2 
AFRICA AND ITS EXPLORATION. 
I not give for a drink of wafer ! It was now past 
noon, so that I must already have walked six hours 
beneath the almost scorching rays of the sun ; I was 
getting feint for want of food and water, and I might 
also add faint-hearted 
from anxiety. The sand- 
dunes were all alike, and 
I had so completely lost 
my way that, for all I 
knew, I might be walk- 
ing further and further 
away, or going round and 
round in a circle, instead 
of getting nearer to the 
waggon. In the hope 
of exciting the salivary 
glands, and cooling my 
parched mouth, I had put 
a button on my tongue ; 
but the sinking sensation, 
caused by want of food, 
made me feel giddy, and 
this tendency was in- 
creased by my growing 
anxiety. I felt I must 
rest for a bit, and try to 
find some food. Knowing 
that the inchies (roots) 
were generally good to 
eat before they were in 
flower, I searched for 
some Kalahari wild fowl. some, and tried to eat 
them raw ; but they were 
so unpalatable that I had to make a little fire and 
cook them in the hot sand. I managed to eat a few, 
and found they not only assuaged my thirst, but 
relieved me of the dizziness that had been growing 
upon me ; and after sitting still for half an hour I 
felt better, and climbed up a sand-hill, on the other 
side of which I could see a herd of gems-bok grazing. 
