74 DEPARTURE FROM BAKWAIN COUNTRY 



at the water. No one would own them ; there they hac 



remained, and, coming on the trail of the people, long after 



their departure from the scene of conflict, it was plain 



they had 



"Held o'er the dead their carnival." 



Hence the disgust with which they were viewed. 



On our way from Khopong, along the ancient river-bed 

 which forms the pathway to Boatlanama, I found a species 

 of cactus, being the third I had seen in the country, namely, 

 one in the colony with a bright red flower, one at Lake 

 Ngami, the flower of which was liver-colored, and the 

 present one, flower unknown. That the plant is uncommon 

 may be inferred from the fact that the Bakwains find so 

 much difficulty in recognising the plant again after having 

 once seen it, that they believe it has the power of changing 

 its locality. 



On the 21st of January we reached the wells of Boat- 

 lanama, and found them for the first time empty. Lopepe, 

 which I had formerly seen a stream running from a large 

 reedy pool, was also dry. The hot salt spring of Serinane, 

 east of Lopepe, being undrinkable, we pushed on to Mashue 

 for its delicious waters. In travelling through this country, 

 the olfactory nerves are frequently excited by a strong, dis- 

 agreeable odor. This is caused by a large jet-black ant 

 named " Leshonya." It is nearly an inch in length, and 

 emits a pungent smell when alarmed, in the same manner 

 as the skunk. The scent must be as volatile as ether, for, 

 on irritating the insect with a stick six feet long, the odor is 

 instantly perceptible. 



That the fear of man often remains excessively strong in 

 the carnivora is proved from well-authenticated cases in 

 which the lioness, in the vicinity of towns where the large 

 game had been unexpectedly driven away by fire-arms, 

 has been known to assuage the paroxysms of hunger by 

 devouring her own young. It must be added that, though 

 the effluvium, which is left by the footsteps of man is in 

 general sufficient to induce lions to avoid a village, there 



