S-,2-°l.ld+. 
 
 
 
 0 t the Sl'fi'lngtr;,/ ^ 
 
 e »i, 
 
 Hi. 
 
 PRINCETON. N. J. 
 
 
 if. 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2017 with funding from 
 Princeton Theological Seminary Library 
 
 / 
 
 https://archive.org/details/narrativeofexploOOgalt_O 
 
NARRATIVE OF AN EXPLORER 
 
 IN 
 
 TROPICAL SOUTH AFRICA. 
 
 VACATION TOURS. 
 
The Minerva Library 
 
 OF FAMOUS BOOKS. 
 
 Edited by G. T. BETTANY, M. A. 
 
 /. CHARLES DARWIN'S JOURNAL during a 
 Voyage in the ‘ Beagle .' 
 
 2 . THE INGOLDSBV LEGENDS. 
 
 S. BORROWS BIBLE IN SPAIN. 
 
 4. EMERSON'S PROSE WORKS. 
 
 5. GA ETON'S (FRANCIS) TRAVELS IN 
 
 TROPICAL SOUTH AFRICA. 
 
 6. MANZONI'S THE BETROTHED LOVERS. 
 
 7 . GOETHE'S F AUST (Complete.) Bayard Taylor's 
 
 Translation. 
 
 S. WALLACE'S (ALFRED RUSSEL) TRAVELS 
 ON THE AMAZON. 
 
 9. DEAN STANLEY'S LIFE OF DR. ARNOLD, 
 OF R UGBY. 
 
 10. TOE'S TALES OF ADVENTURE, MYSTERY, 
 AND IMAGINATION. 
 
 V/ARD, LOCK & CO., 
 
 London, New Yorh, and Melbourne. 
 
- /r, 
 
 V 
 
THE MINERVA LIBRARY OF FAMOUS BOOKS. 
 
 Edited by G. T. BETTANY , M.A., B.Sc. 
 
 NARRATIVE OF AN EXPLORER IN 
 
 TROPICAL SOUTH AFRICA 
 
 BEING AN ACCOUNT OF A VISIT TO 
 
 DAMARALAND IN 1851 
 
 ' BT 
 
 FRANCIS GALTON, F.R.S. 
 
 W.TH A NEW MAP, AND AN APPENDIX, BRINGING UP THE HISTORY 
 OF DAMARALAND TO A RECENT DATE. 
 
 Together with a Biographical Introduction by the Editor. 
 
 VACATION TOURS IN i860 AND 1861 
 
 Sir George Grove, D.C.L., Francis Galton, F.R.S., 
 and W. G. Clark, M.A. 
 
 SFljirli (Biuticm. 
 
 WARD, LOCK AND CO., 
 
 LONDON, NEW YORK, AND, MELBOURNE. 
 
 1S90 
 

INTRODUCTION. 
 
 OR thousands of years men have believed in the benefits resulting 
 
 i from worthy parentage and the detrimental effects of evil ancestry ; 
 but it remained for the present century to produce an original thinker 
 sufficiently capable and persevering to work out the subject of Human 
 Heredity in its various branches, after Charles Darwin had illuminated 
 the question of the progressive improvement and gradual transformation 
 of species by natural selection. And fitly enough, it was a first cousin 
 of Charles Darwin who took up this task, after having attained the front 
 rank as a scientific traveller by his journey in South Africa, the record 
 of which is here for the first time made accessible to the general public. 
 
 Mr. Francis Galton, the third son of Samuel Tertius Galton, a 
 banker in Birmingham, in whose family the love of statistical accuracy 
 was very remarkable, and of Violetta, eldest daughter of the celebrated 
 1 Dr. Erasmus Darwin, author of “ Zoonomia,” “ Tne Botanic Garden,” 
 etc., was born on February 16th, 1822, and educated at King Edward's 
 School, Birmingham, where he gained no great admiration for “ the 
 unhappy system of education that has hitherto prevailed, by which 
 boys acquire a very imperfect knowledge of the structure of two dead 
 languages, and none at all of the structure of the living world” (“Art 
 of Travel,” 5th ed., p. 2). He thence proceeded to study medicine at the 
 Birmingham General Hospital, and King’s College, London ; but he 
 soon gave up the idea of following medicine as a profession, and 
 . entered at Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1841, graduating B.A. in 
 1 844. 
 
 Mr. Galton then turned his attention to science and travel, and in 
 1846-7 sailed or rode far beyond all the deserts, temples, and cataracts 
 of Egypt into the Soudan, at that time little known to Europeans, but 
 
VI 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 of late years so famous. The gratification then given to his love of 
 sporting (for which Charles Darwin in his young days had also a great 
 passion), led him in 1849 t0 determine upon making the journey which is 
 chronicled in the following pages. On his return from South Africa in 
 
 1852, the “Narrative” was given to the world in the early summer of 
 
 1853. It was at once recognised as a valuable contribution to know- 
 ledge, written “ in an excellent manly style, and with much shrewd 
 sense and humour,” and the Royal Geographical Society showed its 
 appreciation by the award of a Founder’s Gold Medal to the author. 
 In 1854 he was elected into the Council of the Society, which he has 
 since served almost uninterruptedly as Councillor, Honorary Secretary 
 (1857-63), and Vice-President 
 
 In 1855 he published his invaluable “Art of Travel; or, Shifts and 
 Contrivances available in Wild Countries ; ” a book which is as enter- 
 taining and instructive to those who stay at home as any book of travel, 
 while the traveller who does not study it and follow its advice may be 
 pronounced careless of his safety and well-being. Numerous improved 
 editions have shown that Mr. Galton is indefatigable in his efforts to 
 save future travellers from the troubles and annoyances he himself 
 experienced in the absence of such aid. His “ Meteorographica ; or, 
 Methods of Mapping the Weather,” published in 1863, was illustrated 
 by upwards of 600 printed and lithographed drawings, referring to the 
 weather of a large part of Europe during December 1861. It was the 
 first attempt to represent on a large scale the changes and contem- 
 porary facts in the various elements of the weather. The results led 
 him to propound the theory of anti-cyclones in a paper read before the 
 Royal Society in 1863. The improvements by which it is now possible 
 to have in our daily papers a map of the weather over a large part of 
 Europe on the preceding day, and the methods of exhibiting the 
 phenomena, are due, to a considerable extent, to Mr. Gabon’s work. 
 
 Thus far our author’s record was sufficient to leave a marked impress 
 upon science ; but his subsequent works place him still higher in the 
 roll of original investigators. After several years of preliminary study 
 of the most laborious kind, he published in 1869 “ Hereditary Genius : 
 an Inquiry into its Laws and Consequences.” He was the first to 
 apply the statistical method to this question, and to obtain sound 
 numerical results on which to establish firmly the fact that genius — and, 
 in fact, all considerable ability — is traceable more or less completely to 
 'mcestors. Mr. Galton’s analysis has added an almost new element 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 vil 
 
 to biographical study, and his study of the comparative worth of 
 different races, and the influences that affect the natural ability of 
 nations, must command the attention of historians and politicians. In 
 his concluding paragraph he says: “Our personalities are not so 
 independent as our self-consciousness leads us to believe. We may 
 look upon each individual as something not wholly detached from its 
 parent source, — as a wave that has been lifted and shaped by normal 
 conditions t in an unknown, illimitable ocean. There is decidedly a 
 solidarity as well as a separateness in all human, and probably in all 
 lives whatsoever ; and this consideration goes far, as I think, to establish 
 an opinion that the constitution of the living universe is a pure theism, 
 and that its form of activity is what may be described as co-operative. 
 It points to the conclusion that all life is single in its essence, but 
 various, ever-varying, and inter-active in its manifestations, and that men 
 and all other living animals are active workers and sharers in a vastly 
 more extended system of cosmic action than any of ourselves, much 
 ! less of them, can possibly comprehend. It also suggests that they may 
 contribute, more or less unconsciously, to the manifestation of a far 
 higher life than our own.” This work was followed and confirmed by 
 Mr. Gabon’s next book, “ English Men of Science : their Nature and 
 Nurture” (1874), in which he gave an account of the ancestry, early 
 education, health, stature, temperament, religious opinions, etc., of one 
 hundred and eighty leading men of science, derived from their own 
 answers to an elaborate series of questions. He completely proved all 
 and more than all he had previously advanced as to the effects of 
 inheritance, and incidentally showed how unanimous scientific men 
 were in their dislike of the old-fashioned system of grammar school 
 j education. 
 
 Meanwhile, in addition to his active work on the Geographical 
 Society, Mr. Gabon served the British Association as Honorary General 
 Secretary from 1863 to 1868, and was President of its Geographical 
 1 Section in 1862 and 1872, of the Anthropological sub-section of 
 ' Biology in 1877, and of the Anthropological Section in 1885, after its 
 separation from Biology. After having long been an important member, 
 
 1 he became President of the Anthropological Institute in 1885, which 
 ' office he continued to hold till 1888. His presidential addresses and 
 other papers in connection with these societies have all marked distinct 
 advances in anthropological science. 
 
 In 1883 Mr. Gabon published what may be regarded as his most 
 
viii 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 important work, “ Inquiries into Human Faculty and its Development,” 
 containing the essence of numerous previous memoirs. His general 
 object has been to take note of the varied hereditary faculties of 
 different men, families, and races, to learn how far history has shown 
 the practicability of supplanting inefficient races by better strains, and 
 to consider whether it might not be our duty to make conscious efforts 
 to improve the human race. Those who have not read it can have but 
 a faint idea of the varied interest of the subjects dealt with, the 
 freshness, calmness, impartiality, and suggestiveness with which they 
 are treated, and the number of original investigations of which the 
 results are given. The method of composite portraiture, by superposing 
 and combining on one negative photographs of different persons 
 photographed in the same aspect and under the same conditions of 
 light and shade ; the results of the Anthropometric Committee of the 
 British Association, and of the Collective Investigation Committee of the 
 British Medical Association ; the application of statistical methods to 
 mankind ; the qualities of criminals and insane persons ; the remarkable 
 phenomena of mental imagery, which Mr. Galtonwas the first to investi- 
 gate ; the varying qualities of mind, consciousness, and conscience ; and 
 the strange facts in the history of twins, are but a few out of many 
 profoundly interesting questions dealt with in the book. In its later 
 portion it rises to a high level of practical importance, and of mental 
 and spiritual discussion. While many may dissent from Mr. Galton’s 
 statistical conclusions as to the efficacy of prayer for physical 
 benefits, none can charge him with any but the most temperate, truth- 
 seeking, and reverent spirit in his inquiries. Recognising in man the 
 heir of untold ages, standing in the van of circumstance, he believes 
 that man ought to be less diffident than he is, and to realise that he 
 has a considerable function to perform in the order of events, and that 
 his exertions are needed. He should use his intelligence to promote 
 changes suggested by the ascertained tendencies of the progress of 
 evolution ; and “ his kindly sympathy will urge him to effect them 
 mercifully.” He points out numerous directions in which improvements 
 can be effected; and he sums up his book in the following words, 
 unexpected by many who are not familiar with, nor habitually just 
 to the true aims and teachings of science : “ The chief result of these 
 inquiries has been to elicit the religious significance of the doctrine 
 of Evolution. It suggests an alteration in our mental attitude, and 
 imposes a new moral duty. The new mental attitude is one of a 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 ix 
 
 greater sense of moral freedom, responsibility, and opportunity ; the 
 new duty, which is supposed to be exercised concurrently with, and 
 not in opposition to the old ones upon which the social fabric depends, 
 is an endeavour to further evolution, especially that of the human race.” 
 Mr. Galton’s most recent work, “Natural Inheritance,” deals with 
 numerous technical points in his inquiries, many of the results being 
 based on information gained through the Records of Family Faculties 
 obtained in competition for the prizes amounting to ^500 which he 
 gave some years ago for the best extracts from Family Records. This 
 work is top recent for us to discuss it here, but it will be found 
 essential in all future exact anthropological work. 
 
 The editor, in conclusion, desires to thank Mr. Galton for the generous 
 kindness with which he has given him permission to include this Book 
 of South African travel in the Minerva Library: and also for his 
 careful revision of the work and preparation of a new appendix and 
 illustrative map. This book occupies a relation to Mr. Gabon's career 
 similar to that which Darwin’s celebrated “Journal of the Beagle” 
 occupied in his lifework ; it shows the early phases of the notable 
 character and investigations which have been briefly sketched above, 
 combined with a narrative of travel of special interest in itself. By 
 the kind permission of Messrs. Macmillan & Co. and of the authors, or 
 in the case of one much lamented scholar, the late Mr. W. G. Clark, 
 of Trinity College, Cambridge, of his representative, the Rev. J. M. 
 Clark, of Dulwich, this volume includes a selection from the series 
 entitled “Vacation Tourists” which Mr. Galton edited in 1860-3, and 
 which record the varied experiences of a number of cultured English 
 travellers in vacation. Sir George Grove and Mr. Galton have revised 
 the reprint of their contributions; Mr. Clark’s “Naples and Garibaldi” 
 has been reprinted as it stood. It is believed that many will still 
 appreciate these vivid narratives, which in some parts rise to historical 
 importance. 
 
 G. T. B. 
 
PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION. 
 
 HE following pages contain the description of a part of Africa 
 
 hitherto unknown to Europeans, but which has recently been 
 travelled over and explored by the Author. Ilis journey was a tedious 
 and a very anxious one, but happily brought to a close without loss of 
 life or serious accident to any member of his large party, which 
 altogether amounted to nearly forty men. 
 
 The result of this excursion has been to fill up that blank in 
 our maps which, lying between the Cape Colony and the western 
 Portuguese settlements, extends to the interior as far as the newly 
 discovered Lake ’Ngami. 
 
 The country of the Damaras — warlike, pastoral Blacks — was in the 
 first instance explored ; beyond them he found a broad tract, inhabited 
 by aboriginal Hottentots ; and, again, to the north of these, the Ovampo, 
 a race of intelligent and kindly negroes, who are careful agriculturists, 
 and live in a land of great fertility. 
 
 On his return southwards, a quick journey was made into the interior, 
 near the line of the southern tropic, until a road, which had recently 
 been travelled from the borders of the Cape Colony to Lake ’Ngami, 
 was reached, and in this way a practicable route between the Lake and 
 the Atlantic was proved to exist. 
 
 Few new objects of natural history were either collected or heard of, 
 as the tract in question was for the most part a high barren plateau, 
 that supported but little variety of either animal or vegetable life. 
 
 The journey may perhaps produce a useful result, by indicating a 
 very favourable opening to missionary enterprise, namely, among the 
 Ovampo. The writer has no wish to commit himself to extreme 
 views either on this or on kindred subjects, but, if philanthropists 
 continue anxious to promote African civilisation, the remarkable 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 xii 
 
 advantages of Ovampoland, as a leverage ground in these matters, 
 should not be lost sight of. The healthiness of the clmate, the position 
 of the country, the intelligence and orderly habits of the natives, their 
 travelling and trading propensities, and, lastly, the ready access which 
 it admits of from a healthy sea-coast, form most cogent recommenda- 
 tion. In addition to these, though bordering on slave-producing 
 countries, Ovampoland is itself exempt from the scourge, and there 
 would be one prejudice the less for Christian teachings to encounter. 
 
 A traveller who, starting with the same views that the Author did, 
 chose to start from Little Fish Bay, or elsewhere, in Benguela, and 
 explore to the eastwards and southwards, would be likely to make 
 a very successful journey. He would find shooting in abundance, 
 and have opportunities of learning everything about as highly interest- 
 ing a race of negroes as is probably to be found in the whole of Africa. 
 The Author’s fate certainly led him over a great deal of barren country, 
 and many monotonous days were passed ; still he cannot regret that 
 he undertook the journey, for, besides the enjoyment of robust health 
 in Africa, habits of self-reliance in rude emergencies were acquired, 
 which are well worth possessing, though an English education hardly 
 tends to promote them. 
 
 A question is commonly put to explorers, “ Why could you not go 
 further when you had already succeeded in going so far ? ” and the 
 answer to this is, that several independent circumstances concur in 
 stopping a man after he has been travelling for a certain time and 
 distance. Fie must refit, for his cattle become worn out ; his articles 
 of exchange, which are his money, expended ; and, indeed, the medium 
 of currency among the people he at last reaches being unknown to 
 him, has of course been unprovided for. His clothes, necessaries, 
 luxuries, all become exhausted, and the capital out of which he has 
 to support himself fast disappears. On the other hand, infinite 
 difficulty is found in acquiring the confidence of a strange natior ; a new 
 language has to be learnt ; native servants refuse, and are unfitted 
 to accompany their master in countries strange and probably hostile 
 to them, and whom months of joint labours had educated into a kind 
 of sympathy with his cause ; and so, when an explorer intends to cross 
 the frontier of a neighbouring tribe, he finds that all his old travelling 
 arrangements are more or less broken up, and that the further progress 
 of the expedition will require nearly as many preparations and as much 
 delay as if it were then about quitting the borders of civilisation. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 Xiii 
 
 But his energies are reduced, and his means become inadequate to the 
 task, and therefore no alternative is left him but to return while it is 
 still possible for him to do so. 
 
 It is therefore not to be expected that any large part of the vast 
 unexplored region before us will yield its secrets to a single traveller, 
 but, rather, that they will become known step by step through various 
 successive discoveries; and as the experience of nearly a century 
 corroborates these views, it is probable that for years to come there 
 will still remain ample room in Africa for men inclined for adventure 
 to carry out in them, if nowhere else, the metier of explorers. 
 
 FRANCIS GALTON, 
 
 8 , St. James's Place, 
 
 April 2jth, 1853, 
 
 The four Mimosas that, to the exclusion of nearly every other tre? 
 or bush, form the vegetation of Dainaraland, 
 
PREFACE TO THE PRESENT EDITION. 
 
 T HE first edition of this little book was issued thirty-six years ago 
 under the title of “Tropical South Africa.” It was soon out of 
 sale, even second-hand copies being rarely procurable though often 
 asked for. A new interest has now arisen in the lands of which it 
 treats, owing to recent political events, which included the establishment 
 of a German protectorate over a large portion of them, and the posses- 
 sion of Walflsch Bay by Great Britain. 
 
 The present edition bears a more explicit title than its predecessor, 
 but in other respects its contents are reprinted almost without alteration. 
 On first thoughts I was inclined to recast and to expand it, for I had 
 a great deal more to say than was printed there, but further reflection 
 showed that if I did so, whatever merit there might be in its freshness, 
 would be lost. So the final conclusion was, to leave it alone. I have, 
 however, added something of interest and of service to the reader ; 
 namely, an appendix and an index. The appendix consists of short 
 extracts from various sources that will suffice to give an outline of the 
 subsequent history of the peoples and individuals spoken of in the 
 book, and the index will partly do away with the previous trouble of 
 finding out particular remarks, that was due to the arrangement of the 
 book in the form of a narrative. The map, also, is much more than a 
 reprint of my own, reduced in size. It is based on the present state 
 of our knowledge not only of Damara and Ovampo lands, but of the 
 adjacent districts as well. The reader must recollect when he refers 
 to it, that none of that knowledge was in existence at the time when 
 the journey was made, except as regards Lake ’Ngami, which Living- 
 stone had then recently discovered, journeying in company with Mr. 
 Murray and Mr. Oswell from the south! 
 
 Francis Galton. 
 
 42, Rutland Gate, London, 
 
 May, 18S9. 
 
C O N T E N T S 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Determine to travel in Africa — Motives for the Journey — Preparations 
 — Stock in Trade — An Emigrant Ship — Arrival at Cape Town — 
 Dangers of the Road — Change of Route— Determine to proceed by 
 Walfisch Bay — Necessary Outfit — Prospects of the Route— Travel- 
 ling Cortege — Servants and Dogs — Arrival at Walfisch Bay — The 
 Natives— Extraordinary Mirage — The Kuisip River — Tobacco — ■ 
 Ride-Oxen — Disembarking — Misadventure at Starting — Perils of 
 the Desert — The ’Nara — The Mission at Scheppmansdorf . . I 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Sand Fountain — A Lesson to the Natives — A Present— News of a Lion 
 — Scheppmansdorf — A Narrow Escape — A Missionary’s Establish- 
 ment — Native Huts — Missions — A Lion Hunt — Preparations for the 
 Road— Native Trees — The Hottentots — Character of the Country — 
 Mode of breaking in an Ox — Arrangement of the Baggage — A Pros- 
 perous Start — The Swakop — Night Bivouac — Labours of the March 
 — Loss of a Horse and a Mule — The Lions’ Chase — Attempt to 
 avenge the Loss — A Narrow Escape — Animal Food — The Ghou 
 Damup — Erongo Mountain — Intense Heat — The Tsobis River — 
 Ride-Oxen — Native Servants — Their Cape Town Life — A Giraffe 
 Hunt — Change of Country — An Ostrich Egg — Approach to Otjim- 
 bingue — Hans Larsen . . . . . . . , . 15 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Hear 111 News — Engage Hans — Ride to Barmen — En route — Oxen versus 
 Mules — Arrive at Barmen — Jonker’s Attack — Previous History — 
 Oerlams and Europeans — Hottentots and Bushmen — Establishment 
 
XVI 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 of Missions — Native Feuds — Dislike to Missions — Obstruction to 
 Travellers — Write tojonker — Buy Oxen from Hans — Breaking them 
 in— Attacks of Distemper — Complete my Encampment — Digging 
 Holes — Native Hunting — Oxen sent to the Bay — I go to Barmen 
 — Damara Thorn Trees — Jonker writes to me — My Plans — The 
 Ovampo — First Rain — Flottentot Beauties— Hyena’s Insolence — 
 Damara Ferocity — Cruel Murder — Mutilated Victim — Message to 
 Chiefs — Their Replies , , , . . . . . 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 I go to meet the Waggons — Start for Erongo — En route — Damara Features 
 — Gabriel in a Scrape — -The Mountain Erongo — Chase Zebras — 
 Ghou Damup Huts — A Black Coquette — Return to Waggons — Leave 
 Otjimbingue — Mishaps — How to Encamp and Water Oxen— Arrive 
 at Barmen, thence to Schmelen’s Hope — Ride to Eikhams — A 
 Doomed Sufferer— Visit Jonker — Conference with Him — Swartboy 
 and Amiral — Ride on to Rehoboth — Umap’s Judgment— Obtain 
 Interpreters — Return to Rehoboth — Murder a Dog and Pay for it — 
 Conference at Eikhams — Legislating — Proposed Conference — Mules 
 run quite away — Schmelen’s Hope — Dates . , » 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Personnel — Commissariat — Daily Allowances — Start on the Expedition 
 — Damara Obtuseness — Inability to Count — Information withheld — 
 Kahikene sends to us — Arrive on the High Table-Land — Supersti- 
 tions on Food — Meet Kahikene — His Difficulties — Gives me Advice 
 — Information about the Road — Four Oxen Stolen — The Culprits 
 are Punished — Recognising lost Oxen — Hear of another Road- 
 Reach Omatoka — African Puma — Eshuameno — Chipping the Front 
 Teeth — View from the Hill — Ja Kabaca— Climb Omuvereoom — A 
 Snake — Seriously obstructed by the Thorns — Reach Otjironjuba — 
 How to make Soap — We catch some Bushmen — Learn a little and 
 Travel on — Doubts about our Route — Arrive at a Werft — Are 
 guided onwards — Omanbonde — Hippopotami , » , , , 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Mistake a Lion for an Antelope— Explore a road — Reach Palms Return 
 
 and bring the Waggons— Experiences 0 f African travel— Guide 
 decamps and we find another— Settle at Okamabuti— The first 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 *vu 
 
 Elephant — Waggon breaks down— Encampment made — Chapupa’d 
 history — Savages versus Europeans — Ride on to the Ovampo— 
 Method of searching for Water — Damaras are bad Guides — Find 
 some Bushmen — We start, but are ordered back — The Ovampo 
 Caravan— Chikorongo-onkompe — Pronunciation of the letter L — 
 
 Salt, not a necessary of life — Damaras never eat it — Return to 
 Chapupa’s Werft — Arrange a present for Nangoro — Dressed ami 
 tanned leather — Hear of Kahikene’s death — Damara Creed — Eaml.m, 
 and Omakuru — Ceremonies — Huts and Finery — Chaunts and Music 
 — Damara Language — Prefixes ...... i . 99 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Damara Helpmates — Marriage Tie — Caravan to Ovampoland — Yearly 
 Traffic — Otchikoto — Improvised Chaunts — Reach an Ovampo Cattle- 
 post — Archery Practice — The Parent Tree — We reach Ondonga — 
 Corn, Beans, and Palms — Fruit Trees — Native Beer— Density of 
 the Population— Encamp by Nangoro’s Village — Cannot obtain Pas- 
 turage — Nangoro pays us a Visit — Ovampo Belles — We go to a 
 Ball — Description of Dances — Charms and Counter-charms — Nan- 
 goro’s Palace — The Great River — Prospects — The King is crowned 
 — His Lawful Successors — The Queen’s Duties — Ovampo Dentists 
 — Surgical Practice . 119 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 We are ordered to return— Hesitation — The Slave Dealings here — 
 Future of Ovampoland — A Field for Missionaries — Best Way of 
 getting there — Slavery and Servitude — Giving Men away — Arrange 
 my Packs — Start Flomeward — Leave Ondonga — The Oxen suffer 
 severely — Reach Okamabuti — The Waggons are Safe — Start for 
 Omaramba— Okavare — Elephants visit us — Ice every Night — Pass 
 Omagunde — Reach Barmen 1 37 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The Waggons are condemned— Messengers to the Cape— The Kaoko — 
 History of Damaraland — Ghou Damup Genealogies — Start for Ele- 
 phant Fountain — Excessive Drought — Engage Eybrett — Sell my 
 Ca^t and Mules — Travel from Eikhams — Shooting Giraffes in the 
 Dusk — Elephant Fountain — Numerous Pitfalls — Plundering Expedi- 
 tions — The Kubabees reach ’Ngami — Trouble of taking Observations 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PACE 
 
 — Leave Waggon and ride to the East — Engage Saul — Hans and a 
 Lion — We enter the Bushman Tract — Rhinoceros Skulls — Hear of 
 the Kubabees Hottentots — Start foi ’Tounobis — Shoot a White 
 Rhinoceros — Reach ’Tounobis — Elephant in a Pitfall — Prepare for 
 Sport — Night-Watching for Game — Rhinoceros Veal — Opera Glasses 
 — Herd of Elephants — Fights and Frolics — Bulk of the Rhinoceros 
 ■ — A Picturesque Finale — Spring Hares — Remarks on my Route — 
 Unicorns and Cockatrices — Bushmen Springes — Setting Guns at 
 Night — Description of Plate — Poisoned Arrows , . . .151 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 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 Travel- 
 ling 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 Horseback — Description of the 
 Plate — 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 . , . . . . . , . . .176 
 
 APPENDIX ............ I93 
 
 INDEX . ) 
 
 VACATION TOURS. 
 
 I. A VISIT TO NORTH SPAIN AT THE TIME OF THE ECLIPSE 
 
 OF i860 217 
 
 II. NABLOOS AND THE SAMARITANS (in l£6lj .... 2JI 
 
 III. NAPLES AND GARIBALDI (i860) ...... 2J9 
 
FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 TROPICAL SOUTH AFRICA. 
 
 PORTRAIT OF MR. G ALTON Frontispiece 
 
 MAP OF OVAMPOLAND, WITH SMALL MAP OF SOUTH 
 
 Africa as index Orr.os'V page I 
 
 CAMP IN OVAMPOLAND , . , . „ , 128 
 
 HOTTENTOT METHOD OF CARRYING A GUN ON 
 
 OX-BACK. „ I S ^ 
 
 VACATION TOURS. 
 
 GARIBALDI’S BIRTHPLACE AT 
 
 NICE . 
 
 • 
 
 • 
 
 . Opposite page 
 
 259 
 
 VIEW OF NAPLES 
 
 • 3 
 
 
 • 
 
 * 
 
 I* 
 
 271 
 
 PORTRAIT OF GARIBALDI . 
 
 a 9 
 
 • 
 
 • 
 
 • M 
 
 M 
 
 276 
 
 THE MARINELLA, NAPLES . 
 
 
 • 
 
 
 * ** 
 
 ») 
 
 288 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT. 
 
 TROPICAL SOUTH AFRICA. 
 
 THE THORNS OF DAMARALAND .... 
 
 DAMARA WEAPONS, ETC 
 
 CVAMPO WEAPONS, UTENSILS, ETC. 
 
 pa^e xiii 
 „ 1 1 8 
 
 1 10 
 
 VACATION 
 
 THE SUN’S CORONA : FIGS. I, 2 
 
 „ „ FIGS. 3, 4 . 
 
 SLEEPING-BAG: FIGS. I-4 
 PLAN OF SAMARITAN SYNAGOGUE . 
 
 IKJ U I\0. 
 
 ■ r a s e 2 33 
 
 234 
 
 „ 238 
 
 . . . . . 247 
 
Q 
 
 Z 
 
 < 
 
 a 
 
 o 
 
 cu 
 
 S 
 
 < 
 
 > 
 
 o 
 
 b* 
 
 O 
 
 cu 
 
 < 
 
 S 
 
 
 ^>3 i 
 « 
 
 * 3 
 ^ ** 
 
 !*,« 
 
 s 
 
 I 
 
 CQ 
 
TROPICAL SOUTH AFRICA. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Determine to travel in Africa — Motives for the Journey — Preparations — 
 Stock in Trade — An Emigrant Ship — Arrival at Cape Town — Dangers 
 of the Road — Change of Route — Determine to proceed by Walfisch 
 Bay — Necessary Outfit — Prospects of the Route — Travelling Cortege — 
 Servants and Dogs — Arrival at Walfisch Bay — The Natives — Extra- 
 ordinary Mirage — The Kuisip River— Tobacco — Ride-Oxen — Disem- 
 barking — Misadventure at Starting — Perils of the Desert — The ’Nara — 
 The Mission at Scheppmansdorf. 
 
 It was in 1849 that I determined upon a long travel in Africa. I had 
 been there once ; and then, landing at Alexandria, sailed or rode far 
 beyond all the deserts, temples, and cataracts of Egypt, until I had fairly 
 entered the “ Soudan,” or country of the Blacks — that zone of the tropical 
 vegetation to which the name of Central Africa properly applies. 
 
 It was a tour hastily performed, but still sufficient to imbue or poison 
 me with that fascination for further enterprise, which African tourists 
 have so especially felt ; a fascination which has often enough proved its 
 power by urging the same traveller to risk his comfort, his health, and 
 his life, over and over again, and to cling with pertinacity to a country 
 which, after all, seems to afford little else but hazard and hardships, 
 ivory and fever. 
 
 The motive which principally induced me to undertake this journey 
 was the love of adventure. I am extremely fond of shooting, and that 
 was an additional object ; and lastly, such immense regions of Africa lie 
 utterly unknown that I could not but feel that there was every pro- 
 bability of much being discovered there, which, besides being new, 
 would also be useful and interesting. A large field lay open to any 
 
PREPARATIONS. 
 
 2 
 
 [chap. 1 . 
 
 explorer who might wish to attempt the enterprise, and I chose to 
 undertake the task. 
 
 The discovery that was made of Lake Ngami, in South Africa, gave 
 a direction to my plans ; and in the beginning of 1850 I fixed on the 
 Cape as the point at which to enter Africa. 
 
 Many South African travellers and sportsmen were then in London, 
 so that I received every information about the Bechuana country up to 
 three hundred or four hundred miles north of the Orange River, which 
 has been most successfully shot over by several of our countrymen ; 
 and through the very kind interest which several influential members 
 of the Geographical Society took in my proceedings, I was readily 
 enabled to start, perfectly au fait as to what was known and what was 
 wanted to be known in South Africa. 
 
 I now began my preparations in good earnest. Mr. Andersson, a 
 Swedish gentleman and a naturalist, consented to accompany me ; and 
 to his perseverance and energy I have since been in the highest degree 
 indebted. I collected together all the things I could think of, or that 
 my friends were kind enough to suggest to me, as advisable to take. 
 
 I knew that at least the first part of my journey would have to be 
 undertaken in waggons, in each of which I was assured four thousand 
 pounds’ weight could be carried without risk across the country, so far 
 as it had been penetrated, and therefore I was not necessarily stinted 
 in the quantity of comforts I could carry from Europe ; but as to the 
 latter part of my expedition I was aware that the probability was that I 
 should have to leave my waggons, and to travel either by boat or on 
 the backs of some beasts of burden, or possibly even to walk, in which 
 case I should have to content myself with far less luggage. I therefore 
 collected my things together, on the principle of having them as light 
 as possible, and in duplicate, the half of which I could leave en cache , 
 when I had to quit my waggons, as a store to fall back upon should I 
 happen to meet with robbery or accident. 
 
 In my perfect ignorance of what would be the most acceptable 
 presents, and what were the best articles of exchange among the people 
 I should meet with, I made a great collection of all sorts of ornaments, 
 so that I had a store like a pedlar’s shop ; for besides the more staple 
 articles of guns, beads, knives, and gaudily-printed calico, I bought or 
 collected looking-glasses, accordions, hunting-coats, my friends’ old 
 uniforms, burning-glasses, swords, gilt belts, immense bracelets, anklets, . 
 yards of picture chains for necklaces, Jews' harps, mosaic rings ; lastly, 
 
CHAP. I.] 
 
 ARRIVAL AT CAPE TOWN. 
 
 3 
 
 I explored the shops of Drury Lane for some theatrical finery, and a 
 magnificent crown rewarded my search, which I vowed to place on the 
 head of the greatest or most distant potentate I should meet with in 
 Africa. 
 
 On the 5th of April, 1850, everything was prepared; I and my 
 boxes were on board an East Indiaman, my last adieu was said, the 
 very last line sent off by the pilot boat, and we were off for the Cape. 
 
 I had plenty of occupation on board ship in arranging my things, 
 trying to learn the Bechuana language, practising with a sextant, and 
 reading up books ; so that the time passed as agreeably as can be ex- 
 pected in a sea voyage. It so happened that the ship in which I had 
 taken my berth carried a number of emigrants — a fact which the careful 
 agent only let us find out at the last moment — but I liked the crowding 
 and bustle of it amazingly. The emigrants were not in the least in the 
 way of the cabin passengers, for we, of course, had the poop to our- 
 selves ; and looking down from it, the deck had all the appearance of a 
 crowded fair. 
 
