Chap. VIII.] SOUTHERN AFRICA. 59 



crescent a mile on either side, in such a manner 

 that gnoos, quaggas, and other animals might 

 easily be driven into them. They are carefully 

 concealed with grass, and their circumscribed di- 

 mensions render escape almost impossible. Heaps 

 of whitened bones bore ample testimony to the de- 

 struction they had occasioned. 



We now entered upon the Chooi Desert, an ex- 

 tensive flat, denuded of trees — broken occasionally 

 by low ridges, but still remarkable for its scorched 

 and sterile uniformity. After travelling twenty 

 miles across this " region of emptiness, howling and 

 drear," we reached Loharon, at which there was a 

 prospect of obtaining water, but unfortunately the 

 only tank in the country was exhausted. The small 

 supply that we had brought in the waggons was 

 barely drinkable even in coffee; but oiw sufferings 

 were nothing compared with those of the unhappy 

 oxen, which, although tired to death with the sultry 

 march, ran franticly in quest of some pool where 

 they might slake their thirst — making the air re- 

 sound with their mournful lowings. During the 

 night the hyaenas, attracted by the smell of oin- 

 mutton, actually devoured a spring-buck within the 

 limits of our camp. 



As we advanced, the game became hourly more 

 abundant, although still exceedingly wild. Groups 

 of hartebeests,* quaggas, and brindled gnoos, were 

 every where to be seen — the sleek variegated coats 

 of the two former species sparkling in the rays of 

 * Acronotus Caama, Delineated in the African Views. 



