54 EXPEDITION INTO 



existence probably ever attains. Our little band was also 

 instinctively attended by a host of liung-ry vultures, who, 

 little disturbed by the presence of man, divided the office of 

 carrion scavengers with hyeenas and jackals. Wheelhig- in 

 circles hig-h above our heads, like small specks in the firma- 

 ment, these voracious birds were ever ready to pounce upon 

 g-ame that mig'lit be shot, or upon the carcases of oxen that 

 perished on the road — devouring- the larg-est bodies with a 

 promptitude truly surprising*. 



We had now crossed the unvaried level expanse of the 

 Chooi Desert, and were entering* upon a country, which 

 thoug'h equally remarkable for its sameness of appearance 

 presented a different character. Immense sandy flats, with 

 a substratum of lime, were uniformly covered with mo- 

 kaala trees, low thorn bushes, and long* g*rass, interspersed 

 with numerous dry tanks ; but no hill or conspicuous object 

 that could direct the footsteps of a wanderer. Before reach- 

 ing* the Siklag-ole river, twenty-two miles, we passed many 

 extensive villa g*es totally deserted ; rude earthen vessels, 

 frag'ments of ostrich eg*g*-shells, and portions of the skins of 

 wild animals, however, proving* that they had been recently 

 inhabited. During* the whole of this and the following* 

 day we saw no human being*, a circumstance which I note 

 here, because it added in no small deg*ree to the troubles I 

 am about to detail. 



On the morning* of the 9th October, when the wag*g*ons 

 had started on their way to the Meritsane river, our next 

 stag*e, I turned off the road in pursuit of a troop of brin- 

 dled g*noos, and presently came upon another, which was 

 joined by a third still larger — then by a vast herd of zebras, 

 and again by more gnoos, Avith sassaybes* and hartebeests, 

 pouring* down from every quarter, until the landscape liter- 



* Acroiwtns LiDiuta. Delineated in the Portraits of Game and Wild Animals 

 ol' Southern Africa. 



