CHAP, n.] THE PLAIN. 37 



the spoor remains to tell of the thief and liis where- 

 abouts. 



I had made my first attempts at mapping. From 

 the sand-hills above Scheppmansdorf, Walfisch Bay 

 could be seen cleai-ly; and as many distant mountains 

 were visible from both stations, I could begin triangu- 

 lating. The moimtains of the Swakop, on the other 

 side of the desert plain to our north, were clear in the 

 blue distance. A few peaked hills were more in the 

 foreground, and I took the bearings, as well as the 

 natives could point out, of the place we were first to 

 aim for. Our first stage is a very difiicult one. It 

 occupies sixteen hours' actual travelling, exclusive 

 of all stoppages. There is no gTass for the oxen, 

 or water either ; though a few cup-fulls of the latter 

 can be found in a granite rock after the first twelve 

 hours' journey ; and there is generally so thick a 

 mist on the plain, that, travelling, as people generally 

 do, all through the night, there is every probabihty of 

 losing the path. The consequence is, that the plain is 

 covered with false waggon-roads in every direction, and 

 a great number of oxen have died on the way. The 

 natives of the place are no better than the strangers ; 

 as soon as they lose their road they go wandering 

 about, not only till dayhght, but till the fog clears 

 away and shows them where they are. Losing the 

 way is the rule here, and not the exception ; and a 

 person who has crossed the plain without doing so, 

 rather plumes himself upon the feat. 



Stewartson, on his ox, was to be the guide. My 

 men were all to walk ; Andersson and myself to ride 



