Hear the Fate of my Two Oxen.—Plan an Attack to
avenge them.—Make an Attack on Two Werfts.—Catch some
Culprits.—Hottentot Passion for Onslaught.—Return to
Eikhams.—Best sort of Travelling Compass.—MS. and other
Almanacs.—Watches and Alarums.—Large Packs of Lions.—A
Tale learnt from Tracks.—Accidents with Guns.—Methods of
carrying them on Horse-back.—Description of the Plate.—Saddle
Arrangements.—Travelling Dress.—Colours most suited for
Sportsmen.—Bright Colours of Skulking Animals.—Rationale
of them.—Join Hans’ Party.—Begin to break up the
Expedition.—Travel down the Swakop.—Reach Walfisch Bay.—Whales,
Sharks, and Ostriches.—Retrospects.—Leave Africa.
In a week the Hottentots became tired of ’Tounobis; they said that
their wives were left without provisions, &c., and Amiral said that he
must return. I had no object in staying longer, for I became tired of
massacring the animals, and it is better when on a journey not to rest
oxen longer than a week, unless you can afford at least a month’s delay,
as their galled backs become half healed, and they lose their working
condition, without having time to really recruit their strength. My oxen
were all in a very poor way, but I now cared little, as I was homeward
bound. We left ’Tounobis Oct. 10th, and arrived safely at Okomavaka, with
no incident except a fright from all the oxen having run away the second
night that we were on the road.
My first inquiries were about the fate of poor Timmerman and Frieschland,
and I at last found out their history from some wandering Damaras,
for they never can keep a secret. The two oxen had both returned to
Okomavaka, but a lion caught Timmerman, and in the morning the Damaras
found him half eaten; they then spoored and found Frieschland whom they
stabbed and eat. I discovered who the man was that actually killed my ox;
he was Kaipanga, the captain of a werft of these wandering Damaras, and
who naturally had decamped when he heard of our arrival.
I therefore held a consultation with Amiral on the subject, whose eyes
glistened with pleasure at the notion of a raid upon the Damara werft. I,
of course, stipulated that we should have no firing, but only catch the
culprits and flog them. I had been desirous of witnessing the arrangement
of a Hottentot attack, and this case occurred opportunely, so I desired
Amiral to manage everything in exactly his own way, which he did. He
found out where Kaipanga was staying; it was opposite to a gorge two
hours ahead of us, and down in the flat at the foot of the ridge, but far
from it and among the trees, and quite two and a half hours away from the
watering-place there.
Amiral then told everybody that we were going home as quickly as we
could, for we had no time to spare to make further inquiries about
the lost oxen, and on we went. Our first day was three hours, and we
purposely overshot the gorge which was our mark, that the Damaras who
were on a keen look-out might be convinced that we knew nothing of
Kaipanga’s rascality, and were really going home in good earnest.
Amiral’s men slept a couple of miles away from mine, so as to disarm all
notion of a concerted expedition, but at one o’clock in the morning the
old scamp got up quietly with about half his men and joined me. I left
sufficient people behind to resist any Damaras in case they attacked the
camp during my absence, and we were all off under the escort of Amiral’s
spy at two. It was a very dark night, and we scrambled down the gorge and
through the trees of the plain till about four o’clock, when we stopped,
as there was some doubt as to where we were, and runners were sent ahead
in all directions to explore the country for a mile or two round. Just as
the first streaks of light appeared in the sky the wished-for information
came; there was no time to be lost, and we all ran in a glorious state of
excitement across the country. The light quickly increased, and by the
time that the sky was grey we were all behind a mound, watching keenly
for some indication of the exact position of the werft, which we were
assured was close by us. At length a slender column of smoke was seen,
and instantly the charge was ordered. Amiral, Andersson, and myself,
with four or five others, were to go straight on; ten men were to make
a sweep, and run down upon the werft on the right and ten on the left.