 The emigrants were a squalid, starved-looking set at first, but six 
 weeks of rest and good feeding made a wonderful change in their con- 
 dition ; and as we sailed into the warm weather, and they could sit 
 about the decks, they began to think of their personal appearance, and 
 to wash and tidy themselves and put their clothes to rights. It was 
 amusing to see how soon they divided themselves into cliques, and how 
 high and mighty the party that sat under the left corner of the poop 
 were, and how they looked down on those who sat elsewhere. Any- 
 how, we had a pleasant sail, though some eighty days had passed before 
 we were in Table Bay, and among the white stone and green-shuttered 
 houses of Cape Town. 
 
 I intended to make a stay here of a few weeks, and then to sail on 
 to Algoa Bay, whence my land journey was to have been commenced. 
 
 I therefore took 'the earliest opportunity of presenting my letters 01 
 introduction, and I hoped that chance would soon throw much informa- 
 tion, valuable to me, within my reach. I cannot sufficiently express 
 how much kindness I received during my stay in Cape Town from all 
 my acquaintance there. Everybody that I was thrown with seemed 
 to take the greatest interest in my excursion, and I was referred and 
 introduced to all those whose experience or information might be of 
 any use to me. 
 
 1 had not, however, arrived many days, when news came that 
 
4 
 
 DANGERS OF THE ROAD. 
 
 [chap. I. 
 
 materially affected my plans, and in the end gave them a somewhat 
 different direction. The emigrant Boers— those Dutch colonists who 
 had rebelled and run away from us — had broken out into open revolt. 
 They invested the whole breadth of the habitable country north of the 
 Orange River, through which the direct way to Lake Ngami lies ; and 
 information was received that they had resolutely refused the passage 
 of any stranger from the colony through their country ; that they had 
 already turned back some travellers, and that in all probability they 
 would send a “ commando ” to take immediate and exclusive possession 
 of the lake country. Sir Harry Smith, then Governor of the Cape, was 
 so good as to put me in immediate possession of the news, and strongly 
 dissuaded me from attempting to pass them, not because there was any 
 risk to my life, but because after the tedious journey of six weeks or 
 two months that led to their country, I should be met by these Boers, 
 and almost to a certainty stopped, robbed, and turned back. There 
 was no road to the left of these people, because they live up to the 
 verge of the great Karrikarri desert, which takes up all the middle of 
 South Africa, whilst any party taking the road to their right would have 
 to pass, in the first instance, through the whole length of the Caffre 
 country, and then to the fever-stricken neighbourhood of the west 
 coast. In fact, when the Boers chose to stop all communication from 
 the Colony northwards, by the usual route, they were perfectly able to 
 do so. 
 
 In a few days the intelligence that had before been received about 
 the Boers’ intentions became more fully confirmed, and I had to think 
 of other ways of getting to the tropical lands of South Africa. My first 
 thought was to try the east coast, by Delagoa Bay, but that plan was 
 instantly abandoned on account of the fearful unhealthiness of the 
 district. Next I thought of the Mozambique, and of landing at Quilli- 
 maine — -a plan which was warmly advocated by a Portuguese gentleman 
 of the highest standing at that place, Signore Isidore Pereira. 
 
 His father had crossed Africa from Mozambique to Benguela, and 
 he himself had travelled much, and was in intimate relation with the 
 chiefs of many of the surrounding parts. He chanced to be passing 
 through Cape Town when I was there en route to Rio. He took the 
 kindest interest in my plans, gave me very full information upon what 
 he knew of the interior, and subsequently furnished me with credentials 
 to different Portuguese gentlemen at the more distant of their settle- 
 ments. If I had been under no sort of tie, I should have slaved at 
 
Chap, i.] 
 
 ROUTE TO WALFISCH BAY. 
 
 5 
 
 learning Portuguese in Cape Town until the first ship sailed for 
 Mozambique, and then have gone by her — but I was engaged to take 
 my travelling companion by some means of conveyance, by which he 
 could bring home a complete collection of the Natural History of the 
 country ; and Signore Pereira told me that no beasts of burden were 
 used in the interior of Mozambique, but that all luggage was carried 
 on men’s backs, and the traveller himself in a palanquin. This way 
 of travelling would never have answered the object Andersson had in 
 view, and I therefore did not feel justified in proposing it to him. At 
 last a plan was suggested, and very strongly urged upon me, chiefly 
 by some merchants, of sailing to Walfisch Bay, and thence travelling 
 with waggons ; this was the idea I finally adopted. I heard that though 
 all was desert by the sea coast between the Cape Colony and Benguela, 
 yet that beyond this desert not only habitable but very fertile country 
 was to be found. As to distance, Walfisch Bay was of all places most 
 favourably situated for an excursion into the interior, and there were 
 Missionary establishments already formed from near the coast to 
 many days’ journey inwards. I was referred to a person who had 
 carried on for some years a cattle trade between Walfisch Bay and the 
 countries near it and the Cape. He had built a store at the Bay, and 
 had had a vessel of his own there ; sometimes he sent the cattle by her 
 to St. Helena, sometimes he sold them to the whalers and guano ships 
 which then were numerous, and often put in to him for provisions, and 
 lastly he had driven large herds of them overland to the Cape — by 
 a road to the west of that Karrikarri desert of which I spoke a few lines 
 back, and to the east of which the Boers and Bechuanas reside. All 
 about this line of country the Namaqua Hottentots live, and up it some 
 fifteen or twenty years ago Sir James Alexander was the first to explore 
 a waggon road. My informant, the cattle-trader, had himself seen 
 nothing but arid, worthless country, but he strongly stated his belief 
 in the fertility of Damaraland, into which no white man had ever 
 penetrated, but on the borders of which the Missionary stations are 
 placed. 
 
 I then went to the agents and friends of the Missionary Societies to 
 which those stations belonged, and the trader’s account was very fully 
 confirmed by them. I was informed that the Damaras were considered 
 by the Missionaries as a most interesting nation, and one well worthy 
 of exploring, and that an expedition had long been contemplated by 
 them to go through Damaraland, to see what field might lie open for 
 
6 
 
 NECESSARY OUTFIT. 
 
 [chap I. 
 
 I heir labours beyond it. I was very kindly assured of every assistance 
 on their part, and my friends insisted on the great advantage that 1 
 should have if the first stage of my journey was made in company with 
 persons who had experience of the country and acquaintance with the 
 language. Moreover, a novice had just arrived from Germany, and was 
 waiting for the earliest opportunity of being shipped off to join his 
 future fellow-labourers. So far matters seemed promising enough ; 
 but one point was certain, that everything I might want must be taken 
 from Cape Town, as nothing whatever but oxen could be bought where 
 the Missionaries were. 
 
 Servants, waggons, and things of every kind I must take with me, 
 for the ship would land me on the desert sand — four tedious months’ 
 journey from Cape Town; and when she sailed away all communica- 
 tion thence would, for at least a year, be at an end. Now if I had been 
 going to travel in any of the usual ways, as with pack-horses, mules, 
 camels, boats, and so forth, and with people I knew something about, 
 I should not have had the least anxiety ; but oxen were creatures 
 I had no experience with, or of Cape half-castes either. Cape Town 
 is proverbially the worst place in the Colony to get waggon-drivers and 
 leaders from, and I did not much fancy the undertaking, but still go 
 somewhere I must, and I could think of no other alternative but 
 Walfisch Bay. I therefore consoled myself with the idea that, if the 
 whole affair broke down at the very first, Andersson and I would 
 still find protection from the Missionaries, and that if, on the other 
 hand, we could push on at all, we could probably get a great way. 
 So I began resolutely to make my preparations. 
 
 I will try to put in a few words the whole of the information that I 
 could get, and upon which I had to act. Walfisch Bay was perfectly 
 desert, though traders had lived there. The nearest water was three 
 miles off, and that in very small quantities. The nearest place where 
 cattle could thrive was between twenty and thirty miles from the coast. 
 This was the first Missionary station, — it was called Scheppmansdorf. 
 Thence a journey of ten or twelve days inland over wretched country 
 led to two other stations ; they were the furthest ; and all beyond them 
 northwards was unknown. These last were in Damaraland; the 
 Namaqua Hottentots lived between thei£ and the Cape. A small pen 
 and ink map was also shown me, but it was blotted and not very 
 intelligible. No oxen could be bought until I arrived at the furthest 
 stations. If I bought them from the Damaras they were untaught ; if 
 
CHAP. I.] 
 
 MY TRAVELLING CORTEGE. 
 
 7 
 
 .from the Namaquas taught oxen; the horse distemper was very scv. ic, 
 and no horse would live throughout the year. The Namaquas were 
 always fighting with the Damaras, and it was very doubtfvd whether 
 having travelled amongst the one tribe, the other would permit me to 
 pass through their country. No money was used or known, nothing 
 but articles of barter, — iron things, for the most part, among the 
 Damaras, clothing and guns among the Namaquas. Lastly, that the 
 great man of all the country, who could do what he liked, and of whom 
 everybody stood in awe, was Jonker Africaner. It was said that he had 
 a wholesome dread of the English Government, and unlimited respect 
 for a large letter with a large seal, but that I had much better keep out 
 of his way. This, I think, is a faithful summary of all that I could learn, 
 and I soon set to work to act upon it. 
 
 Cape Town abounds with mules, small well-bred-looking things, so 
 I made inquiries, and bought eight that had been well broken into 
 harness, and were in good condition ; I could only buy one pack-mule, 
 which made my ninth. Mules had withstood the distemper so well in 
 Bechuana country, that I trusted that at least half of them would live 
 until my wanderings were ended. I then bought a large strongly-built 
 cart for them to draw, and with it I purposed to make my first 
 expedition up the country, carrying the heavy articles of exchange and 
 bringing back oxen. I also bought two waggons — I believe the only 
 two travelling waggons in Cape Town — for nowadays the march of 
 intellect has inspired even the ponderous Dutchmen, and they make good 
 roads and use lighter vehicles. These were to be drawn by the oxen 
 that I intended to buy in the country, and the mules, as I calculated, 
 would be strong enough to pull them from Walfisch Bay to Schepp- 
 mansdorf, the first station, and thence to go on with the cart and 
 articles of exchange. As there was no grass at Walfisch Bay, I took 
 plenty of corn for my cattle, and a cask of good water for ourselves ; 
 the mules would drink at Sand Fountain, the place three miles off. I 
 only took two horses, as I knew they would be victims to distemper 
 before the important part of my journey commenced ; and I bought 
 but few additional articles of exchange, for I hoped to obtain enough 
 game to supply us with daily food, in addition to the few sheep we 
 should take with us as slaughter cattle. This was a, sad mistake, as I 
 found out afterwards. I was aware I should require at least sixty 
 waggon oxen, — two spans of from fourteen to sixteen for each waggon. 
 As Namaqualand was out of my intended route, and as I had been so 
 
8 
 
 MY DOGS. 
 
 [chap. I. 
 
 strongly advised not to go there, I took only enough clothing, etc., to buy 
 some forty or sixty oxen there, and iron things enough to buy one 
 hundred and fifty from the Damaras ; the surplus beyond what I immedi- 
 ately wanted being meant to coverthe unavoidable expenses of travelling. 
 
 I had, as I mentioned before, from England, a large and indeed an 
 expensive set of “ presents,” but my great error was in not taking far 
 more things of known exchangeable value, and in having taken those 
 “ presents ” which the natives really cared very little for. 
 
 I felt quite sure that everything connected with my waggons was 
 right, because I got more than one experienced friend to look them 
 over ; and having engaged my vessel, a schooner of some ioo tons, 
 all except my servants were at length in readiness. I wanted, in the 
 first instance, a headman — one who had travelled with oxen and knew 
 the work — a man with a character that he could not afford to lose, 
 under whom I could put every detail, and whom I would pay highly ; 
 but I could find no such person in Cape Town. I, however, engaged 
 a Portuguese, John Morta, a most thoroughly trustworthy man, who, 
 though he did not in the least fulfil the conditions I have just mentioned, 
 was honest in the extreme, and with whom I received an excellent 
 character ; next, I hired Timboo, a black, liberated by one of our 
 cruisers years ago, on capturing a slave-ship in the Mozambique. He, 
 too, had an admirable character, and could do a little of everything. 
 I do not think he would have joined me had he not been suspected 
 of too active interference (on the loyal side) during the late anti-convict 
 movement, which made it convenient for him to leave Cape Town for 
 a season. There was some story about his having had a personal 
 conflict with an influential leader of the opposition. Timboo was an 
 excellent groom, and had some acquaintance with oxen. Besides him, 
 I got John St. Helena as waggon-driver, and his brother for leader; 
 John Williams, a square-built, impudent, merry fellow, and a right 
 useful servant, was another leader ; and a young scamp, Gabriel, who 
 clung to my heels wherever I went in Cape Town, and who undertook 
 to be agent in getting me dogs, horses, or anything else, begged so 
 earnestly to go with me, that I enrolled him also in my corps. I still 
 wanted a second waggon driver, and at the last moment took a man 
 out of a waggon-maker’s shop, though I did not much like him. As 
 for dogs, although I was assured that I could find any number in the 
 country, still I thought that a few Cape Town mongrels would be of 
 no harm, and Gabriel brought me a whole pack for approval, at an 
 
CHAP. I.] 
 
 WHALES. 
 
 9 
 
 uniform rate of 2 s. 6 d. each ; one good dog was given to Andersson. 
 and by entreating that a sentence of execution, which was passed 
 on a fine-looking Newfoundland, for trespassing in the barracks, 
 might be commuted to transportation for life, I obtained him also. I 
 had a fancy to take a small dog which could be carried in the waggon 
 all day, and would be wakeful at night, so I bought a spaniel, on which 
 I lavished infinite affection, and who rejoiced in the name of Dinah. 
 
 Andersson was most busy in packing and arranging my things. I 
 don’t know how I should have got through the work myself; the 
 confusion seemed endless. At length, after we had been for three 
 weeks or a month in Cape Town the schooner was brought close into 
 shore ; the kicking mules were boated into her ; the heaps of wheels, 
 axle-trees, etc., that belonged to the four vehicles of the Missionary and 
 myself disappeared off the quay ; all the boxes were on board, and, last 
 of all, a cab-full of lamenting curs were embarked and sent away. 
 
 In the second week of August, 1850, we set sail, and on the eve of 
 the 20th the low sandy shore of the land we were bound for came 
 in sight. We rounded Pelican Point (on which pelicans were certainly 
 sitting) and came into a wide bay, the shores of which were dancing 
 with mirage, and presented the appearance of the utmost desolation. 
 The store-house was a wretched affair to have received so grand a name 
 — being a wooden shanty, about the size of a small one-storied cottage 
 — which we could not for a long time see from on board our ship. 
 The name of the bay, “ Walfisch,” is Dutch, and means whale-fish : the 
 sailors have corrupted it to Walwich, and, lastly, to Woolwich Bay, all 
 which aliases may be found in different maps. There are a great many 
 whales of the sort called “humpbacks” all about this coast; in coming 
 here we passed through a “ school ” or herd. It was a magnificent 
 sight ; for the whole sea around us was ploughed up by them. We 
 went up the bay very cautiously, for it has never been properly 
 surveyed ; and different charts give most widely different plans of it. 
 At nightfall we anchored a mile or so off shore. We could see no 
 natives ; and not a sign of life anywhere, excepting in the immense 
 flocks of pelicans and of flamingoes and other sea-birds. And this, it 
 appears, is the character of the entire coast between the Orange River 
 and the Portuguese territory — a physical barrier which has saved the 
 natives who live behind it from the infliction of a foreign slave-trade. 
 
 The books of sailing directions say that no fresh water can be 
 obtained on the coast for the whole of that distance ; but this is a mistake, 
 
THE MIRAGE. 
 
 10 
 
 [chap. i. 
 
 as in Sandwich Harbour, some twenty miles south of Walfisch Bay, 
 there is, at least at present, a copious supply. 
 
 In the morning we saw some savages about, and brought the schooner 
 as close in shore as seemed safe, about one-third of a mile from the 
 storehouse ; and at midday the captain, the new Missionary, and our- 
 selves landed. A row of seven dirty, squalid natives came to meet us. 
 Three had guns: they drew up in a line, and looked as powerful as 
 they could ; and the men with guns professed to load them. They had 
 Hottentot features, but were of a darker colour, and a most ill-looking 
 appearance ; some had trousers, some coats of skins, and they clicked, 
 and howled, and chattered, and behaved like baboons. This was my 
 first impression, and that of all of us ; but the time came when, by force 
 of comparison, I looked on these fellows as a sort of link to civilisation. 
 
 They were well enough acquainted with sailors ; and the advent of a 
 ship was of course a great godsend for them, as they bartered, for 
 tobacco, clothes, and all sorts of luxuries, the goats’ milk and oxen 
 which a few of them had ; but they had been savagely ill-used more 
 than once, and had occasionally retaliated. The captain of them soon 
 made his appearance, and we became very amicable, and walked 
 towards Sand Fountain, signs and smiles taking the place of spoken 
 language. A letter was sent on to the Missionary at Scheppmansdorf, 
 a cotton handkerchief and a stick of tobacco being the payment to the 
 messenger for his twenty-five miles’ run. We passed over a broad flat, 
 flooded in spring-tides, following the many waggon-tracks that here 
 seemed so permanent as not to be effaced by years, We were sur- 
 rounded by a mirage of the most remarkable intensity. Objects two 
 hundred yards off were utterly without definition ; a crow, or a bit of 
 black wood, would look as lofty as the trunk of a tree. Pelicans were 
 exaggerated to the size of ships with the studding-sails set ; and the 
 whole ground was wavy and seething, as though seen through the 
 draught of a furnace. This was in August, the month in which mirage 
 is most remarkable here ; it is excessive at all times, and has been 
 remarked by every one who has seen the place. A year and a half 
 later I tried on two occasions to map the outline of the Bay, which was 
 then comparatively clear, but still the mirage quite prevented me ; an 
 object which I took as a mark from one point being altogether undis- 
 tinguishable when I had moved to my next station. 
 
 After proceeding half a mile we came to the bed of the Kuisip, a 
 river that only runs once in four or five years, but, when it does, 
 
CHAP. I.] 
 
 THE KUISIP RIVER. 
 
 1 1 
 
 sweeps everything before it. The bed was very broad, and hardly 
 definable; there were marks here and there like the bottom of dried- 
 up pools, where the ground has been made into a paste and afterwards 
 cracked by the drought. Bushes (Dabby bushes I have always heard 
 them called) not unlike fennel, but from eight to twelve feet high, grew 
 plentifully; a prickly gourd, the ’Nara,* with long runners, covered 
 numerous sand-hillocks ; and lastly, high shifting sand dunes, on either 
 side, completed the scene. We were so much out of condition, that 
 the depth of the sand and the heat of the sun (at least, what we then 
 thought was heat) gave us a good tiring, and we were heartily glad 
 when Sand Fountain and its watering-place came in sight. My 
 imagination had pictured, from its name, a bubbling streamlet ; but in 
 reality it was a hole, six inches across, of green stagnant water. It 
 was perfectly execrable to taste, as many years had elapsed since the 
 Kuisip last ran, and the water which drains from its damp sand to the 
 hollow here had become almost putrid, and highly saline. However, 
 it was drinkable, and I was satisfied that with plenty of digging enough 
 could be obtained to water my mules. Some years ago, when the 
 trader lived here, the water was copious and very good, but all these 
 sort of wells are very uncertain, even more so than the flow of the 
 river on which they depend. We came back much as we went, and 
 bought five ostrich eggs that were brought to us, giving seven sticks 
 of tobacco for the lot ; but this was a piece of extravagance, five being 
 the proper price. Cavendish tobacco is that which has been nearly 
 always bartered here ; it is, as most smokers know, in sticks, each 
 stick weighing about an ounce, and worth a penny. I had taken only 
 a hundredweight with me ; but five hundredweight would not have 
 proved at all too much. We took the captain and an ill-looking 
 Hottentot, who appeared to be a relation of his, on board, as the two 
 were inseparable ; and we employed ourselves in picking bush tics 
 from our persons, for the bushes swarmed with them. 
 
 During the night a gun was heard on shore, and a fire was lighted, 
 which proved to be made by the Missionary, Mr. Bam, and Stewartson, ( 
 who had been a cattle-trader, but had lately lost everything, so that 
 he, his wife, and children, could not afford to return to Cape Town, 
 but lived at the same station with Mr. Bam. We had sent the letter 
 at midday ; they received it about nightfall, and had ridden down on 
 
 * The comma before the N means that the letter is preceded by a 
 Hottentot click, 
 
12 
 
 MISADVENTURE AT STARTING. 
 
 [chap. i. 
 
 oxen in five hours. I had up to that moment no conception that oxen 
 ever were, or had been, used as hacks, except possibly as a joke ; but 
 here were two fine-looking beasts, saddled, and with sticks through their 
 noses, and a thin bridle fastened to the stick, and tied to a log of wood, 
 and really they looked uncommonly well, and not at all out of their 
 element. 
 
 We at once proceeded to disembark. The horses and mule* 
 had to swim ; the sailors managed it rather clumsily, and nearly 
 drowned one ; but at last the creatures were all got on shore. Heavy 
 packages had next to be landed in the dingy, and we got through a 
 deal of work. In the evening I rode with Mr. Bam to the Hottentot 
 kraal by Sand Fountain, and ot course listened with great interest to 
 all he had to tell me of the country. With the Damaras he had little 
 or no acquaintance. Pie was born in the Cape ; had made several 
 overland journeys; spoke much of the difficulty of travelling here, 
 both from want of food and the badness of the road ; and did not 
 hold out to me the slightest encouragement as regarded my journey. 
 
 After sunset Mr. Bam returned on board to sleep, and to get a good 
 substantial dinner there, which is not to be despised by a resident in 
 these parts. I pitched my tent on shore, and slept in guard of the 
 things. My men had worked with very good spirit throtgh the day 
 in landing them, though it was hard work, and they were wet all the 
 time. Some slept on shore and some on board. I had a heavy spar, 
 which lay on the beach, carried under the lee of the store-house, and 
 picketed my mules and horses to it. The night was very chilly, damp, 
 and windy, and the animals extremely restless. In the morning we 
 found that my two horses had broken loose and escaped. Timboo 
 and John St. Helena went directly on their tracks; but as hours 
 passed, and they did not return, I became much alarmed. On Mr. 
 Barn’s coming on shore he advised me at once to send some natives 
 with provisions after the men, as all was desert for forty miles and 
 more round the Bay ; the horses would never perhaps be overtaken 
 by the men, who would possibly follow their tracks till they were 
 exhausted, and so be themselves unable to return. I therefore sent two 
 natives directly, — Mr. Bam interpreting for me, — one with provisions, 
 and the other with orders to go on after the tracks, and bring the 
 animals back. Late in the afternoon my men made their appearance, 
 looking sadly exhausted. They had gone very far, until they dared 
 not go further; and then, intending to return by a short cut back, socr. 
 
CHAP. I.] 
 
 THE 'NARA. 
 
 »3 
 
 became bewildered among the sand-hills, and quite lost their course. 
 They were on the point of going altogether wrong, when the mist 
 cleared away, and showed them the sea and the Bay, with the schooner 
 in it, in the far distance. After a long walk they came to the waggon- 
 tracks, which took them to Sand Fountain, where they obtained water, 
 and there the Hottentots met them. 
 
 The sailors had landed some of my things very carelessly indeed, 
 dropping bags of flour into the sea. I made a great row, with much 
 effect, about it. Some goats were driven down to sell. I bought 
 two kids for a second-hand soldier’s coat without the buttons. I had 
 three dozen, and gave sixpence each for them at a Jew’s shop in Cape 
 Town. 
 
 The horses were still missing. I sent the captain, " Frederick,” and 
 another man, on their ride-oxen upon the spoor — for I became 
 extremely anxious for their lives ; there is not a blade of grass or a 
 drop of water where they are gone. Frederick would not go unless 
 I promised him and his friend a really respectable coat and a pair 
 of trousers, to be paid if they brought the horses back — not otherwise. 
 The agreement was made, and off they started. I wish I had brought 
 more old clothes. Two coats and the etceteras are a sad drain upon 
 my wardrobe. Another accident happened : my large white dog, 
 that I begged from the barracks, took fright at the waggon -whips 
 which we had landed, and were cracking ; he ran straight away, and 
 was never seen by us again. Flamingoes gathered here in immense 
 flocks; their flight is very curious; the long projecting neck in front, 
 and the long legs behind, make them look in the distance more like 
 dragon-flies than birds. I broke a pelican’s wing with a cartridge 
 of swan-shot, and had a chase of a good mile after him before I came 
 up; the Hottentots ate him. The Bay seems, from all accounts, 
 to swarm with fish ; but, though I have a small seine net, I have no 
 time now to set it. 
 
 August 23. — The horses are found! They had strayed nearly forty 
 miles (I saw their tracks long afterwards), and Frederick drove them 
 to Scheppmansdorf for food and water, as it was much nearer for them 
 than the Bay. He came tc claim his apparel. I grudgingly enough 
 gave him the only coats I could ; they were the workmanship of 
 Stultz : I had intended them for full-dress occasions at Missionary 
 chapel-meetings, etc. But it could not be helped; and the greasy 
 savages put them on, exulting in their altered appearance. 
 
 3 
 
SAND FOUNTAIN. 
 
 [chap. I. 
 
 14 
 
 1 have mentioned above the ’Nara, a prickly gourd, which grows 
 jhere; it is the staple food of these Hottentots, and a very curious 
 plant. In the first place, it seems to grow nowhere except in the 
 [ Kuisip and in the immediate environs of Walfisch Bay ; and in the 
 second place, every animal eats it; not only men, cattle, antelopes, 
 and birds, but even dogs and hyenas. It is a very useful agent towards 
 fixing the sands ; for as fresh sand blows over, and covers the plant, 
 it continually pushes on its runners up to the air, until a huge hillock 
 is formed, half of the plant, half of sand. I do not much like its taste ; 
 it is too rich and mawkish. 
 
 The waggons that belonged to the Missionaries in the country came 
 down to the beach to carry away their supplies, which had arrived 
 by my ship. A vessel would have been chartered for them if I had 
 not previously engaged it. They had arranged that one should be 
 sent every two years to bring them their things of barter — clothes 
 and groceries, and whatever else they might want ; for the overland 
 journey was found to be more expensive and less practicable, as 
 it takes quite four months to reach Cape Town from Walfisch Bay, and 
 the roads are so rocky that a waggon is seriously risked by the 
 journey. The oxen, too, are probably much worn out, and, after all, 
 only some 1,500 lbj. net weight can be carried in each waggon. On the 
 other hand, a vessel from the Cape arrives in a week, and can, of 
 course, carry anything. The trip costs about ^100; it would be much 
 less if it was net that the prevalent winds make it a matter of some 
 four weeks to return. Chance vessels hardly ever arrive nowadays at 
 Walfisch Bay ; not one had come for more than a year. 
 
 All our things were at length landed; the wells at Sand Fountain 
 yielded enough water for the mules ; the storehouses both there and 
 at the Bay were unlocked, and cleared out to receive my luggage ; 
 the waggons and cart were pieced together ; and the schooner sailed 
 away. 
 
CIIAP. II.] 
 
 A LESSON TO THE NATIVES. 
 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Sand Fountain — A Lesson to the Natives — A Present — News of a Lion — 
 Scheppmansdorf — A Narrow Escape — A Missionary’s Establishment — 
 Native Huts — Missions — A Lion Hunt — Preparations for the Road — 
 Native Trees — The Hottentots 1 — Character of the Country — Mode of 
 breaking in an Ox — Arrangement of the Baggage — -A Prosperous Start 
 — The Swakop — Night Bivouac — Labours of the March — Loss of a Horse 
 and a Mule — The Lions’ Chase — Attempt to a venge the Loss — A 
 Narrow Escape — Animal Food — The Ghou Damup — Erongo Mountain — - 
 Intense Heat — The Tsobis River — Ride-Oxen — Native Servants — Their 
 Cape Town Life — A Giraffe Hunt — Change of Country — An Ostrich 
 Egg — Approach to Otjimbingue — Hans Larsen. 
 
 Ti-ie Missionary who had come with us from Cape Town went off 
 at once to Scheppmansdorf with Mr. Bam, whose oxen fetched his 
 waggon and all his things, and who very kindly promised to give me 
 a help with mine, when the oxen were sufficiently rested, if I would 
 first get the luggage as far as Sand Fountain. The mules were there- 
 fore harnessed, and worked excellently, carting my heavy things through 
 the deep sand ; and they made sometimes two and sometimes three 
 trips a day between that place and the Bay. Andersson and myself 
 slept at Sand Fountain. John Morta cooked for us, and the others 
 drove the cart, and took care of my store at the Bay. 
 
 Mr. Bam told me I should have great trouble in first going up the 
 country, unless I had a person to guide me, and that there was not a 
 Hottentot with him who could go. I had no interpreter for them, and 
 they were frightened at the Damaras. Stewartson said that he was 
 going in about two months, and would then be very happy to show me 
 the way. It appeared, on further conversation, that the business which 
 detained him from going at once was that he had to make a fence round 
 his garden to keep it from Mr. Barn’s pigs. So I arranged with two of 
 my men that they should go and help him to get through the work 
 quickly, while my others were employed with me. After a week every- 
 thing was returned to Sand Fountain. Andersson and myself had 
 employed ourselves in walking about, superintending the work. The 
 Hottentots of course crowded round us every day, but they did not at all 
 trouble us : only one or two of them were impudent, and, as I did not 
 
i5 
 
 NEWS OF A LION. 
 
 [chap. ii. 
 
 know how much thrashing they would stand, I let them alone. I took 
 some pains to exhibit and explain to them the mechanism of a spring 
 rat-trap, and when they sufficiently comprehended its object, I gave 
 them to understand that my boxes were all guarded by rat-traps, so 
 that if they put their hands into them to steal, they would infallibly be 
 caught. 
 
 The black-and-white crows almost attacked our larder for food. They 
 live on the dead fish that lie about the beach, which indeed is almost 
 the only food hereabouts for them. The natives brought us milk every 
 morning to barter for tobacco, and also some goats. Mr. Bam very 
 kindly sent me a slaughter ox. It seemed to me the most princely of 
 presents. Meat keeps wonderfully well here in this season (August 
 and September), and even dries instead of tainting ; but I subsequently 
 found it otherwise in December. I had taken plenty of salt meat with 
 me from Cape Town, and rice and biscuits — quite two months’ 
 provisions — for I knew it must be a long time before we could fall into 
 the ways of the country, and find our own commissariat there. 
 
 I gave the mules a day’s rest, and then started with my first load to 
 Scheppmansdorf. Andersson remained behind. Mr. Bam had sent me 
 word that a lion had come over from the Swakop River, and was 
 prowling about and very daring, and that a hunt should be got up at 
 once. As we travelled sometimes in the soft sand of the river bed, 
 sometimes on the gravelly plain, through which it runs, we kept a 
 sharp look-out for the track that had been seen there ; we found it 
 after we had travelled ten miles. The natives amused themselves 
 by cleverly imitating it ; they half clenched their fist, and pressed their 
 knuckles into the sand. It was curious to see to what a distance the 
 lion kept to the waggon-road, walking down the middle of it as though 
 it had been made for him. I listened deferentially to Timboo and John 
 St. Helena, who were quite learned on the subject of tracking. Except 
 some ostriches scudding about, some crows, lizards, and a few small 
 birds, there was no other sign of animal life, but we saw spoors now 
 and then of the little steinbok, a very pretty gazelle some sixteen inches 
 high. 
 
 We followed the waggon path till an hour after nightfall, when the 
 damp feel of the air, distant lights, and barking of dogs, announced 
 that we had arrived at Scheppmansdorf. Mr. Bam welcomed me most 
 kindly, introduced me to his wife, gave me an outhouse for my boxes 
 and myself, and we formed a very pleasant party that evening, more 
 
CHAP. II.] A Ml^iON ARY ESTABLISHMENT. 17 
 
 especially as I heard that my horses were quite well and fat. We 
 talked over the lion, and it seemed that he had been prowling about 
 the station continually ; that he was a well-known beast, who usually 
 hunted the lower part of the Swakop, and had killed an immense number 
 of cattle ; many a time have I heard them reckoned over, — fifty oxen, 
 three horses, one donkey, and innumerable calves and dogs. He had 
 often been chased, but was too wary to be shot — and so forth. We 
 talked over the lion at Mr. Barn’s till a late hour : he assured me that 
 the animal would prowl about that night, as he had done so every day 
 for a week, and that if I wanted to try my rifle, I could track hirrf in the 
 morning. He and Stewartson had taken my horses the day before to 
 hunt him, and they found him and gave chase ; at last he came to bay, 
 when they rode to the top of a sand-hill immediately above him, where 
 the beast not waiting to be fired at charged them. Mr. Bam galloped 
 off, but Stewartson’s horse being thoroughly blown, would not stir a 
 step, until the lion’s head appeared over the sand-hill just above the 
 astonished animal, who probably had no idea of what was taking 
 place, for Stewartson seems to have been “craning” over the ridge 
 of the bank. I was glad to learn, not only on account of Stewartson’s 
 safety, but also, as a proof of the discretion and speed of my horse, 
 that the next second of time left the lion behind at a safer distance. 
 
 Mr. Barn’s household, which I may as well describe, as it gives a 
 good idea of a Missionary establishment, was as follows : — Himself, 
 Mrs. Bam, a numerous family, and an interpreter, who helped at the 
 schools, could drive a waggon, and was the factotum, made the party 
 that took their meals together, the interpreter being very deferential, 
 and only speaking when spoken to. Besides these were a few hangers- 
 on, more or less trustworthy, and always ready for a job. The house 
 is a tolerably sized cottage or bothy, all on one floor, built of course 
 by the Missionary himself, as well as he was able to build it ; the 
 workmanship was naturally very rough, but as it takes far less labour 
 to use trees for the uprights and rafters than planks, it is also very 
 strong. Chairs, a table, and a bureau were imported from Cape 
 Town ; the bed, bookshelves, and so forth, made here. The wife does 
 the whole housework, cleaning the rooms, managing the children, 
 cooking the dinner, and, what I never liked, waiting at table. These 
 ladies have the hardest and rudest of occupations, but, I must candidly 
 say, they seem to like this life extremely, and I am sure that Missionaries 
 must find great favour in the eyes of the fairer sex, judging from the 
 
i8 
 
 SCHEPPMANSDORF. 
 
