174 
THE SANSHUKEH. 
Chap. YIII. 
these became; their bottoms contained great numbers of deep 
holes, made by elephants wading in them; in these the oxen 
floundered desperately, so that our waggon-pole broke, compelh'ng 
us to work up to the breast in water for tliree hours and a half; 
yet I suffered no harm. 
We at last came to the Sanshureh, which presented an im¬ 
passable 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 gveat quantity of water we had passed 
through was part of the annual inundation of the Chobe; and 
tliis, wliich appeared a large deep river, filled in many parts 
with reeds, and having hippopotami in it, is only one of the 
branches by wliich it sends its superabundant water to the south¬ 
east. From the hiU N’gwa a ridge of higher land runs to the 
north-east, 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 Buslimen 
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 unfordable. 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 odour, like 
sulphuretted 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 waggon, in the hope of reaching some 
of the Makololo on the Chobe, that my Bushmen friends became 
quite tfred of the work. By means of presents I got them to 
remain some days; but at last they shpped 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 
Codringion 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 wliich we splashed the whole of the first day, was covered 
Avith water ankle deep, and thick grass Avhich reached above the 
knees. In the evening we came to an immense Avail of reeds, 
six or eight feet high, Avithout any opening admitting of a passage. 