Nobody was to fire unless the natives used their assegais. Off they were;
our party walked slowly to give the others time, but the dogs of the
werft heard us; in an instant the alarm was given, and no time was to
be lost, so we in the centre were obliged to make a rush prematurely;
almost every Damara was off helter-skelter. We caught a few women and
one man; they said that Kaipanga, the chief, whom we were in search of,
was at another werft close by; that he _had_ killed the ox and his men
had eaten it, and that if we would spare them and not kill them they
would show us the way. All this questioning and answering took little
more time to say than it does to read, and we were off again, but the
daylight had become quite strong, and before we were at the next werft
the sun was about to rise. We could not hope to encircle it, so we ran
crouching through the bushes on and into it with much better success
than we could have expected. The Damaras were not half a minute out of
it when we arrived, and were running in all directions. The country was
rather open, and there was a mound close by, to the top of which some
of our men ran directly. This acted like flying a kite over a moor; it
made all the runaway Damaras lie still at once, lest they should be
seen, and in this way we gained time to examine their werft for proofs
of guilt, and were able to spoor them more leisurely. We found no meat
in the huts, but a broken marrow-bone was there. In the main hut was a
large piece of ox-hide, half dressed, from which the hairs, as usual,
had been removed; we took it out to the light; a few scattered hairs
remained, and they were whitish-yellow, which was Timmerman’s peculiar
colour. A woman who was found in the werft confessed to the skin, and
away we went in chase as before. The huts were such wretched affairs that
it was not worth while to destroy them in retaliation for the robbery.
We had now some long and severe running; with horses we could have done
what we liked, but on foot the naked Damaras were more than a match
for us. However, we took two men captive, whose looks almost warranted
their being hung without any other proofs of their guilt, and we tied
them together and drove them home with several women, whom we kept in
different detachments. It was a long time before we were all collected
together, as the men were dispersed over the country, and we had no water
till ten o’clock, nor did we arrive at the encampment with our prisoners
till midday.
After an hour’s rest we tried the men, examining them separately.
Amiral’s shrewdness astonished me beyond measure. He was quite in his
element, and wormed out the whole story with the greatest dexterity, and
the judicial scene was closed with a business-like application of a new
rhinoceros-hide whip.
I had gained quite an insight into Hottentot onslaught by these few
hours’ experience, and could perfectly understand how engrossing must
be the excitement which they yield to savage minds. Compared with
these, shooting lions and rhinoceroses must be poor sport to them. The
last brings simply into play the faculties of a sportsman, and is an
occupation dangerous enough to be disagreeable, but negroes are the
woodcocks of Africa, the beau ideal of the game tribe, and they are
pursued not with that personal indifference every one must feel towards
quadrupeds, but with revenge, hatred, and cupidity. The Hottentot runs
to the raid boiling with passion and hungry for spoils. He is matched
with an equal in sight, hearing, speed, and ingenuity; the attack and
the pursuit call forth the whole of his intelligence. If the negro has
a perfect knowledge of the country on his side to aid his escape, the
Hottentot has had time for forethought and preparation in the attack
to match that advantage. The struggle is equal until the closing scene
when the deadly gun confronts the assegai. Then come the tears and
supplication and prayers for mercy, which must be music to the ears
of the Hottentot, as he revels in his victory and pauses before he
consummates it. I have a pretty fixed idea that if English justice were
administered throughout these parts of Africa, a small part only of
the population would remain unhung. But we must not be too hard upon
the negro and Hottentot morale on that account, for we little know
what fearful passions exist in our own European minds until they are
thoroughly roused. A young terrier or kitten seems the most harmless and
mildest of creatures until he has been brought into contact with rats
and learnt the luxury and taste of blood, and many an instance may be
found along the distant coasts of this wide world where a year or two
has converted the Saxon youth, who left his mother all innocence and
trust, into as diabolical and reckless a character as ever stabbed with a
bowie-knife.
Two more ride-oxen were now knocked up; they were Buchau and Sweetland. I
left them under the care of Saul, near to whose werft we had now arrived,
and whom I paid off. Travelling on we managed to take the remaining
oxen to Elephant Fountain, which we reached 22nd of October; we had left
’Tounobis 10th of October; the entire distance between the places is 53
hours, or 146 miles, which gives our pace of travelling as usual, viz.
ten and a half miles a day. It is very remarkable how steady the pace of
travelling is. I minuted with great care all our journeys from Omanbondè
to Ovampo-land, and the whole way from Ovampo-land to ’Tounobis, and
thence again to Eikhams, invariably registering the time of every
stoppage. The going and returning journeys seldom differed one hour in
thirty. Thus, from Okomavaka to ’Tounobis we were twenty-one and a half
hours going, and twenty-one and a quarter returning, and so on; but when
the hours are reduced into miles, much less accuracy must be expected. I
allow two and three-quarter miles an hour, which is near enough to give
general ideas of distance; indeed, if a traveller has the geographical
positions of the main points of his journey laid down, and also knows
how long in actual travelling it will take him to get from one point to
another, he is furnished with all the information he can require.
I had by this time reduced my method of travelling over unknown ground to
a principle which I will mention here, for want of a better opportunity.
