SOUTHERN AFRICA. G5 



marked as if \\itii the brash of a sign painter. Their 

 brain as well as that of the g*noo^ is filled with large white 

 maggots — a phenomenon, of which, until I had received 

 ocular evidence, I could not help being sceptical. And the 

 horns of the hartebeest are placed on the very summit of 

 the head, upon a prolongation of the frontal bone, instead 

 of above the eyes as in most other antelopes. 



Rations of flour were here first served out to the followers, 

 in the measure of three-quarters of a pound of meal to each 

 man, and were continued daily during the rest of the journe}'. 

 In the morning four savages volunteered to show us a 

 rhinoceros. We accompanied them amongst ruined stone 

 kraals of great extent, situated to the left of the road, and so 

 overgrown ^^■ith thorn-bushes, that we were not unfrequently 

 obliged to exchange an erect for a stooping posture, and at 

 times, even to travel on omv hands and knees. We found 

 nothing, ho av ever, but a pack of wild dogs* that had just 

 hunted down a hartebeest. Like the a\ ild dogs of India, 

 these animals take the field in organized packs, and b}' their 

 perseverance seldom fail to wear^^ out the swiftest antelope. 

 Of a slender form, the general colour is ochreous 3'ellow, 

 blotched and brindled \\ith dingy black. The ears are large 

 and semicircular • the muzzle and face black, and the tail 

 bushy like that of a fox. 



During the day we passed another extensive stone town, 

 which once contained its " busy thousands," but now presents 

 a heap of ruins. The walls extend more than a mile on 

 each side of the road, and the plain on which it is con- 

 structed is thickl}' covered with a species of wild basil, 

 yielding an aromatic scent when crushed under the foot. 

 We had scarcel}^ past this desolate city of the desert, when 

 the lightning began to flash, and tremendous ])eals of thun- 

 der burst over our heads. A black cloud that had suddenly 



* IIji(ena tcnatica. Delineated in the Portraits of Game and Wild Animals 

 of Southern Africa. 