 [chap. ii. 
 
 charming partners that they have the good fortune to obtain. As to 
 the natives, they make their huts as they like, and where they like. 
 They plant sticks in a circle of six feet across, then bend the tops 
 together and tie them with strips of bark ; lastly, they wattle the sides 
 and plaster them up. 
 
 Scheppmansdorf is pretilly situated on a kind of island in the middle 
 of the Kuisip River bed near a clump of fine trees, somewhat resembling 
 elms. At one side stands the Missionary’s and Stewartson’s houses, 
 in the middle is the white-washed chapel, and round the other sides 
 lie the huts, twenty or thirty in number. All round is sand ; to the 
 south there is a perfect sea of sand-dunes from one hundred to one 
 hundred and fifty feet high, to the north the Naanip plain. A small 
 streamlet rises from the ground, and runs through the place, watering 
 about three acres of garden and field, and losing itself half a mile off 
 in a reedy pond full of wild fowl. 
 
 The natives crowd the church and sing the hymns, which, being 
 about three-quarters articulate and one-quarter clicks, produce a very 
 funny effect. The Missionary is, to all intents and purposes, lord 
 paramount of the place, though he is modest, and refers matters as 
 much as possible to the captain of the tribe. Savage countries are 
 parcelled out by a tacit understanding between different Missionary 
 Societies, priority of occupation affording the ground of claim, it not 
 being customary for one sect to establish its stations in a land where 
 another sect is already settled. Mr. Bam and the other gentlemen I 
 was thrown amongst belonged to a German Mission, and were all 
 of them Germans or Dutcln Further to the interior, and communicat- 
 ing with the Cape, not by the sea, but overland, are some English 
 Wesleyan stations. Subsequently, 1 passed through these, but at the 
 time of my visit they were unoccupied. 
 
 To return to the lion. When I turned into bed I listened long for 
 a roar or some token of his presence, but in vam ; and at last I dropped 
 asleep. In the morning we found his tracks all about us ; he had paid 
 particular attention to a hut that was lying rather apart from the others, 
 and had been prowling all round it. Stewartson volunteered to 
 accompany me ; he disapproved of horseback, and mounted his trusty 
 ox. Mr. Stewartson’s profession in early life was that of a tailor — • 
 subsequently a dissenting minister, and afterwards a cattle-trader. 
 I confess that I felt, as I rode by his side, I had rather have been 
 introduced to the genus “ lion” by a person of almost any other calling, 
 
CHAP. II.J 
 
 TRACKING THE LION. 
 
 19 
 
 and carried by any other kind of animal than my bucolic friend’s. I 
 took two of my men with me, and off we set with a few natives. 
 The lion had walked backwards and forwards so much in the night, 
 that it was long before we found the last tracks he had made. We 
 followed them very quickly, as his broad foot-print was unmistakable 
 on the sand ; there was a growing interest as we found how he had 
 stopped and looked down and considered whether a bush by one side 
 would suit him or not, but had decided in the negative and gone 
 slowly on. We peered about and marched very silently ; the bushes 
 got thicker, and the pace slower, when we stopped short at a well- 
 trodden part whence the lion had evidently just risen, for the sand was 
 still warm from his touch. Had he gone away, or was he close by ? 
 was the question. We were all mixed up together. Of a sudden the 
 lion stood up, twelve paces in front, looked over his shoulder at us, 
 made an easy noiseless bound, and was gone. His actiop was so 
 steady, so smooth, so entirely devoid of hurry, that I could perfectly 
 understand how a person might be seized through miscalculating the 
 speed of his advance. As it was, he disappeared before one of our 
 guns was well up to our shoulders. I am sure, if he had come at us, 
 he could have done what mischief he liked. My horse would have 
 shied on to the horns of Stewartson’s ox, and in the narrow pass we 
 should all have tumbled about and rolled one on another. The cover 
 into which he went, and on the border of which he had been lying, 
 was far too thick to be practicable for our further pursuit, though we 
 did make several good attempts at dislodging him. I returned very 
 crestfallen at our want of success, but I had now seen the animal, 
 and better understood the elements of hunting him. 
 
 As we rode back across the plain we saw vast numbers of old 
 gemsbok tracks, although there are but few of these fine antelopes in 
 the neighbourhood ; but impressions made on this crisp gravelly soil 
 take years to efface ; they seem to be almost stereotyped ; and a very 
 few animals and waggons have produced an extraordinary number of 
 spoors. 
 
 I mentioned that Scheppmansdorf was built in a rude circle. To 
 the middle of this the oxen of the place come of their own accord every 
 night as the evening sets in, and lie there till the early morning ; they 
 find shelter from the wind, and are certainly sensible of protection. 
 Besides this the ox is a sociable, domestic animal, and loves fires and 
 the neighbourhood of men. The oxen, therefore, lay close up to the 
 
20 
 
 A SECOND ATTEMPT. 
 
 [chap. II. 
 
 doorway of the outhouse in which I slept, and the night was pitch 
 dark. Now, after we had all gone to bed, and were fast asleep, there 
 was a rush and an outcry, and people hallooing, and dogs barking, for 
 the lion had got into the midst of the oxen. I confess I was glad there 
 was a door to my outhouse, for fear the lion should walk in ; however 
 all became quiet, and I soon went to sleep again. 
 
 A grand hunt was determined on in the morning ; every available 
 native was pressed into the service. Mr. Bam rode one horse, I the 
 other, and Stewartson his ox. Johannis, Captain Frederick, and some 
 other Hottentots, came mounted on their oxen, and we went off after 
 breakfast with as many cur dogs as would follow us. The proceedings 
 were much the same as before. After eight miles his spoor went into 
 a bush ; we threw stones in and shouted, and up he got about one 
 hundred yards off. I purposely did not fire, as my horse was in a bad 
 position for me to take as good an aim as I wished, and nobody else 
 fired either ; but we galloped after him in full view, the object being to 
 bring him to bay or to get a nearer shot as he ran. This last I hardly 
 expected whilst he was moving, for my horses were not accustomed to 
 be shot from, and it took so much time to pull them up, that the lion 
 had gained a long start again before I could do so. The bushes were 
 in his favour, and we nearly lost him ; but by most skilful tracking the 
 Hottentots came up and often helped us out when we were at fault. 
 Some hours elapsed when, as Mr. Bam and myself were cantering on, 
 we turned the corner of a sand-hill and saw the lion about sixty yards 
 ahead, trotting on, looking over his shoulder. I got my long rifle up, 
 and, sincerely praying that my horse would not kick me off when I 
 fired, I pulled the trigger ; the horse was too blown to start, and I 
 placed my two- ounce bullet well into the lion’s quarter. He growled 
 and snarled, and bit the wound, but evidently had not heart to chase 
 me, but turned to bay under a bush. There was a sand-hill opposite. 
 We waited till the stragglers came up, and then went behind the 
 sand-hill and dismounted ; and Stewartson and ourselves crawled up 
 to the top of it, right above the lion. He was in a tearing passion, and 
 fifty paces from us, yet I could not see him as clearly as I could wish 
 — wild beasts have such a readiness of availing themselves of the 
 smallest bush or tuft of grass as a screen, which he did on this occasion ; 
 his head was between his paws, and his tail whirling up the sand. One 
 single shot at the head, fired by Mr. Bam, struck him stone dead. He 
 was a huge, gaunt beast, miserably thin, and had a dog of Stewartson’s 
 
CHAP. IJ.] 
 
 PURCHASES OF OXEN. 
 
 21 
 
 in his inside, which he had snapped up on the vverft the night before. 
 The dog was only in five pieces, not at all chewed or even digested ; it 
 had been bolted in a hurry. The meal must have disagreed with him. 
 The lion was soon skinned. My bullet had passed right alongside 
 the backbone, breaking its way through nearly half its length. 
 Neither the oxen nor the horses showed that dread of his smell 
 which they generally do. I even rolled up his hide like a valise, and 
 carried it behind my saddle, without my steed showing any objection. 
 I cannot to this day imagine why we dismounted and climbed up the 
 sand-hill ; but I put myself under the orders of my more experienced 
 friends. It would have been much easier and much safer to have 
 given the animal his finishing wound from horseback. 
 
 The next day I had the skin dressed ; it was necessary that the load 
 which the cart had to carry up the country should be lessened, and I 
 therefore was driven to pack oxen ; and wanted a hide to cover my 
 saddle bags ; Stewartson was to make them for me, and the lion’s 
 skin came as a godsend, for I had only one other. I bought two oxen, 
 a black and a red one, from Stewartson, both of which he engaged to 
 break in, so far as to carry such things as would not injure if kicked 
 off. He also hired out to me another ox, and I bought a yellow ride 
 ox, by name Ceylon, from Johannis, the interpreter. Groceries and a 
 gown for his wife settled my account with Stewartson, and a common 
 gun that with Johannis. The four oxen were to carry five or six cwt. 
 between them, which would materially lighten the cart, but still leave 
 it a load of about 1,000 lbs. I heard constantly from Andersson, who 
 remained at Sand Fountain with most of my men, guarding the boxes 
 till Mr. Barn’s oxen were fresh enough to go down and take them. 
 They had a monotonous time of it. A hyena paid them two visits at 
 night, but got away in the dark unscathed. Little else happened. 
 
 September 12 th . — The waggons were sent for, full of things, and as 
 some were still left behind, Mr. Bam kindly lent me his light waggon 
 to fetch them. The oxen could hardly get it back, and to my extreme 
 regret when they did so the axle-tree was found to have been strained ; 
 it was, of course, a great annoyance to my worthy host, as no seasoned 
 wood was to be had, from which my carpenter could make another one. 
 There are, indeed, only two kinds of timber trees in Damara and the 
 greater part of Namaqualand ; one is the unna, which grows about 
 Scheppmansdorf, and looks something like an elm ; the other is the 
 camelthorn, which also is a fine tree but more gnarled. Unna wood 
 
22 
 
 CHARACTER OF MY MEN. 
 
 [chap. II. 
 
 is soft and porous, and of very little use ; camelthorn is almost too 
 hard to be worked, it is very heavy indeed, and very brittle ; still for 
 want of better wood it has to be used for most carpentering work. We 
 therefore made an expedition with the cart in search of a tree, as 
 none grew within some six miles of Scheppmansdorf. Mr. Bam, my 
 carpenter, and myself, went with tools. After a long search we found 
 one, and my best axe splintered sadly in cutting it down ; it was quite 
 a long job to fell it. As it lay we roughly shaped it; and even then 
 had to use’all our strength to lift the future axle-tree into the cart. 
 
 When we got it home, I learnt how to season wood in a hurry : a 
 trench was dug, a good fire made in it, and after a time the ashes 
 swept out ; then water was poured in, which steamed the hot earth ; 
 lastly, the wood was placed in the trench, covered up, and left to lie for 
 a day. 
 
 After two days’ hard work the axle-tree was formed into shape, the 
 necessary holes were bored through it, and Mr. Bam laid it by, so 
 that if his present one fairly broke, he could, with a day’s work and 
 ordinary tools, put in the new one, which, in the meantime, was left 
 to season thoroughly. 
 
 I began now to see something of the character of my men, and what 
 they were fit for. They had, on the whole, worked willingly and well ; 
 but a great deal of pilfering had been going on. In the constant loading 
 and unloading of many things, it was impossible but that several 
 occasions should occur for the servants to steal them, and some had 
 certainly done so. However, I said nothing, but Andersson and myself 
 both kept a sharp look-out. Mr. Bam had assured me of the general 
 honesty of the natives at his station in such strong terms, that I felt I 
 could safely accept a kind offer that he made, and leave all my boxes 
 with him in the outhouse that I had occupied, and take the whole of 
 my men with me. 
 
 It seems that these Hottentots have a great respect for locks and 
 keys ; the wooden storehouse of the bay has been left entirely without 
 protection for months, and although the natives knew that it was then 
 full of the very things they valued so highly, no occasion was known of 
 their having broken into it. The sandy soil is a great check upon 
 dishonesty, for the spoor remains to tell of the thief and his where- 
 abouts. 
 
 I had made my first attempts at mapping. From the sand-hills 
 above Scheppmansdorf Walfisch Bay could be seen clearly; end as 
 
BREAKING IN PACK-OXEN. 
 
 23 
 
 CHAP. II.] 
 
 many distant mountains were visible from both stations, I could begin 
 triangulating. The mountains of the Svvakop, on the other side of the 
 desert plain to our north, were clear in the blue distance. A few 
 peaked hills were more in the foreground, and I took the bearings, as 
 well as the natives could point out, of the place we were first to aim 
 for. Our first stage is a very difficult one. It occupies sixteen hours’ 
 actual travelling, exclusive of all stoppages. There is no grass for 
 the oxen, nor water either ; though a few cup-fulls of the latter can be 
 found in a granite rock after the first twelve hours’ journey ; and there 
 is generally so thick a mist on the plain, that, travelling, as people 
 generally do, all through the night, there is every probability of losing 
 the path. The consequence is, that the plain is covered with false 
 waggon-roads in every direction, and a great number of oxen have 
 died on the way. The natives of the place are no better than the 
 strangers; as soon as they lose their road they go wandering about 
 not only till daylight, but till the fog clears away and shows them 
 where they are. Losing the way is the rule here, and not the excep- 
 tion ; and a person who has crossed the plain without doing so, rather 
 plumes himself upon the feat. 
 
 Stewartson, on his ox, was to be the guide. My men were all 
 to walk ; Andersson and myself to ride the horses, giving a mount 
 now and then to the men. The chestnut mule and four oxen were 
 to be packed with my belongings, one other ox with Stewartson’s. 
 
 The ceremony of breaking in the black ox had next to be performed, 
 and in this way ; the whole herd was driven close up together, and 
 then, Stewartson, with a long thong of leather (a reim), noosed like 
 a lasso, crept in amongst the creatures, and pushed the noose with 
 a stick round the leg of the victim, holding on at the other end of 
 the thong like grim death. The ox bellowed, and kicked, and galloped 
 on three legs ; the herd dispersed, everybody ran to help, and soon 
 the animal, looking highly wroth and disgusted at the treatment, was 
 brought to a standstill, and another noose thrown over his horns ; 
 then, by lugging at the thongs, the beast was tumbled over, his nose 
 pierced with a stick ; some old worthless bags were filled with sand, 
 and tied firmly on his back, and he was let go, to plunge and bellow, 
 and to vent his sulkiness on, and tell his stoiy to his fellow-oxen. 
 
 Next morning, the packing operation was again gone through, as 
 the pack had become loose ; and this was repeated for two or three 
 more days. Now that the ox had a nose-stick, it was much easier 
 
24 
 
 LIST OF BAGGAGE. 
 
 [chap. II. 
 
 to secure him ; for when once lassoed by the leg, an active individual 
 could soon snatch the stick. In this way the beast was secured fore 
 and aft, and unless from sulkiness he lay down, could be packed 
 standing. The little red ox was a far more awkward customer than 
 the other. I never witnessed greater vice than the creature showed, 
 and his horns were sadly annoying. 
 
 At length, after various delays, the day on which we were destined 
 to start arrived. 
 
 The things taken were distributed as follows : — 
 
 PACK OXEN. 
 
 LOAD CARRIED. 
 
 GROSS 
 
 WEIGHT. 
 
 IN CART DRAWN BY 8 MULES. 
 
 
 
 
 lbs. 
 
 lbs. 
 
 Ceylon . 
 
 # 
 
 Canvas Bag, No. i, — 
 
 
 Common guns. 
 
 112 
 
 
 
 Peas, 45 lbs. ) 
 
 
 Barrel full of presents . 
 
 56 
 
 
 
 Sugar, 48 ,, ( 
 
 97 
 
 6 pots and 2 kettles 
 
 no 
 
 
 
 
 
 Assegais .... 
 
 56 
 
 
 
 
 
 Hatchets and spearheads 
 
 25 
 
 Stewartson’s Ox . 
 
 Canvas Bag, No. 2, — 
 
 
 l ore and after chests, 
 
 
 
 
 Rice, 42 lbs. ) 
 
 
 containing small things, 
 
 
 
 
 Coffee, 42 ,, > 
 
 XIO 
 
 knives, tobacco, tinder- 
 
 
 
 
 Spelter, 25 ,, j 
 
 
 boxes, flints, choppers, 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 and also calico and 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 dresses . 
 
 196 
 
 Black Ox 
 
 
 Skin Bag, No. 1, — 
 
 
 Biscuits . . . . 
 
 53 
 
 
 
 Spelter, 75 lbs. \ 
 
 
 Tools . 
 
 23 
 
 
 
 Dresses, etc. J 
 
 *35 
 
 4 shooting guns (we 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 carried the others) 
 
 36 
 
 
 
 
 
 Clothes, books, and per- 
 
 
 Red Ox 
 
 
 Skin Bag, No. a, — 
 
 
 sonal effects of Anders- 
 
 
 
 
 Bullets, "j 
 
 
 son and myself 
 
 120 
 
 
 
 Moleskin Clothes, [ 
 
 
 Astronomical instru- 
 
 
 
 
 2 Bars Lead, f 
 
 130 
 
 ments, etc. 
 
 50 
 
 
 
 Shot, Powder, / 
 
 
 Natural history instru- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ments . 
 
 42 
 
 
 
 
 
 Men’s sleeping things 
 
 
 Mule 
 
 , , 
 
 Tent, 40 lbs. "I 
 
 
 and clothes, about 
 
 
 
 
 Water, 20 „ > 
 
 90 
 
 30 lbs. per man 
 
 210 
 
 
 
 etc. ) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1089 
 
 
 Everything was weighed with 
 
 a steelyard that I had taken. 
 
 
 For meat, I only took with me five or six thin goats, as I was 
 quite confident of finding game in the Swakop, where vast quantities 
 had been formerly shot. The day was cool, and we started about 
 eleven o’clock in the forenoon. We had been packing the red and 
 black oxen since the early morning ; for as fast as the bags were 
 tied on, they kicked them off or loosened them. The red ox could 
 
CHAP. II.] 
 
 OUSOP. 
 
 25 
 
 not be held ; he was lashed to a tree, and there packed. As soon 
 as they let him loose, the brute ran about, looking for somebody 
 handy to be tossed ; he caught sight of me first, just as I was 
 mounting, and trotted up. I had no idea he meant mischief till he 
 was close by, when he made a most vicious dash at me; and if I 
 had not had spurs, I could never have twisted my horse round enough 
 in time to avoid his aim, for, as it was, the curve of his short sharp 
 horn glanced along and bruised my thigh and the horse’s shoulder ; 
 but we both escaped its point. 
 
 The crisp sand of the desert was very pleasant to travel on ; and 
 we made great progress : the mules pulled very well, and all went 
 cheerily. After nightfall we floundered about a little amongst some 
 broken ground, and Stewartson lost his way for a time ; but by 
 keeping steadily on by compass, the rounded head of the Granite 
 Rock showed itself against the clear sky, and we off-packed and 
 out-spanned at eleven o’clock to drink coffee and to sleep. 
 
 We were up before daylight ; and the oxen, being very tired, 
 were submissive, and we were off about half-past six. After four hours, 
 we entered into the broken country that borders the Swakop ; and 
 snaking our bivouac at the head of a steep path that led down to 
 the river bed, sent the animals down some four miles to eat and 
 drink. 
 
 This was the premier pas of my journey; and I am sure we were 
 all highly delighted at its success. The only drawback was, that 
 the wretched goats were quite knocked up ; and when we went 
 down to the river bed we could perceive no signs of game. The first 
 sight of the Swakop, in its deep hollow, charmed us ; the plain on 
 which we had travelled was nine or ten hundred feet above our head, 
 and the crumbling rocks that flanked the gorge, which the river had 
 made for itself, were magnificently abrupt. The bed was as smooth 
 as a lawn, and as green with grass, — a little sand peeping out here 
 and there, — a thick fringe of high reeds bordered the river bed, 
 clumps of fine camelthorn trees were clustered wherever there was 
 room for them, and a small rivulet of water trickled along, skulls 
 of numerous buffaloes were lying about, and Oosop, for that was 
 the name of the place, seemed a scene in Rasselas’ Happy Valley. 
 
 We stopped all day enjoying ourselves, and had a good bathe in 
 a hollow beneath a huge rock, which the rivulet had filled with water. 
 There was not a sign of game, not a spoor that was not many days 
 
26 
 
 THE SIVAKOP. 
 
 [chap. II. 
 
 old ; and those that were there were chiefly of buffaloes, and all going 
 down towards the mouth of the river. 
 
 The Swakop is the artery of half Damara and Namaqualand ; all 
 the best watering-places are in it. It is the frontier between those 
 two nations. There are three Missionary stations on its banks ; and 
 along its side is the only road that is known to be practicable at all 
 seasons from the sea to the interior. The Kuisip leads into Namaqua- 
 land, but the watering-places are few and uncertain ; the road by it 
 is execrable in places, and cannot bear comparison with the Swakop. 
 No people inhabit Oosop, or the lower part of the river, except some 
 straggling Ghou Damup, who live, like jackdaws, up in the hills. 
 
 These are a very peculiar and scattered race of Negroes, who speak 
 no language but Hottentot, and are frequently slaves to the Bushmen. 
 Who they are, and where they came from, has been a standing enigma ; 
 but I subsequently found out much that was interesting about them. 
 
 The Hottentots come over now and then from the Bay, when the 
 ’Naras are not in season, and bring their cows and oxen to give them 
 a good feed. The place Is not suited for savages, for there are no 
 roots for them to grub up and feed upon, and the river bed is so deep, 
 and the rocks so abrupt, that nothing would be easier than to entrap 
 a drove of oxen in it. Anywhere else, when a plundering attack is 
 made, men and oxen scamper off in all directions, but here they would 
 be “ pounded.” 
 
 I had hitherto generally slept under cover, because at Scheppmans- 
 dorf there was no place for a bivouac, and the night air was damp and 
 chilly ; but here I began to discard my tent, and to sleep by the side 
 of the fire. A large driving-apron, waterproofed on one side and 
 drugget on the other, made my rug, and a blanket and an eider-down 
 quilt my coverlets. My men had pieces of oiled canvas, which I took 
 for them to sleep on, and blankets or old horse-rugs to cover them. 
 We slept round a fire as large as we could get fuel to make it, and 
 on the lee-side of a bush. The cart stood five or six yards off, and 
 the mules were tied by their halters, and the oxen by their nose-bridles, 
 to the cart, and whatever else they could be tied to. My mules were 
 very restless and noisy, kicking each other, and whinnying all night 
 long;, but the oxen were far more sedate, and lay down, looking at 
 the fire with their large eyes, and chewing the cud. The stars were 
 clear, the air was keen and bracing ; we had been eating our last goat, 
 and the mules were stuffed full of reeds and green grass. 
 
CHAP. II.] 
 
 DAVIEEP. 
 
 27 
 
 September 21st . — We were off at seven, for packing and harnessing 
 took us about an hour and a half, and daylight now breaks about 
 half-past five. We only managed to get a cup of coffee before starting. 
 We had bivouacked on the plain, just at the entrance of the gorge 
 that leads down to Oosop, and our course to-day was parallel to the 
 Svvakop, and on to Davieep, another gorge, but not so deep a one 
 as that of Oosop. 
 
 The sun, from the first, was extremely hot ; we seemed to have quite 
 changed our climate, and the cool sea-breezes were evidently shut 
 out. As the day wore on, the mules showed evident effects of their 
 late change of diet from hard food (corn and dry grass) to green grass 
 and reeds; — all animals, when travelling, are extremely affected by 
 causes like this, and the necessity of the change is often one of the 
 great difficulties of a traveller. We had crossed a ridge ; and a huge, 
 rounded mountain (Tinkhas), that faced us, was the principal feature 
 in the landscape. The ground we travelled on was still a crisp gravel, 
 and extended far away to our right ; on our left lay broken rocky 
 ground, then the deep cutting of the river bed, which we often could 
 see nothing of, though so near to it, and beyond, a complete chaos of 
 broken crags and rugged hills ; while level with the tops of these crags, 
 and far beyond them, we could clearly see long reaches of another 
 barren plain, the counterpart of the one we were travelling over. 
 
 The fact is, we were in wretched travelling condition. An indolent 
 life of high feeding and perfect rest on board ship is a bad preparation 
 for a journey like ours. Now, on a sudden, we had begun to live 
 without stimulants of any sort, to work hard, and to endure a sun 
 which exhausted what little nervous energy was left us. We went 
 down to the water, leaving the packs as before, at the top of the 
 descent, which here is only two miles long, and drank excessively. 
 The water seemed to do us some good ; but as soon as we had walked 
 a short distance from it, the thirst, and hunger, and faintness came 
 on again, and we went back to drink, time after time. We could not 
 see a sign of game, except the same buffalo tracks, which spoke of 
 the beasts having passed by, and migrated to the mouth of the river 
 some days since. There was no spoor of wild beasts, or any signs 
 of life, except a few doves, that we tried in vain to shoot, by cutting 
 up a bullet into slugs : they were too wary for us. 
 
 After sundown the cart came : the men had left three mules behind, 
 that had lain down, and would go no further. Andersson, Timboo, 
 
28 
 
 MULE AND HORSE KILLED BY LIONS. [chap. ii. 
 
 and John St. Helena took a hasty meal, and very pluckily went after 
 them. They were absent two hours, but returned without the mules, 
 who it seemed had got up again as the evening became cool, and had 
 strayed, and were nowhere to be found. There were many old zebra 
 tracks about the plain, which are as like those of mules as can be, 
 and in the night quite undistinguishable from them. As for the six 
 mules that had arrived they were, by Stewartson’s advice, sent down 
 into the river to eat, and rest themselves all night. He assured me 
 there would be little danger, that we had seen no tracks of wild animals 
 to injure them, and, what was very true, they must have food. I think 
 it was the most foolish thing that I was guilty of during the whole 
 journey, to leave the poor animals to shift for themselves two miles 
 from us, and without the slightest protection ; but I was new to the 
 country, and thought it a far better plan to put myself under the entire 
 guidance of my worthy friend until I had gained some experience, than 
 to make a mess of the whole thing by trying to manage for myself. 
 I ought to have gone with two or three men to the river, and watched 
 the mules whilst they fed for a couple of hours, then tied them up, and 
 given them a good rest the next day. As it was, I slept in happy 
 ignorance of the fate- that awaited them. 
 
 In the morning I sent a man down to drive them up : he was a long 
 time absent, and at last returned with piteous news. He had found no 
 mules, but, instead of them, the tracks of several lions ; and going on, 
 he came to where he saw the tracks of all the mules going full gallop, 
 and by the side of them those of the lions. A little further on he heard 
 something in the bushes, and found my poor chestnut pack-mule half 
 eaten, and a hyena devouring the remains of the carcase. At a short 
 distance lay my largest horse, and a lion by him ; the lion looked so 
 savage, and walked so slowly away, that my man crept up the rocks, 
 and waited there for a long time, which accounted for his delay, and 
 then ran back to tell us. 
 
 Andersson and myself took up our guns directly and ran down, and 
 the others after us. We went to the chestnut mule — she had been left 
 behind the night before, and her instinct led her to climb down to the 
 river bed, into which she seems to have been watched, and seized by 
 the lions the moment she got there. We then followed the tracks on 
 to the dead horse, the mules and horses had all been galloping together : 
 there were distinct tracks of six lions galloping by their side, and then 
 had been the fatal spring, and the dead horse lay half eaten. The 
 
CHAP. II.] 
 
 ATTEMPT AT REVENGE. 
 
 29 
 
 other lions gave over their pursuit after a few paces. We next followed 
 the mule tracks until they lay sufficiently clear of one another for us to 
 count them, and see whether any more besides the two animals we 
 had seen were dead. I was delighted to find nine tracks, so that not 
 only the six mules, that had drawn the cart, and the little horse were 
 safe, but also the two remaining cart mules which had been left on the 
 road had found out their fellows during the night, and joined them. I 
 sent Timboo and another man to fetch them back, and the rest of us 
 returned to cut off as much meat from the mule and the horse as we 
 could eat or carry, for we were now without any animal food. We then 
 climbed up the cliff that overhung the place where the mule lay, to hide 
 it out of the way of the hyenas and jackals, until we were going back 
 to the waggons. 
 
 We hunted about the whole day after the lions, but their spoors were 
 lost among the rocks, and we could not see one of them. Andersson 
 and I, therefore, determined to sit up and watch for them, as they were 
 sure to return to the carcases in the night. There were two spots 
 where we might lie in wait ; the one a camelthorn tree, about fifty yards 
 from the mule, but with a most difficult trunk to climb, so thick and 
 straight, that ropes would be necessary ; the other, a ledge in the rock, 
 at the very spot where we had been hiding the meat. The cliff rose 
 abruptly above us, — a man could easily climb it ; but we agreed, in our 
 innocence, that a lion could not. So, when the strayed mules and 
 horses had been recovered in safety, we went to the cart, had our 
 dinner, and brought down our warm coats and spare guns, as the 
 evening closed in. Stewartson, with two or three hands, came with us 
 to carry back the horse-meat. It became rapidly twilight as the sun 
 set behind the crags, throwing the deep gorge of the Swakop into 
 shadow ; and there was no time to be lost in getting down the meat 
 and in choosing our positions, for the lions were due at nightfall. We 
 walked quickly to the dead mule, and as we went, the men pointed out 
 five or six deer, or something like them, that we could not clearly see, 
 bounding along the rocks above us and parallel to us. We came to 
 the place ; the mule lay as we had left her. Andersson had gone to the 
 other side of the river to reconnoitre something, and I left my guns, 
 etc., at the bottom of the rock with Stewartson and the men, and ran 
 up to fetch the meat. I was busy tugging out the last shoulder of my 
 trusty steed, when the men called out, “ Good God, sir, the lion’s above 
 you 1 ” I did feel queer, but I did not drop the joint. I walked steadily 
 
 4 
 
30 
 
 THE GHOU DAMUP. 
 
 fcHAP. 12. 
 
 down the rock, looking very frequently over my shoulder ; but it wa<S 
 not till I came to where the men stood that I could see the round head 
 and pricked ears of my enemy peering over the ledge under which I 
 had been at work. Stewartson made a very good shot at him, but too 
 low, splintering the stones under his chin. It was far too dark for a 
 good aim. It then appeared that the creatures we had thought were 
 deer were really the lions. It was now useless to lie out where we 
 had intended, as the lions knew all about us, and proved to be far 
 better rock-climbers than ourselves ; and, as we could not get up the 
 tree, we returned thoroughly out-generalled. 
 
 In the evening a waggon came down. It was en route from the 
 Missionary station of Mr. Hahn to the Bay. The waggon driver had a 
 small flock of slaughter sheep for his own consumption by the way ; he 
 kindly sold us two of them, which was all he could spare. 
 
 In the morning, with a heavy heart and diminished cavalcade, we 
 proceeded onwards ; sometimes Andersson and sometimes I rode — but 
 I had much the most riding of the two. The next day one of my sheep 
 had to be killed for meat, — for some of the men had a most unac- 
 countable prejudice against horse and mule flesh. The mule, I grant, 
 was stringy, for she was old, and had done a great deal of work. But 
 the horse was what butchers would describe as “ prime.” 
 
 September 25 tli . — We came to a water-hole in the sandy river bed, 
 at a place where it was flanked with deep reeds. Stewartson had 
 made us travel in the middle of the day, and right in the midst of the 
 deep sand of the river — he seemed to have a most marvellous dread 
 of lions, though at this season of the year night is the only fit time 
 for travel, and I saw clearly that the mules were knocked up ; indeed, 
 we only travelled three hours a day. There were lions roaring about 
 us all night, and as there was a long reach of dry reeds, we set fire 
 to it. It makes a glorious bonfire, frightens the wild beasts, and 
 improves the pasturage very much. 
 
 26^. — Intensely hot. We passed some rhinoceros spoors, and 
 had a long chase after him, walking or running many miles, but 
 without success ; the chase, fortunately, led us parallel to our course, 
 so that we regained the cart pretty easily. In the middle of the day 
 we met some Ghou Damup, and persuaded four of them to join us. 
 I had a great curiosity about these natives. It was so peculiar to see 
 Negroes speaking the language of a light-coloured race, the Hottentots, 
 and that too in a far more northern part of Africa than Hottentots 
 
EXCESSIVE HEAT. 
 
 3 1 
 
 CHAP. II.] 
 
 were believed to exist in. All published maps up to the last two or 
 three years place a dotted line no great distance north of the Orange 
 River, with the remark, that that is the northern limit of the Hottentot 
 race. Now not only were the Hottentots by Walfisch Bay natives in 
 the country, but here were black people, a race living in amity with, 
 but as inferiors to these very Hottentots, and also speaking their 
 language without any other of their own. It seemed that these Ghou 
 Damup have a stronghold of their own, a large table-mountain, inacces- 
 sible except by one or two passes, which a white man in the country, 
 by name Hans, of whom I shall have much to say by-and-by, had 
 visited and gone up; he gave me a very interesting account of it. 
 This mountain I had made Stewartson promise to accompany me to, 
 to buy goats, after I had reached the Missionary station ahead. Now 
 these very Ghou Damup belonged to it, and therefore we engaged 
 them as guides. I found also the advantage of having natives to do 
 the troublesome work, as carrying wood, watching the cattle, — which 
 they have an aptitude for, and which similar servants do not like, 
 and cannot be spared to perform. 
 
 Erongo is the name of the mountain ; it was described as two days’ 
 journey, either from hereabouts or from the next Missionary station 
 (Otjimbingue) that of Mr. Rath’s. We had no difficulty in explaining 
 our wants to the Ghou Damup, although Stewartson’s vocabulary 
 was extremely limited ; few interjections, twenty or thirty substantives, 
 and infinite gesticulation, are amply sufficient for a dexterous traveller 
 to convey to an intelligent native his views and wishes on a marvellous 
 variety of subjects. 
 