When a given direction has to be followed, which is learnt by the
pointing of the natives, the compass is of course the guide by day, but
it is very important to have one that is not too delicate, or when you
rein up to look at it, so long a time elapses before it settles that
the animal becomes fidgetty and disturbs the needle again. By far the
best pocket-compass to have, is one that has a glass bottom as well as a
glass top to it, like those which are commonly hung up in the cabins of
ships, only, of course very much smaller, say one inch across. The pivot
on which the needle turns is fixed in a hole drilled through the bottom
glass. Concentric with the needle, and turning stiffly round its cap, is
a small piece of brass, shaped, say, like a fish, so that its head could
never, even by the faintest light, be mistaken for its tail. The top
glass of the compass should unscrew.
Before starting, having determined in which direction you intend to
proceed, take off the top glass and adjust the head of the fish so that
it shall point in that direction; there is now no chance of error or
confusion; you forget all about the needle and only think of the fish.
When it becomes dark, you have simply to hold up the compass between your
eye and the sky, and the fish can be seen quite plainly; but an ordinary
compass can never be deciphered after dusk. If any doubt remains, the
light of a cigar or a piece of white paper held below the compass will,
when you look down upon it, bring out the fish quite clear and distinct.
It is much better to hang the compass by three threads, like a scale-pan,
than simply to hold it in the hands; the threads take the place of
gimbals, and, besides, being more compact in the pocket, are also less
likely to get out of order. For a pocket-compass, no great accuracy
is required; if the traveller can depend upon it to a point, that is
quite sufficient. Where any bearings for mapping purposes are wanted,
nothing inferior to an azimuth compass should be used, and one of these
I invariably carried in a case sewn on to my shooting-belt, so as to lie
in the small of the back. An almanac should be calculated and written
out for the latitudes and longitudes in which the traveller intends to
go. A simple approximation to accuracy is all one wants, and the same
almanac would do for hundreds of miles; the information required is as
to the times of sunrise and set, and of moonrise and set, the bearings
of all these; and if the same particulars be given for a few zodiacal
stars, it will be found of great use. Again, the times of culmination
and the proximate altitude of three or four latitude stars should be
stated for every night, and for a given latitude—those stars I mean
which come to the meridian soon after dusk, and are of such meridian
altitudes as to come within the range of a sextant. Occultations should
of course be put down, and, if the traveller has a telescope large enough
to observe them, the eclipses of Jupiter’s satellites also: one lunar
distance to the nearest degree should be copied for every day, in order
to check the date; but for longitude purposes recourse must be had to
that surpassingly excellent but most cumbrous and ill-bound of English
publications, the “Nautical Almanac”—a work printed on blotting-paper,
that is spoilt by rain and torn by wind, and which requires as much care
in packing and in using as the instruments it is designed to accompany.
All the times made use of should be _apparent_ times. The chance is
greatly against a traveller’s watch going with sufficient accuracy to
keep _mean_ time. I set mine every sunrise and sunset, keeping another
one in reserve, snugly packed up among soft things, to use during lunar
and other time observations. In any moderately flat country the error
one is liable to, by setting the watch in this way, lies within five
minutes, and that is quite accurate enough even for latitude purposes. It
is a great satisfaction to have all the particulars about the moonlight
in your MS. almanac, for when one travels, it is of much importance;
the quickest journeying being done by it. Knowing the bearings of the
principal celestial bodies when they are near the horizon, is a great
check upon one’s course by night; a man soon becomes familiar with these
if he has occasion to make use of them. I should strongly urge travellers
to provide themselves with alarum watches, or alarums, in some shape or
another. Over and over again have we lost our natural rest through fear
of oversleeping our time; besides awaking the sleepers, they are of great
use in attracting attention when it is time to commence to do anything,
such as watching for a star, &c. &c.
It was a great comfort returning to the faithful John and to his pots
and saucepans, for we had lived on tough diet since we left him. Immense
quantities of animals had been caught in the pitfalls at Elephant
Fountain during our absence; they appear to have been migrating in herds,
for they are not always found in the same abundance. As my waggon was
light, I bought what little ivory I could from Amiral’s people, and took
it away with me. I sold it afterwards at St. Helena for about 70_l._ We
returned by the way which a few pages back I mentioned as the one that I
recommended for waggons to travel upon. We had a little shooting, but not
much; at one place we put up eight lions; they were not close together,
but within a space about 200 yards across, through which we happened to
drive. It was the largest pack I had seen. Fourteen is the largest I have
ever heard of. These eight were all full-grown beasts; five of them were
females. We had two falls of rain, enough to supply the Quieep River
well; indeed, we found a pool with enough water to swim in at the place
where we outspanned.
