The Further We Went,
The Broader And Deeper 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 wagon-pole broke,
compelling us to work
Up to the breast in water for three hours and a half;
yet I suffered no harm.
We at last came to the Sanshureh, which presented an impassable barrier,
so we drew up under a magnificent baobab-tree, (lat. 18d 4' 27" S.,
long. 24d 6' 20" E.), and resolved to explore the river for a ford.
The great quantity of water we had passed through was part of the annual
inundation of the Chobe; and this, which appeared a large, deep river,
filled in many parts with reeds, and having hippopotami in it,
is only one of the branches by which it sends its superabundant water
to the southeast. From the hill N'gwa a ridge of higher land runs
to the northeast, 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 Bushmen
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 odor,
like sulphureted hydrogen, in some of these stagnant waters.
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