94 
THE NEW AFRICA 
As we had no means of crossing with the packs, we had to 
follow this creek upwards in a west direction to find a fording- 
place. All this day and the next we went along the banks, 
several times crossing little running streams from the south 
that flowed into the main creek. These streams all had grass- 
grown bottoms, showing that this flow was only periodical, and 
still we were at a loss to comprehend how all this water came 
from the south-west, for there had been no sudden lowering of 
the Chobe, which would account for the current had it been a 
backwater, as we at first supposed. The circumstances rather 
supported Hammar’s theory that it was a loop of the Chobe 
river that ran in to the river again where we first met it; but as 
we proceeded mile after mile along the banks, this idea waned 
in our minds, and we concluded that it was a separate river; yet 
there was that in the appearance of the stream, running with a 
fair current all the time, the higher up we got, that gave us the 
impression it was not a true river. 
In the afternoon of the second day the creek appeared about 
thirty yards wide with a good current (about two knots) running 
from the south over a decided river bed with a visible clear, 
sandy bottom. We crossed here, finding the water nearly up 
to our armpits, say three and a half feet deep. There was only 
one explanation as to the origin of this extraordinary stream, 
certainly not like the Sunta receiving supplies from the Chobe; 
and the conjecture we now formed, that the water came from 
the Okavango, was subsequently confirmed by the natives ahead, 
who told us that at this flood-season of the year there usually 
was sufficient water flowing over from one river to the other to 
permit substantial navigation even in their largest canoes, while 
in the low-water season it was still open for smaller craft. We 
regretted very much that our circumstances would not permit 
us to make a complete survey to establish this statement. 
Our progress along this part of the journey was necessarily 
very slow, owing to the densenesss of the bush, through which 
the bearers had much difficulty in piloting their loads, which 
caught in the brambles at almost every turn in the most 
