CHAPTER IX 
Jan Yeyers leads us into the sand-belts—Great thirst—Find water—How 
French died of thirst—Hyaenas and lions—Grand buffalo hunt—Subse¬ 
quent row . with boys—Weird cry of owl—Jan Yeyers remains behind— 
Deserted by the main body of bearers—Makes friends with the natives 
living in the reeds. 
On Saturday the 19 th we made a start from the Hartebeest 
camp for the Chobe, Jan Yeyers taking the lead in a north- 
north-westerly direction through the sand-belts. We tried to 
induce him to go due north-east that we might reach the river 
sooner, for it appeared to us that we were going parallel to the 
river, as Hammar asserted that the Chobe took a northward 
turn. But having made up his mind that the river was in that 
direction, and all the natives following him, he stuck obstinately 
to his course and went sullenly ahead, bringing us into a nice 
pickle; for instead of reaching the river in the time he expected, 
we found sand-belt after sand-belt in front of us that had to 
be crossed, each sand-belt covered with the usual bush and 
trees that prevented our getting a sufficient view ahead. At 
last, exasperated by Jan’s stubbornness, about midday Hammar 
and I took the lead from him, and struck in a north-easterly 
direction, but without finding water. Our thirst became ter¬ 
rible; for walking in this exceptionally dry atmosphere, the 
evaporation from skins and lungs is disproportionately large 
and exhausts the constitution much more rapidly than in a 
moister climate. We had to kill some of the goats who, utterly 
exhausted by thirst, could go no further. 
Pressing on, we at last were obliged to halt at sunset, after 
having marched without stopping all day, as many of the 
bearers, who were exhausted, remained far behind, and things 
began to look serious. We made a big fire, so that the stragglers 
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