After the first showers the landscape looked charming; the sere leaves of
the trees freshened up, and the air was laden with the fragrance of the
acacias. For the sportsman, the rain makes a _tabula rasa_ of the sand
of the country, by obliterating all old tracks and disposing the ground
to admit the sharpest and most distinct foot-mark impressions, which it
is quite a luxury to follow. It is wonderful how much may be learnt from
spoors; a few tracks will tell a long tale. Thus, a short time since,
some of Amiral’s men came upon the track of a giraffe, grazing, and
others of the party upon that of a lion crouching. Of course the spoors
were followed. Of a sudden the lion’s tracks entirely disappeared, and
those of the giraffe showed he was at full gallop; a small slippery
place, caused by a slight shower, lay in his path; by the side of it was
an ugly sharp stump, the solid relic of a thorn-tree that had been broken
down. In the slippery place the giraffe’s feet had slid, and the animal
had fallen; on the stump was blood and lion’s hair; beyond, on one side
of it, were the tracks of the lame marauder, as he limped slowly away;
on the other side, those of the giraffe at full gallop. It was therefore
evident that the lion had sprung on the back of the giraffe, and was
carried by him till he slipped and fell. The fall dislodged the lion,
who was flung upon the stump, and was injured too severely to be able to
continue the attack. The giraffe seemed not to have been much hurt, as
his gallop was a steady one, and there was no blood on his tracks.
The October rains can never be depended on; they seldom supply the
country with more than one day’s water; they are very partial, and mere
showers. These rains do more harm than good to a traveller, for, without
materially increasing his supplies of water, they cause the dry grass,
which overspreads the ground, to rot, and no food can in many places be
obtained for the oxen. The true rainy season does not begin till the end
of December; and even then it requires many falls before the arid country
is so drenched by rain as to allow the water to lie upon its surface.
As we travelled on, reports reached us of a shocking and fatal accident
which had happened to a trader, who had, while lifting up his gun,
caused it to go off, and had shot himself through the arm and side.
The accident occurred among Cornelius’s tribe, and as they were a very
suspicious set, I feared that some foul play might have been the cause of
his death; however, Cornelius took great pains in forwarding messengers
to me, with full particulars of the case, and I could not hear that
any robbery had been committed upon him. The cause of this accident
was that of four-fifths of those that occur, namely, the cock being
allowed to lie down upon the nipple instead of being kept at half-cock.
As the unfortunate man, while sitting in the waggon, drew his gun up to
him by the muzzle, it appears that the cock caught against one of the
spokes of the wheel, which lifted it a little, so that, when released,
it snapped back and the gun went off. Few as the people are who possess
percussion-guns in this remote corner of the world, there have been three
deaths and one bad accident with them.
For travelling purposes, I do not approve of carrying a gun half-cock,
because, in the very careless way that the men persist in holding their
fire-arms, the half-cock very frequently becomes full cock without their
knowing it, and the cap also is liable to fall off. I think the safest
plan with a common gun is to put a piece of thick rag on the cap, and to
let the cock down upon it. But I much prefer having a third nick cut in
the “tumbler,” by which a very low half or quarter cock is produced, the
cock just clearing the nipple and securing the cap from being dislodged;
many pistols are made in this way. I have adopted this plan for a very
long time in my travelling guns, and confidently recommend it. As
to carrying guns on horse-back, nobody that I am aware of, except a
Hottentot, and occasionally a Dutchman, knows how to do it.
Theirs is a most simple and effectual plan, which, strangely enough, has
never been adopted or perhaps even proposed for our mounted troops, and
which is incomparably superior in practice to any of the usual plans,
with all of which I am pretty well familiar.
Carrying a gun with a belt across the shoulders is objectionable in every
way; the gun jogs excessively about, and its weight is wearisome to a
degree; the rider has to go through a vast deal of struggling before he
can slip it over his head and get it in hand; and, lastly, in case of a
fall, it might injure him severely.
The next plan—that of carrying the gun muzzle downwards in a bucket
in the position that a sportsman would carry his gun over his arm—is
most unsafe; the bullet is perpetually liable to be dislodged, and if
dislodged the gun is pretty sure to burst; besides this, a complication
of straps are requisite to secure the gun to the belt of the rider, which
I find in practice a great inconvenience. Another method is, to sling
the gun, which in this case must be a short one, muzzle downward to the
back part of the saddle; so that when the rider is on his seat the stock
of the gun is behind him, and the muzzle in a bucket below his feet. In
this plan, as in the last, the bullet is liable to be dislodged, and also
the projecting stock of the gun, over which the leg has to be thrown when
mounting, is excessively in the way of a person who has to do with a
restive or frightened horse. There are straps also in this case, which
are as troublesome as in the former. Moreover, in all of these there
is a jingling and a rattling when the horse trots or canters, which is
a very unsportsmanlike sound, although it may be thought by some to be
soldierlike and dashing.
