It Was Wonderful How He Managed
Without A Compass, And In Such A Country, To Find His Way Home At All,
Bringing About Forty Oxen With Him.
The Bechuanas will keep on the sick-list as long as they feel any weakness;
so I at last began to be anxious that they should make a little exertion
to get forward on our way.
One of them, however, happening to move
a hundred yards from the wagon, fell down, and, being unobserved,
remained the whole night in the pouring rain totally insensible;
another was subjected to frequent swooning; but, making beds in the wagons
for these our worst cases, with the help of the Bakwain and the Bushmen,
we moved slowly on. We had to nurse the sick like children;
and, like children recovering from illness, the better they became
the more impudent they grew. This was seen in the peremptory orders
they would give with their now piping voices. Nothing that we did
pleased them; and the laughter with which I received their ebullitions,
though it was only the real expression of gladness at their recovery,
and amusement at the ridiculous part they acted, only increased their chagrin.
The want of power in the man who guided the two front oxen,
or, as he was called, the "leader", caused us to be entangled with trees,
both standing and fallen, and the labor of cutting them down was even
more severe than ordinary; but, notwithstanding an immense amount of toil,
my health continued good.
We wished to avoid the tsetse of our former path, so kept a course
on the magnetic meridian from Lurilopepe. The necessity of making a new path
much increased our toil. We were, however, rewarded in lat. 18 Degrees
with a sight we had not enjoyed the year before, namely,
large patches of grape-bearing vines. There they stood before my eyes;
but the sight was so entirely unexpected that I stood some time
gazing at the clusters of grapes with which they were loaded,
with no more thought of plucking than if I had been beholding them in a dream.
The Bushmen know and eat them; but they are not well flavored
on account of the great astringency of the seeds, which are in shape and size
like split peas. The elephants are fond of the fruit, plant, and root alike.
I here found an insect which preys on ants; it is about
an inch and a quarter long, as thick as a crow-quill, and covered
with black hair. It puts its head into a little hole in the ground,
and quivers its tail rapidly; the ants come near to see it,
and it snaps up each as he comes within the range of the forceps on its tail.
As its head is beneath the ground, it becomes a question
how it can guide its tail to the ants. It is probably
a new species of ant-lion (`Myrmeleon formicaleo'), great numbers of which,
both in the larvae and complete state, are met with.
The ground under every tree is dotted over with their ingenious pitfalls,
and the perfect insect, the form of which most persons are familiar with
in the dragon-fly, may be seen using its tail in the same active manner
as this insect did. Two may be often seen joined in their flight,
the one holding on by the tail-forceps to the neck of the other.
On first observing this imperfect insect, I imagined the forceps
were on its head; but when the insect moved, their true position was seen.
The forest, through which we were slowly toiling, daily became more dense,
and we were kept almost constantly at work with the axe;
there was much more leafiness in the trees here than farther south.
The leaves are chiefly of the pinnate and bi-pinnate forms,
and are exceedingly beautiful when seen against the sky;
a great variety of the papilionaceous family grow in this part of the country.
Fleming had until this time always assisted to drive his own wagon,
but about the end of March he knocked up, as well as his people.
As I could not drive two wagons, I shared with him the remaining water,
half a caskful, and went on, with the intention of coming back for him
as soon as we should reach the next pool. Heavy rain now commenced;
I was employed the whole day in cutting down trees,
and every stroke of the axe brought down a thick shower on my back,
which in the hard work was very refreshing, as the water found its way
down into my shoes. In the evening we met some Bushmen, who volunteered
to show us a pool; and having unyoked, I walked some miles in search of it.
As it became dark they showed their politeness - a quality which
is by no means confined entirely to the civilized - by walking in front,
breaking the branches which hung across the path, and pointing out
the fallen trees. On returning to the wagon, we found that being left alone
had brought out some of Fleming's energy, for he had managed to come up.
As the water in this pond dried up, we were soon obliged to move again.
One of the Bushmen took out his dice, and, after throwing them, said that God
told him to go home. He threw again in order to show me the command,
but the opposite result followed; so he remained and was useful,
for we lost the oxen again by a lion driving them off
to a very great distance. The lions here are not often heard.
They seem to have a wholesome dread of the Bushmen, who, when they observe
evidence of a lion's having made a full meal, follow up his spoor so quietly
that his slumbers are not disturbed. One discharges a poisoned arrow
from a distance of only a few feet, while his companion simultaneously
throws his skin cloak on the beast's head.
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