192 THE SANSHUREH. 



became ; their bottoms contained great numbers of deep holes, 

 made by elephants wading in them ; in these the oxen floundered 

 desperately, so that our wagon-pole broke, compelling us to work 

 up to the breast in water for three hours and a half; yet I suffered 

 no harm. 



We at last came to the Sanshureh, which presented an impass- 

 able barrier, so we drew up under a magnificent baobab-tree, 

 (lat. 18° 4' 27" S., long. 24° 6' 20" E.), and resolved to explore the 

 river for a ford. The great quantity of water we had passed 

 through was part of the annual inundation of the Chobe; and this, 

 which appeared a large, deep river, filled in many parts with reeds, 

 and having hippopotami in it, is only one of the branches by which 

 it sends its superabundant water to the southeast. From the hill 

 N'gwa a ridge of higher land runs to the northeast, and bounds 

 its course in that direction. We, being ignorant of this, were in 

 the valley, and the only gap in the whole country destitute of 

 tsetse. In company with the Bushmen I explored all the banks 

 of the Sanshureh to the west till we came into tsetse on that side. 

 We waded a long way among the reeds in water breast deep, but 

 always found a broad, deep space free from vegetation and unford- 

 able. A peculiar kind of lichen, which grows on the surface of 

 the soil, becomes detached and floats on the water, giving out a 

 very disagreeable odor, like sulphureted hydrogen, in some of these 

 stagnant waters. 



We made so many attempts to get over the Sanshureh, both to 

 the west and east of the wagon, in the hope of reaching some of 

 the Makololo on the Chobe, that my Bushmen friends became 

 quite tired of the work. By means of presents I got them to 

 remain some days ; but at last they slipped away by night, and 

 I was fain to take one of the strongest of my still weak com- 

 panions and cross the river in a pontoon, the gift of Captains 

 Codrington and Webb. We each carried some provisions and 

 a blanket, and penetrated about twenty miles to the westward, in 

 the hope of striking the Chobe. It was much nearer to us in a 

 northerly direction, but this we did not then know. The plain, 

 over which we splashed the whole of the first day, was covered 

 with water ankle deep, and thick grass which reached above the 

 knees. In the evening we came to an immense wall of reeds, 

 six or eight feet high, without any opening admitting of a passage. 