Now the Hottentot plan that I recommend I consider perfect: it is to have
a case of strong leather (see plate, p. 286) of such a size and shape as
to admit the gun-stock a little stiffly; this case, which I will call
the “gun-bag,” is fastened tightly above to rings or dees in the pommel
of the saddle; below, it is altogether unsupported except by a thong,
which passes round the saddle-girth and keeps the gun-bag from tilting
too far forwards; the gun is pushed stock downwards into the bag, the
barrel passes between the right arm and the side, while the muzzle is so
entirely clear of the person, that even in taking a drop-leap, that of an
ordinarily-sized gun never shifts into a dangerous position. Some time
is taken before a person unused to it will find out the best adjustments
for both fastenings, as they should be varied according to the rider’s
seat, but when once determined they have never to be changed. There is
no objection whatever to this plan; the hands of the rider are free, and
the gun is safe and quite out of the way. It does not cumber him, but he
feels it nestling by his side, as an inseparable and faithful companion
should do; the cocks are in full sight; a cover to keep the rain out is
most easily put on; in a moment the gun is out of the gun-bag and in the
hand, almost as quickly a whip could be raised, and it can be left on the
animal’s back when the rider dismounts. I do not think the general effect
is at all unsightly.
I should not mind riding any reasonable horse across country with a gun
carried in this way; indeed it is an invaluable plan to a traveller, for
any sized weapon may be put in it; either a little pea-rifle that could
be shot off with one hand, as a pistol, or a long heavy two-ounce weapon.
A common long shooting gun is perhaps the easiest to carry, though
all are easy enough. The other convenient saddle arrangements for a
travelling hack, are a bag to hold odds and ends on the left side of the
pommel, or where advisable, a holster for a “revolver;” behind the left
leg a sabretash, for writing materials may be hung; on the crupper of
the saddle there is no harm in having small saddle-bags, and above them
a waterproof cape, with leggings, if the season be very rainy, wrapped
up in it. With these things, gun, saddle, and all, a man would ride two
and a half stone heavier than he walks, which is nothing for a steady
travelling expedition; but if he wants to gallop off, shooting, he must
of course limit himself to a saddle and gun-bag. No two people travel
in the same dress; my own fancy lies in leather trousers, jack-boots, a
thick woollen jersey, a cotton shirt over it, and a cap. A belt supplies
pocket room.
In foot expeditions, the jack-boots must be replaced by shoes. In
Southern Africa I never could walk barefooted; independently of the
thorns, there was something in our state of health which made small
wounds difficult to heal, and caused scratches in the foot and hand to
fester. Our very Damaras could not travel even with their own sandals,
much less could we leave off shoes entirely. I was the more surprised
at this, as in previous travelling in North Africa I had become nearly
independent of them. I recollect climbing Jebel Barkal, which is a
well-known rugged hill, with very sharp stones in it, near the fourth
cataract of the Nile, barefooted.
Without shoes and stockings I think I could not even lay my feet to the
ground during the hottest time of the year. Once, owing to a mistake, I
had dismounted at a small spring of water and turned my ox loose, who
rejoined his comrades, and was driven on with them to a more copious
watering-place, a couple of miles ahead; I had no stockings on at that
time, only shoes. When I started on foot after the party, the heat of the
sand was so intense that I positively was but just able to walk, although
my skin was pretty well case-hardened. I underwent real suffering in that
short distance, but the cool of thick woollen socks, the thickest that
English sailors ever wear, was delicious when they were pulled on to my
blistered feet.
I do not think that a perfect head-dress has yet been invented by
man. A light hunting-cap is very convenient among thick trees, but it
cannot be used as a nightcap in the bivouac. As regards colours of the
dress, infinite misunderstanding generally prevails, as may at once be
perceived by the colour of the uniform in which our rifle corps are
clothed. People have an idea that because shadows are dark, and because
people who crouch in ambuscade are generally in shadows, that therefore
their clothes should be dark also. They forget that the same shade which
deepens the tint of the trees gives at the same time an extra depth to
the colour of the man’s clothes. As a first approximation to obtaining
the best-coloured dress for the purposes of concealment, one would
say, let it be of the prevailing hue of the country it is to be used
in; so that, if the clothes were dropped on the ground, they would be
positively undistinguishable from it at a short distance, whatever blaze
of light or depth of shadow fell on it. I am acquainted with no country
in the world in which “rifle-green” would answer this requirement. But,
going a step further, we find that in no case hardly is the colour of
the land one uniform hue, but that a cloth of any one colour, even
though it be of the prevailing tint, catches the eye from its mass.
