us that, by keeping ori in that direction, we should not reach the
river that night; an opinion which I had just expressed to my men.
We were therefore thankful for the information, and turned our steps
to the west.
Continuing to travel for above five hours and a half longer,
during the greater part of which we followed a path made by
quakkas passing from their grazing ground to the water, we did not
arrive at the river till the dusk of evening. This spot is distinguished
as Lion Station.
The two Bushmen of Poverty Kraal soon left us ; but it was for
the purpose of going home to inform their friends of my return
: and soon after we had unloaded our oxen and made our
fires, their whole kraal arrived at our station, and remained with us
till the next day. I now made them all a larger present of tobacco,
which failed not to gladden their hearts and give them for the
evening, as much happiness and content as the simplicity of their
minds renders this race capable of enjoying.
As for myself, I could not feel so much at ease ; as I became,
during the night, every hour more anxious for the safety of the six
Hottentots to whom I had given permission to set out to hunt in
advance. I expected that they would have fallen in with our track,
and have thus been guided to our station; or that, if, which was
more probable, they had reached the river before us, our fires would
have been a beacon which might have readily conducted them home:
or had they shot any game, one of the party would have been sent to
us for pack-oxen. But the chief cause of my uneasiness arose
from a supposition that they might, in the dark, have fallen in with
lions; animals much more to be dreaded at that hour than by day;
and of which it may with equal propriety be said, that, like the owls,
they are destined by nature to live and prey only at night.
Although much in want of food, we were unwilling to kill a
sheep, until the result of the hunting was known. Thus the time
passed in waiting; till we at last lay down supperless to sleep:
while our Bushman friends, seeing that we ate nothing ourselves,
were content to fast also.
16th. But in the morning I gave my visitors a meal; for which
they were exceedingly thankful, as they had not, I fear, feasted
much in our absence.
At two in the afternoon, Speelman arrived, extremely fatigued
and exhausted. The sky having been all day cloudless, the heat of
the sun had reduced him to a state of great lassitude. He declared
that he had neither eaten nor drunk since yesterday morning; and
his appearance confirmed his statement. He could give no account
of the others, as they had parted company soon after setting out:
and he himself had been wandering about, and traversing the
country, in hope of getting a shot at some game; but had been quite
unsuccessful. He had fallen in with two of the natives; and they
passed the night together, under shelter of a bank of earth, where
they found a small cave, in which they slept.
I gave to the people of Poverty Kraal, a large quantity of dakka,
and desired them, in their way home, to look out for my people, and,
if they saw any, or could discover them by following their track, to
<rive them directions respecting our situation. They took leave of us
at three o’clock; and in a most friendly manner assured me that they
would search for my people and send them home.
On observing some quakkas at a distance in the plain, Philip and
Juli with their guns went after them ; but were strongly enjoined not
to pursue them out of sight of our station. In an hour afterwards,
one of them returned with the agreeable intelligence of their having
shot a kanna (eland); the other remained by the carcass to guard it
from vultures and wild beasts. Pack-oxen were immediately sent
off; but it was not till eight at night, that the meat was brought
home, and we were enabled to satisfy the cravings of hunger.
In an hour and a half after the Bushmen left us, Keyser and
Stmrman arrived, faint and weary from their long wanderings, and
suffering much from thirst. I ordered them to have as soon as
possible, a cup of coffee, which I knew to be, for persons in their
state, a much safer and more refreshing beverage than water. They
had, in their way this morning, shot a Gemsbok (Ghemsbok); and to
so high a degree had the heat of the day raised their thirst, that
they eagerly cut open the animal’s stomach, and with the greatest