flies, resembling our common house fly, but with a most
painful sting that they managed to inflict through the
thickest of clothes.
In the evening my pony showed alarming symptoms
of poisoning. His belly was greatly swollen, his legs
icy cold, and he lay down in great pain. I had him
rubbed hard with Elliman’s embrocation, and after three
to four hours of treatment he had quite recovered. This
medicine is one of the most useful I know, and to its use
I owe, myself, the recovery of the use of my legs after
my hardships in the Kalahari. “ Horse” embrocation should
be used for men : the “ General ” is too weak. I attributed
the poisoning of my horse to his having eaten a kind
of tulip abundant alongside the rivers of this part of
the country. Some months later, Mr. Weil lost in this
way three out of four beautiful salted mules ; their
symptoms were exactly similar to those my horse
suffered from.
The next morning at sunrise the river had fallen
eighteen inches, and by 10 a.m. there remained but two
feet of water in its bed. We therefore started to cross it.
We experienced considerable difficulty in doing so, the
banks being, as I have said, most precipitous and slippery. -
We passed that day a good many fields well cultivated
by Khama’s people; but after that, until we reached
Tati about one hundred miles farther—we came across
no sign of human habitations. With the exception of a
few steinboks, we saw no trace of game; guinea fowls
were, however, pretty numerous.
After suffering as we had done in the Kalahari from
the want of water, we now began to suffer from the other
extreme. Daily we encountered terrible storms, and
the numerous rivers we came across were much swollen
and gave us a deal of trouble.
On the 1st of February, we reached the Mothloutsie*
* This river, called the Macloutsie' near the Crocodile, is called the
Mothloutsie further up.