It is therefore better that the colour of the dress should not be the
same throughout, but irregularly broken, and that too in a manner which
does not contrast too strongly with the disposition of the scenery,
as for instance, the stripes on a tiger’s hide being vertical are far
less conspicuous among the upright stems and reeds than if nature had
disposed them horizontally. A little experimentalizing will show another
curious and very unexpected result, namely, that if the very brightest
colours are used in spots or stripes, or in any other design, but in
such proportion that their actual mixture would have produced the sober
tint required, then, at rifle distances, unless the pattern be too large,
all individuality of the colours will be found to have disappeared, and
they will have merged into exactly the same tint that would have been
produced had the same colours been mixed together in the same proportion
on the pallet. It will also be found that a very large pattern may be
used if the margins of the various bands or spots of colour be a little
shaded off. In this way we can in a great degree account for the gaudy
liveries with which the most skulking of animals are usually dressed. The
cat tribe is almost universally decked out with spots or bars. Snakes
and lizards are the most brilliant of animals; but all these, if viewed
at a distance, or with an eye whose focus is adjusted, not exactly at
the animal itself, but to an object more or less distant than it, become
apparently of one hue, and lose all their gaudiness. No more conspicuous
animal can well be conceived, according to common idea, than a zebra;
but on a bright star-light night the breathing of one may be heard close
by you, and yet you will be positively unable to see the animal. If the
black stripes were more numerous he would be seen as a black mass; if
the white, as a white one; but their proportion is such as exactly to
match the pale tint which arid ground possesses when seen by moonlight.
I therefore protest against the usual notion that people have, as
exemplified in the choice of a rifleman’s dress. It is infinitely too
dark; and this, in addition to the squareness of the hat, makes an
object of him that is particularly calculated to attract attention. It
would be, I am sure, hopeless to stalk wary animals in such a costume,
unless the character of the country gave most peculiar facilities for
doing so. A man who wishes to dress for stalking may indulge his smart
fancies to a great extent, but should test every pattern that he selects
by viewing its effect at a slight distance, say twenty yards, the main
point of all being, that the depth of tint (leaving every consideration
of colour aside) should be neither too light nor too dark. I have
frequently amused myself by cutting out in paper figures of men, all of
the same size and shape, and painting one a rifle-green, and the others
bright blue, yellow, and red, in spots or patterns. I have then stuck up
these figures against the face of a landscape painting, and retreating
ten or twelve yards, the dark-green form of the rifleman, place it where
I would, remained a prominent unmistakable mass, while the others faded
as it were into the foliage, and could not be distinguished from it.
It requires a few trials to hit off the proportions of the different
colours used to produce a perfect result. I may add, in case the reader
might wish to experimentalise, that it saves much running backwards and
forwards in doing it to place a looking-glass some distance in front,
and, as the painting goes on, to hold the sketch up from time to time and
observe the effect in the distant reflection.
To return from this long digression to my narrative.
On the 1st of November, the eighth day after leaving Elephant Fountain,
we heard a report about Hans, which, though untrue, alarmed me
exceedingly; it was to the effect that he had shot himself, and that the
waggons lay on this side of Eikhams. I was so anxious, that I pushed the
oxen through the night, and with but little intermission we were again on
the road in the morning; we there found Damaras, who, to my great relief,
assured me that he was alive and well, and I therefore left the waggon
oxen with the men, to have drink and food, and started on first, and
walked till I had the pleasure of seeing Hans again, who, after all, had
had no accident whatever; he had every thing in perfect order, and, as
usual, had to show me some result of careful thrift and hard work.
The sense of oxen is wonderful; the two sets, mine and his, that had
been separated nearly three months, knew each other again perfectly, and
passed the night together in the most amicable way, instead of fighting
and knocking their horns together as new acquaintances always do on their
first introduction to each other’s society. I was badly off for small
cattle; of the forty goats that I had bought from Jonker, hardly one
was alive; they had all died of a distemper one after the other. Hans
gave me a terrible account of the state of the roads south; he said that
literally there was no grass whatever for great distances together. In
coming up to meet me, the oxen that he had were knocked up entirely, and
he had to send first to Jonker’s and then to Mr. Hahn’s, a journey of
many days, for assistance. My oxen were fresh enough, for they had had a
long rest at Elephant Fountain, and plenty of grass, so I had but little
fear of getting on to the Bay, especially as the road thither is entirely
down hill.
