2S2 EXPEDITION INTO 



CHAPTEE XXXII. 



EXIT FKOM MOSELEKATSE'S DOMINIONS, AND PASSAGE 

 ACROSS THE NAMA-HARI. 



The 20th of December, tlioug-li it placed us be^^oiid the 

 Matabili territories, was a day of excessive toil, and but 

 little progTess. As soon as it was light enoug'h to see, 

 Andries started on horseback in quest of a ford ; and all but 

 one of the oxen having' by the most unlooked-for g'ood 

 fortune, been recovered, we shortly afterwards moved down 

 the river, the waters of which had risen upwards of a foot 

 during- the nig-ht. After crossing- many perilous ravines, 

 we at length became alarmed at the protracted non-appear- 

 ance of our scout, and had just resolved to send back in 

 search of him when he rejoined us, triumphantly bearing 

 the teeth of a sea-cow — whilst extracting which for his own 

 private advantage, he had unfortunately suffered his masters 

 to overshoot, by several miles, what he chose to term an 

 admirable ford. Retracing- our steps " along the wild and 

 willow'd shore," to this spot, we found the current waist 

 deep, the bank acclivitous, and the bed strewed with large 

 blocks of granite ; but having first taken the precaution of 

 sending a horseman repeatedly across, we determined to 

 attempt the passage. After much violent bumping-, the 

 leading waggon reached the opposite side without any dif- 

 ficulty, but not so its consort. Owing- to some mismanage- 

 ment on the part of the driver, the luckless ^' omnibus," 

 when about half way over, became firmly wedged between 

 two masses of rock j and although every one stripped to the 



