The Melon and the Mail 



greetings, and to hear the latest news from the 

 "Farthest North." The Desert Post com- 

 prised a man, a boy, and three camels — two 

 riding and one pack-camel. The man in 

 charge of his Majesty's mails — Orrin by name — 

 had his left arm crushed by the bite of a savage 

 camel. Nevertheless, he still loves these weird 

 beasts, and runs to time between Zwart Modder 

 and Rietfontein with the regularity of a Union 

 Castle liner. Outspanned for breakfast near 

 Moutons Puts, by a pool of water. Here we 

 shot some Namaqualand partridges, which made 

 a dainty meal. Now on a splendid hard road. 

 At noon we were close to the Kalahari Game 

 Reserve, and the long white sand-dunes of the 

 desert. It is interesting to note that the 

 colour of the dunes varies from a bright red, 

 through orange, to white. Not far away were 

 some wild ostriches. 



Our next outspan was at an old store (Rach- 

 tenbach), which a new and enterprising tenant 

 was having renovated. It was now fiercely 

 hot, and I longed for the shade of a solitary 

 tree. The name of the farm is Witkop, doubt- 

 less so called from the extensive deposits of 

 limestone in the vicinity. On examining some 

 limestone, which was being used for building, 



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