 My thermometers had been packed so carefully that I had never 
 hitherto looked at them, but to-day it felt very hot, and I took them 
 out. I could not have conceived the heat — 143 0 in sun at three o’clock, 
 and 95 0 in the shade. The poor mules cannot get on through the 
 horrible sand. Andersson very nearly had a sunstroke. I found him 
 very ill and with a racking headache, under a tree to which he had 
 staggered, — it was the only shade near — and a very lucky chance 
 for him that he reached it. In a quarter of an hour he was able to 
 ride on, but was extremely poorly for the evening. 
 
 We slept at the mouth of the Tsobis River bed, and eat our last 
 meal of animal food. We had shot nothing, not even fired at game 
 in the Swakop. The days passed by rather heavily, for we were not 
 yet acclimated, but out of health and fevered. The least cut or scratch 
 
32 
 
 HALF-CASTE MORALE. 
 
 [CHAP. II. 
 
 festered, and we were not fit for much exertion. Stewartson told us 
 innumerable anecdotes of events in the country since he had resided 
 there. He showed me all the points of an ox ; explained how im- 
 measurably superior that beast was in every respect to a horse — a 
 fact which I cannot endorse — and every now and then gave me a 
 mount. My first impression in riding an ox, was, that the saddle was 
 ungirthed, for his skin is so loose, that hold on as you will it is 
 impossible to be as steady as on horseback. I hated the animal’s 
 horns ; they were always annoying the rider or somebody else, but 
 nevertheless are dearly prized by Hottentots as an ornament. I learnt 
 it would cast infinite ridicule upon me, in their eyes, if, when I had 
 ride-oxen of my own, I should saw off their tips. The footfall of an 
 ox is peculiarly soft. 
 
 My men, I was glad to see, worked together pretty amicably, but 
 there was no one amongst them with sufficient influence over the rest 
 to be made into a head servant. John Morta, who had far the most 
 character of them all, was unfitted to head the others from his ignor- 
 ance of oxen and horses, and the whole of that very work that I 
 especially wanted a head servant to undertake for me ; I therefore 
 made him cook and housekeeper, and gave him the principal charge 
 of the stores. Timboo had attached himself to me from the first, as 
 henchman and valet-de-chambre — that is to say, if I called out for 
 anything, he would not let anybody but himself bring it — and he 
 made my bed and saddled my horse, and so forth. I had intended 
 Gabriel for that sort of work, but the poor lad was quite bewildered 
 and frightened. He was also a great scamp. In Cape Town he had 
 been the most impudent, self-possessed, and good-looking of young 
 rogues, but the hard work and sense of anxiety quite dashed his spirits 
 and his assurance, and he had relapsed into a timid, frightened boy, 
 and used to talk to the men in a piteous way about his mother. 
 Listening to the conversation of the men at our bivouacs I was quite 
 shocked at the low tone of honour that pervaded it, and yet they must 
 be taken as about the average of the working class in Cape Town. 
 They were perpetually talking of the prison there, which they literally 
 seemed to consider as a kind of club or headquarters, where a person 
 had an excellent opportunity of meeting his friends and of forming 
 fresh intimacies, but where he was at the same time subjected to 
 considerable inconvenience. They positively reckoned dates by the 
 epochs in which either they or their mutual friends had been confined. 
 
CHAP. II.] 
 
 SIGNS OF A GIRAFFE. 
 
 33 
 
 They had no shame in alluding to these matters, even when I was 
 joining in the conversation — in fact, the gaol was the chief thing that 
 they talked about. I have no doubt that if, as an amusement, I had 
 proposed that each man should tell a story, the beginning would 
 usually have been — “ When I was in prison,” etc., etc. This feature 
 in their character corroborated the suspicion of pilfering that I had 
 entertained. But I soon saw that some were very far worse than the 
 Others, and I determined to take the first opportunity of weeding these 
 out. I especially mistrusted one man, whom I believe to have been 
 a regular gaol bird, and who had the worst of influence over the rest. 
 John Morta’s most perfect honesty, through any temptation, I was 
 assured of, and though I had had less opportunity of observing him, 
 I fully believed in Timboo’s. I only wanted to get rid of two men, 
 and to replace them if I could, and then I had hopes I should get on 
 very well with the others. 
 
 Our seven days’ march was an affair of six hours, and up the Tsobis 
 river bed. For the second time we had no animal food left ; but imme- 
 diately that we started we saw the fresh spoor of a giraffe. I doubted 
 whether or no to go after it, as my horse was very thin and weak, and 
 I could not tell where the giraffe might have gone to, probably far 
 beyond reach ; so we travelled slowly on. However, as I rode some 
 little distance in front of the cart, I found that the track went straight 
 up the river bed, which being now hemmed in with impracticable cliffs, 
 the giraffe’s path and our own must necessarily be the same. This 
 made a great alteration in the case, and I cantered slowly on the spoor. 
 My rifle was a little one (only 36 bore) but loaded with steel-pointed 
 bullets. I was afraid of losing all chance of a shot if I wasted time 
 by returning to the cart and getting a larger gun, and therefore I went 
 on, as much for the pot as the sport. After a few hours’ travel, during 
 which I had kept a couple of miles in front of the rest of the party, so 
 as to be well away from the sound of the whip and of the men’s talking, 
 the tracks turned sharp to the right, up a broad ascent, which there led 
 out of the river, and in the middle of this, amongst some bushes, and 
 under a camelthorn tree stood my first giraffe. I took immediate 
 advantage of a bush, and galloped under its cover as hard as I could 
 pelt, and was within one hundred yards before the animal was fairly 
 off. I galloped on, but she was almost as fast as I, and the bushes, 
 which she trampled cleverly through, annoyed my horse extremely ; I 
 therefore reined up, and gave her a bullet in her quarter, which handi- 
 
34 
 
 HER DEATH. 
 
 [chap. ii. 
 
 capped her heavily, and took some three miles an hour out of her speed. 
 Again I galloped, loading as I went, but excessively embarrassed by 
 the bushes, and fired again, whilst galloping, at thirty yards’ distance, 
 and I believe missed the animal. The riding at that time was really 
 difficult, and my horse shied very much. Again I loaded, but my horse 
 was becoming blown, and I rode parallel to the beast, intending to 
 overtake and confront her. There was a watercourse in the way, quite 
 jumpable, but my poor beast made a mess of if, and chested the 
 opposite side ; yet I somehow got him over, and then rode with all the 
 skill I could. At last I steadily gained on the giraffe, then beat her, 
 and passed her. The giraffe obstinately made for her point. I was 
 forty yards in advance, and pulled up full in her path. She came on : 
 my horse was far too blown to fidget, and was standing with his .four 
 legs well out. I waited as long as I dare — too long, I think, for her 
 head was almost above me when I fired, and she really seemed coming 
 at me with vice. I put my bullet full in her face ; she tossed her head 
 back, and the blood streamed from her nostsil as she turned and 
 staggered, slowly retracing her path. I dare not fire again, lest I should 
 fail in killing her, and only excite her to another run, which my horse 
 was not fit to engage in. I therefore rode slowly after the wounded 
 beast, and I drove her back to near where she came from, and there 
 she stopped under a high tree. My horse was now frightened, and 
 would not let me take my aim for the finishing blow at the brain, as it 
 is but a small mark to shoot at ; so I got off, and the unhappy creature 
 looked down at me with her large lustrous eyes, and I felt that I was com- 
 mitting a kind of murder, but for all that, I was hungry, and she must die ; 
 so I waited till she turned her head, and then dropped her with a shot. 
 
 There was now a fine holiday feast for us. When the party came 
 up we set to work flaying and cutting large steaks from the meat, and 
 securing the marrow-bones, until as much was heaped on the cart as 
 the mules could possibly struggle on with. Our Ghou Damup guides 
 ran on to Tsobis, where many of their people lay, and who brought us 
 six ostrich eggs and sweet gum, in return for the meat we had left 
 behind. We now emerged from the deep gorges and high cliffs that for 
 so long a time had shut us in, and could breathe more freely in the 
 open country that lay about us. We had left the arid Naanip plain 
 behind, and were arrived to where thorn-bushes and scanty grass over- 
 spread the sandy country. Fantastically peaked rocks rose on every 
 side, and huge masses of mountains, that indicated the course of the 
 
CHAP. II.] 
 
 SEND FOR HANS LARSEN. 
 
 35 
 
 Swakop, made a grand succession of distances ; but there was a want, 
 even painfully felt, of life in the landscape. The grass was withered, 
 the bushes stunted and sear. No birds could be seen or heard ; and 
 every feature looked still and dead, under that most saddening of lights, 
 a blazing sun in an unclouded sky. 
 
 Septe7nber 2 %th .— We rested a day, to have a really good breakfast 
 and dinner. I have read in some old-fashioned books of fiction, entitled 
 “ Natural History,” that an ostrich egg would feed six men ; but I know 
 that Stewartson, Andersson, and myself finished one very easily for 
 breakfast, before beginning upon the giraffe. I confess, however, that 
 we enjoyed the blessing of a good appetite. 
 
 My mules had become sadly distressed : one was very ill ; he had 
 nearly been drowned when landed at Walfisch Bay, and never recovered 
 the accident ; he was therefore seldom harnessed, but was driven along 
 with any other mule that I might be anxious to spare. I tried harness- 
 ing my horse once, but his pace and step were so different to those 
 of his comrades, that the work was too much for him. 
 
 We were now only two days’ journey from the Missionary station 
 Otjimbingue, in which a man of the name of Hans Larsen was now 
 encamped (he who had been tojErongo), of whom I had heard very 
 much, and whom I had been most strongly urged by Mr. Bam to 
 engage in my service, if I could do so, as he was excellently qualified 
 to take charge of my expedition. My own waggon-men were very 
 thoughtless and careless in their duty, and wanted strict overseering. 
 Hans had been in the service of two cattle-dealers, who successively 
 had ruined themselves by their speculations. He had received 
 payment of his wages partly in goods and partly in cattle, and was 
 now living about the country an independent man, shooting, enjoying 
 the possession of his cattle, and doing odd jobs for the Missionaries. 
 He intended to drive his stock down to Cape Town as soon as the 
 rains had set in, and to make what money he could by them. Hans 
 had originally been a sailor, but begged to leave a ship that he had 
 become disgusted with, and was allowed to do so at Walfisch Bay, 
 where he entered into the service of the traders I have mentioned 
 above. Having been seven years living about the Swakop he had had 
 very many adventures there ; and, as it appeared subsequently, had 
 utterly shot off all the game in it. As it was very doubtful if the 
 mules could struggle on much further, we determined, if they came to 
 .i standstill, to send on for Hans. 
 
36 
 
 OTJIMBING UE. 
 
 [chai ri. 
 
 The first day’s journey from Tsobis was got through pretty well, 
 but on the second the mules and cart came to a dead lock in a broad 
 sandy tributary of the Svvakop that we had to cross. We rode on to 
 Otjimbingue, found Hans, who went directly back with oxen and 
 yokes, and, before sundown, we were all encamped on the Swakop, 
 at the Missionary station of Otjimbingue. But now there was this 
 difference, that no more yellow faces of Hottentots were about us, 
 as at Walfisch Bay, but we had come among the black men — the 
 Damaras — and a country that was, in a certain sense, generally 
 habitable, stretched before us instead of a sand-desert. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Hear 111 News — Engage Hans — Ride to Barmen — En route— Oxen versus 
 Mules — Arrive at Barmen — Jonker’s Attack — Previous History — Oerlams 
 and Europeans — Hottentots and Bushmen — Establishment of Missions — 
 Native Feuds — Dislike to Missions — Obstruction to Travellers — Write 
 to Jonker — Buy Oxen from Hans — Breaking them in — Attacks of 
 Distemper — Complete my Encampment — Digging Holes — Native 
 Hunting — Oxen sent to the Bay— I go to Barmen — Damara Thorn 
 Trees — Jonker writes to me— My Plans — The Ovampo — First Rain — 
 Hottentot Beauties- — Hyena’s Insolence — Damara Ferocity — Cruel 
 Murder — Mutilated Victim — Message to Chiefs — Their Replies. 
 
 Otjimbingue is well situated for a Missionary station. Water, 
 the first necessary of life, is here in sufficient quantity, as a small 
 streamlet runs down the bed of the river. Grass, the next essential 
 in the eyes of a pastoral people like the Damaras, is also in abundance, 
 for the Swakop, at this place, instead of lying between abrupt cliffs, 
 runs through a wide plain, that shelves for miles down its bed ; and 
 which, though covered with thorn bushes, affords a fair allowance 
 of grass-bearing soil. The Mission-house was a temporary affair, 
 a mud wall six feet high, and over it a round-tented ceiling of matwork, 
 in shape like a waggon roof. A gigantic house was being built by 
 Mr. Rath, the missionary, on the top of a little cliff close by. Mr. 
 Rath and his wife received me with great kindness, and as this place, 
 or its neighbourhood, was to be my headquarters for some time, 
 I chose my encampment with some deliberation. It was among a 
 
CIIAP. III.] 
 
 HEAR ILL NEWS. 
 
 37 
 
 group of fine trees, and close by a good spring of water. The natives 
 about the station were excessively annoying and troublesome, and 
 I was strongly inclined to make an example of some of them ; but I 
 still followed a pacific policy. When my encampment had been 
 planned, and the tent pitched, and bushes placed in a wide circle 
 round the cart, I went to spend the evening with the Missionary, and 
 to hear the news of the country. The first intelligence shocked me 
 very much ; it was that quite recently the neighbouring Namaqua 
 Hottentots had attacked Schmelen’s Hope (three long days’ journey 
 ahead), »had murdered and mutilated the Damaras that lived there, 
 and, naturally enough, terrified the resident Missionary into leaving 
 the place. The cause of this outrage, as far as I could learn, was 
 simply savage barbarism, a little robbery, and a demonstration of 
 dislike to the Missionary cause. 
 
 I mentioned, at the beginning of the book, the name of Jonker 
 Africaner as the most important man among the Hottentots ; it was 
 he who headed the expedition. 
 
 The effect of this attack, which had occurred after a long peace or 
 pause from fighting, was to frighten every Damara who had cattle to 
 lose into the far interior, so that hardly an ox was grazing within two 
 days’ journey north of the Swakop, and to seriously alarm the 
 Missionaries, who had hitherto depended on these very Hottentots for 
 protection from Damara insult. The Damaras that I saw were paupers 
 who had no cows — people who chiefly lived, not on milk, but on roots 
 like pig-nuts, and who collected round a white man with a vague hope 
 of protection from him against their countrymen. 
 
 I determined to start immediately for Barmen, the head seat of 
 intelligence as regards Damara and Hottentot movements, and called 
 upon Hans, the next morning, to get, not horsed, but “ oxed,” for the 
 journey. I found him in the neatest of encampments, with an old 
 sail stretched in a sailor-like way to keep the sun off, and in an 
 enclosure of thick reeds, that were cut and hedged all round. The 
 floor was covered with sheep-skin mats : shooting things, knick-knacks, 
 and wooden vessels were hung on the forked branches of the sticks, 
 that propped up the whole. A very intelligent English lad was acting as 
 his “ help.” Natives squatted round at a respectful distance, and Hans 
 sat on an ottoman, looking like a Mogul. I had some conversation with 
 him, and saw at once that he was not only willing to accompany me, 
 but that also he was the very man I wanted. I had heard but one 
 
38 
 
 RIDE TO BARMEN. 
 
 |_CHAP. Ill, 
 
 opinion of his efficiency and honesty from the Europeans that I had 
 seen, which satisfied me on those points, and the style of the man was 
 exactly what I desired, for he was quiet, sedate, but vigorous and 
 powerfully framed, showing in all his remarks the shrewdest common 
 sense, and evidently, from the order around him, an excellent discipli- 
 narian. We very soon came to terms, which were, that he should go 
 with me to Barmen on trial, and that, if he suited, I would employ him 
 as head servant. I was strongly urged to make a good enclosure 
 (kraal) for mules and men, as the lions were extremely numerous 
 about the low ground in which I had encamped, for the sake of the 
 shade, though they seldom prowled upon the bare cliff on which Hans 
 and the Damara huts were scattered. I therefore collected all the 
 natives together that I could, and set vigorously to work, cutting down 
 all the bushes I could find to strengthen my kraal with, and two days 
 passed very busily. I then left Andersson in charge, and rode on with 
 Stewartson and Hans towards Barmen, in the afternoon of the second 
 day. Our little caravan consisted entirely of Hans’ animals, for all of 
 mine required rest ; besides our ride-oxen, we had one ox packed and 
 one loose ; three sheep, and two Damaras ; our pace was a jog trot, 
 and the Damaras drove the sheep and two oxen in front, while we rode 
 behind and drove on the Damaras. We off-packed after three hours, 
 but it was dark when we did so, and the sheep ran loose, and we could 
 not drive them in together; one ran quite away, and was eaten, I 
 presume, by the hyenas who disturbed us a good deal ; one we killed, 
 and the other we tied to a bush. Hans made me a much more 
 comfortable bed than I had previously enjoyed, showing me how to cut 
 the bushes and make a dead hedge of them ; then het smoothed the 
 ground, and plucking dry grass, strewed it thickly about ; upon that he 
 laid two or three sheepskins, over them my mackintosh, and lastly, my 
 eiderdown quilt. This had become torn to rags by the thorns, and 
 I intended on the first opportunity to get a caross instead of it. Sheep- 
 skins and carosses are no incumbrance in travelling with pack-oxen, for 
 they are carefully placed under the saddle-bags, and their use in 
 keeping the animal’s back from being galled is more than compensation 
 for their weight. I listened with much interest to Hans’ tales and 
 anecdotes. He had been the most successful sportsman in the country, 
 and had lived the last two or three years in sole charge of an immense 
 drove of oxen, once amounting to seven hundred, with only one or two 
 native lads to help him in the care of them. He had shot a great many 
 
CHAP. III.] 
 
 OXEN VERSUS MULES. 
 
 39 
 
 lions out of the Swakop, six in the preceding year, and made it a much 
 safer place than it used to be to drive cattle in. From his account, 
 that river bed must have swarmed with game when it was first 
 seen by Europeans ; but I can easily fancy, from the confined character 
 of the country, how in a short time one or two guns would entirely 
 exterminate them. 
 
 In the morning our remaining sheep could not be driven ; he was too 
 scared, and as time was much more precious than mutton, we killed 
 him, took out his inside, and strapped him across one of the oxen, with 
 hardly any delay. I was well mounted on an old ox, and really liked his 
 walking pace very much. I think I can sit more hours on oxback than 
 on horseback, supposing in both cases the animals to walk. An ox’s 
 jog-trot is not very endurable, but anything faster abominable. The 
 peculiarity of the creature is, that he will not go alone, from his dis- 
 position being so very gregarious. He is distressed beyond expression 
 when any attempt succeeds for a time in separating him from the herd. 
 It is with great difficulty that an ox can be found willing to go ahead of 
 the others, even though he knows that his fellows are just behind him. 
 Whipping and spurring has hardly any effect on the animal : he feels 
 every cut most sensitively, as the rider cannot but be aware of ; but the 
 obstinacy of his nature is so wonderfully great, that pain has little or 
 no influence upon his determination. His character is totally different 
 from that of a horse, and very curious to observe ; he is infinitely the 
 more sagacious of the two, but never free from vice. The gregarious- 
 ness of oxen and of sheep is of great advantage to the traveller ; for it 
 is not necessary to be perpetually counting the animals, to see if any 
 have strayed ; and at night, when the oxen are all loose about him, a 
 constant anxiety is taken off the owner’s mind, by knowing that if he 
 sees one, all are there. My mules had given me a great deal of trouble, 
 by requiring much more watching than the oxen, and I hardly know 
 how I could have travelled with a large drove of those animals. I 
 should not dare to let them loose at night, and the country seldom 
 affords enough trees to tether them to. 
 
 We made a tedious ride to-day, taking something to eat at noon, 
 and going on in the evening. I began to see that being able to endure 
 severe exertion for half the day without the breakfast we always have 
 in England, was essential to our sort of life. At first it is very trying. 
 In temperate climates it is easy enough ; but in tropical ones, when you 
 begin work in the fresh cool of the morning, and become hungry and 
 
40 
 
 ARRIVE AT BARMEN. 
 
 [chap. hi. 
 
 exhausted at the very time that the sun is beginning to blaze most 
 powerfully, the want of a restorative is more particularly felt. It is 
 impossible in practice to ensure breakfast before you start ; and con- 
 stantly, when you least expect it, a series of accidents occur that keep 
 you mounted, and put it off till two or three o’clock in the afternoon ; 
 but coffee, so long as you have any, can always be made before 
 starting. 
 
 We passed over very broken ground, and slept under some magni- 
 ficent camelthorn trees : the meat we killed in the morning seemed 
 a little tainted ; so we cooked as much as we could in our iron pot, 
 to prevent it from becoming worse, and gave all the rest to our two 
 or three natives for a grand feast. The evening of the next day found 
 us at Barmen, which, if I was to avoid the Hottentots, would probably 
 be the starting-point of my exploring expedition. Mr. Hahn, a 
 Russian by birth, and married to an English lady, and a Missionary of 
 considerable influence, was the founder of this station. 
 
 Mr. Kolbe and his young wife, who had been attacked by the 
 Hottentots at Schmelen’s Hope, had come here for refuge. They had 
 lost nearly everything. It seems they had quite recently occupied 
 the place, and that the poorer natives had settled in great numbers by 
 them. Kahikene, one of the four or five principal chiefs in Damara- 
 land, had also trecked there with many of his men and large herds 
 of cattle. He had always behaved in a very friendly way to the 
 Missionaries ; but this was the first time that either he, or any of the 
 influential Damaras, had encamped within easy reach of a Mission 
 station. Kahikene showed no distrust, but lived in the friendliest 
 relations with Mr. and Mrs. Kolbe, and they had sincerely hoped by 
 his means to get a firmer footing than they then had in Damaraland. 
 Just at this time, one night a troop of mounted Hottentots galloped 
 up to the place, firing at and murdering all they could catch. Kahikene 
 narrowly escaped : the Hottentots scoured the country in every direc- 
 tion, and a most fearful night was passed. In the early morning, 
 Jonker came reeling drunk to the Mission-house, ordered the door to 
 be unbarred, and behaved in the coolest way, — demanded some break- 
 fast, and so forth ; and then departed with his men, and the oxen, and 
 what else they had robbed. It is very difficult to find out how many 
 people are killed or wounded in occasions like these, as hyenas soon 
 devour the dead bodies, and those who survive scatter in all directions, 
 so that no clue remains towards the numbers missing. I saw two poor 
 
CHAP. III.] 
 
 PREVIOUS HISTORY. 
 
 4i 
 
 women, one with both legs cut off at her ankle joints, and the other with 
 one. They had crawled the whole way on that eventful night from 
 Schmelen’s Hope to Barmen, some twenty miles. The Hottentots had 
 cut them off after their usual habit, in order to slip off the solid iron 
 anklets that they wear. These wretched creatures showed me how 
 they had stopped the blood by poking the wounded stumps into the 
 sand. A European would certainly have bled to death under such 
 circumstances. One of Jonker’s sons, a hopeful youth, came to a child 
 that had been dropped on the ground, and who lay screaming there, 
 and he leisurely gouged out its eyes with a small stick. 
 
 I had no reason to think that this outrage on Mr. Kolbe’s station was 
 any worse than the usual attacks that the Hottentots and Damaras 
 make upon one another; but the Damaras are savages, and are not 
 supposed to know better, while Jonker is a British subject, born in the 
 colony, and his best men are British subjects too. Missionaries and 
 teachers in great numbers have been amongst them, or their fathers, 
 for years and years ; and the home of these people, though now 
 they have trecked on to the tropics, is properly on the borders of the 
 Orange River. 
 
 I was very anxious to obtain something like an authentic history 
 of these Hottentots, and of the Damaras, during the last few years, 
 and I begged Mr. Hahn, who was eminently qualified to give me one, 
 to do so ; and as it will illustrate my story I will now give its substance, 
 mixed up and corrected with what I have since gathered from various 
 quarters, or made out for myself. 
 
 The agents in this history are Namaqua “ Oerlams,” or Namaquas 
 born in or near the colony, often having Dutch blood and -a good deal 
 of Dutch character in their veins. Among these Jonker is a chief. The 
 Namaqua “ Hottentots” look at these Oerlams with great jealousy, and 
 consider them almost as aliens ; they do not approve of their intelligence 
 and mixed blood, but nevertheless make common cause with them 
 against the Damaras. 
 
 It must be recollected that Hottentots are yellow, and not at all black. 
 I could pick out many complexions far fairer than that of my own 
 sunburnt face among them. But the Damaras are quite dark, though 
 their features are good, and seldom of the negro type. Oerlam was a 
 nickname given by Dutch colonists to the Hottentots that hung about 
 their farms ; it means a barren ewe— a creature good neither for breed- 
 ing nor fattening, a worthless concern, one that gives trouble and yields 
 
42 
 
 HOTTENTOTS AND BUSHMEN. 
 
 [chap. 111. 
 
 no profit. However, ail things are relative, and what these Oerlams 
 were to the Dutchmen, that the Namaqua Hottentots are to the 
 Oerlams. 
 
 The Europeans that have visited the country between the latitudes 
 of Angra Pequena and Barmen are some ten Missionaries, the same 
 number of traders, five or six runaway sailors, who have acted as 
 sen-ants to these, and two travelling parties besides my own. The 
 first was that of Sir James Alexander, who explored this country 
 upwards from the Orange River — fifteen or twenty years ago, and 
 whom the traders and Missionaries followed ; the other was that of 
 Mr. Ruxton, the well-known American traveller who sailed to Walfisch 
 Bay, but was prevented by the traders that were there from entering 
 further into the land, and who had to return in the same ship that 
 brought him. There is no difference whatever between the Hottentot 
 and the Bushman, who lives wild about the hills in this part of Africa, 
 whatever may have been said or written on the subject. The Namaqua 
 Hottentot is simply the reclaimed and somewhat civilised Bushman, 
 just as the Oerlams represent the same raw material under a slightly 
 higher degree of polish. Not only are they identical in features and 
 language, but the Hottentot tribes have been, and continue to be, 
 recruited from the Bushmen. The largest tribe of these Namaqua 
 Hottentots, those under Cornelius, and who muster now 1,000 guns, 
 have almost all of them lived the life of Bushmen. In fact, a savage 
 loses his name, “ Saen,” which is the Hottentot word, as soon as he 
 leaves his Bushman’s life and joins one of the larger tribes, as those at 
 Walfisch Bay have done ; and therefore when I say Oerlam, Hottentot 
 or Bushman, the identically same yellow, flat-nosed, woolly-haired, 
 clicking individual must be conjured up before the mind of my kind 
 reader, but differing in dirt, squalor, and nakedness, according to the 
 actual term employed ; the very highest point of the scale being a 
 creature who has means of dressing himself respectably on Sundays 
 and gala-days, and who knows something of reading and writing ; the 
 lowest point, a regular savage. 
 
 Of the very smallest tribe of Bushmen I met none in my travels. 
 
 The Oerlams, then, some thirty years since, were near the Orange 
 River, and Jonker w-as a chief of secondary importance amongst them. 
 He fought his way into notoriety, and with success his little tribe 
 received fresh recruits. The Namaqua Hottentots asked his assistance 
 in attacking their northern neighbours, the Damaras, the pretext being 
 
ESTABLISHMENT OF MISSIONS. 
 
 43 
 
 CHAP. III.] 
 
 constant quarrels, the ill-treatment that their kindred the Bushmen 
 were receiving throughout the country, and last, not least, the fine 
 herds of oxen that only waited to be plundered. Jonker accordingly 
 trecked up, helped the Hottentots, and then settled alongside of them. 
 His tribe now became larger and more efficient ; he bought guns and 
 horses from the Cape with the oxen that he stole, and continued 
 robbing the Damaras on his own account. 
 
 In consequence of a representation sent by Sir James Alexander to 
 two Missionary societies, stations were formed at Jonker’s headquarters; 
 and in 1840 he had been so far influenced, that he agreed to leave the 
 Damaras at rest, and to take care that the other Hottentots should do 
 the same, for he had become by far theimost important chief among 
 them all. The way in which peace was made and kept for three years 
 was highly creditable to the Missionaries concerned in it ; a great deal 
 of trade was carried on in Jonker’s werft. A blacksmith’s shop was 
 put up there, and iron things, assegais, choppers for cutting wood, beads, 
 and so forth, were made in great quantities and sold for cattle, which 
 again were exchanged with traders from the Cape for clothes, guns, and 
 such like things. But this did not last long ; the traders sold their 
 goods on credit; Jonker and the others became deeply in debt, and as 
 the only way of paying it off involved themselves once again in the 
 endless Damara quarrels. It appeared that one Damara chief and his 
 tribe had been invited to a feast, and when these were attacked, and 
 nearly all killed, Jonker, after much persuasion, got a commando together 
 to revenge the injured party, and started. Once on a raid, the 
 Hottentots did not much care whom they attacked, and began by 
 robbing a werft under Kasheua, who had nothing to do with the matter 
 in question, drove off their cattle, and rode after the natives — men, 
 women, and children, shooting them down in all directions ; this he 
 repeated elsewhere till a large herd of cattle were brought together, 
 and then he returned. Cornelius’s tribe of Hottentots, hearing of 
 Jonker’s success, followed his example; they rode in a friendly way to 
 one of Kahikene’s villages (Mr. Ivolbe’s friend at Schmelen’s Hope), 
 and as the Damaras were employed in bringing them milk after the 
 usual fashion, they attacked them and massacred all they could. From 
 this time up to the Schmelen’s Hope affair, nothing else had occurred 
 but fightings and retaliations between the Namaquas and Damaras. 
 
 I have the details in full of many of them, but they are all alike, with 
 little more than the name and place varied. The consequence is, that 
 
44 
 
 DISLIKE TO MISSIONS. 
 
 [chap. 111. 
 
 although the Namaquas have no trade whatever with the Damaras, a 
 steady export of Dainara oxen goes on southwards to our colony in 
 droves of from 200 to 800 head of cattle, which are bought here with 
 far too little inquiry as to how they have been obtained. In fact, I am 
 assured in every quarter that of late years the news of a trader’s 
 waggon being on the road has been the signal for a general raid upon 
 the Damaras. 
 
 Jonker had up to the present time acted very fairly, but rather 
 despotically, to all the whites. He had always protected their persons 
 and property, and had often stood their friend against the other 
 Hottentots. Even the Damara Missionaries were greatly indebted to 
 him for the security they enjoyed ; for the belief was, that any harm 
 done to them would be instantly retaliated by the much-dreaded 
 horsemen of the Hottentots. But Jonker liked to have his own way, 
 and soon became heartily tired of advice and admonition ; and more 
 lately his plundering disposition and that of the Hottentots had become 
 so thoroughly roused, that the rebuking presence of the Missionaries 
 was felt to be extremely irksome and galling, and he constantly 
 expressed his determination to rid himself of them. Still they enter- 
 tained no personal cause for alarm, but the attack on Schmelen’s Hope 
 had placed the matter on a different footing, and their position was 
 become avowedly very perilous. 
 
 The Damaras, from their suspicious nature, always believed the 
 Missionaries and other white people to be merely a species of Hottentot, 
 and acting as spies to Jonker. They argue thus — “You come and go 
 without harm, passing through their country ; you must therefore be 
 as one of their people ; ” and now that the Damaras had been killed all 
 round Mr. Kolbe, and he himself not murdered, they firmly believed 
 that he went there merely as a decoy to bring Kahikend within Jonker’s 
 reach. There was nothing revolting in such a line of conduct in the 
 Damara mind, for they seem to have no perceptible notion of right and 
 wrong ; but it was considered to be a simple fact, and as such they 
 acted upon it, by entirely gutting the Schmelen’s Hope house the 
 instant that Mr. and Mrs. Kolbe had made their hurried retreat from 
 that place to Barmen. 
 
 Jonker had never, even when on the best terms with the whites, 
 permitted any of them to enter Damaraland ; the traders were per- 
 emptorily refused permission to go there ; and more lately, when 
 Mr. Hahn had got everything in readiness at Barmen, to explore the 
 
CHAP. III.] 
 
 / WRITE TO JONKER. 
 
 45 
 
 interior, a troop of men were sent who drove away all his ride, pack, 
 and waggon oxen, and detained them till the season for travelling was 
 gone by ; the reason being, that if a free intercourse were established 
 between the whites and Damaraland, the Damaras would soon buy 
 guns and weapons, which would place them on more equal terms with 
 the Hottentots. It can easily, then, be conceived with what temper 
 Jonker and the others had heard of my landing, and intention to 
 explore ; a plan of sending men down to Walfisch Bay, and to cut me 
 off there, was, as 1 found out afterwards, publicly discussed. Help or 
 countenance from the Damaras was the last thing I could expect, 
 for they would treat me as a Hottentot ; and again, my men were so 
 totally undisciplined and devoid of pluck, and had already cast back so 
 many longing regrets toward the Cape, that I felt that the least check, 
 in the first instance, to my success would dash the whole enterprise. 
 
 At the Cape my plans had already been thwarted by the emigrant 
 Boers, who chose to cut off all communication with the north by the 
 one side of the Karrikarri desert ; and here were the Oerlams, their 
 offset, as it were, trying to do the same on the other. The cases were 
 as similar as could be; both parties were guided by British subjects, — - 
 both were effectually barring out civilisation and commerce from 
 Central Africa, and what I felt most peculiarly vexatious, botli were 
 barring out me. 
 
 Now when I was in Cape Town there was a very general feeling that 
 the interior of South Africa would become an extensive and open field 
 for colonial commerce, since the discovery of Lake ’Ngami had shown 
 a way to it. Hence it was doubly annoying that the emigrant Boers, 
 whose treatment of the blacks was not very many shades better than 
 that of the Oerlams, should not only keep us from these countries, but 
 also generate a hatred on the part of the blacks against white faces, 
 which years of intercourse on our part might not efface. His Excellency 
 the Governor, guided by these views, took advantage of my intended 
 expedition, and also of Mr. Oswcll’s, who was then in the neighbour- 
 hood of Lake ’Ngami, by formally requesting each of us to establish 
 “ friendly relations,” on the part of the Cape Government, with the 
 black tribes, who were subject to the attacks of these marauders. We 
 were simply to convey expression of good will and strong assurances 
 that the proceedings of the Boers met with no countenance on the 
 part of the colony. I, therefore, knowing that Jonker still felt some 
 fear of and respect for the Cape Government, wrote him a long letter 
 
 5 
 
<6 
 
 BUY OXEN FROM HANS. 
 
