244 
ON THE BARKING OF DOGS, AND 
14;, 15 June, 
Hottentots of the outposts, who, I feared, might by their conversa- 
tion give my new men false ideas of the dangers of our journey, I 
resolved to remove to Doom river, a distance of six miles. 
Here we arrived at ten in the morning ; and found merely the 
bed of a river, in which water was to be met with only here and there 
in a few shallow pools. A grove of large trees of the common acacia 
or doornboom gave the spot a pleasant sheltered appearance. On our 
way we passed a few single trees of the camelthorn which, by their 
size, attracted our attention. 
15th. In the middle of the night I was awakened by the barking 
of some of our dogs, which continued for a considerable time: thinking 
it might be occasioned by the approach of hostile Bushmen, I arose 
and woke some of the people, that they might keep watch against 
danger ; but we should have spared ourselves this trouble, if we had 
not neglected to attend to the various tones of barking which dogs 
assume on different occasions ; and should have known that it was 
not men, at which they were now so much enraged. For, in the 
morning one of the Hottentots found at some distance from our 
station, the remains of a kaama or hartebeest, which had been 
devoured by a lion : and this it was, which the dogs either heard or 
scented, although none of us were able to distinguish the slightest 
sound. A leg of this hartebeest was brought home and broiled for 
breakfast. 
Our pack of dogs consisted of about five-and-twenty of various 
sorts and sizes. This variety, though not altogether intentional, as I 
was obliged to take any that could be procured, was of the greatest 
service on such an expedition, as I observed that some gave notice of 
danger in one way, and others, in another. Some were more dis- 
posed to watch against men, and others against wild beasts ; some 
discovered an enemy by their quickness of hearing, others by that of 
scent; some were useful only for their vigilance and barking j some 
for speed in pursuing game ; and others for courage in holding 
ferocious animals at bay. So large a pack was not, indeed, maintained 
without adding greatly to our care and trouble, in supplying them 
with meat and water ; for it was sometimes difficult to procure for 
