324 THE GREAT THIRST LAND. 



stand, unless the hide of the black man is much thicker 

 than that of his white brother. 



The mapaney-bush (Bauhinia) begins to become more 

 prevalent. I noticed the natives plucking the leaves 

 and licking them; this they do to remove a sweet 

 gummy substance that is deposited there by an insect. 

 The population have a queer superstition about the 

 mapaney-tree namely, that if you take shelter under it 

 in a thunder-storm you are certain to get struck ; whereas 

 the meruley-tree is so much loved by the lightning, that 

 it will not hurt it or the person it shades. 



The temperature of the water out of curiosity I 

 tested. It was 98 ; yet during the night the ther- 

 mometer stood at 67, sufficiently cool to make the 

 blankets quite enjoyable. 



We had a long and tedious treck next day ; in fact, 

 it commenced with bad luck, and when that happens, 

 you are likely to have a succession of it. First, we 

 stuck in a dry river with very steep sides, and lost 

 upwards of an hour before we got extricated; and in 

 doing so not less than six or seven yoke -keys were 

 smashed. Then a dog that I had bought at Soshong, 

 and looked as if he would become useful, was allowed 

 to escape, when it turned on its heels and started for its 

 old home. I attempted to catch it on horseback ; but 

 although I overtook the brute, it dodged and turned so 

 that I could not lay hold of it. It seemed exactly to 

 understand what to do to baffle me ; down it would lie 

 till I dismounted, but as soon as I reached the ground 

 it was off again ; thus, very much disgusted, I gave 

 up the pursuit, and wished the money I had paid for 

 it were again in my pocket. 



Still we made progress, and the black basalt hills of 