 [chap, in. 
 
 in legible characters, which I was assured could be deciphered by some 
 of his people. I told him how much displeasure the emigrant Boers 
 had caused, — that his actions were as bad as theirs, — and that therefore 
 he would probably be regarded with the same displeasure as they, if 
 he persisted in attacking the Damaras now that he had been warned. 
 I ended with an assurance that I should call the Damara chiefs together, 
 and express to them what I had been requested to do in the case of the 
 nations threatened by the emigrant Boers. 
 
 After I had written my letter in English I had it translated into 
 simple Dutch, ar.d written on a magnificent sheet of paper, and, finding 
 a messenger, sent it by him to Jonker, who lived fifty miles off, under 
 a high range of hills which was distinctly visible from Barmen. 
 
 Mr. Hahn spoke highly of Hans, and strongly advised me not only 
 to take him into my service, but also to buy up his stock of oxen and 
 sheep, as it would save me infinite trouble, and this I did. I paid him, 
 by cheque on Cape Town, £j I for fifty oxen and a hundred sheep 
 and goats. Of these about fifteen were more or less trained, and two 
 or three were ride oxen. It was the best bargain I could possibly have 
 made, for a month’s barter among the Damaras would never have 
 bought so many. The poverty of the land began to strike me, and 
 the extreme inconvenience of having no currency, which makes bar- 
 tering a very different matter from buying at a shop. I was grieved, 
 too, to find that very many of my articles of exchange were ill-chosen 
 and worthless, and also that I should require a very large troop of 
 slaughter oxen, as hardly any game seemed to exist in this part of the 
 country. 
 
 I only stayed one whole day at Barmen, and then returned to my 
 cart at Otjimbingue, riding the sixty miles between the two places in 
 a day and a half, which is very fair travelling for an ox. I found every- 
 thing in order under Andersson’s management. I heard that the night 
 I left them some lions were roaring in the most awful manner close 
 round the encampment. They seemed to be trying to get at the mules, 
 who, luckily, did not break loose. The men were excessively frightened, 
 as well they might be, for they could see nothing in the dark night, and 
 the lions could at any moment have leaped over the slight fence into 
 the midst of them. The morning showed their spoors, as they had 
 crawled round, and close to the bushes that made the fence. Hans 
 was now formally installed in his office, and the breaking-in of the new 
 oxen for the waggons began. Yokes were borrowed from the Mis- 
 
CHAP. III.] 
 
 ATTACKS OF DISTEMPER. 
 
 47 
 
 sionary, and a heavy tree felled for the animals to draw. The first ox 
 that we lassoed by the leg was very vicious : he threw himself down, 
 and broke his thigh bone, and 1 had to shoot him. The next sprained 
 his ankle, and then got savage, and chased everybody, running upon three 
 legs. He at length took refuge among some thick dabby bushes, which 
 were thronged with hornet.', and, what between the mad charges of 
 the animal and the stings of the hornets, we were fairly beaten off, and 
 had to leave him the whole day by himself. This was a bad beginning ; 
 but after infinite labour three or four were inspanned: they were caught, 
 then made fast between two tame oxen, and there yoked. The same 
 operation was repeated for a few days ; but we did not make much 
 progress, the animals were so very fresh and vicious. It must be 
 recollected that Damara cattle are far wilder animals than those we see 
 in England, and infinitely more difficult to break in. There is a game- 
 like and thorough-bred look about them. Many of them will face and 
 | ; charge a lion, as a buffalo would. My ride ox, Frieschland, who had 
 once been badly scratched and bitten, became furious if he heard a 
 lion’s cry near him. Hans suggested driving them down to the Bay, 
 and then, when a little tired by the journey, and accustomed to having 
 a number of white men about them, they would be more submissive ; 
 I decided on trying this plan, and an early day was fixed for the start,, 
 In the meantime we had ceased to stare at the strangeness of our new 
 friends, the Damaras. Numbers came to my kraal every day, to look 
 in at us in a friendly manner, and to see if there was anything for them 
 to pilfer. Timboo began to make himself intelligible to them, and was 
 quite delighted at each word or phrase that he found to be the same as 
 in his own language. 
 
 The mules and horses were just recovering their condition, when 
 that fatal scourge, the distemper, broke out amongst them. First one 
 ; fine mule was found to be ill, and to stand with difficulty ; a little froth 
 gathered about his nose and mouth ; in an hour he was lying on the 
 < ground, and in another hour dead. I was distressed beyond measure, 
 as I knew the disease would not rest with him ; neither did it, — two 
 more mules were infected, and died also ; but my last horse still was in 
 igcod health. He gave me one good gallop after a giraffe. I saw him 
 1 ( far off, coming down the long slope on the other side of the river, and 
 ! cantered round him. As I got nearer and rode gently, I passed two 
 other individuals, each stalking the same beast; one was my faithful 
 • i Hans, and the other, a brute of a lion. I galloped up to the giraffe, 
 
4 8 
 
 DIGGING HOLES. 
 
 [chap. in. 
 
 and put a large bullet through his ribs, which sickened him at once. 
 I then rode in front of him, as he slowly kept on his road at a pace 
 between a walk and a trot ; but when I began to re-load, 1 found to my 
 intense disgust that my powder-horn had jolted out of my pocket. I 
 could not turn the giraffe ; he forged steadily on at about seven miles an 
 hour, and, as the evening was closing in, I had to leave him to go where 
 he pleased. I offered a good reward for my powder-flask, which I 
 could not easily spare ; and men, women, and boys ran off the next day 
 on my horse’s spoor, and found it. I never carried a powder-flask 
 loose in my pocket again. Other Damaras followed, and got my 
 giraffe for themselves. 
 
 In return for the meat of the dead mules, the Damaras worked at 
 strengthening my kraal, building me a hut in it, and digging a well. I 
 had logs of wood or branches of trees planted upright in the ground at 
 intervals all round, and plenty of dabby bushes wattled in between 
 them. I made a good gate to the whole ; for I wished to feel, that 
 when Timboo, John Morta and I remained behind, and the rest of the 
 party were gone down to the Bay to fetch the waggons, I might have 
 a place of security against pilferers and night marauders. 
 
 When the holes had to be dug for planting the uprights, I was 
 infinitely amused at the adroitness with which the Damaras made them. 
 I should have used spades, and, in default of those, I really do not 
 know what I should have done, but the natives each took a common 
 stick, pointed at one end, and, holding it like a dagger, broke up the 
 ground with it ; they then scratched out the loose earth with their left 
 hand, working in this way until holes were burrowed deeper than the 
 elbow, and only some six inches in diameter. Savages have so many 
 occasions for scratching up the ground, as in digging for deep roots, for 
 water, when the wells are partly choked up, and such like, that the 
 Damaras often carry a stick for the purpose among their arrows, in 
 their quiver. The Bushmen do the same, and this method of digging 
 is called in Dutch patois ‘‘crowing ’’the ground; thus, ‘‘crow-water,’’ 
 means water that you have to crow for, and not an open well, or 
 spring. 
 
 To return to my horse ; the day arrived when he was doomed, and 
 the fatal distemper made him its last victim. It appears that distemper 
 is most fatal in the months of September, October, and November, and 
 that it generally ceases with the first rains. The Hottentots were 
 hardly able to contend w'ith it at first, but by degrees places were 
 
CHAP. Ill ] 
 
 NATIVE HUNTING. 
 
 49 
 
 found in the Hottentot country, one on a lngh table-mountain, where 
 the sickly season could be passed by them in safety ; some few horses 
 had had the distemper and recovered, and these were kept at hand. 
 Jonker had always a few of these about him. The exchange price of a 
 horse among the Hottentots here is from eight to ten oxen, but they 
 were hardly ever sold, as a horse is invaluable for marauding purposes. 
 Cattle cannot be swept off by a few men without their aid, for as soon 
 as the attack is made, the oxen run off in all directions, and it is almost 
 out of the power of a man on foot to overtake and turn them, but they 
 are quite at the mercy of a few horsemen. 
 
 There were large herds of zebras about, that came down nearly every 
 afternoon to drink, but I soon gave over trying to shoot them. It here 
 required a very long stalk, as the broad open river-bed had first to be 
 crossed ; and there were four or five hangers-on about the place with 
 their guns, who would run down and have their shots ; besides these 
 there were savages with their bows and arrows. Often, after an hour’s 
 hard and careful manoeuvring, the game was seen to be startled, and a 
 ball from a zealous sportsman was whizzing at them from some 
 ridiculous distance. The captain of the werft made good and steady 
 bags of game with his bow and arrows, getting a zebra about every other 
 day ; but then he had to slave at it, and often follow the wounded 
 animal’s spoor for great distances. The lions also killed several, and 
 they supplied the natives pretty well. The Damaras were always on 
 the look out, and, guided by the vultures, appropriated in the morning 
 whatever beasts the lions had left half eaten. 
 
 I employed myself in breaking-in my remaining mules to carry packs 
 and saddles ; they were too few now to draw my cart, but use might be 
 made of them in some other way. They were troublesome, sensible 
 creatures, not kicking at random, but always with an aim. We had 
 several tumbles, but succeeded in teaching them the elements of their 
 duty. It is much more difficult to break-in animals in the open country 
 than it is in an enclosure, because, when you let them go, which you 
 cannot help doing sometimes, they gallop off, and it takes a very long 
 time, often an hour, and plenty of running, to turn and catch them 
 again ; besides this, each chase scares and frightens them all the more. 
 
 Eight days had now passed since I had returned from Barmen, and a 
 fortnight since the cart first arrived here, in Otjimbingue. The time 
 had been spent pretty actively, a great deal had been learnt, one very 
 bad character weeded from among my men, and on the evening of the 
 
50 
 
 I GO TO BARMEN. 
 
 [CHAF. Ill, 
 
 ninth day all the party, except Timboo, John Morta, and myself, went 
 down under the care of Andersson to the waggons. They took all the 
 oxen and a sufficiency of slaughter sheep with them, the remainder 
 being in charge of John Allen, the English lad whom I found living 
 with Hans, and doing work for him. John Allen was not yet in my 
 service, but I engaged him afterwards ; he was a most trustworthy, 
 hard-working clever lad, and originally a sailor. There was now no 
 anxiety about the food and safety of the Bay party, for Hans knew 
 every inch of the road, and was thoroughly au fait in all that related to 
 oxen ; but I did anticipate with much fear that the animals would never 
 be broken-in within any reasonable time. Everybody prophesied ill ; 
 but they had done so from the beginning, and I felt convinced that the 
 hardest part of the journey, the first step, was over. I now had an 
 establishment of oxen and men, and a few good servants amongst them, 
 and it was precisely in possessing myself of an establishment that my 
 great difficulty had lain. 
 
 There was a ride-ox for every man that went to the Bay, and they 
 trotted off on the evening of October 17th. Stewartson went back with 
 them. I was very sorry to part with him, as he had been an amusing 
 comrade and of great service to me. My proposed expedition to 
 Erongo had therefore to be postponed, and I determined to go there on 
 Hans’s return. 
 
 I now lived in great part at Mr. Rath’s house, copying his dictionary 
 of Damara words, and hearing the results of his observations on the 
 people. Timboo continued learning the language : and I waited with 
 anxiety for an answer from Jonker. The time passed pleasantly enough. 
 I put my map of the country, so far as I had gone, into order, practised 
 a good deal with my sextant, but made very little progress indeed in the 
 language ; I could find no pleasure in associating and trying to chat 
 with these Damaras, they were so filthy and disgusting in every way, 
 and made themselves very troublesome. My mules were watched and 
 taken out to graze by two natives, whom I fed and paid at the rate of a 
 yard of iron wire per month. 
 
 After a time, no reply having arrived from Jonker, I engaged a 
 Hottentot, who had four or five trained oxen, to take me to Barmen. 
 He was a respectable old gentleman, who spoke Dutch perfectly, and 
 every now and then earned something by doing odd jobs tor the 
 missionaries. His honesty was unimpeachable; his family large; the 
 ladies of it were thoroughly Hottentot, and the younger ones were 
 
CHAP. III.] 
 
 JONKER WRITES TO ME. 
 
 Si 
 
 dressed in leather skirts, that showed off their peculiar shapes to great 
 advantage. Half of my things were put on ox-back, half on the mules. 
 Timboo and I rode an ox and a mule between us. John Morta got a 
 mount now and then, but he disliked both animals exceedingly. The 
 mule curved his back and cocked his ears and switched his tail much 
 more than was pleasant among the sharp rocks and abominable hakis 
 thorns. These hakis thorns have overspread the whole country on this 
 side of Tsobis ; the tree is seldom more than fifteen feet high, with a 
 short straight stem and a spreading bushy head ; the thorns are all 
 curved (hakis is the Dutch for hook), and, consequently, they do not 
 hurt you like other thorns when you tumble into a bush, but only when 
 you try to get out of it. My hands were cruelly torn with these thorns, 
 and as I was still in bad condition, all the scratches festered ; it was 
 very painful, I could hardly close my hands for pain. Besides these 
 there were the “black thorn” and the “white thorn” (I take the names 
 as I heard them) ; the first produces crisp tasteless gum in great abun- 
 dance, the other a very sweet gum, that tastes and feels exactly like 
 jujubes, but has a great tendency to ferment. 
 
 We travelled on very quietly to Barmen, as John Morta was lame, and 
 there was no hurry. We were four days in going there. I likegipsying 
 work excessively, making a temporary home of a pretty spot and then 
 going on without regret at leaving it. A heavy thunderstorm swept by 
 us, the first we had yet seen, and the harbinger of the rainy weather 
 that was to provision me, as far as water was concerned, for my 
 approaching journey. Deluges of rain and peals of thunder passed 
 down the Svvakop, such as only tropical countries can show. 
 
 Jonker’s answer reached me at Barmen; it was rambling and 
 unsatisfactory, begging that I would come to his town and discuss the 
 matters. The letter, instead of having been sent by a direct messenger, 
 had been passed from one person to another, so that it had occupied 
 a month in travelling from the blue hills that bounded the horizon 
 before me. I thought this highly disrespectful, and hardly knew how 
 to act, when three days later brought intelligence of a Hottentot raid 
 of a more murdeious and extensive description than any that had 
 taken place previously. Eleven whole werfts had been swept away ; 
 the Elottentots had passed within twenty miles of where I was, and 
 fugitives came from every side telling of their misfortunes. Now 
 this was too bad ; but I determined to have patience for a little 
 time— a traveller must learn patience — and I wrote Jonker another 
 
5 2 
 
 MY PLANS. 
 
 [chap. Ill 
 
 civil letter. I took the ground of supposing that he had not under- 
 stood, my last one, and I explained myself over again. My intentions 
 were simply these :■ if he still intended to obstruct the way to Damara- 
 land, in spite of the long, the carefully worded and well indited letters 
 that I had sent him, and which explained fairly enough what the 
 feelings were with which the Cape Government regarded marauders 
 like himself, I would try if I could not do something personally to 
 further my own plans of exploring as I liked. I had no idea of 
 undertaking a piece of Quixotism in behalf of the Damaras, who 
 are themselves a nation of thieves and cut-throats ; but I was de- 
 termined that Jonker’s contempt of white men should not be carried 
 so far as to jeopardise my own plans. In fact, if he did not care 
 a straw for me, as the bearer of the wishes of our common Govern- 
 ment, I would take my own line as an individual who had a few 
 good guns at command, and would do my best to force my point. 
 Whatever I was to do must be postponed till my men came, so I 
 busied myself as usual with the milder occupations of latitudes and 
 longitudes and mapping. I built a wall, on the top of which I 
 mounted my tent; a hut was made opposite for my two men, and 
 the whole was well bushed in with thorns. I dined most days 
 with Mr. Halm who gave me most full and accurate information about 
 both Damaras and Hottentots. Timboo improved very much in the 
 language, and was the life and soul of the place, while John Morta 
 watched over my kraal like a dragon, and made the very children 
 cry out with terror when he scowled at them. Mr. Hahn and I 
 had numbers of the natives up to question them about the country 
 to the north, but very little could be learnt At last a man came 
 to Mr. Hahn and said there was a great lake ten days off, of which 
 he heard I had been in search, and that he would take me there, 
 and the name of the lake was Omanbonde. Its direction was some- 
 where between north and east. This was just what I wanted — a 
 point to aim at, something to search for and explore. It seemed 
 so very absurd to bring a quantity of men and oxen, and charge the 
 scarcely penetrable hakis thorns which hemmed us in on every side, 
 without something definite to go after. The name was pretty; the 
 idea of a lake in this dusty sun-dried land was most refreshing, and, 
 according to my temperament, I became immediately sanguine and 
 determined to visit it. 
 
 A nation called the Qvampo were said to live in that direction, 
 
CHAP. III.] 
 
 FIRST RAIN. 
 
 53 
 
 a very interesting agricultural people, who, according to Damara 
 ideas, were most highly civilised. I wished much to go to them ; 
 they were the only people worth visiting that I could hear of ; but 
 I could find out very little regarding them. These savages were 
 av5 ignorant of the country two days’ journey off as an English 
 labourer usually is. My friend, who told me of Omanbondb, told 
 me also that I could get to the Ovampo by way of that lake, and 
 he told me much more. He mentioned most particularly a remark- 
 able nation, who were deficient in joints both at the elbows and 
 knees. They were therefore unable to lift anything to their mouths 
 by themselves ; but when they dined, they did so in pairs, each 
 man feeding his vis-a-vis. 
 
 We had, after a long drought, a most terrific thunderstorm ; the 
 lightning flashed so continuously that I could read a newspaper by 
 its light without stopping, my eye taking in enough words by one 
 flash to enable me to read steadily on until the next one. It 
 lightened in three different parts, and we were in the middle. There 
 were some flowers in front of me, and the lightning was so vivid, 
 and its light so pure, that I could not only see the flowers, but also 
 their colours I believe this is a very rare thing with lightning. 
 There were four savages running in a line, about one hundred yards 
 off, bn their way to their huts : after one of the flashes, only three 
 remained ; the other was struck dead. Mr. Hahn and I picked him 
 up. It is curious how little a negro’s features are changed by death ; 
 there is no paleness. His widow howled all night ; and was engaged 
 to be married again the succeeding day. 
 
 The Swakop ran violently after this storm, pouring vast volumes 
 of turbid and broken water for three days down what had hitherto 
 been an arid sandy channel. 
 
 Mr. Hahn’s household was large. There was an interpreter, and a 
 sub-interpreter, and again others ; but all most excellently well-behaved, 
 and showing to great advantage the influence of their master. These 
 servants were chiefly Hottentots, who had migrated with Mr. Hahn 
 from Hottentot-land, and, like him, had picked up the language of the 
 Damaras. The sub-interpreter was married to a charming person, not 
 only a Hottentot in figure, but in that respect a Venus among Hottentots. 
 I was perfectly aghast at her development, and made inquiries upon that 
 delicate point as far as I dared among my missionary friends. The 
 result is, that I believe Mrs. Petrus to be the lady who ranks second 
 
54 
 
 HYENA'S INSOLENCE. 
 
 [chap. III. 
 
 among all the Hottentots for the beautiful outline that her back affords, 
 Jonker’s wife ranking as the first; the latter, however, was slightly 
 ftassee, while Mrs. Petrus was in full embonpoint. I profess to be a 
 scientific man, and was exceedingly anxious to obtain accurate measure- 
 ments of her shape ; but there was a difficulty in doing this. I did not 
 know a word of Hottentot, and could never therefore have explained 
 to the lady what the object of my foot-rule could be ; and I really dared 
 not ask my worthy missionary host to interpret for me. I therefore 
 felt in a dilemma as I gazed at her form, that gift of bounteous nature 
 to this favoured race, which no mantua-maker, with all her crinoline 
 and stuffing, can do otherwise than humbly imitate. The object of my 
 admiration stood under a tree, and was turning herself about to all 
 points of the compass, as ladies who wish to be admired usually do. 
 Of a sudden my eye fell upon my sextant; the bright thought struck 
 me, and I took a series of observations upon her figure in every 
 direction, up and down, crossways, diagonally, and so forth, and I 
 registered them carefully upon an outline drawing for fear of any 
 mistake ; this being done, I boldly pulled out my measuring-tape, and 
 measured the distance from where I was to the place she stood, 
 and having thus obtained both base and angles, I worked out the 
 results by trigonometry and logarithms. 
 
 Mr. Hahn gave me a very interesting account of the first establish- 
 ment of the Damara mission. He was permitted to leave Jonker’s 
 place after much trouble, and encamped amongst the negroes in com- 
 pany with Mr. Rath and Mr. Bam. None of them knew a word of the 
 language. No European had ever as yet learnt it, and the natives 
 laughed at them and annoyed them most excessively ; they were mobbed, 
 and could do scarcely anything. At last a lazy fellow with his nose 
 half-bitten off by a hyena attached himself to them. He happened, 
 besides being lazy, to be also a particularly intelligent man, and soon 
 understood what the missionaries were driving at, when they endea- 
 voured to get at the pronouns and tenses of this tongue of prefixes. 
 He was of the greatest use to them, and, mainly through his aid, they 
 have, after five or six years’ labour, fully acquired the language. Their 
 grammar and dictionary were to have been sent in 1852, to the pro- 
 fessor of philology at Bonn, and have probably been received by this 
 time. 
 
 This man’s nose was seized by a hyena while he was asleep on his 
 back, very unpleasant, and an excellent story to frighten children with. 
 
CHAP. III.] 
 
 CRUEL MURDER. 
 
 55 
 
 I could hardly believe it until a case occurred quite d pi-opos. An old 
 Bushwoman, who encamped under the lee of a few sticks and reeds 
 that she had bent together, after the custom of those people, was 
 sleeping coiled up close round the fire, with her lank feet straggling out 
 in the dark, when a hyena who was prowling about in the early morning, 
 laid hold of her heel and pulled her bodily half out of the hut. Her 
 howls alarmed the hyena, who quitted his hold ; and she hobbled up 
 the next morning to us for plaisters and bandages. The very next 
 night the old lady slept in the same fashion as before, and the hyena 
 came in the same way, and tugged at her heel just as he had done the 
 previous evening. The poor creature was in a sad state; and I and 
 one of Mr. Hahn’s men sat up the next night to watch for the animal. I 
 squatted in the shade of her house, my companion covered a side path, 
 and the woman occupied her hut as a bait. It was a grand idea, that 
 of baiting with an old woman. The hyena came along the side-path 
 and there received his quietus. 
 
 All along the country about us was in the utmost confusion ; but we 
 were not annoyed at Barmen. Once indeed men came with the news 
 that a body of Damaras had been seen prowling behind the rocks that 
 form a broken background to the station ; and we got everything ready 
 for an attack, and watched through the night, but nothing came. 
 
 The fugitives from a lately dispersed werft were staying at Barmen ; 
 their cattle had been scattered all about the country, and three men 
 went out on a three or four days’ excursion to look after them. When 
 they returned they came to the station yelling and leaping, and the 
 whole population turned out and joined them in their war-dance. I 
 never witnessed a more demoniacal display ; their outrageous move- 
 ments, their barking cries, the brandishing of the assegais, and the 
 savage exultation of man, woman, and child at the thoughts of blood- 
 shed, formed a most horrible scene. We heard that the meaning of it 
 all was, that the Damaras, who were looking after their lost cattle, had 
 found two of the robbers in the act of driving some of their herd a few 
 miles from this place, and that they had caught the men and killed 
 them. The story seemed improbable on very many accounts, and as 
 the scene of slaughter was no great distance off, the interpreter and 
 two or three men were sent on the spoor to find out what they could. 
 They returned with the tale that in the middle of a river bed they had 
 come to a place where the sand was much trodden down, and some 
 blood was dashed about, and from that spot footsteps led in two 
 
56 MUTILATED VICTIM. [chap iii. 
 
 directions, and with each set of footsteps there was the mark of 
 something being dragged ; the first spoor led to a bush on one side of 
 the river where a man lay dead the other to a thick hakis thorn cover, 
 but nothing could be seen under it though the sand was disturbed. 
 Looking further they found a spoor that went thence by itself right up 
 the river bed. The interpreter followed it ; it was that of a person 
 crawling and dragging himself, and the wretched man whose track it 
 was, was found a mile off under a tree in a most pitiable state, with 
 the back of his neck cut through to the bone. It was in the forenoon 
 of the day before that he had been wounded, and it was now past the 
 early morning, but he was still able to speak. He said — and further 
 inquiries corroborated the story— that he and the man that lay dead 
 were loitering about digging roots, when they saw a fire and the three 
 Damaras, from Barmen, eating meat over it ; an ox lay slaughtered by 
 their side. They offered to feed them if they would help to carry as 
 much meat to Barmen as they could, so they agreed and went on. 
 Arriving at the river bed, the three men fell upon their two porters, 
 knocked them down with their knob kerries, and struck them till they 
 were nearly insensible, and then hacked at their necks with their 
 assegais. This one was left for dead, but he recovered, and succeeded 
 in crawling from under the thorn bush to where he was found. The 
 tenacity of life in a negro is wonderful. The object of the murder 
 proved to be simply this. The three Damaras had found cattle belong- 
 ing to their werft but not to themselves ; they were hungry and killed 
 an ox to have a good gorge, and then, not knowing how to get out of 
 the scrape of having killed their friends’ cattle, they determined to lay 
 the guilt upon these two unhappy men, and therefore murdered them 
 It would never do to leave this man to die where he was, so I went 
 with water, a litter, and some bandages. The first man’s throat was 
 cut quite through, and he had long been dead; the second man I 
 found under the shadow of a tree with his head between his two hands 
 on his knees and insensible, but we roused him up, his lips were 
 cracked with thirst, and he could not speak. I could never have 
 believed that a man with a wound like this could have survived an 
 hour ; all the back sinews of his neck were severed to the bone, and 
 the cut went quite round his neck, but only skin deep near the jugular 
 vein and windpipe. The head was perfectly loose upon his shoulders, 
 and heavily bruised, and his skin was torn with the hakis thorns. I 
 put him on the litter, but his head rolled so shockingly from side to 
 
CHAP. Ill ] 
 
 MESSAGE TO CHIEFS. 
 
 57 
 
 side as the litter moved that I was obliged to make two cushions of 
 grass one on each side of his head, to steady it. At Barmen he was 
 not able to give any further account, as he became delirious and died 
 in a few hours. 
 
 I had sent messages to the different chiefs trying to explain what 
 the instructions were that I had received at Cape Town. The way of 
 authenticating messages in this part of the world is curious ; it is by 
 giving some token to the messenger which he shows as a guarantee 
 that he really comes from the person he professes to represent, just as 
 our ancestors who were not clever at writing sent their signet rings. 
 1 could not tell what to send ; it ought to be something very character- 
 istic and not worth stealing — an article that neither grease, rain, nor 
 dirt could spoil, and impossible to be broken. All my things were 
 reviewed, but none were suitable except a great French cuirassier's 
 sword in a steel scabbard, one that I had bought years before in 
 Egypt. This was just the thing. The Damaras adore iron as we adore 
 gold ; and the brightness of the weapon was charming in their eyes. 
 They had no idea of its use, as swords are unknown to them, but they 
 considered it as a large knife. I therefore girded my messenger with it 
 in the presence of Ins companion, and Mr. Hahn translated for me a 
 short message to this effect — That I came from a great chief and a 
 large nation who did not rob as the Namaquas did, but wished to be 
 friends and not enemies with the Damaras, and to send traders into 
 their country; that our land was very fertile, and we did not want any 
 other, but we wanted cattle, and our traders would bring iron and buy 
 them ; that the Damaras must not think when our people cotne that 
 they are spies, for they are friends, and they must treat them kindly 
 The messengers then repeated what they had heard, to show that they 
 recollected it, and were given a sheep to cut up and carry for their 
 provision, and started off. I received civil answers on the messengers’ 
 return ; but the Damaras are all so hostile to each other, tribe against 
 tribe, that I found it impossible to bring the chiefs together. Still I was 
 glad that I had sent my messages, as it was a demonstration, and that 
 might be of some immediate good to me. 
 
S» 
 
 / CO TO MEET THE WAGGONS. 
 
 [chap. iv. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 I go to meet the Waggons — Start for Erongo — En route — Damara Features 
 — Gabriel in a Scrape — The Mountain Erongo — Chase Zebras — Ghou 
 Damup Huts — A Black Coquette — Return to Waggons — Leave Otjim- 
 bingue — Mishaps — How to Encamp and Water Oxen — Arrive at Barmen, 
 thence to Schmelen’s Hope — Ride to Eikhams — A Doomed Sufferer — 
 Visit Jonker — Conference with Him — Swartboy and Amiral — Ride on to 
 Rehoboth — Umap’s Judgment — Obtain Interpreters — Return to Reho- 
 both — Murder a Dog and Pay for it — Conference at Eikhams — Legislating 
 — Proposed Conference — Mules run quite away — Schmelen’s Hope — 
 Dates. 
 
 In the last week of November I received the welcome news of 
 Andersson’s arrival at Otjimbingue with the waggons. The oxen had 
 taken them up in five long stages from Scheppmansdorf, working by 
 night, and resting thirty-six hours between each pull. It was impossible 
 for me to leave Barmen, as matters were now pending between me 
 and the native chiefs, and I daily expected to hear some news of 
 Jonker’s movements. On December 4th Andersson rode over to 
 me, and his and Hans’ performances with the unbrpken oxen and two 
 heavy waggons were loudly praised by everybody. All had gone 
 well ; Andersson had shot his first rhinoceros, my men had worked 
 fairly, all except one waggon-driver, who, besides laziness and inso- 
 lence, had been caught in the act of stealing to a great extent. He 
 was a man I had determined to get rid of some time before, and I 
 now only waited until I could engage somebody to take his place 
 before I did so. 
 
 Nothing in particular transpired. I failed in learning more about 
 Omanbonde, and returned to Otjimbingue. I went a few days before 
 Andersson, as I wished to visit Erongo with Hans, before starting with 
 the waggons. I left the mules at Barmen, and rode back on ride- 
 oxen which Andersson had brought for me. The mules were trouble- 
 some creatures, requiring too much watching; they constantly tried 
 to run away, and when off, their pace was so good that the men lad 
 runs of many hours before they could overtake and bring them back. 
 They gave me great anxiety at first, but now I was quite tired of 
 their tricks, and hardly cared what became of them. 
 
 I arrived at Otjimbingue about the 10th of December, and found 
 
START FOR ERONCO. 
 
 59 
 
 CHAP. IV.J 
 
 the waggons drawn up on the cliff under a thick roofing of reeds, and 
 with reeds stacked all round them. Everything looked most perfectly 
 in order, and I felt delighted with Hans’ management. My waggon 
 gear had required much putting in order; the trek-tows or ropes to 
 which the yokes were fastened were quite rotten ; they were remark- 
 ably good pieces of rope when I bought them in Cape Town, so much 
 so as to attract the critical eye of the sailors ; but nothing of hemp 
 or cotton stands this climate. I do not know why, but string, yarn, 
 shirts, and thread all become useless after a short exposure to the 
 air. Hans had therefore saved the hide of every ox that had been 
 slaughtered, and had either dressed it to make reims and suchlike 
 things, or else twisted it up raw to make it into a trek-tow. We still 
 wanted one hide, which a gnu was kind enough to afford us. Hans 
 wounded him after a long stalk ; but though the animal got off for 
 the time, he was steadily followed by Hans and John Allen for hours, 
 till nightfall ; they then slept on the track, and took it up again the 
 next morning ; in a couple of hours they found the beast on three legs, 
 at bay, under a stone, where he was shot and flayed. Gnu is literally 
 the only hide, besides that of oxen and koodoos, that is fit for a 
 trek-tow ; almost all other animals have either too small and too thin 
 skins, or else the opposite extreme, while gemsbok and zebra hides, 
 which are of the right thickness, are the worst of leather. 
 
 I stopped a day at Otjimbingue, and then rode off with Hans, John 
 St. Helena, and Gabriel, to the mountain Erongo ; it was partly an 
 excursion to buy oxen and sheep for my journey, and partly to see the 
 country, and that remarkable stronghold of the Ghou Damup. The 
 drought was so great, no constant rain having fallen, that troops of 
 Damaras were flocking in from all sides to the comparatively abundant 
 water of the Mission station. One of the captains, who was in advance 
 of the rest of his people, offered to go back with me as guide. He said 
 he would take us to different werfts on our road, where we might 
 barter as much as we liked, but that he dare not take us to Erongo, as 
 his people and the Ghou Damup who lived there were always fighting 
 together. I took a few articles of exchange, some of each of the 
 different things that I had, and we all started in the afternoon. 
 
 Our native followers included two Ghou Damups, who were to 
 introduce us to their relatives on Erongo, in the same way as the 
 captain was to recommend us to his friends on the road. 
 
 We emerged from the broad valley of the Swakop, after three hours’ 
 
00 
 
 DAMARA FEATURES. 
 
 [chap. IV. 
 
 travelling, then scrambled along a very stony road, offpacked for a 
 couple of hours in a watercourse and travelled on till daybreak, when 
 we came to the first Damara village, where, after a good deal of 
 explanation and long waiting, we were tolerated and allowed some 
 milk. Hans was my only interpreter. A little bartering took place 
 here, and some sheep were bought. We then rode on down a broad 
 grassy plain, bounded on the left by high mountains, and some more 
 bartering took place at midday ; our oxen on each occasion being put 
 under the charge of the captain of the tribe, who had them watered 
 and sent out to grass. I felt nervous at being amongst such numbers 
 of armed ill-looking scoundrels as these Damaras are ; their features are 
 usually placid, but the least excitement brings out all the lines of a 
 savage passion. They always crowded round us and hemmed us in, 
 and then tried to hustle us away from our bags and baggage. They 
 have an impudent way of handling and laying hold of everything they 
 covet, and of begging in an authoritative tone, laughing among them- 
 selves all the time. It is very difficult to keep them off; the least show 
 of temper would be very hazardous among such a set of people, and it 
 is hardly possible to amuse and keep them in order without a ready 
 command of their language. I must say that these savages are 
 magnificent models for sculptors, for they are tall, cleanly made, and 
 perfectly upright ; their head is thrown well back, and their luxuriant 
 but woolly hair is clustered round an open forehead ; their features are 
 often beautifully chiselled, though the expression in them is always 
 coarse and disagreeable. Their whole body shines with grease and 
 red paint (if they can afford those luxuries), and though they are the 
 dirtiest and most vermin-covered of savages, yet the richer class among 
 them are well polished up, and present an appearance which at a short 
 distance is very imposing and statuesque. They call clothes by the 
 same name that they give to the scum of stagnant water ; and I must 
 say that in personal appearance, these naked savages were far less 
 ignoble objects than we Europeans in our dirty shirts and trousers. 
 
