SCARCITY OF WATER.— THE OSTRICH. 171 



shivering instead of taking his rider out of danger. It has hap- 

 pened often that the poor animal's legs do their duty so badly 

 that he falls and causes his rider to he trodden into a mummy ; 

 or, losing his presence of mind, the rider may allow the horse to 

 dash under a tree and crack his cranium against a branch. As 

 one charge from an elephant has made embryo Nimrods bid a 

 final adieu to the chase, incipient Gordon Cummings might try 

 their nerves by standing on railways till the engines were within 

 a few yards of them. Hunting elephants on foot would be not 

 less dangerous,* unless the Ceylon mode of killing them by one 

 shot could be followed : it has never been tried in Africa. 



Advancing to some wells beyond Letloche, at a spot named 

 Kanne, we found them carefully hedged round by the people of 

 a Bakalahari village situated near the spot. We had then sixty 

 miles of country in front without water, and very distressing for 

 the oxen, as it is generally deep soft sand. There is one suck- 

 ing-place, around which were congregated great numbers of Bush- 

 women with their egg-shells and reeds. Mathuluane now con- 

 tained no water, and Motlatsa only a small supply, so we sent 

 the oxen across the country to the deep well Nkauane, and half 

 were lost on the way. When found at last they had been five 

 whole days without water. Very large numbers of elands were 

 met with as usual, though they seldom can get a sip of drink. 

 Many of the plains here have large expanses of grass without 

 trees, but you seldom see a treeless horizon. The ostrich is 

 generally seen quietly feeding on some spot where no one can 

 approach him without being detected by his wary eye. As the 

 wagon moves along far to the windward he thinks it is intend- 

 ing to circumvent him, so he rushes up a mile or so from the lee- 

 ward, and so near to the front oxen that one sometimes gets a 

 shot at the silly bird. When he begins to run all the game in 

 sight follow his example. I have seen this folly taken advantage 

 of when he was feeding quietly in a valley open at both ends. A 

 number of men would commence running, as if to cut off his re- 

 treat from the end through which the wind came ; and although 

 he had the whole country hundreds of miles before him by going 



* Since writing the above statement, it has received confirmation in the 

 reported death of Mr. Walhberg while hunting elephants on foot at Lake 

 Ngami. 



