THE KALAHARI DESERT. 
17 
eaten as a solid or a liquid, quenches the thirst better 
than water. 
But beware of the bitter sama ! Every now and 
then you will find a small fruit, exactly resembling the 
others in everything but the taste, which is so bitter 
that a couple of the smallest will spoil a whole pail- 
ful of water. One morning the water was very bitter — 
undrinkable, in fact, by us — but the Bushmen drank 
it with a relish. This happened * once or twice, and 
then I found out that these epicures, when they began 
to eat a bitter sama, put it carefully aside in order to 
be squeezed into the pail, so that they might get coffee 
for breakfast ! After that I had every sama tested 
before it was squeezed, so that “ accident ” could not be 
urged in extenuation. 
On this oleaginous seed the Bushmen, who live 
almost entirely on the sama in seasons of plenty, get 
as fat as pigs, not taking the trouble to hunt when they 
can find food at their feet. 
VOL. II. 
c 