 We arrived at our guide’s werft in the afternoon, and I was thoroughly 
 fatigued from heat and want of sleep, and a pretty long ride ; but Flans 
 kept watch and bartered perpetually. I could find no shade— there 
 scarcely ever is shade in Damaraland — but dropped asleep for two or 
 three hours in the full sun, which made me sick and poorly. Gabriel 
 had recovered a little of the spirits that he had lost by travelling, and 
 was now becoming impudent to the Damaras ; he had a quick angry 
 
CHAP. IV.] 
 
 THE MOUNTAIN ERONGO. 
 
 61 
 
 temper when annoyed (having already tried to stab two of his fellow- 
 servants), and now that the Damaras were thronging round us and 
 teasing us a great deal, I was in much alarm lest some imprudence of 
 the lad’s should give them pretext for an attack. If fighting had once 
 commenced, we should have been as full of assegais as St Sebastian 
 ever was of arrows, and our guns would have availed but little. Just at 
 this time, as we were all squatting in a ring, except Hans and John 
 St. Helena, who were a little to one side and out of the way, some 
 hungry native dogs paid our saddle-bags a visit, and gnawed at the 
 leather. Gabriel took a rhinoceros-hide whip to frighten them off, and 
 one snarled, but retreated to his master through the middle of the ring. 
 Gabriel rushed, quite daft, after the dog, and gave a tremendous slash 
 with the long supple whip at him, but he quite over-reached his aim, 
 and the chief got the benefit of the cut full on his legs. Another 
 instant and Gabriel was prostrate, while the chief, like a wild beast, 
 glared over him ; the muscle of every Damara was on the stretch 
 Every man had his assegai. My gun lay by my side, but I had sense 
 enough not to clutch at it. I tried with all my power to look as steady 
 and unconcerned as I could, and I must partly thank the sun, which had 
 baked my face into a set expression, for success. It was a fearfully 
 anxious time to me, though it lasted but for a moment ; gradually the 
 savage’s grasp relaxed, the Damaras around fell back into nonchalant 
 attitudes, and at length the ferocious expression of the chiefs face 
 somewhat smoothed down, and he rose and allowed the disconcerted 
 Gabriel to sneak off, but kept the whip as a trophy, and possibly as a 
 memento of wrongs received. When we were about to start, I made 
 myself as civil as I could, and then gently took hold of the whip, and 
 he allowed me to coax it out of his hand, so all ended well. 
 
 We had bought four or five oxen and a few sheep, which we in- 
 tended to drive with us to Erongo, the broad table mountain that now 
 lay eight hours in front of us and bounded the horizon. It was five 
 hours’ travel to the next water, but it took us much longer, for we had 
 some hunting by the way. The heat became fearful, and fever was 
 upon me ; I could hardly sit the journey out, and was extremely glad 
 to get to the bed of the Canna river (a tributary of the Swakop), where 
 an hour’s “crowing” and digging gave enough water for the oxen. 
 After a good meal, as the evening was clear, we were again in the 
 saddle, and pushed on for the mountains, the length of whose escarp- 
 ment from east to west was fifteen miles. Its height by rough sextant 
 
 6 
 
62 
 
 CHASE ZEBRAS. 
 
 [chap. iv. 
 
 measurement was 2,800 feet. In one part of it there was a break, the 
 mountains rising like parapets on either hand, and to this break we 
 steered. It was pitch dark when we got there, and glad I was to lay 
 my throbbing head to rest. 
 
 In the morning I dispatched the two Ghou Damups up the hill to tell 
 the inhabitants of our arrival, and to request guides from them. I 
 spent the morning in sleeping under huge overhanging slabs of lime- 
 stone, enjoying to the full “ the shadow of a broad rock in a thirsty 
 land.” In the afternoon we rambled about trying to climb the hill, and 
 to obtain a good view of the adjacent country. The rocks that 
 composed Erongo were here in huge smooth white masses — often 
 hundreds of feet without a fissure — the hill seemed built by some 
 Cyclopean architect. Immense round boulders of the same stones 
 were strewed here and there at its base. Our Ghou Damup returned 
 in the evening with a promise that guides should be sent us early the 
 next day. We put our articles of exchange into small packs, as men 
 had to carry them up the steep mountain by the foot-road. When cattle 
 are sent up, they are driven round to a different and more distant 
 entrance, which we did not care to visit. It is just practicable for oxen 
 and no more. We had a grand chase after some zebras in the early 
 morn ; a large herd had ventured into the recess in which we were 
 encamped during the night, and as they returned smelt our fire and 
 headed back. We heard them, and everybody ran to cut them off, 
 some with guns and some without ; the zebras made a round, and 
 galloped through a narrow gorge within arm’s length of those who were 
 there. We could not carry our sleeping things up the mountain, as 
 they were too heavy, but I took a small plaid. I was very unwell, but 
 tried to battle off my fever. John St. Helena, Gabriel, and the Damaras 
 were left to watch the cattle below — while Hans and I and the Ghou 
 Damup climbed for two hours over smooth slabs, most of the time with- 
 out shoes for fear of slipping. The slabs over which the only path lay 
 were disjointed from the main rock, and enormous fissures lay between 
 them and it. When we travelled along the side that sloped towards 
 these fissures it was to me very nervous work, for my feet would not 
 grasp the rock, and if I had tumbled I should have explored much more 
 of the mountain than I desired. The measurements of these slabs is 
 not in feet but in hundreds of feet. Once on the top, the air was 
 deliciously cool, and the boulders strewn about gave shade to sit under 
 when we pleased. Leopards are very numerous here ; they have 
 
CHAP. IV.] 
 
 A BLACK COQUETTE. 
 
 63 
 
 nothing wild to feed on except baboons and steinboks ; however, the 
 Ghou Damup have plenty of sheep and goats, and these the leopards 
 attack. The summit of Erongo is a succession of ravines clothed with 
 thorn-coppice and a great deal of cactus ; the effect is pretty, and I 
 should much like to live there for summer quarters. Along the ravines 
 a few wild fig-trees grow. After a couple of hours of up and down 
 walking, in which we started a magnificent leopard, we arrived at the 
 chief’s werft, and I liked its situation and effect very much, — it was not 
 in the open flat, like those of the Damaras, who fear the neighbourhood 
 of any cover which might conceal an advancing enemy, but among 
 trees. It was also built more durably. The Damara huts have but one 
 room ; they are like those I described at Walfisch Bay ; these were 
 rather complicated. The frame-work of the hut was generally made by 
 growing trees, a clump of which was selected and their lower branches 
 thinned ; then the tops were bent down and pleached together ; the 
 trees in the middle dividing the huts into two or even three rooms. 
 The shape on the outside was like a snail-shell, the entrance faced to 
 the leeward. Going into the chief’s hut, the entrance led straight into 
 the main apartment, on either side of which were rooms, one of them 
 for the chief’s wife. There were plenty of utensils about, such as 
 wooden milk-bowls, pipes, and so on ; there was a stuffed ottoman, and 
 the whole place had a great appearance of comfort. The chief was a 
 gentleman, and very courteous. Though Hottentot was his language, 
 yet he spoke a little Damara, in which language we talked to him. He 
 had a charming daughter, the greatest belle among the blacks that I 
 had ever seen, and a most thorough- paced coquette. Her main piece 
 of finery, and one that she flirted about in a most captivating manner, 
 was a shell of the size of a penny-piece. She had fastened it to the 
 end of a lock of front hair, which was of such length as to permit the 
 shell to dangle to the precise level of her eyes. She had learnt to 
 move her head with so great precision as to throw the shell exactly over 
 whichever eye she pleased ; and the lady’s winning grace consisted in 
 this feat of bo-peep, first eclipsing one eye and languishing out of the 
 other, and then with an elegant toss of the head reversing the proceedings. 
 
 Her papa would sell me no oxen nor sheep ; he insisted that he had 
 none, though the place was full of tracks. But these people are very 
 tunning to strangers, lest the stranger should think proper to steal their 
 cattle. I very much regretted that I had not a good interpreter as I 
 had taken a fancy to the chief, and should have liked to have had a 
 
<54 
 
 LEAVE OTJIMBINGUE 
 
 [chap. iv. 
 
 long conversation with him. He was not paramount over the mountain, 
 but there were one or two more captains. Indeed, he assured me he 
 could not give me guides over the hill, as his men dare not travel about 
 it. I was obliged to return for I had my time limited in many ways ; 
 else I should have liked to have fully explored the place. The fever 
 that was on me increased hourly, and I was anxious to return. The 
 night was bitterly cold, but I curled myself in my thin plaid round the 
 fire, and got through the long hours somehow or other. The chief and 
 I interchanged presents ; we bought a few goats, and returned as we 
 came. The rocky slabs looked more dangerous and slippery than ever, 
 but no accident occurred. The next evening we slept at the werft, 
 where Gabriel had distinguished himself. I felt wandering, and was 
 delirious during most of the night, but could sit on ox-back well enough 
 the next day — it was Christmas day, but I dared not stop to do it 
 honour. We rode on five hours. Mans shot four zebras. The 
 Damaras gave us milk in exchange for their meat, and that was our 
 dinner. The next night I was again ill, but less so than before ; an 1 
 the ensuing day I rode through to Otjimbingue : the distance between 
 it and Erongo is about twenty hours’ travel. The result of my journey 
 was, that I bought twenty-five oxen and thirty or forty sheep (four 
 common guns had been bartered for twenty oxen), which was a 
 material addition to my stock. Andersson, who had had a slight fever 
 like myself, was there in full vigour ; he had been in an almost hand-to- 
 hand combat with a lion, for the beast was on one side of a small bush, 
 growling at him, whilst he was on the other. He shot the lion. A 
 stirring night scene had occurred here, which Andersson witnessed. 
 As the evening closed in, some people saw a lion kill a giraffe on the 
 opposite side of the river : the alarm was given ; everybody took fire- 
 brands ; and it was quite dark when the mob arrived at the place. 
 They ran unconcernedly up to the giraffe, and frightened the lion off it, 
 who kept roaring and prowling about them close by, whilst they cut up 
 the meat. 
 
 I determined to leave my cart at Otjimbingue, as I had hardly mules 
 enough to take it ; neither could I spare Timboo to drive it. It was 
 thatched over against the side of the Mission-house: and Mr. Rath 
 kindly took charge of the mule’s harness. Two days after my return 
 from Erongo, my first experience in waggon-travelling began : I hated 
 it from the first, and never became reconciled to it ; I disliked its 
 slowness, and the want of independence about it. In a rugged ana 
 
CHAP. IV.] 
 
 MISHAPS. 
 
 65 
 
 wooded country long detours have to be made to avoid obstacles 
 which ride- and pack-oxen go across without difficulty. Roads have 
 to be explored, bushes cut down, and the great stones rolled out of 
 the way. The waggon is a crushing, cumbrous affair, and according 
 to my ideas totally unfitted for the use of an explorer, except in 
 moderately level countries. I was never happier than when I left it 
 behind, and took to the saddle. 
 
 The oxen were excessively wild, and seemed to have quite forgotten 
 what they had learnt. It took us from an hour and a half to two 
 hours to inspan the two waggons, notwithstanding we had so great 
 a force of men, most of whom were acknowledged to be thoroughly 
 acquainted with the management of oxen. We had a succession of 
 mishaps the whole way to Barmen : it took us seven days to go the 
 seventy miles ; and my men had no light work of it. The rainy 
 season was daily expected, and when it comes, violent torrents con- 
 stantly sweep down the Swakop ; this was unpleasant, as its bed had 
 to be crossed perpetually, and it was invariably in the midst of its 
 deep sand that the oxen came to a halt, and resolutely refused more 
 work for that day. On one occasion the sticking-point was a steep 
 sand-pitch, of about six feet high, out of the river-bed. The oxen 
 drew the waggon till its fore-wheels reached the top of the pitch, and 
 there it stuck. We tried everything, but the pull was entirely beyond 
 their power ; indeed, they were far too wild to exert themselves together. 
 It really seemed as though we should remain fixed there, till the oxen 
 had been thoroughly broken in by other means, or till the river swept 
 us away ; however, I recollected the manner in which our ancestors, 
 in the times of the Druids, are said to have managed their large stones, 
 and tried that plan on my waggon : that is to say, I lifted one wheel with 
 the lifter, and had a flat stone put under it, then the other, and did the 
 same to that, so I continued raising the hind-wheels alternately, until the 
 back end of the waggon was lifted up some three feet on two piles of 
 stones. I had of course to be careful in making my buildings very firm, 
 and in scotching the fore-wheels, lest the waggon should run back. I 
 now built a causeway from the piles up to the lore-wheels, and lastly, 
 put smooth stones not only under these, but also for a few paces in 
 advance of them. That completed the task, which only required two 
 hours to execute for there were plenty of flat stones about, and I 
 had ten or twelve men to carry them. I then inspanned a team, who 
 trotted away with the waggon quite easily along my pavement. 
 
66 
 
 HOW TO ENCAMP 
 
 [chap. IV. 
 
 The water was all “ crow-water,” and my herd of oxen and sheep 
 were all watered by hand. The way we set about choosing our place 
 for encampment and making it, was this : as the waggon still moved 
 on, we kept a look-out along the river bed, till some indications were 
 seen of water, such as holes or small wells dug by Damaras, who had 
 been camping about. If the yield of water appeared sufficient, and if 
 there was any show of grass near, the waggons were outspanned. The 
 place chosen was by a tree or at the side of some bush, where the 
 requisites of a smooth ground to sleep upon, shelter from the wind, 
 abundant thorn-bushes to make a sheep’s kraal of, and neighbouring 
 firewood, were best combined. The Damaras were then sent with axes 
 to cut thorn-bushes for the kraal ; the white men went with spades 
 to dig a couple of wells out, and make them broad and deep, and the 
 cattle watchers were off with the oxen and sheep to grass — two men 
 to each flock or herd. They often fed a couple of miles away from us. 
 Any idle hand fetched enough firewood to start two cooking fires, on 
 one of which the iron pots for the dinners of myself, Andersson, Hans, 
 and John Morta, were placed; on the other, those of the waggon-men. 
 The Damaras had an iron pot between them, but they never had food 
 given them till late, or else they stopped working, in order to eat 
 it at once. Usually we had to slaughter something. The waggon- 
 driver and the men’s cook generally killed the sheep ; if an ox was 
 wanted I shot him. Thus a great many different things were going on 
 at the same time : the men were digging wells, slaughtering and cutting 
 up, cooking at two fires ; the Damaras were watching cattle, cutting 
 thorn-bushes, and carrying firewood. When the wells were deepened 
 sufficiently, a hollow trough was scooped out in the sand, and a piece 
 of canvas laid on it; the oxen were then sent for, and while Damaras 
 stood in the well with a wooden “ bamboose,” a sort of bucket, ladling 
 out water into the canvas, the oxen were driven up by threes to drink. 
 But unless the ground is very porous the canvas sheet is hardly 
 necessary. In this way one gives drink at the rate of about an ox 
 a minute at each well— and sheep drink very fast indeed; it seldom 
 required an hour to water my herd after the wells were once cleared 
 out. 
 
 The thorn-branches for the kraal are laid round a circle, each along- 
 side the other, in the direction of radii ; the cut ends are inwards, and 
 the broad bushy heads , not the sides of the branch, make the outer 
 circumference. Sheep and goats pack into so small a space, that their 
 
CHAP. IV.] 
 
 ARRIVE AT BARMEN. 
 
 67 
 
 kraal has never to be more than twenty feet diameter; but they must 
 have one, or else every kind of accident would occur, for they are by 
 no means so domestic as oxen, and very stupid. If it were not for 
 a kraal the hyenas, who serenade us every night, would be sure to do 
 constant mischief, and scatter the flock over the country. Oxen, unless 
 thirsty, or hungry, or cold, or in a restless, home-sick state of mind, 
 never leave the waggons, but lie in a group round the fire, chewing 
 the cud, with their large eyes glaring in the light, and apparently 
 thinking. We made no kraal for them. To continue : as the evening 
 closes in the sheep are driven into their kraal, the door is bushed 
 up, the Damaras get their meat, and make their own sleeping- 
 places, and we get our dinner. Then I make a few observa- 
 tions with my sextant, which occupies an hour or so, and everybody 
 else has some mending or some other employment. Timboo gets out 
 my rug and sleeping-things ; the firewood is brought close to the fire ; 
 and we lie down in two large groups, Andersson, Hans, John Morta. 
 and myself, round one fire, and the waggon-men and Damaras round 
 the other, and all gradually drop off to sleep, the Damaras invariably 
 being the last awake. It is a great mistake to suppose that “early to 
 bed and early to rise” is the rule among savages. All those that I 
 have seen, whether in the north or south, eat and talk till a very late 
 hour. I grant that they get up early, but then they sleep half the day. 
 
 When we outspanned a few hours from Barmen, I rode on in the 
 evening, very anxious to learn if anything new had been heard from 
 Jonker. It was all very unfavourable. No actual attack had taken 
 place, but the Damaras were scattered, and bands of them were 
 prowling about their country. Not one of my Damaras would go 
 on with me. A guide that I had picked up at Otjimbingue refused 
 to proceed. There was a growing fear among my own men ; and Jonker’s 
 previous personal threats to me, such as they were, were corroborated. 
 I therefore determined to make some sort of demonstration which 
 would bring him into better order ; and in doing this I was confirmed 
 by a rather humble request which I had received from him when 
 I was at Barmen, that I would visit him at his place, from which I 
 gathered, either that he intended to play some tricks upon me there, 
 or else that he felt he had gone too far, and was penitent. In 
 either case my presence would bring matters to a crisis, and get 
 rid of that uncertainty and delay which would breed discouragement 
 among my men, and be fatal to my scheme of travel. I wished to 
 
68 
 
 THENCE TO SCHMELEN'S HOPE. 
 
 [CHAP. IV 
 
 force some open admission from the man that his late conduct to- 
 wards the missionaries and the Dainaras had been infamous, and 
 to do it in such a way that the Damaras should hear about it, and 
 understand that I was in no mood either to abet or to obey the 
 Hottentots. 
 
 Barmen was a bad place for me to encamp at as grass was 
 extremely scarce ; so I moved on to Schmelen’s Hope, which was 
 the Ultima Thule of discovery in Damaraland ; there a strong ox- 
 kraal was made, and the deserted and half pulled-down house 
 put in order; and leaving Andersson in charge, I took Hans, John 
 Morta, and one of the waggon-men, who spoke very good Dutch, 
 and started for Jonker. I previously gave it out among the Damaras 
 that I was gone to make peace between the Hottentots and them. 
 I packed up ray red hunting-coat, jack-boots, and cords, and rode 
 in my hunting-cap : it was a costume unknown in these parts, and 
 would, I expected, aid in producing the effect I desired. I started 
 on the 16th of December. It was about a three days’ ride; but 
 as none of us knew the road, we strayed a little, which made us 
 longer. I saw a horrible sight on the way, which has often haunted 
 me since. We had taken a short cut, and were a day and a half 
 from our waggons, when I observed some smoke in front and rode 
 to see what it was : an immense blackthorn tree was smouldering, 
 and from the quantity of ashes about, there was all the appearance 
 of its having burnt for a long time : by it were tracks that we could 
 make nothing of; no footmarks, only an impression of a hand here 
 and there. We followed them, and found a wretched woman, most 
 horribly emaciated ; both her feet were burnt quite off, and the 
 wounds were open and unhealed. Her account was that many days 
 back she and others were encamping there ; and when she was 
 asleep, a dry but standing tree, which they had set fire to, fell down, 
 and entangled her among its branches : there she was burnt before 
 she could extricate herself, and her people left her. She had since 
 lived on gum alone, of which there was vast quantities about ; it 
 oozes down from the trees, and forms large cakes in the sand. 
 There was water close by, for she was on the edge of a river-bed. 
 1 did not know what to do with her; I had no means of conveying 
 her anywhere, or any place to convey her to. The Damaras kill 
 useless and worn-out people : even sons smother their sick fathers ; 
 and death was evidently not far from her. I had three sheep with 
 
CHAP. IV. ] 
 
 A DOOMED SUFFERER. 
 
 69 
 
 me, so I off-packed, and killed one. She seemed ravenous ; and 
 though I purposely had off-packed some two hundred yards from 
 her, yet the poor wretch kept crawling and dragging herself up 
 to me, and would not be withheld, for fear I should forget to give 
 her the food I promised. When it was ready, and she had devoured 
 what I gave her, the meat acted, as it often does in such cases, and 
 fairly intoxicated her : she attempted to stand, regardless of the pain, 
 and sang, and tossed her lean arms about. It was perfectly sickening 
 to witness the spectacle. I did the only thing I could : I cut the rest 
 of the meat in strips, and hung it within her reach, and where the sun 
 would jerk (/.<?., dry and preserve) it. It was many days’ provision for 
 her. I saw she had water, firewood, and gum in abundance, and then 
 I left her to her fate. 
 
 We had a little shooting on our way, and I also had an opportunity 
 of climbing a high hill, which is a very conspicuous landmark, whence 
 I had a wonderfully fine view both of the country I had visited and 
 also a glimpse of that which I hoped soon to explore. We scrambled 
 over some very rugged and thorny ground for five hours, having quite 
 lost our way, but making a cast, came down on the waggon-road at 
 a place which was recognised by Hans as being three or four hours 
 from Eikhams, Jonker's village: it was an immense kraal, formed by 
 a strong stockade, in which Katjimasha (a Damara chief) intrenched 
 himself once when he and Jonker were allies, and robbed the other 
 Damaras in company. Some years back they had dissolved partner- 
 ship, and Katjimasha not feeling safe, absconded with all his men to 
 Damaraland, of which he is now one of the principal chiefs ; here I 
 made my toilet, and refreshed my trusty ox, and in the cool of the 
 evening rode down upon Eikhams. Hans knew the place, though not 
 the road we had travelled to it, and pointed out a hill, round the corner 
 of which the village lay. Even Ce5'lon (my ox) caught the excitement, 
 and snuffled the air like a war-horse. We formed together, gained the 
 corner of the hill; Hans recognised Jonker’s hut, and we, I cannot 
 say dashed, but jogged right at it. An obstacle occurred and happily 
 was surmounted, which might have much disconcerted the assault : it 
 was a ditch, or little ravine, that a torrent had made ; it was rather 
 deep and four feet wide ; but I was in hunting costume, and I am sure 
 Ceylon knew it, for he shook his head, and took it uncommonly well ; 
 in fact, oxen, if you give them time, are not at all bad leapers. The 
 others followed in style. So far was well. The huts of the place were 
 
70 
 
 VISIT JONKER. 
 
 [chap. IV. 
 
 all in front, and Jonker’s much the largest. Everybody saw us, and 
 was looking at us. There is great etiquette in these parts about 
 coming to a strange place, but we defied all that, and I rode and rode, 
 until my ox’s head not only faced, but actually filled the door of the 
 astonished chief. Conceive the effect. My Dutch was far from fluent, 
 so I rated him in English, and after a while condescended to use an 
 interpreter. He never dared look me in the face, as I glared down 
 upon him from my ox. I then rode away in a huff, and took up my 
 quarters in the village, and received in great state the humble messages 
 which he sent me. 
 
 Now all this may seem laughable, but Oerlams are like children, and 
 the manner which wins respect from them is not that which has most 
 influence with us. To go a step higher, — to the burly broad-limbed 
 Dutch colonists ; I must relate a rather amusing instance of the views 
 some acquaintances of mine among them entertained of the physique 
 of those high officials in England, whose enactments wielded their 
 destiny. It was after the anti-convict agitation ; and the friends I 
 allude to expressed the utmost surprise and even disbelief, at hearing 
 that the then Colonial Minister was not a person of six foot stature, 
 else how could he have dared to oppose their wishes. I inquired 
 further, and found that report commonly painted his lordship as a kind 
 of ogre or violent giant. 
 
 I desired Jonker to come to me with his chief people, and I lectured 
 them soundly. We had three or four interviews. I spoke in English, 
 and was interpreted both into Dutch and Hottentot. I saw clearly 
 that I had made a favourable impression upon them. I insisted 
 upon a full and ample apology being written to Mr. Kolbe, and 
 an assurance given of future forbearance and justice being shown 
 towards the Damaras. Jonker begged that Cornelius, the chief of the 
 red people, should be called to his place, and such other people of 
 importance in these parts as could be brought together ; and he also 
 mentioned his willingness to enter into any feasible plan for the 
 establishment of better order in the country. The four chiefs here- 
 abouts are Jonker and Amiral, who are Oerlams; Swartboy and 
 Cornelius, who are pure Hottentots. Messengers were at once des- 
 patched to Cornelius and Amiral ; and I, wishing to see Rehoboth, 
 rode over there, and undertook to bring back Swartboy. His tribe is 
 a large but not a strong one. A long time ago he was as bad as any 
 of the rest, if not worse ; but Sir James Alexander, when he came into 
 
CHAP. IV.] 
 
 RIDE ON TO REHOBOTH. 
 
 71 
 
 the country, frightened him into order, and since that time missionaries 
 have settled in his place, and obtained considerable influence over 
 him. Swartboy’s present position was merely a passive one ; but his 
 character carried much weight with it, and I desired to make him a 
 party to what Jonker and Cornelius should arrange together. I wished 
 also to make him friendly to myself. The other chief, Amiral, an 
 Oerlam, was far off. He had always treated the whites particularly 
 well ; but his own son and heir and part of his tribe were said to have 
 been robbing the Damaras of late. Neither Jonker nor any other 
 Hottentot has supreme power in his tribe ; for these people are most 
 tenacious republicans, and insist upon a council of elders finally 
 ratifying everything that is proposed. But Jonker is by far the most 
 influential man in the whole country, and has his own way in every- 
 thing. I believe that on great emergencies he dispenses with the 
 deliberations of the council. I had a long conversation with Jonker 
 upon those parts of Damaraland which he had seen. He had made 
 two long excursions with a large body of men on each occasion : one 
 by Erongo, to somewhere near Cape Cross ; the other, in which he 
 tried to reach the Ovampo, but was unable to proceed further than 
 Omanbonde, on account of the exhausted state of his oxen. He and 
 his men had brought back all kinds of wonderful and impossible 
 reports about the lake Omanbonde ; but the information which he gave 
 me himself was, so far as it went, perfectly accurate. He spoke much 
 of the native Bushmen that he found there, and who went freely among 
 the Ovampo. This surprised me much, as I had no idea that the 
 Hottentot race existed so far to the north. Jonker was perfectly 
 familiar by report with the river that formed the further boundary of 
 the Ovampo. 
 
 A very intelligent Englishman, a blacksmith, who lived at Rehoboth, 
 was returning there at the time I proposed starting from Jonker’s, and 
 I travelled in his waggon. A great part of the distance, we went 
 through broad plains, bordered by high and distant hills, and full of 
 grass, but hardly any water. The last stage, from water to water, was 
 eleven hours’ travel, with a little pool from a previous storm in the 
 middle ; but this failed on our return. Rehoboth is situated on a bare 
 white limestone rock, with a hot spring of mineral water gushing out — a 
 situation anything but pleasant ; yet the village is very orderly and 
 neat. 
 
 I heard the full particulars of a late judgment and punishment by 
 
72 
 
 UMAP'S JUDGMENT. 
 
 [chap. IV. 
 
 Umap, an independent chief of a very small tribe, though lie had, at 
 least, an equal claim with Cornelius to the chiefdom of the red people. 
 Umap’s son became ill, and wasted away ; the guilt was fastened on 
 some neighbouring Bushmen, who were accused of charming away his 
 life. Umap, therefore, had a pit dug, about five feet across, and seven 
 or eight deep, and he made a bonfire in it ; then he took the eight 
 Bushmen and women, on whom his suspicion had fallen, and put them 
 down alive into this pit, covered them over with hot earth, and made a 
 second fire above their grave. The incident occurred before I landed at 
 Walfisch Bay, but I had not had the story corroborated till now. Umap 
 is not considered otherwise than as a very respectable Hottentot ; but 
 he is classed as one of the old school. 
 
 I met Swartboy travelling in his waggon, and we had a couple of 
 hours’ conversation, in which I was very favourably impressed with 
 him. He was a reasonable, good hearted, but rather timid old man. 
 He promised to use his influence, as far as he could, towards furthering 
 any arrangements which would lead to peace in the country, and said 
 he would meet the other captains at Eikhams at the time appointed. I 
 was excessively annoyed to hear of the doings of the man I had dis- 
 carded as being a confirmed bad character. He had been making an 
 improper use of my name, declaring that I had sent him on some 
 special message ; and that unless he was well fed and taken care of, I 
 should come with a complete army of men, etc., etc. He had frightened 
 Swartboy’s people into great civility, and then stole cattle from them, 
 and drove them off, while Swartboy’s people dared not punish him. 
 He was said to be fifteen hours off, and, though I had but two days and 
 three nights to spare, I was determined to ride after and catch him if I 
 could. I am for flogging men for stealing, or attempt at murder ; and 
 this was a case which came within my code, so I borrowed oxen and 
 was off. The night was too dark to start in, till about one o’clock in 
 the morning, when I rode very fast in three stages to the place, which 
 we were able to reach during the late afternoon of the next day. To 
 my grief the fellow had trecked southwards in the morning, and was 
 now many hours further ; and had also stated his intention of travelling 
 steadily on. My oxen were knocked up, and so were we ; and over- 
 taking him now was out of the question, hungry as we w r ere. As soon 
 as the pot was put on the fire, we all fell fast asleep, and forgot our 
 dinner till the midnight chill awoke us. Trotting on oxback for many 
 hours is very severe work if the animals, as they usually do, require 
 
CHAP. 1\ | 
 
 RETURN TO REHOBOTH. 
 
 73 
 
 much urging. The creatures had eaten, and were fit to return on the 
 forenoon of the next day ; and we returned late in the night to 
 Rehoboth. 
 
 I there obtained some valuable additions to my stock of oxen. 
 Timmerman, the one I had just ridden, I bought off-hand : he was a 
 tame sturdy ox ; I also got two couple of front oxen, and some hind 
 oxen. These are the important ones of the team ; and if good, the rest 
 are easily made to do their work. I also hired a black waggon-driver, 
 Phlebus, who knew nothing of his own language, but had been a 
 trained Hottentot and Dutch interpreter ; and Swartboy very kindly 
 gave me his henchman, Onesimus, who, besides being by profession his 
 life-guardsman, was his interpreter to the Damaras. These two were 
 most accurate Tenderers of whatever they were told to say, as could be 
 easily judged from the answers of the persons addressed. Timboo inter- 
 preted loosely from either English or Dutch into Damara, but he knew 
 none of these languages well; he had a patois of his own. People at 
 first find conversation by interpreters a bore ; but after a little use it 
 becomes no greater hindrance, as it is no greater delay, than dictating 
 or writing a letter. Savages, who are naturally sententious, fall very 
 readily into the system ; and here, where the Hottentots and Damaras 
 are so often brought into contact, every chief is well accustomed to it. 
 
 We were a good deal troubled for the want of water on our return • 
 the little pool I mentioned was dried up, and we had taken no water 
 with us, for want of a vessel to carry it in. Our Damaras, who drove 
 the cattle, were quite knocked up under the excessive heat, and a Ghou 
 Damup, whose charge it was to carry the iron pot, lay down somewhere 
 altogether exhausted. At night we arrived, and all of us drank water 
 till we were quite ill. I continued resolving to drink no more, and then 
 rewarded my resolution with one more mouthful. One cannot help 
 drinking, the water seems to have no effect in quenching the thirst. 
 The next day we rode but a short distance, as we had to wait for the 
 two men who were missing, and they might be badly put to it. How- 
 ever, they never came. We thought the Ghou Damup had stolen the 
 pot, and absconded in an old soldier’s coat, with which I had just 
 rewarded his fidelity. There u'as considerable doubt if we should find 
 water for the remainder of the journey ; and, as our stomachs had been 
 thrown out of order, I hardly liked to go so far without taking some ; 
 1 could not think what to use as a uniter vessel, when my eye fell upon 
 a useless cur of ours, that never watched, and only frightened game by 
 
14 
 
 CONFERENCE A J EIKHAMS. 
 
 [chap, iv. 
 
 running after them, and whose death I had long had in view. Dogskin 
 is the most waterproof of hides, so I despatched the cur and skinned 
 him. His death was avenged upon me in a striking manner, for during 
 the night a pack of wild dogs came upon us, scattered our sheep who 
 were not well kraaled in, and killed them all. We traced the 
 carcasses of some in the morning by the vultures that settled upon 
 them. Two goats alone remained, which I had bought at Eikhams. 
 Oddly enough, just as we were starting, the goats disappeared: we 
 beat every bush for half an hour, but could not find them. At last we 
 became tired of the search, and continued our journey, reaching 
 Eikhams at night. To our wonder and amazement, as soon as we 
 arrived, we met the faithful lost Ghou Damup, not only with the iron 
 pot on his head, like a helmet, as he usually wore it, and red coat on 
 his back, but also driving the identical goats we had lost, and which 
 were under his peculiar charge. He had found them walking along the 
 waggon spoor; they must have run on ahead before we first lost them, 
 and then fallen into the hands of the Ghou Damup, who had himself 
 passed us without knowing it. He felt he had done wrong in staying 
 behind, but he said he was very tired. He had found some roots on 
 the way, and lived on them. After his story, he brought me a whack- 
 ing big stick, quite as a matter of course, that I should beat him for 
 what he had done. 
 
 The water-skin I had made was not of much use, as the day was 
 comparatively cool. Being fresh from the animal it had to be used with 
 the hair inside. It held the water very well, but gave a “ doggy” taste 
 to it. Swartboy and Cornelius were waiting for me; the latter was 
 anything but a chief, either in manner or appearance. Nothing had 
 been heard from Amiral ; it was barely possible that any answer should 
 have been received, owing to the distance. 
 
