48 
JOURNEY ACROSS THE 
[1820. 
Therm, at noon 88. It thundered in every 
direction ; there was at the same time a whirl- 
wind about a mile off, that carried into the air 
the greatest body of sand I had ever seen. It 
continued for about ten minutes raising the sand 
as high as the clouds. Another rose near it, but 
in two or three minutes they united, when the 
body of sand carried into the air increased. It 
was visible for a considerable distance, until lost 
in a black cloud. 
The greater part of the Corannas had a joint 
taken from their little finger, which is done with 
a sharp stone. This operation is performed 
merely for the purpose of bleeding, in order to 
remove some pain. The inconvenience through 
life, arising from such a dismemberment, perhaps 
never occurred to this ignorant people. 
; ,•' Hi ,y>s:Oii 
We departed at three p. m., leaving the river, 
and after travelling over some low hills, we en- 
tered on a plain of great extent. Our Bootshuana 
found a hole filled with the rain of the preceding- 
day, a few yards from the road, of which he and 
several others drank copiously. My driver re- 
marked that the hole had been made by a zebra 
scraping with his forefeet before he lay down to 
sleep. The ground thus hollowed and hardened 
is rendered capable of retaining the rain, and 
in these holes water is frequently found in the 
