CHAPTER II 



THE OKAVANGO RIVER 



Beautiful was the first view of the Okavango, 

 the great blue river rolling along between green 

 banks. On one side stood the pretty little police 

 station of Kuringkuru, surely the most remote of 

 all the Kaiser's outposts, while across the river 

 was Angola, and the Portuguese post Kuangar. 

 Wonderfully pleasant was the camping by the 

 river-side that night after the long trek through 

 the sand veld, but though we were tired enough, 

 the unusual rippling of the big stream seemed to 

 drive sleep away. It was a typical and glorious 

 African night, with every star showing : a night 

 to lie a-thinking. No matter how vast the number 

 of stars visible, a powerful telescope would bring 

 more and ever more new worlds into the vision. 

 Charlie said he heard the roar of a lion a long way 

 off across the river that night, and I heard the 

 noisy barking of dogs at the Portuguese fort in 

 the early morning. 



At the police station there were three German 

 police and about a dozen Herero troopers ; also 

 about a dozen mules, but no horses. Received 

 and treated very courteously by the Germans, I 



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