CHAPTEE XXV. 



KAMA, KING OF THE BECHUANAS. 



Sand, Sand, Sand ! A Howling Waste My poor Cattle suffer A Wretched 

 Family of Bushmen Novel Mode of obtaining Water Fearful Condition 

 of the Bush-People Their Skill and Courage in Hunting Wild Dogs 

 Magnificent Animals How they Hunt Attack the Lion sometimes One of 

 my Cattle Missing Insolence of my Driver A Bandy-legged Eunner 

 Fruitless Chase My Driver returns A Salt- Pan Curious Effect by Moon- 

 lightThe Kerne, or Wild Water-MelonScavenger Beetle The Macalaca 

 kills Something at last The Capital of Bamanwatto in the Distance We 

 reach Soshong The Inhabitants Welcomed My poor Cattle Stuck in a 

 dry Eiver-bed Soshong The Kloof Community Huts Compassed A 

 Favourite Post of Observation The " Ladies" Eiding Oxen Their Load 

 The Missionaries' Houses The European Community Defence of the 

 Spring The High-roads of Commerce The Merchants Suburb of Soshong 

 Population King Kama Sketch of his Career Bechuana Law of 

 Succession A Eomance. 



SAND, sand, sand, so deep that the felloes of the wheels 

 are entirely covered, the brush short and scant, the few 

 trees very dwarfed, and the surface of the soil rolling 

 such are the characteristics of the country. No game, 

 no birds, naught cheers the scene it is a land of 

 desolation, of waste, that nothing can ever be done to 

 improve, that will never render food for the wild animals, 

 let alone for man. It is a barrier to progression north- 

 wards that no art can remove, no skill overcome, no 

 ingenuity bridge. Such is the south-eastern end of the 

 Kalahari, the Great Thirst Land. 



I grieve for my poor cattle ; fain would I let them 

 rest, but cannot, so the whip has to be kept employed, 

 or we should never traverse this inhospitable region. 