_November 5th._—I arrived at Jonker’s, and had long conversations with
him, and we parted excellent friends. There seemed a reasonable hope that
a more peaceful state of things was now entered upon, although I had
failed in obtaining from Cornelius that compensation for the cattle he
had stolen from the Damaras, which I had desired.
My plans about my personal effects were now arranged. Andersson kept
half, and with the other half I made part payment to Hans of the debt
for wages and cattle that I owed him. I took this opportunity to sell
one waggon to Jonker for forty oxen, and to buy others besides. Phlebus
was dismissed, that he might return home to Rehoboth. As Barmen was to
be the head-quarters of Andersson and of Hans also, after I had left the
country, we took on Jonker’s waggon by ourselves to that place, and there
all its contents were placed in store. Wishing the Missionaries a final
farewell, I travelled on to Otjimbinguè with the large waggon, whose
axletree had been replaced at Okamabuti, but had recently, in jolting
over a stone, split lengthways; I therefore made ready to leave it
behind, if necessary, and push on with ride-oxen; in fact, I had no time
to spare, for the animals were fast knocking up from hunger; however, by
blacksmithing and carpentering as well as we could, the waggon was made
strong enough to travel on with us.
We passed rapidly through Otjimbinguè, for there was no grass there, and
on the 21st of November reached Tsobis. Now I felt safe; happen what
might, I could reach the Bay in time to save the ship. The oxen were very
thin and weak, but there were plenty of reeds in the Swakop for them to
eat. As we moved down the Tsobis River, by the place where the first
giraffe was shot, some natives warned us of the next watering-holes at
the mouth of the river, for the Ghou Damup had poisoned the water to kill
the buffaloes that then were there. We had arrived at the Swakop before
we were aware of it; the oxen rushed, as they often do, wildly to the
watering-holes, and though we drove them away before any one had drunk
enough to hurt them seriously, yet one dog was very nearly killed. He
rolled about in agonies from the poison. The oxen became still weaker,
the change of food from dry grass to reeds quite upset them, so that we
had to rest the following day.
_November 24th._—We could just move on through the sand with hard
struggling, and the next day we arrived at a place where old Piet was
encamped, and were luxuriously treated with milk. We slept at Annāas on
the 27th, at Daviéep on the 28th; there was not a relic to be found of
my poor horse and mule that the lions had eaten there. We now travelled
principally by night. From Daviéep we arrived safely at Oosop, after
rather a hazardous jolting which the waggon underwent in going down
a steep bank, and we were then only one day’s journey from the Bay.
Andersson rode directly across the plain to Scheppmansdorf, to make
inquiries after news and to rearrange some of the packages. He was
to send back word to me immediately on his arrival. There was plenty
of grass at Oosop, and I stayed there two days, and then went on to
Hycomkap, where Andersson’s messenger reached me, saying that the ship
had not arrived.
As we had slept at Oosop on the 29th, we could, if I had chosen, have
reached the Bay on the 30th. We left ’Tounobis October 10th, so that the
entire journey would have taken us fifty-three days; but, had the country
been in a good state for travelling, I am sure that I could have done it
in ten days less, or forty-three days. I had calculated on thirty-seven
days’ actual travel, and four of rest, or forty-one days. With a change
of oxen at Eikhams or Elephant Fountain, I think Lake ’Ngami ought to be
reached in fifty days from Walfisch Bay, and with a change at Otjimbinguè
and again at Elephant Fountain, a light well-driven waggon might do it in
forty days.
At Hycomkap we had some pretty foot-chases after gemsbok calves, and
killed a few. The whole number of oxen in the drove were now 133. Jonker
had still some to pay, when he received the mules.
_December 4th._—We left Hycomkap in the afternoon for the Bay, and walked
the whole night through and the following morning besides, with only half
an hour’s intermission. The cool sea breeze fanned our faces about eight
o’clock, and to my intense delight I saw in the distance two vessels at
anchor in Walfisch Bay. We arrived there at ten in the forenoon, not
a bit tired, but highly excited. The vessels were whalers; all the
Scheppmansdorf party were on the beach, and seeing and talking to so
many people seemed quite another world to me, after my long and almost
solitary ramble. These whalers were the very first vessels, excepting
one, which had touched at the Bay since my arrival in the country. I now
put the store-house into habitable order, and settled down, awaiting the
arrival of the ship I expected, which was to bring me all my letters, my
clothes, and everything that I had left behind me at Cape Town.
