a 

 sorry plight ; he was an English gentleman, who for 

 years had, from sheer love of sport and a wild life, 

 been hunting big game in the interior. That season 

 he had stayed too late on the Chobe River, near 

 where it runs into the Zambesi, and with most of 

 his people had got fever badly. They had had a 

 disastrous trek out, losing most of their oxen and all 

 their horses ; and when I came across them they 

 were stuck fast in the doorst-land (thirst-land) unable 

 to move forward or back. For two-and-a-half days 

 they had been without water; and from being in 

 bad health to begin with, hadn't half a chance; and 

 if I had not stumbled upon them, they must all have 

 been dead within fifteen hours. I had luckily some 

 water in my vatjes, and managed to pull them round; 

 and that night, leaving their waggon in the desert, in 

 hopes of being saved subsequently, and taking as 

 much of the ivory and valuables as we could 

 manage, and Mowbray's (the Englishman's) guns and 

 ammunition, we made a good trek, and reached water 

 on the afternoon of the next day. I never saw a man 

 so grateful as Mowbray ; I believe he would have 

 done anything in- the world for me after he had 

 pulled round a bit. Poor chap, during the short time 

 I knew him, I found him one of the best fellows and 

 most delightful companions I ever met. Unlike 

 most hunters, he had read much, and could talk well 

 upon almost any subject; and his stories of life and 

 adventure in the far interior interested and impressed 

 me wonderfully; but the Zambesi fever had got too 