 Besides the three chiefs present, there were a great number of the 
 influential men. I used as interpreters, Phlebus, my new waggon- 
 driver, a missionary schoolmaster, and a Griqua : these all spoke 
 Hottentot and Dutch perfectly, and the last two a little English also. 
 I knew enough Dutch myself to be able to check any gross mistake in 
 the rendering from English to that language, and the three interpreters 
 were checks upon one another in the rest. The schoolmaster spoke; 
 the others interrupted if he was not accurate. 
 
 We met together more than once. The meetings were long and 
 very orderly, many people speaking, and all to the point. These men 
 
CHAP. IV.] 
 
 LEGISLATING. 
 
 75 
 
 evidently felt they had gone much too far, and openly acknowledged that 
 the system of robbing had done much mischief to themselves. No 
 planting or sowing was going on ; the Hottentots were idle and restless ; 
 there was no law in the country ; and the Damaras harassed them with 
 frequent retaliation. They begged me to suggest some system on 
 which they could proceed ; and also to draw up some laws which 
 would at least meet the common cases of cattle robbing and murder. 
 I was rather diffident of success ; but in these wild parts a trained 
 legislator is hardly to be expected to travel, and the best must be 
 made of what materials are at hand ; so being convinced that I had 
 already gained a favourable footing amongst them, and that what I said 
 would be attended to, I thought the matter well over, and made my 
 debut as a lawgiver. 
 
 As every one of my new friends were robbers by profession it would 
 never do to make much ado about theft, for if I did nobody would 
 enforce the law. I therefore simply made theft finable at double the 
 number of oxen stolen, together with a mulct upon the people of the 
 werft to which the criminal belonged, if, as was usually the case, they 
 concealed him. The spoor is so certain and honest a witness, and facts 
 become so notorious, that there is little difficulty about questions ot 
 evidence. In this spirit I drew up a few laws which Cornelius and 
 Joriker discussed, and to which they fully assented. I also endeavoured 
 to restrain the jealousies and quarrels between the Oerlams and 
 Hottentots by inducing Cornelius and Jonker to make a mutual agree- 
 ment that criminals should be punished by the captain of the country 
 where the crime was committed, and not, as heretofore, by his own 
 captains. 
 
 The greater part of the Hottentots about me had that peculiar set of 
 features which is so characteristic of bad characters in England, and 
 so general among prisoners that it is usually, I believe, known by the 
 name of the “ felon face ; ” I mean that they have prominent cheek bones, 
 bullet shaped head, cowering but restless eyes, and heavy sensual lips, 
 and added to this a shackling dress and manner. The ladies have not 
 universally that very remarkable development which was so striking 
 in Petrus’ wife at Barmen. It is a peculiarity which disappears when 
 one of the parents have European blood, while other points, more 
 especially the absence of white at the root of the finger nails, remain 
 aftei many crosses with the Dutch. Some few of the lads and girls 
 have remarkably pleasing Chinese-looking faces. 
 
7 3 MULES RUN QUITE AWAY. [chaf. iv. 
 
 Jonker is decidedly a talented man, and seems in full vigour though 
 upwards of sixty years of age ; his remarks were particularly shrewd, 
 and his descriptions concise and graphic. He came out quite as a 
 diplomatist in the long conversations I had with him, artfully trying to 
 turn the conversation to his own ends. I could not make out that 
 there were more than forty horses belonging to Jonker and his men; 
 neither they nor any others would sell me one ; they said they could 
 not possibly spare them. Those I had seen were sorry, half-starved 
 creatures, but with many good points about them. They were all 
 from the country about the Orange River. I endeavoured to appoint 
 a general meeting at Schmelen’s Hope for the Hottentot and Damara 
 chiefs, where I would feed them well, and cement peace between them, 
 as far as such an affair could do it. A time was fixed — about a fort- 
 night thence — but it never came off. Everybody mistrusted his 
 neighbours, and only Svvartboy, who was my guest there for a couple 
 weeks, was present. Kahikene sent a very friendly message, and I was 
 quite enough satisfied with what I had done. The missionaries were 
 highly gratified at my good fortune, and I had great pleasure in 
 sending to Mr. Kolbe the apology and the promise that I had made 
 Jonker write to him. 
 
 Matters now looked more sunshiny. There were nearly one hundred 
 oxen in my kraal, and sixty or seventy sheep. My waggon-driver, who 
 had stolen and who latterly had been insolent, I paid in articles of 
 exchange and dismissed. Gabriel at his own wish was left behind. A 
 dozen Damaras agreed to go with us up the country, and Kahikene, 
 our friend, lay in our way. Hans and I rode short exploring excursions 
 to find a road by which we could take the waggon out of the bed of the 
 Swakop, and found one with great difficulty. Andersson then rode a 
 wider sweep to see whether the country away from the Swakop looked 
 open enough for a waggon. He went over a great deal of country, 
 and returned with favourable news in five days, but he hardly saw a 
 Damara, the land was so thinly peopled. We then made ready for our 
 start, though the five mules had run quite away ; they, were traced 
 through Barmen and Otjimbingue to Tsobis, a distance of more than 
 one hundred miles, and there the chase was given up. 1 may as well 
 anticipate my story and mention that they, or rather three of them, 
 arrived at Scheppmansdorf ; they had crossed the Naanip plain by 
 instinct. The whole distance these runaways had travelled by them- 
 selves, viz., that from Schmelen’s Hope to Scheppmansdorf is eighty- 
 
CHAP. IV.] 
 
 SCHMELEN'S HOPE. 
 
 1 ? 
 
 five hours’ travel very nearly, which at the rate of two-and-a-half miles 
 per hour gives two hundred and twelve miies. 
 
 A few incidents occurred at Schmelen’s Hope ; first a plague of 
 caterpillars that covered the ground, then a swarm, but not an utterly 
 destructive one, of locusts, and, lastly, a flight of migratory storks, who 
 made great war upon the locusts. We were perpetually teased by 
 some hyenas — they came most impudently in amongst us as their 
 peculiar spoors showed (the hind and fore feet being of unequal size), 
 but we never could catch them ; at last the dogs overtook one on a 
 bright moonlight night and held him at bay. I was asleep and was 
 quite undressed when their sharp barks awoke me, and I had only time 
 to put on my shoes. The dogs and hyena were on the other side of the 
 Swakop, which here is exceedingly broad, about three hundred yards, 
 and by the time we had floundered through the sand to the other side 
 the animal had retreated among the rocks and hakis thorns into the 
 deep shade, but the dogs held well to him. I sorely regretted the 
 leather trousers that were left behind, as my bare legs were scarified 
 and bleeding. I could not see the hyena, except one glimpse when he 
 brushed against my leg. At last the dogs surrounded him in a patch 
 of moonshine, four or five feet from where I was, and I put a bullet 
 through his backbone. The chase and the skurry made as exciting a 
 piece of sport as I ever witnessed. We had some rifle shooting at 
 geese and ducks, and Andersson slew a pau — the African bustard, and 
 probably the best flavoured and most tender game that exists: John 
 Morta cooked it with the utmost skill. I had returned from Jonker's 
 on the 8th of February, and for three weeks we remained at Schmelen’s 
 Hope, waiting for the Damara chiefs, breaking-in the oxen, and hoping 
 for the rains. It is a charming place, and almost a sufficiency of game 
 was killed to feed us. 
 
 7 
 
PERSONNEL. 
 
 [chap. V. 
 
 7 * 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Personnel — Commissariat — Daily Allowances — Start on the Expedition — 
 Damara Obtuseness — Inability to Count — Information withheld — 
 Kahikene sends to us — Arrive on the High Table-Land — Superstitions 
 on Food — Meet Kahikene — His Difficulties — Gives me Advice — Informa- 
 tion about the Road— Four Oxen Stolen — The Culprits are Punished 
 — Recognising lost Oxen — Hear of another Road — Reach Omatoka — 
 African Puma— Eshuameno — Chipping the Front Teeth — View from 
 the Hill — Ja Kabaca — Climb Omuvereoom — A Snake — Seriously 
 obstructed by the Thorns — Reach Otjironjuba — How to make Soap— 
 We catch some Bushmen — Learn a little and Travel on — Doubts about 
 our Route — Arrive at a Werft — Are guided onwards — Omanbonde — ■ 
 Hippopotami. 
 
 The morning of March the 3rd found us packed up, and starting for 
 our exploring journey. We tugged along the heavy Swakop sand, 
 and outspanned after three hours at a fountain, passing at length 
 into a country which, I believe, no European eye had ever before 
 witnessed. 
 
 I may now review our caravan : it consisted of two waggons, both 
 filled with things ; the large one had a solid deck over all, and was 
 curtained into two compartments ; Andersson slept in the front one 
 and I in the back if the ground was wet. Spare guns were lashed 
 inside this waggon, and canvas bags for books and for other etceteras, 
 but we could never make the waggon a place to read in with any 
 comfort, for it was far too full of articles of exchange. The small 
 waggon was the receptacle for the men’s sleeping clothes, besides its 
 regular freight. Nobody slept in it except during heaving rains. 
 John St. Helena drove the large waggon and led the way; Phlebus 
 the small one. John Williams, Onesimus, and John Allen were all 
 engaged a3 leaders, but in practice Onesimus always led the large 
 waggon and any odd Damara led the other. Hans, John Morta and 
 Timboo were the iemaimna servants. My natives were constantly 
 changing. I am quite unable to give the names of the Ghou Damups, 
 for two reasons; the first, perhaps a sufficient one, is that they are 
 totally unpronounceable to any European mouth, and altogether be- 
 yond the powers of our alphabet to represent ; — the second, that 
 they uttete invariably christened afresh by my men as soon as they 
 
CHAP. V.] 
 
 COMMISSA RIA T. 
 
 79 
 
 entered my service. The sort of names these negroes answered to 
 will perhaps convey a better notion of their character and style than 
 a longer description — there was a “Grub,” a “ Scrub,” a “Nicodemus,” 
 a “ Moonshine,” and a “ Toby.” The Damaras generally retained 
 their own names ; they were much the more stylish of the two. My 
 Damara party at starting was something as follows : — 
 
 NAME. 
 
 Kambanya 
 
 “Rhinoster” 
 
 “Bill” 
 
 Kernerootie • • • • . 
 
 Kahoni 
 
 Old Kahoni . . . . . . 
 
 His Son 
 
 Piet from Mozambique . 
 
 USE. 
 
 Generally useful .... 
 
 A Guide 
 
 Andersson’s henchman 
 ( Excellent runner, used ) 
 
 ( on every emergency f 
 
 Anything 
 
 Nothing 
 
 Cattle Watcher .... 
 Conversational . . . . 
 
 WHERE FROM. 
 
 “Given ” me by Mr. Hahn. 
 Hired from Otjimbingue. 
 Picked up by chance. 
 
 Sent me by Mr. Rath. 
 Picked up by chance. 
 
 Timboo’s friend, a run- 
 away slave. 
 
 The grown-up ladies were the wives of Kambanya, “ Rhinoster,” 
 and old Kahoni. There were numbers of occasions on which I should 
 have turned old Kahoni away, if he had not been possessed of a little 
 daughter, the nicest, merriest, and slimmest of Damara girls, about 
 eight or nine years old. She won my heart, and I was obliged to 
 tolerate the rest of the family, that I might retain her. Besides these 
 twelve I have mentioned, there were two or three others, hangers-on, 
 whom I have forgotten, and perhaps never knew, and the women had 
 three babies, so my party may be considered as about ten Europeans 
 and eighteen natives, or twenty-eight in all. 
 
 As regards commissariat, my biscuit and every kind of vegetable 
 food was eaten up. I had much too great a weight to carry to be 
 enabled to lade the waggons with provisions also. 1 had plenty of 
 tea, coffee, and a very little sugar ; there were some few trifles be- 
 sides. The oxen and sheep we drove with us were to be our sus- 
 tenance, and they alone, excepting now and then a chance head of 
 game. If these oxen strayed by night, and were lost, we should be 
 little better than the crew of a ship in the broad Pacific, who had 
 broached their last cask. The charge of these quadrupeds was now 
 to be my anxiety and care, day and night, for a loose ox in Damara- 
 land is as quickly appropriated as a dropped sovereign in the streets 
 of London. 
 
 In estimating cattle as so many days’ provision, the calculation 1 
 
8o 
 
 DAILY ALLOWANCES. 
 
 [CHAF. V. 
 
 acted on was as follows. A sheep gives twenty meals, no bread or 
 other vegetables being allowed, and a man cannot work well 
 with less than two meals a day. A sheep therefore feeds ten people 
 for one day. An average ox is equivalent to seven sheep, and it there- 
 fore feeds seventy people for one day, or thirty-five for two, or 
 twenty-four for three. I cannot accurately say what the quantity of 
 food is that different kinds of game afford, as waste always goes on 
 when one is slaughtered, but, as a rough allowance, I considered — 
 
 I Springbok, or roebuck 
 l Hartebeest 
 
 t Zebra, or gnu, or gemsbok 
 I Giraffe .... 
 
 I Black or Keitloa rhinoceros 
 I White .... 
 
 equal to I sheep. 
 
 a 2 i> 
 
 » 4 ii 
 
 „ 2 oxen. 
 
 ii 3 ii 
 
 ii 4 n 
 
 I possessed seventy-five oxen and one calf ; of these fifty-seven had 
 been inspanned, including the ride- and pack-oxen. My ride-oxen 
 were Frieschland, Ceylon, Timmerman, Buchau, and Fairland. 
 Andersson had Spring. All these would also carry packs as a matter 
 of course, but there were others simply pack-oxen. Hans had three 
 ride-oxen, six cows, and five calves; John Allen had two ride-oxen. 
 There were also two heifers that belonged to some of the other men. 
 Gross total of oxen, and cows and calves, ninety-four ; but my own 
 flock of sheep was reduced to twenty-four. I had therefore (allowing 
 twenty slaughter oxen) full provisions for two and a half months for all 
 my party, independently of game. This was not nearly as much as I 
 should have liked, but I trusted to buy more on my journey, and also 
 to get some shooting. 
 
 March \th . — This was our most difficult day: the Swakop ran 
 through a gorge so broken and narrow, as not to admit a waggon, and 
 the only road we could find out of it lay for some considerable distance 
 along a narrow ridge of jagged rock with a precipitous fall on our left. 
 Hakis thorns and ravines made the country quite impenetrable every- 
 where else ; our road was horrible ; the waggon Crashed and thundered 
 and thumped, but somehow or other got safe over. If I had to undergo 
 two or three more such days of journeyings, the waggons would have 
 to be left behind. The oxen were dreadfully wild ; there was no 
 guiding or restraining them down hill, but they tossed themselves 
 about and charged like wild buffaloes ; it still took us an hour and a 
 
CHAP. IV.] 
 
 DAMARA IDEAS OF NUMBER. 
 
 8: 
 
 half to inspan the two waggons, and every man was actively employed. 
 We went only three hours, and slept at the furthest watering-place that 
 Hans and I had explored. Now we had to trust to the guides, whose 
 ideas of time and distance were most provokingly indistinct ; besides 
 this, they have no comparative in their language, so that you cannot 
 say to them, “ Which is the longer of the two, the next stage or the last 
 one?” but you must say, “The last stage is little; the next, is it 
 great?” The reply is not, it is a “little longer,'’ “much longer,” or 
 “very much longer; ” but simply, “it is so,” or “ it is not so.” They 
 have a very poor notion of time. If you say, “ Suppose we start at 
 sunrise, where will the sun be when we arrive ? ” they make the wildest 
 points in the sky, though they are something of astronomers, and give 
 names to several stars. They have no way of distinguishing days, but 
 reckon by the rainy season, the dry season, or the pig-nut season. 
 When inquiries are made about how many days’ journey off a place may 
 be, their ignorance of all numerical ideas is very annoying. In practice, 
 whatever they may possess in their language, they certainly use no 
 numeral greater than three. When they wish to express four, they take 
 to their fingers, which are to them as formidable instruments of calcula- 
 tion as a sliding-rule is to an English schoolboy. They puzzle very 
 much after five, because no spare hand remains to grasp and secure the 
 fingers that are required for “ units.” Yet they seldom lose oxen : the 
 way in which they discover the loss of one, is not by the number of 
 the herd being diminished, but by the absence of a face they know. 
 When bartering is going on, each sheep must be paid for separately. 
 Thus : suppose two sticks of tobacco to be the rate of exchange for one 
 sheep, it would sorely puzzle a Damara to take two sheep and give 
 him four sticks. I have done so, and seen a man first put two of the 
 sticks apart and take a sight over them at one of the sheep he was 
 about to sell. Having satisfied himself that that one was honestly 
 paid for, and finding to his surprise that exactly two sticks remained 
 in hand to settle the account for the other sheep, he would be afflicted 
 with doubts; the transaction seemed to come out too “pat” to be 
 correct, and he would refer back to the first couple of sticks, and then 
 his mind got hazy and confused, and wandered from one sheep to the 
 other, and he broke off the transaction until two sticks were put into 
 his hand and one sheep driven away, and then the other two sticks 
 given him and the second sheep driven away. When a Damara’s minp 
 is bent upon number, it is too much occupied to dwell upon quantity ; 
 
82 
 
 INFORMATION WITHHELD. 
 
 [chap. V. 
 
 thus a heifer is bought from a man for ten sticks of tobacco ; his large 
 hands being both spread out upon the ground, and a stick placed on 
 each finger, he gathers up the tobacco ; the size of the mass pleases 
 him, and the bargain is struck. You then want to buy a second heifer : 
 the same process is gone through, but half sticks instead of whole ones 
 are put upon his fingers ; the man is equally satisfied at the time, but 
 occasionally finds it out and complains the next day. Once, while 
 I watched a Damara floundering hopelessly in a calculation on one 
 side of me, I observed Dinah, my spaniel, equally embarrassed on the 
 other. She was overlooking half a dozen of her new-born puppies, 
 which had been removed two or three times from her, and her anxiety 
 was excessive, as she tried to find out if they were all present, or if any 
 were still missing. She kept puzzling and running her eyes over them 
 backwards and forwards, but could not satisfy herself. She evidently 
 had a vague notion of counting, but the figure was too large for her 
 brain. Taking the two as they stood, dog and Damara, the comparison 
 reflected no great honour on the man. Hence, as the Damaras had 
 the vaguest notions of time and distance, and as their language was 
 a poor vehicle for expressing what ideas they had, and, lastly, as 
 truth-telling was the exception and not the rule, I found their informa- 
 tion to be of very little practical use. 
 
 I had spent more hours than an untravelled European would easily 
 give me credit for, in questioning and cross-questioning Damaras about 
 the distances we had to go over. Mr. Hahn and Mr. Rath severally, at 
 Barmen and Otjimbingue, had helped me to the utmost of their ability, 
 and yet, on starting, I could not tell whether Omanbondfe lay five days 
 off or six weeks. As a proof of the extreme difficulty of worming out 
 facts from the Damaras, I may mention that Okandu Fountain, which 
 lay only five miles from Schmelen’s Hope, and where we slept the first 
 day, was unknown by the missionaries. At Schmelen’s Hope itself 
 there is only vley (pool) water and wells, which a dry season might 
 exhaust, and though abounding in grass, trees, and garden land, the 
 place was reluctantly abandoned, and the head-quarters of the Mission 
 were established at Barmen which has much fewer natural advantages. 
 When Mr. Kolbe, at a subsequent period, went to Schmelen’s Hope, 
 he merely occupied it as a branch station. Now, constant inquiries 
 have been made for years as to whether there were any fountains near 
 Schmelen’s Hope, but without success, and yet this one, lying in full 
 sight and right in the middle of the river-bed, had never been spoken of to 
 
chap, v.] ARRIVE ON THE HIGH TABLE-LAND. 
 
 83 
 
 the missionaries or discovered by them. This is not at all an isolated 
 case of the difficulty of getting the information you want from the savages; 
 they are intensely stupid, and lie for lying’s sake. One man at Otjim- 
 binguS told me, that if I started now to OmanbondS, and travelled as fast 
 aS 1 could, it would take me so long that I should be an old man when 
 I came back. 
 
 My plan of journeying was this ; to move steadily on, and whenever 
 I came across water after three hours’ travel, to stop ; in this way my 
 oxen would keep fresh for any severe exertion they might be called 
 upon to make, and I should also have more time to learn particulars 
 about the country, which would be of essential use if I returned in the 
 dry season. The necks of the oxen had also to become hardened to 
 the yoke ; if a raw was established the beast would be useless. 
 
 On the third day’s travel, the long slope, which is the watershed of 
 the Swakop, was surmounted, and quite new scenery lay before us. 
 In front rose the two magnificent cones of Omatako, each appearing as 
 perfect as that of Teneriffe ; to the far left were many broken mountains, 
 some of which must look down upon Erongo ; more northerly lay the 
 long escarpment of another Ghou Damup mountain, Koniati; and to 
 the westward of north, a very distant blue hill was seen, which had to 
 be passed on our way to Oinanbondd. The sandy soil was covered 
 with thin dry grass, and a scanty thorn coppice, without underwood, 
 overspread the land. 
 
 As we travelled on, some messengers met us. They were sent from 
 the Chief Kahiken6, who begged me to visit him. He lay at a large 
 vley in front, whither he had moved to meet me. The messenger 
 brought a magnificent black ox as a present from him ; it was larger 
 than any in my drove, though I had some fine ones amongst them. 
 
 We had now finally lost sight of Jonker’s hills and all the broken 
 ground of the Swakop, the summits of whose highest mountains were 
 below us. We had mounted steadily up, and were journeying on a 
 high plateau six thousand feet above the level of the sea, as measured 
 by a boiling-point thermometer. On this plateau Omatako, Koniati, 
 and other hills stood. Almost immediately after leaving a large 
 tributary of the Swakop, we came upon a river-bed, running in exactly 
 the opposite direction, and this we followed ; it is called Okaroscheke, 
 or “naked” river — the story being, that one rainy season, when the 
 water was flowing waist-high, some Damara women tried to cross it 
 to get at the berry-trees which grew on the opposite bank, and stripped 
 
8 4 
 
 SUPERSTITIONS ON FOOD. 
 
 [CHAP. V. 
 
 to do so, leaving their skin aprons on the ground ; when they were 
 on the other side a torrent of water came down which swept their 
 aprons away, and left them without clothing. The Damaras are very 
 particular about wearing something, however little it may be, and 
 look upon complete nakedness as a great disgrace. Another some- 
 what refined practice that they have is, that no hunger will drive them 
 to eat raw or even underdone meat. They have numberless super- 
 stitions about meat, which are very troublesome : in the first place, 
 each tribe, or rather family, is prohibited from eating cattle of certain 
 colours, savages “ who come from the sun ” eschewing sheep spotted 
 in a particular way, which those “who come from the rain” have no 
 objection to. As there are five or six different “eandas” or descents, 
 and I had men from most of them with me, I could hardly ever kill 
 a sheep that everybody would eat ; many were martyrs for a long 
 time to their consciences, but hunger converted them all at last. Goats 
 are an abomination to every Damara, whatever his eanda may be. 
 Another superstition is that meat is common property. Every slaughter 
 is looked upon as a kind of sacrifice or festal occasion. Damaras 
 cannot conceive that people should eat meat as their daily food. Their 
 chiefs kill an ox when a stranger comes, or half a dozen oxen on a 
 birth or circumcision feast or any great event, and then everybody 
 present shares the meat. When I stayed near werfts I could not 
 at first ensure my men getting food enough to eat, for the strange 
 Damaras came about and begged their share, “ cursing ” them if they 
 refused. The curse is supposed to have a withering and blighting 
 effect. For this reason meat is never an article of exchange at anything 
 like its real value in Damaraland. A freshly killed ox would not 
 buy a live sheep. Damaras have a great respect, almost reverence, 
 for oxen. They keep them to look at as we keep fallow deer ; and 
 though a nine-shilling gun will buy five fine oxen, yet that is no proof 
 of the cheapness of cattle with the Damaras, but rather of the dearness 
 of guns amongst them. Any man, not himself possessed of cattle, 
 may be murdered without fear of the consequences, if payment of 
 two oxen be made to his relations, as that by the custom of the 
 country is amply sufficient blood-money. Milk, the great article of 
 diet among the richer Damaras, though used in such profusion, can 
 rarely be bought, for there are some superstitions about it also. Each 
 Damara, who lives entirely or chiefly on milk, the rest of his food 
 being pig-nuts, drinks from one to two gallons daily. Now it is 
 
MEET KAHIKENE. 
 
 »S 
 
 CHAP. V.] 
 
 reasonable to suppose that a day’s provision of meat would be ex- 
 changeable for one of milk, especially as meat is more prized, and 
 the greater dainty of the two ; but it is not so, nor indeed anything 
 like it. If a head of game be shot and bartered with the natives, it 
 will be found a difficult matter to obtain a single gallon of milk for 
 a whole gnu or zebra. Sweet milk can hardly be ever obtained, 
 because Damaras, like all other milk-drinking nations, use it only 
 when sour, and the cow is milked into the tainted vessels. They 
 firmly believe that a cow’s milk will fail her if they milk her into 
 anything freshly washed and clean. The milk of these cows actually 
 does fail them if the calf be taken away. It is the same with those 
 in parts of South America. 
 
 March i^th . — We had arrived at the place where Kahikene waited 
 for us. He and about forty magnificently made and well-armed 
 Damaras were standing under the trees. As the waggons came near 
 the men all fell into a single file according to their usual custom, which 
 Kahikene headed, and they walked up to me. He had quite the 
 manners of a chief, and received me very well. I gave him some gilt 
 ornaments as presents, which, although he was in mourning, he put on 
 in compliment to me ; the Damaras strip off their ornaments when in 
 mourning. He had been in great distresses of late. After Jonker 
 had attacked him, and scattered his people at Schmelen’s Hope, 
 Omagunde's son, who was encamped two days in front of us, followed 
 up the attack, and killed some of his children, and took others prisoners, 
 leaving only one lad with him. The greater number of his oxen were 
 also taken, and he was left almost destitute, with but the remnant of 
 a tribe, and was now about to make a last desperate attack upon his 
 enemy. A few years ago, Kahikene was the most powerful chief in 
 Damaraland, and, like Katjimasha, had once allied himself with, and 
 afterwards had separated from, Jonker. Subsequent to this separation, 
 Jonker attacked him, and he made a bold retaliation the next night. 
 Ever since that he had been a marked man with the Hottentots, and 
 werft after werft of his had been swept away, until he was reduced to 
 the condition in which I found him. 
 
 He was the only friend among the Damaras that the Missionaries 
 ever had, and his friendliness and frankness to me and my men in- 
 terested all of us without exception most thoroughly in his favour. 
 
 He had brought his men together to make one quick and last 
 attack upon the werft of Omagunde’s son, and the usual superstitious 
 
86 
 
 GIVES ME ADVICE. 
 
 [chap. V. 
 
 ceremony was gone through of dragging a berry bush after him 
 wherever he went. I offered to go to Omagund&’s son and see if I 
 could not get his children and some oxen back for him; for it is 
 a very common custom among the Damaras that when one tribe 
 has utterly ruined another they should then give them back a part of 
 what they had taken, as an act of clemency, which should secure them 
 against retaliation ; and it was but natural that Damara chiefs should 
 pay some little deference to my mediation, since I had just checked the 
 Hottentots from laying hands on their cattle. But Kahikene was too 
 proud to receive back part and compromise the matter, though he said 
 that he knew his expedition was but a forlorn hope, and that he would 
 be killed. He said that his best soldiers were gone, and that those with 
 him were but arrant cowards, who would leave him at the first danger. 
 He made these complimentary speeches quite loud, while all his men 
 were sitting around us. He showed us all the scars and cuts with which 
 he was covered, and gave the history of them in an easy chatty way. He 
 criticised my arrangements, and said that I was much too careless in 
 the way I travelled and encamped — that I ought never to allow many 
 Damaras to mix in with my men, because if they made one of their 
 sudden attacks I should be overpowered directly. He recommended 
 the greatest caution in trusting the Damaras. I knew too well the truth 
 of much that he said, but my waggon-men were far too negligent for me 
 to keep up anything like the discipline I should have wished amongst 
 them. At very little trifles they were ready to show discontent, .and if 
 I had pushed them too much they would have turned back and left me. 
 Kahikene assured me, and I had heard from other quarters also, that 
 Omagunde’s son would not let us pass through his country. I wished 
 to send messengers to him, but no Damara dared to go. His feelings 
 were anything but favourable towards whites ; not long before he had 
 sent men who stole Mr. Hahn’s cattle. After a great deal of expostu- 
 lation had passed he condescended to return them, but cut their tails 
 off before doing so, and kept them as trophies. 
 
 I asked Kahikene about the country ahead, and he gave me much 
 information very concisely and well ; his intellect and manner con- 
 trasted most strongly with those of the other Damaras. Indeed a chief 
 over many men, whether savages or not, must have something in him, 
 or he could never keep them together. He said that he used to send 
 trading excursions to the Ovampo, but not by Omanbonde, and to quite 
 a different part of their country to that which I proposed visiting. 
 
CHAP. V.] 
 
 FOUR OXEN STOLEN. 
 
 27 
 
 His trading paities kept alongside but far from the sea. There were 
 different points on the route from which it could be seen. The journey 
 to the Ovampo occupied two months (moons). The men stayed one 
 month there and then returned. The Damaras were friendly along 
 that route, and so were they at Omanbonde, but between where we 
 then were and Omanbondd, Omagunde’s tribe cut off all communication. 
 He said that the road was very broken, and that I should never get my 
 waggons along it. 
 
 An incident occurred in which Kahikene; behaved very well to me. 
 One morning three of my best front oxen and another slaughter-ox 
 were gone. They were instantly spoored, and the tracks of Damaras 
 driving them found by their sides. I called Kahiken^ up and told him 
 that I did not for a moment believe that he was privy to the theft, but 
 that they were taken from me when under his protection, and that he 
 must get them back. I am sure that he was very much touched by my 
 giving him credit for sincerity, lor of late he had been hearing of 
 nothing else but distrust and desertion on every side. He sent 
 instantly after the cattle, and half a dozen of my own Damaras went 
 also. My men returned after a day’s absence, as they were afraid of 
 going further, but Kahiken^’s men had kept to the spoor. Intelligence 
 at length came that three of the four oxen were recovered, and one 
 front ox had been killed ; six thieves were taken and were detained 
 a little distance off till further orders. Kahikene regretted extremely 
 the loss of the front ox ; he said he knew that it was as disastrous 
 ;in accident to our team as cutting off a leg is to a man, but that 
 any oxen of his that I chose to take were quite at my service. 
 Then as to what should be done with the thieves ; he looked about 
 him till a stout horizontal bough of one of the large camelthorn trees 
 caught his eye, and he proposed to hang them in a row upon it. 
 Against this scheme I used all my eloquence, as I did not like such 
 strong measures ; at length Kahikene stated the case fairly enough ; 
 he said the thieves had been guilty both to me and to him — to me 
 for the theft, to him for their audacity in taking oxen when I was 
 under his protection ; that the punishment due to them for the first 
 part of the matter was my affair, and that I could remit it or not as 
 I pleased, but that for his part he must vindicate his own rights. I 
 could of course make no answer to this, so he sent men who clubbed 
 or assegaied four of the culprits, but two escaped. I never could learn 
 the full particulars of the matter Of the two that escaped one was 
 
8S 
 
 THE CULPRITS ARE PUNISHED. 
 
 [chap. V. 
 
 brought to me a few days after, when I was on the road ; he was 
 brought in the evening, and I did not like punishing and letting him go 
 then, as he might revenge himself in the night. It is not easy to secure 
 a powerful supple-limbed negro, so that he cannot- slip loose, but in 
 this case I handcuffed his wrists, one on each side of the stem of a 
 tree, and made my fire near him that he might not be too much chilled 
 during the night, and in the morning I gave him a most severe flogging 
 and let him go. One of the four culprits who had been left for dead 
 we also found. He was fearfully bruised with the clubs, and perfectly 
 stripped, but had crawled to the same watering-place — a vley — that I 
 was encamped at. His punishment had been, I thought, amply suffi- 
 cient, and I gave him a meal, and let him go, but I sadly fear, from 
 what I heard long subsequently, that some of my Damaras followed 
 and assegaied him. 
 
 Kahikene’s men had in the meantime frightened mine about Oma- 
 gunde’s people, and they were quite panic-struck and mutinous, and 
 fairly^ refused to go any further. Andersson here was of the greatest 
 assistance to me. He would have accompanied me alone, and Timboo 
 I think would not have failed us. The waggon-men knew I was in 
 their power. If the cattle had been moderately tame, and the country 
 at all open, Andersson and I could ourselves have taken the waggons 
 back to Barmen, and, leaving them there, ridden on ; but the character 
 of the expedition and of the country made us as dependent on a large 
 body of men as a frigate is upon a large crew. Hans had not been 
 long enough vvith me to become thoroughly attached to my cause, and 
 he had a very disagreeable time of service, owing to the laziness and 
 jealousies of the waggon-men, and would then have been very glad to 
 have discontinued it. I earnestly longed to place a broad tract of 
 country between me and the mission stations, and then I knew that the 
 waggon-men would hesitate before they ran away and crossed it alone. 
 I persuaded the men, instead of going north through the hostile country, 
 to turn to the left and travel westwards to Kahikene’s headquarters. 
 We passed by a great many kraals, in few of which were there more 
 than ten houses, generally only five or six — probably one hundred head 
 of cattle and not more, belonged to each kraal. Of these, twenty or 
 thirty were the chief’s own property, taken care of by the people who 
 occupied the huts, together with the other oxen which were their own. 
 The perquisites for taking care of the chiefs cattle consisted of the 
 milk of the cows, and occasionally a calf or lamb. 
 
CHAP. V.] 
 
 HEAR OF ANOTHER ROAD. 
 
 8 
 
 The Damaras have a wonderful faculty of recollecting any ox that 
 they have once seen, and whenever I came to a new werft the natives 
 always went up and down among my oxen to see if any that had been 
 stolen from them were among the number. I found a great advantage 
 in having bought the majority of mine from Hans, for they had been 
 in his hands for four years, and no Damara could lay a claim to any of 
 them, but in those I bought myself I had to be very careful, as they 
 were pretty sure to have been stolen at some time or another, and 
 might, according to the custom of the land, be reclaimed at any moment 
 by their former possessors. 
 
