CHAP, v.] REACH OMATAKO.— AFRICAN PUMA. 147 



against Omagunde's people. I took a few men from 

 his werft, and by dint of constant bartering, started 

 with 100 oxen, twenty-seven goats and thkty sheep. 

 Poor Kahikene ! of all the Damaras I saw in my year 

 and a half journey, none had so thoroughly ingratiated 

 himself with my party as he had. We tolerated a few 

 others, but became reaUy attached to him. 



March 18th. — The high cones of Omatako were fuU 

 in front of us, and the next wells were a long distance 

 on the other side ; however we met with pools of rain 

 water and trekked on in three or four hour stages. 

 At one place John Morta was beginning to make his 

 fire under a bush, when he retreated in great alarm, 

 as he found the place occupied by a puff-adder. The 

 next day we saw our first herd of wild animals ; I 

 counted about 100 hartebeests in one place, and 

 Andersson 400 gnus in another. We shot some game, 

 and Andersson started what he thought was a puma. 

 The natives talk a great deal about such an animal 

 existing ; they describe it as a very shy creature, and 

 hardly ever moving about in the daytime, of the same 

 colour and general shape as a lion, but smaller, and 

 with no mane. The animal Andersson caught a 

 glimpse of answered the description perfectly. It 

 might have been a young lion, but its movements 

 were not those of a cub. It jumped up close by him, 

 but was among the thick bushes and out of sight 

 before there was time to fire. 



We had a very fatiguing day in going round 

 Omatako. The ground was open, but heavy, and the 

 oxen sadly exhausted. We came to a small river-bed 



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