Days passed, the cold was bitter, and I passed most of the day-time
rolled up in my caross. The wind whistled through every cranny, and
though the sun was vertical at noon, yet its rays never seemed to touch
us. I employed myself fishing with a seine-net, doing a little whale
fishery in the bay, and in trying to harpoon small sharks out of my
mackintosh pontoon; one gave me a capsize. I shot and captured one, and
slew but lost three others; at least, though _habitués_ of the place,
they never reappeared. I rode one day with Andersson to Scheppmansdorf,
when we saw a brood of young ostriches, each about a foot high, with
their parents, and gave chase. The creatures could run very nearly as
fast as we, and had quite as good a wind, so, having a long start, they
gave us a severe chase before we came up to them, when we slew six.
Returning from Scheppmansdorf I drove the three miles in a cart that Mr.
Bam had made himself, and as we were cantering over the plain I again
saw the ostriches, and went after them in my chariot. I soon came up with
them, and, jumping out, captured six more.
Christmas and New Year’s Day had passed, when, early in January, 1852,
as the morning haze cleared away, the sails of a schooner loomed large
before us; in a moment I was in my pontoon and paddled out to her, jumped
on board, and received my letters of a year and nine months’ interval.
They were not indeed unchequered by melancholy news; but for the
intelligence they conveyed of my own family circle I had every reason to
be grateful. Thus closed my anxieties and doubts. I had much indeed to be
thankful for. I had not lost one of my many men either through violence
or through sickness in the long and harassing journey I had made. It was
undertaken with servants who, at starting, were anything but qualified
for their work, who grumbled, held back, and even mutinied, and over whom
I had none other than a moral control. I had to break in the very cattle
that were to carry me, and to drill into my service a worthless set of
natives, speaking an unknown tongue. The country was suffering from all
the atrocities of savage war when I arrived, and this state of things I
had to put an end to before I could proceed. All this being accomplished,
I found myself without any food to depend upon, except the oxen that I
drove with me, which might, on any evening, decamp or be swept off in a
night attack by the thieving and murderous Damaras. That all this was
gone through successfully, I am in the highest degree indebted both to
Andersson and to Hans, for single-handed, I hardly know what I should
have done.
On the 16th of January I said my last adieu, and in company with Timboo,
John Williams, and John Morta, sailed away to St. Helena. The rest
remained in the country. Hans intended to make a venture in cattle and
ivory, and Andersson to investigate the natural history of the lake
district. Of the natural history of Damara-land he had made a complete
collection, but the barrenness of the country admitted of no great scope
to the naturalist. The flowers were very few and wretched-looking. I
really only know one that would look presentable in an English garden.
What few seeds I brought from Ovampo-land are now planted in the gardens
at Kew. My Ovampo fowls survived a stormy passage homewards, and laid
eggs constantly, until they came to English latitudes, and then they
all died; and my faithful cur, Dinah, is the only living animal of the
expedition, besides myself, that fate has as yet allowed to revisit
Europe.
THE END.
BRADBURY AND EVANS, PRINTERS, WHITEFRIARS.
FOOTNOTES
[1] I am informed that certain New Zealand tribes not only eat without
salt, but actually look upon it with distaste and aversion.
[2] Translation from Josè Joaquim Lopez de Lima’s work on the Portuguese
Settlements in Western Africa. 1846. (Page 196.)
“To the southward of the river Longa is the fertile province of Benguela,
where, instead of sandy plains, rich meadows watered by mountain-streams
display themselves before the eye, covered with cattle and sheep, the
principal riches of its pastoral inhabitants. The soil produces all
the grains and fruits of Africa, America, and Europe, while from amid
these favoured plains arise the magnificent mountains of the Naunos,
whose lofty heads are lost in the clouds. From these mountains rush down
fertilising streams; in their bowels are found iron, copper, sulphur, and
other valuable productions, and the forests afford protection to herds of
elephants, to rhinoceroses, stags, and a thousand different descriptions
of wild animals, whose spoils constitute a principal portion of the gains
of the merchants of Benguela and Mosammedes. This fertility extends over
the cultivated plains of Bihe, Quilengues, Bumbo, Huila, Enjau, Caconda,
Galengue, and Sambos, being bounded by the country of the Mocoands, which
separates the Portuguese possessions from the illimitable deserts of sand
which form the _ne plus ultra_ of our dominion.”
N.B. I protest not only against the “illimitable deserts of sand,” but
also against the southern portion of the map which accompanies the book,
in which a magnificent but apocryphal river is made to meander through
them, and over the very ground which I have crossed and recrossed.—F. G.
[Illustration: Map of DAMARA-LAND AND THE ADJACENT COUNTRIES]
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