 Hans and John Allen were very quick at recollecting oxen : I never 
 could succeed in doing so myself : but it is perfectly essential to a 
 traveller here that some trustworthy persons of his party should be 
 able to pick out his own oxen from any drove in which they have 
 become mixed ; for, depend upon it, the strange Damaras will give no 
 help on those occasions. When fresh oxen are bought, the old ones 
 butt and fight them for a few days before admitting them into their 
 society, and during the time of probation the new oxen are always 
 trying to run off and get home again. Now the tribe from whom they 
 were bought may be lying at eight or ten scattered kraals, to any one 
 of which the ox that had been bought but a few hours before and seen 
 for a few minutes only, may have made his escape. He has to Le 
 picked out from among five hundred or six hundred head of cattle, and 
 this the Damaras can do with perfect certainty. They do not seem to 
 know the sheep or to care much about them, but their thoughts and 
 conversation run upon oxen for the greater part of the day. 
 
 By dint of excessive badgering and cross-questioning, I found out 
 that it might be possible after all to turn Omagunde's flank. I had now 
 two or three Damaras who had once been that way, and my men were 
 willing to go on. We bought a few oxen here. Some zebras were 
 shot and given to Kahikene’s people. He made a last endeavour to 
 persuade me not to go up the country, but in vain ; and we separated 
 with some regret, I going on my journey, and he to his hopeless attempt 
 against Omagunde’s people. I took a few men from his werft, and by 
 dint of constant bartering, started with one hundred oxen, twenty-seven 
 goats, and thirty sheep. Poor Kahikene ! of all the Damaras I saw in 
 my year and a half journey, none had so thoroughly ingratiated himself 
 with my party as he had. We tolerated a few others, but became 
 really attached to him. 
 
90 
 
 CHIPPING THE FRONT TEETH. 
 
 [chap. V. 
 
 March 18 th . — The high cones of Omatako were full in front of us, 
 and the next wells were a long distance on the other side ; however we 
 met with pools of rain water and trecked on in three or four hour stages. 
 At one place John Morta was beginning to make his fire under a bush, 
 when he retreated in great alarm, as he found the place occupied by 
 a puff-adder. The next day we saw our first herd of wild animals ; I 
 counted about one hundred hartebeests in one place, and Andersson four 
 hundred gnus in another. We shot some game, and Andersson started 
 what he thought was a puma. The natives talk a great deal about 
 such an animal existing ; they describe it as a very shy creature, and 
 hardly ever moving about in the daytime, of the same colour and 
 general shape as a lion, but smaller, and with no mane. The animal 
 Andersson caught a glimpse of answered the description perfectly. It 
 might have been a young lion, but its movements were not those of a 
 cub. It jumped up close by him, but was among the thick bushes and 
 out of sight before there was time to fire. 
 
 We had a very fatiguing day in going round Omatako. The ground 
 was open, but heavy, and the oxen sadly exhausted. We came to a 
 small river-bed on the other side of it, which Andersson had reached 
 in his long ride from Schmelen’s Hope, and encamped by a pool of 
 water that remained in that part of its course. The stream was running 
 breast high with water when Andersson saw it, but it was now utterly 
 dry. 
 
 The next day, after crossing the river-bed with difficulty, as its 
 banks were so high, we arrived at the wells that we had heard of, and 
 to which the Damaras guided us straight enough. Now was the 
 question how to proceed ; we had been travelling due north from 
 Kahiken^’s werft, but the next certain water-place was by a hill 
 (Ja Kabaca) that looked very distant indeed to the north-east, and 
 the sun was so powerful and the ground so sandy that vley water 
 could in no way be depended on. In front of us, to the north, was 
 the hill Eshuameno, so called from a grand feast the Damaras once 
 held there, on occasion of 11 chipping ” the front teeth of a number of 
 children. Most negroes, as is well known, chip their teeth, and in 
 different ways, according to their tribe. The Damaras knock out 
 a wedge-shaped gap between their two front teeth ; the ladies say, it 
 makes them lisp charmingly- 
 
 I left the waggons at the wells and rode on with a couple of men 
 for five hours, till I got to Eshuameno. We found no water there, 
 
CHAP. V.J 
 
 VIEW FROM ESHUAMENO. 
 
 9 ' 
 
 but off-packed among some thick thorns, where the most pitch dark 
 of nights brought us to a standstill. In the morning I went up the 
 hill, both to view the country and to get bearings of Ja Kabaca, by 
 which I could determine its distance from the waggons, and whether 
 or no it would be practicable to reach it in a single stage, should water 
 fail us. I was very anxious about the matter, so I took a protractor 
 up the hill with me, and protracted all my bearings on the spot, by 
 which I had a better idea of the country than I could obtain before 
 for want of well-selected observing stations. I had a very wide 
 prospect indeed from the top of Eshuameno. Southwards I could 
 clearly see Diambotodthu, which is only some twenty-five miles from 
 Schmelen’s Hope. Northward extended a wide flat of the most barren 
 country. There seemed to be no grass whatever upon it, but it was 
 studded over with low scrubby bushes ; while eastwards, in which 
 direction we had to travel, the ground was covered with trees and 
 grass. The results of the survey were satisfactory to me, and I 
 determined to risk going across the plain to Ja Kabaca. I was 
 assured of plenty of water being found there. As we returned the 
 rain fell in torrents, in a perfect sheet of water. This was delightful, 
 as it would fill the vleys for us ; but we felt rather cold and hungry 
 when we arrived, after our five hours’ ride through it. The little 
 waggon was too full of things for the men to use it for shelter, but 
 they had contrived some tenting, which was sufficient for the occasion. 
 
 March 22 iid . — We were again en route. In four hours a fine vley 
 was discovered, and there of course I stopped. I cannot take liberties 
 with my oxen ; they are disheartened as easily as my men, and I am 
 always afraid of their sticking in the bushes. As for the men, they 
 drink like fishes. I can only carry four meals of water for them. 
 
 The next day we arrived at some large wells, in which again there 
 was a sufficiency of water. The cattle were very restless at night, and 
 constantly straying ; Hans preferred their lying loose and picking up 
 grass during the night to making a kraal, but I was sadly afraid that 
 some morning they might be missing, and have fallen into the hands 
 of Omagunde’s people. Except my cattle, I had not one day’s provi- 
 sion ; no biscuit, no flour, nor anything of the sort ; I felt that I had 
 now committed myself in earnest. There was no certain water between 
 these wells and where I first met Kahikene. A month of drought 
 would exhaust- every vley on the road, and then unless I rode right 
 Inrough Omagunde’s country, the journey would be quite impossible 
 
92 
 
 CLIMB OMUVERECON. — A SNAKE. 
 
 [chap. V. 
 
 even for ride-oxen. I told a great many stories, I am afraid, to my 
 men. I impressed upon them the certainty of soon arriving at a better 
 country, and talked a great deal about some large fountains, near 
 Omatako, as a baiting place on our way home, but which I had 
 not really much faith in. The next day, by starting early and keeping 
 a steady even pace we arrived at Ja Kabaca, and passing along its 
 rugged base and between it and Omuvereoom, arrived late in the 
 afternoon at a wretched vley, which we discovered after an anxious 
 search. It would be a waste of time to enlarge on the horrible stuff 
 one often had to drink at these small vleys, as it can so easily be 
 conceived. Fancy a shallow pool from ten to twenty yards across, and 
 from six to twelve inches deep, in which a herd of wild animals, say 
 fifty zebras, have been splashing and rolling themselves all night, and 
 which they have left in every respect like the water pumped out of a 
 farm-yard ; and where wild animals are wanting, the oxen, in spite of 
 every precaution, will do the same. 
 
 The two mountains between which we were now encamped, 
 Omuvereoom, and Ja Kabaca, were said to be great strongholds of 
 Bushmen and Ghou Damup, so Hans, Andersson, and I, made an 
 expedition up the first of these, to see if we could catch any, and per- 
 suade or compel them to guide us. The first name means “ a door,” 
 or “ a pass ; ” the second is derived from a proper name. 
 
 Since leaving Kahikene we had not seen a single person beyond our 
 own party. We rode our oxen to the foot of Omuvereoom, which was 
 about an hour and a half off, and leaving them with our Damaras, went 
 up a hill, in some parts the most rugged that I ever climbed. We first 
 steered for a green patch, in which the telescopes had shown us water : 
 there we found deserted huts, but nothing else, neither could we see 
 any recent tracks ; but at one place, hearing what we thought was a 
 halloo, Hans and I scampered up hill after it. I was utterly blown, 
 and had just mounted up on a kind of natural step, when, while I was 
 balancing myself, I found that I had put my foot on the tail of a great 
 dark green snake, who was up in an instant, with his head as high as 
 my chest, and confronting me. I had, though used up with my run, 
 just sense and quickness enough left to leap over the side of the rock, 
 and came with a great tumble among some bushes ; the snake, too, 
 came over after me, I can hardly suppose in chase, because he did not 
 follow me when we were at the bottom together ; but I ran after him a 
 long way, for I was not hurt, throwing stones at the reptile. 
 
chap, v.] SERIOUSLY OBSTRUCTED BY THE THORNS. 93 
 
 Damara, who was some way behind, was carrying my gun. and I had 
 not even a stick. 
 
 Resuming our search, we came to where the hill was so broken that 
 I could not get on. Huge jagged rough stones, many as big as a small 
 house, were piled up, and thrown about in all directions, with deep 
 fissures between them; just the place for a man to fall and break his 
 legs. We found altogether two or three small fountains, but no people. 
 There were some giraffe spoors high on the hills. Giraffes are wonder- 
 ful climbers : koodoos are the best ; but I think that giraffes come next 
 to them, even before the zebras. From the hill we swept the country 
 with our telescopes, and caught the glimmer of distant water between 
 the trees : there was to be our next halt. The Damaras pointed 
 north-east, as the direction of Omanbonde, but said that it still lay a 
 great way off. We “marked” the vley as well as we could, and 
 took the waggon there, — three hours’ travel before breakfast. The 
 watershed was now obviously to the eastward, the distant country 
 dropping down most perceptibly. I had been hoping to see fewer 
 thorn-trees, but here they were worse than ever. My oxen would not 
 face them ; a single bush threw the whole team into confusion : the 
 oxen plunged and tossed, and got their heads out of the yokes ; and 
 often the waggon-men conld not get up to the fighting creatures on 
 account of the thorns. Flogging is of little or no use ; the animal is 
 essentiallyperverse and vicious and calls for almost superhuman patience. 
 From 11 a.m. till nightfall we were labouring through the thorns, 
 that threatened soon to become impervious. Our clothes and hands 
 were sadly torn ; but still we pushed on steadily. Not a blade of grass 
 was to be seen ; and when we outspanned, a pitch dark night had set 
 in ; the oxen were roaming about, — we could hardly see them in the 
 thick cover. When the morning broke, a few oxen remained, and the 
 rest were gone. Away went half the men, without any breakfast, 
 running a steady pace, for we feared the oxen might get back even to 
 Kahikene’s werft. They were overtaken beyond the vley, as they 
 were walking steadily back. In the meantime I had gone on to see 
 how far we were from the stream Otjironjuba, our next watering-place. 
 To my delight, I found it close by, only an hour and half off, full of 
 running water, and like a trout-stream, with meadows of grass about it. 
 It came out from a cliff of Omuvereoom. 
 
 In the evening we brought the waggons up, and encamped beside it> 
 about two miles from the hill. Here we stayed two days, in happy 
 
94 HOW TO MAKE SOAP. [chap, v 
 
 idleness, climbing the hill, bathing, shooting francolines, and having a 
 good clothes-washing. 
 
 I must here make a digression on the subject of soap, an article that 
 we had to make for ourselves, as I found that I had not brought nearly 
 enough from Cape Town. This is one instanee out of a vast numbei 
 in w'hich the missionary or the traveller is thrown upon his own 
 resources. Our process of making it took a week or ten days to 
 complete. It was as follows : the cook having saved as much fat as he 
 could from the meat, until his store accumulated to half a bucket-full, 
 or more, and a great quantity of wood, or shrub-ashes, having been 
 collected, those plants alone being used whose ashes taste acrid, a 
 savage was set to work at making two very large clay pots, which is an 
 easy thing to do when proper clay can be obtained ; in one of these we 
 put the ashes, and let water stand upon them ; in the other, under 
 which a fireplace was built, we placed the fat. A Damara of sedentary 
 disposition was then employed to superintend the process to the end, 
 he or she having simply to keep up the fire under the grease-pot, and 
 from time to time to ladle into it a spoonful of the ash-water or ley. 
 This ash-water is sucked up by the grease ; and in ten days the stuff is 
 transformed into good white soap. The difficulty lies in selecting 
 proper ashes. Those of most plants make the soap too hard; those of 
 others too soft ; but when the juste milieu is hit, all goes on excellently. 
 The missionaries have now brought their soap-making to perfection ; 
 they only use the ashes of two plants, both of which grow in abundance 
 near Otjimbingue ; and practice has taught them the exact proportion 
 in which they should be mixed to make “ a superior article.” 
 
 From the top of Omuvereoom, about Otjironjuba, nothing but a wide 
 bushy extent could be seen. The brook sprang from several boggy 
 spots, and fell in pretty cascades down the hill. 
 
 March iqth. — We started very early from our agreeable resting- 
 place, and followed the Otjironjuba : it soon disappeared in its sandy 
 bed ; and after three hours the country had become so arid, that I 
 out-spanned, to let the oxen take a good drink at the last pool of 
 water we could see. The rain now came down in such deluges that 
 the harness, of undressed leather, became too soppy to handle, and 
 the men could not hold the oxen in the reins when they had caught 
 them ; so we stopped there all night. 
 
 March tpih. — We again started early, and strayed a great deal ; 
 for we had no certain point to aim for, and our chief object was 
 
chap, v.] LEARN A LITTLE AND TRAVEL ON. 
 
 95 
 
 endeavouring to avoid the thorns. The guides were sulky, and could 
 not, or would not, tell us anything. We pulled on for many hours 
 with thick thorn-bushes about us, and not a drop of water to be seen, 
 as the sandy soil had sucked up the rain : however, the oxen went 
 well. Towards evening we turned down a long vista, and the waggon 
 was moving noiselessly over the soft ground, when we saw five or 
 six bushmen and women squatted in a row on the ground, with their 
 backs towards us, crowing pig-nuts. They did not see us till we 
 were close upon them. We caught a man and woman, and made 
 them show us the water. A little man, who got away from us, was 
 very funny, and stuck to his wife manfully. He danced about her 
 with a bow and arrow, making offers to shoot at us, and was in a 
 wonderfully excited state of mind. We did not approve of the arrow, 
 and let him and his wife go their ways. These people were thorough 
 Namaquas in feature, but darker in colour, exactly like the Walfisch 
 Bay people. The man we caught was tall, certainly above six feet. 
 One sees now and then very tall, bony men among the Hottentots ; 
 though, as a race, they are diminutive. He had his wallet full of 
 young birds, just taken out of the nest, linnets and such like, to eat. 
 He gave us much better information than the Damaras. Phlebus said 
 that the man talked backwards and forwards, and that he could hardly 
 make out what he said. Anyhow, when he did, the answers were 
 very direct. The Bushman name for Omanbonde is Sareesab : as 
 to its size, I heard exactly the same variety of accounts that I did 
 among the Damaras. The man said that the water of it was as broad 
 as the heavens ; the woman, that it was perfectly dry ; but both 
 agreed that there were hippopotami in it. There could be no doubt 
 about the animal meant ; they used the ordinary Hottentot word for 
 them, and mimicked their actions so completely, that it was evident 
 they had seen them ; and where hippopotami are there water must 
 be. They gave us a very true account of its distance, calling it four 
 long days for a man on foot. 
 
 Phlebus and Hans shot a brace of gemsboks. The water we slept 
 by lay among reeds, and seemed to be the head of an ill-defined water- 
 course, down which we went. 
 
 March 31s/. — We picked up the gemsboks by the way, and passed 
 a large and deep vley, in which there were some red and white 
 geese. There are geese and ducks on every large pool of rain-water. 
 They must be taking advantage of the rainy season, and travelling 
 
96 
 
 ARRIVAL AT A IVERFT. 
 
 [chap. V. 
 
 hither in search of food. We saw a very large heron, or crane, an 
 immense creature, and Andersson shot him. The guides sauntered 
 about two miles behind the waggons, and the Damaras were become 
 very slack and careless : one of them, Kahoni, was impertinent, and 
 refused to answer me, or to do what he was told, so I had him down 
 on the ground very quickly ; but this time I did not whip him, because 
 he became penitent and communicative. 
 
 We came to a halt at a vley where the water-course led northerly, 
 and the thickest of thorn-bushes penned us in elsewhere. The guides 
 wanted us to go due south, and strike upon the Omoramba river-bed. 
 It was on the upper part of this river-bed that Omagunde’s son lay; 
 but the point where we now should strike it would be far out of his 
 reach. This Omoramba ran into or out of Omanbonde, — I had never 
 been able to make out which, — and there never was a want of well- 
 water along it. We held a council on our plans ; but the thorns were 
 so thick to the southward, and the distance we had to go so uncertain, 
 — it might be one day, it might be five, —that I abandoned the idea of 
 attempting it. I thought the water-course we were on must be a 
 tributary of the Omoramba, and determined to follow it, especially as 
 its direction was straight towards our point. We were losing sight of 
 all landmarks ; nothing was to be seen but a wide undulating plain, 
 black with dense thorn-bushes; to the west was Ja Kabaca, and by its 
 side commenced the long range of Omuvereoom, high and escarped at 
 first, but fining down by slow degrees towards the level of the plain. 
 As we continued en route next day, the water-course still befriended 
 us : its bed was never sand, but hard ground, covered with sward, and 
 here and there holding a pool of rain-water, and the thick bushes were 
 crowded on either side. It seemed as though we were travelling along 
 “ a ride,” cut through a thick cover. We now, for the first time, came 
 upon elephant spoors, — huge things, indeed. There were about twenty 
 tracks made where the ground was soft ; but it now was hardened, 
 and the waggon jolted heavily over them. 
 
 April 2nd.— We came upon ox-tracks, and other indications of a 
 Damara werft, and following a path, came upon it. The men dispersed 
 in great consternation, but we caught some women, who were too 
 heavily laden with anklets to run fast, and pacified them with tobacco. 
 In a short time the men came back, and we were soon excellent friends. 
 A fine tall Damara, about six feet seven inches in height, offered, in 
 the course of conversation, to guide us to Omanbonde. He said that 
 
CHAP. V.] 
 
 OMANBOKDE . 
 
 97 
 
 we should arrive there in three days. We still were perfectly unable 
 to understand how large the water was, as no two people said the 
 same thing. 
 
 April 3 rd . — Six hours took us to another werft. After the first two 
 hours we left our old friend, the Vley River, as we called it ; and the 
 bushes being more open, and fewer thorn-trees among them, we 
 followed our guide across the country. The captain of this werft was 
 a very shrewd fellow, and a jolly, humorous sort of man. He was 
 convinced that we were Hottentot spies ; but for all that, we became 
 great friends. 
 
 At about the point where we now were Omuvereoom was identified 
 with the plain. There were no thorns at all about here, but the 
 country was covered with high green-leaved bushes ; the wood was 
 very brittle, so that the waggon crashed through trees whose stem was 
 as thick as a man’s thigh, and we had not to use the axes. Indeed, we 
 have very seldom had occasion to employ them, considering the 
 country that we have pushed through. The captain told us all sorts of 
 tales about the Ovampo and their king, Nangoro. He had visited them 
 two or three times. Nangoro, he said, was the fattest man in the 
 world, and larger than either of my waggons. His size has made a 
 great impression upon the sparely-built Damaras, for whenever I talk 
 about him they allude to it. Every man I have talked to about the 
 Ovampo speaks well of them. 
 
 April \th . — We started in company with our tall guide, travelling 
 three and a half hours — slept without water. The next day we were 
 to reach our goal. Infinite were the conjectures on the size and 
 appearance of Omanbonde. We had looked over my mackintosh boat 
 to see that it was in good order, and agreed to settle on its banks and 
 lmve a fortnight or three weeks pleasant shooting in return for all the 
 trouble and annoyance that we had undergone. We tried not to 
 expect very much of a lake for fear of disappointment, but agreed that 
 it could not be less than fifteen miles by eight. Five hours’ travelling 
 over undulating ground brought us on the brow of a hill, below which 
 lay a broad grassy river bed five hundred yards across — this was the 
 Omoramba ; up it was a projecting rock, and round that Omanbonde. 
 On a hill-top in front was a cluster of camelthorn trees (Omanbonde 
 means camelthorn trees), and below that the lake was said to lie. 
 Forwards we went with our nerves strung to the highest pitch of 
 excitement ; we rattled the waggon on as fast as we could walk, 
 
q8 
 
 HIPPOPOTAMI. 
 
 [chap. v. 
 
 turned the corner, but another provoking reach of the river-bed was 
 before us. Then we plunged through a field of dry reeds and were 
 walking on when the guide loitered behind and seemed to be looking 
 about for something. The truth slowly dawned upon our minds that 
 we were then in Omanbonde, and that the guide was actually looking 
 for the water. 
 
 It was really too ridiculous that our magnificent lake should be 
 reduced to this. However there proved to be perfect truth in the 
 story of the hippopotami. The fact is, that a country like Damara- 
 land is as different after a heavy rainy season to what it is after a dry 
 one, as the sea-beach is at different times of the tide. Our ill-luck was 
 that we travelled in one of the driest years known ; and Omanbonde, 
 which is a reach of the broad Omoramba, of some nine miles long, 
 bears every mark of having been full of water. The course of the 
 Omoramba, as 1 found out long afterwards, is towards the great river 
 of the Mationa country, and up it during the rainy season hippopotami 
 travel ; many have been killed at Omanbonde ; one a few years back 
 actually travelled up to Okaroscheke, and thence his spoor led into the 
 Swakop, that is not more than a couple of miles apart from it. He 
 died in the Swakop, and his carcase was washed down and eaten by 
 the Ghou Damup at Tsobis. Many Hottentots who were familiar with 
 hippopotami, from having been born on the Orange River, which used 
 to abound with them, saw fragments of the animal ; Jonker told me 
 the story, and I have no reason to disbelieve it, but from the appear- 
 ance of Damaraland during the dry season, on& would as soon expect 
 a hippopotamus to have travelled across the great Sahara as from 
 Omanbonde to Tsobis. There is not a drop of water, except in wells, 
 (which the beast could not get at,) between Omanbonde and the little 
 fountain two hours from Schmelen’s Hope. We encamped by the side 
 of Omanbonde near some wells of excellent water, to which hundreds 
 of desert partridges flew every night. My men had had enough of 
 travelling, and wanted to return ; however I had my own way with 
 them. I made them what presents I could. Their shirts were torn 
 to rags, and I served out all the calico which I had taken as an article 
 of exchange to make them new ones. I gave an assegai to each of my 
 Damaras, and did my best to put the men into good humour, and then 
 made ready to go on to the Ovampo. 
 
chap, vi.] MISTAKE A LION FOR AN ANTELOPE. 
 
 99 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Mistake a Lion for an Antelope — Explore a road — Reach Palms — Return 
 and bring the Waggons— Experiences of African travel — Guide decamps 
 and we find another — Settle at Okamabuti — The first Elephant— Waggon 
 breaks down — Encampment made — Chapupa’s history — Savages versus 
 Europeans — Ride on to the Ovampo — Method of searching for Water — 
 Damaras are bad Guides — Find some Bushmen— We start, but are 
 ordered back — The Ovampo Caravan — Chikorongo-onkompe — Pronunci- 
 ation of the letter M — Salt, not a necessary of life — Damaras never eat 
 it — Return to Chapupa’s Werft — Arrange a present for Nangoro — Dressed 
 and tanned leather — Hear of Kahikene’s death — Damara Creed— Eandas 
 and Omakuru — Ceremonies — Huts and Finery — Chaunts and Music — 
 Damara language— Prefixes. 
 
 Thus closed an era in the journey; the first great point was reached,, 
 the furthest that the Hottentots from Namaqualand had ever seer, 
 for they had travelled as far as Omanbonde in one great expedition ; 
 they went in great numbers and returned in some distress after a few 
 months’ absence. 
 
 Curiously enough I arrived at Omanbonde the day year that I had 
 left England. 
 
 Now that my oxen were becoming a little more manageable, and 
 the men accustomed to travelling I had hopes of making better progress 
 than I had done, and of soon reaching a far more interesting country 
 than that which I had now nearly crossed. I stayed two days at 
 Omanbonde walking about putting my map in order, and strolling with 
 my little rifle to shoot guinea-fowls or francolines. There was very 
 little game about, and I had neither patience nor endurance to run on 
 their spoors till I found them. One day as I was sauntering about 
 in this way, I had rather a fright ; my rifle was loaded with the merest 
 puff of powder and a round ball, when I caught a sudden glimpse 
 of an animal standing on a mound about two hundred yards off. I 
 saw him through the thick boughs of a bush, dropped to the ground 
 directly, and made a careful stalk. I fancied it was a koodoo, and I 
 hoped that I might secure the animal if I could get very near to him. 
 I crawled for about ten minutes amongst the abominable thorns, and 
 never showed myself once until about forty or fifty yards from the 
 mound, and then I poked my rifle very gently between the branches 
 of a thorn-tree, and raised myself up slowly on a level with it. To 
 
100 
 
 EXPLORE A ROAD.— REACH PALMS. [chap. vi. 
 
 my bewilderment I saw that my game was no koodoo, but a fine 
 black lion with a glorious mane, standing like a statue and looking 
 right at me. His attitude was picturesque, but armed as I was I 
 should much rather have viewed him at a telescopic distance. There 
 was nothing to be done but to put a bold face upon the matter, so I 
 showed myself at once and walked slowly away. I was in an awful 
 fright ; I was sure the animal must be hungry, as there was so little 
 game about. He let me walk some fifty yards without stirring in the 
 slightest. He might have been daguerreotyped as he stood. Then 
 he made a bound and trotted away, certainly as much astonished 
 at the interview as myself, for unless he was a great traveller he 
 could never before have seen a white man or one dressed in clothes. 
 
 I am not sure whether or no Omanbonde is the head of that branch 
 of the Omoramba ; it begins quite abruptly, but I found that it also 
 ended abruptly, and yet after a short distance the river-bed recom- 
 menced ; in fact the place is like a trough with sides and ends to it. 
 The Omoramba eastward of the place, is a succession of troughs, but 
 whether there are others to the west of Omanbonde I do not know ; 
 there are two and very likely more, that lie parallel to it and at a short 
 distance to the northward. We arrived on the 5th of April, and on the 
 8th I was again in my saddle, and set out on my trusty Ceylon to 
 explore a road out of the Omoramba, which seemed even more im- 
 practicable, with regard to thorns, than any place I had yet seen. I 
 longed for the free and luxuriant vegetation of the tropics, and to 
 emerge from a country that was scorched with tropical heat, but unre- 
 freshed with truly tropical rains. Timboo, John Allen, two or three 
 Damaras, and the tall guide accompanied me ; we rode three or four 
 hours down the Omoramba and then turned to the left, and in four or 
 five hours off-packed by the side of one of the most agreeable of objects 
 — as the harbinger of richer vegetation — a magnificent palm. Three 
 hours the next day took us past a large pool of water, and up to another 
 where there was a werft. Here I felt very much at the mercy of my 
 teasing hosts, who took the liberty of annoying me in every way. I 
 had no meat, and they would neither sell nor give me anything, and I 
 feared we should have to return without food. 
 
 We were too tired to watch all night, but slept almost without a fire, 
 lying on our valuables, and with the oxen tied short up to us, as we 
 feared some theft. The next morning, having been satisfied of the 
 goodness of the road, I returned and rode in eleven hours back to 
 
chap, vi.] EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN TRAVEL. 
 
 ioi 
 
 Oman’ ond£, wheie I arri.ed before dusk on the loth. On the 12th 
 the waggons started, and were taken successfully out of the river-bed. 
 An accident to my best rifle — a long two-ounce one — happened in the 
 evening; some giraffes were coming near us, and we ran through the 
 bushes and surrounded them. Andersson, who had the rifle, crawled 
 near to one that Hans had wounded and knocked him over, but the 
 rifle burst or rather cracked with the shot ; the breech giving way just 
 beneath the nipple. I suspect that the bullet had become slightly dis- 
 lodged by the jolting. We encamped of course by the carcase and 
 had a feast. I see now that the best way of feeding savages is not to 
 give them a steady allowance, so many pounds of meat a day, but to 
 starve them the greatest part of their time, and to gorge them now and 
 then : besides, it is much the most convenient way of feeding them. 
 There is no doubt that alternate privation and luxury is congenial to 
 most minds. 
 
 The two waggons somehow became separated ; mine was as usual 
 ahead, but the other tried a short cut to overtake us, and lost our 
 spoor. We were playing at cross purposes, each trying to find the 
 other for hours ; at last we encamped at Okatjokeama, the werft I had 
 before explored. 
 
 The Damaras who had been so impudent to me and my small party 
 were, as usual, highly civil to my large one ; had it been much greater 
 they would have given me presents. I saw clearly the truth of what 
 a Portuguese traveller, whom I have quoted before, told me that it was 
 not safe to beg, but better to force the natives to be hospitable, and 
 that if Africa is ever to be thoroughly explored the only way to do 
 it is in company with a well armed force of men (natives of course). 
 
 In a despotic country travelling is easy enough if the goodwill of 
 the reigning savage be once obtained, but in a place like Damaraland, 
 where every chief is independent, and has to be persuaded or coerced, 
 the case is very different, and when tribes are changed it will take 
 years to persuade the new tribe that the traveller is not a spy. A 
 large body of men forces its way, and the man who commands it can 
 say to a chief — “ I wish to be friends, and here are presents for you 
 to show that I am friendly, and also here are things of exchange to 
 buy what I want. Bring me these or I take them.” Many Portuguese 
 traders travel after this way, but stronger measures have to be resorted 
 to in enforcing the discipline of the travelling party, and in compelling 
 civility from the natives, than Englishmen generally would like to 
 
102 
 
 GUIDE DECAMPS AND IVE FIND ANOTHER, [chap. vj. 
 
 adopt. It would be a tedious journey indeed for a man, however weil 
 qualified, to attempt to travel as a native would, and to go far into 
 Africa. He would be stopped for months or years at each frontier. 
 We can see this from the case of the Missionaries, who have every 
 opportunity of winning respect and regard from the natives they are 
 amongst, of learning their language and their customs, and who have 
 also every desire of extending their spheres of action ; yet a long time 
 elapses between each step that their stations advance, and when they 
 do so it invariably is under the strong influence of some chief that they 
 are even then led on. The traveller who tries to dash at it has many 
 difficulties indeed to encounter. 
 
 These scoundrel Damaras wanted to misdirect us, and to send us 
 eastwards instead of northwards, to find out (hi Ovampo, but the 
 women of the tribe let out the secret to the wives of my Damaras, and 
 the wives of course told it to their husbands, who told it to me, so 
 that their plans failed. The tall guide took great pains to explain to 
 us how innocent he was of all guile, and that he would take us on 
 to the Ovampo and do everything we wanted, and also that it would 
 be very convenient if I paid the calf I had promised him in advance, 
 as he had an opportunity of sending it home now, which he would not 
 have again. I mistrusted my friend— I never did trust a Damara out 
 of my sight — but he teased me and I gave him the calf. Timboo was 
 quite won by his agreeable address, and lent him his horse-rug to 
 sleep upon. The rascal of course sent away the calf, and decamped 
 with the rug the next night. Another savage took us on, and we 
 came to a little bit of a water-hole, then to another, on the succeeding 
 day, where there was a large werft, and we fraternised strongly with 
 the people of it. They confirmed what we had heard, of there being 
 elephants ahead, and pointed out a number of coppice-covered knolls, 
 all about which the animals were said to be feeding at that very time. 
 We had passed through a broad belt of palms, high, magnificent trees, 
 with fan-shaped leaves and prickly stems, bearing clusters of fruit 
 exactly like that of the North African doum palm, that is to say, a 
 ruddy, dry fruit, with a fibrous kernel that no power we had at com- 
 mand could make any impression upon. I brought some specimens 
 home with me, and they are planted at Kew Gardens. Ivory was very 
 common as an ornament among these Damaras, our present guide 
 sported a long string of ivory beads, which he wore like a halter, it 
 dangled from his neck down his back as far as his heels. The size 
 
CHAP. VI.] 
 
 THE FIRST ELEPHANT. 
 
 103 
 
 of these beads, which were carefully made, tapered gradually down, 
 from nearly the size of billiard-balls to that of hazel-nuts. He would 
 not sell his cherished ornament, though he very kindly offered to lend 
 it to me for a day or two, if I wished to wear it. 
 
 April 17th . — We arrived at Okamabuti, where the werft of the princi- 
 pal chief of these parts, Chapupa, was then lying. W<* were assured 
 that there were elephants about, who drank regularly at some neigh- 
 bouring fountains, and we found the spoors of five. One was said to be 
 a savage, single-tusked, old bull, and we made a long but unsuccessful 
 hunt after him ; as he walked faster than we could, a whole day’s 
 severe labour was on that occasion unrewarded. Some time later, 
 the Damaras went out in a large body to attack him with assegais, for 
 he had come close up to their werft. They surrounded the animal in 
 that daring way in which African savages are used to attack them ; 
 but although several arrows were shot and assegais thrown, no serious 
 harm was done to him. A dog belonging to one of the natives ran in 
 upon the elephant, and while the owner was trying to get the dog back, 
 the elephant caught the man with his trunk and threw him violently to 
 the ground. All his ribs seemed to be broken, and he soon died. 
 There were no guns on the spot at the time of the occurrence. The 
 elephant went away for a few days, but returned again, and came close 
 up to the waggons. He received seven bullets, but the two last were 
 unnecessary, for he was evidently dying after receiving the fifth. The 
 Damaras had a grand feed off him. 
 
 I I did not wish to waste time in Damaraland, and tried to persuade 
 Chapupa to give me a guide to the Ovampo, but after many excuses 
 he flatly refused. Okamabuti is on the Damara frontier, and a Bush- 
 man tract of considerable breadth separates the two countries. I had 
 heard every imaginable account of the distance hence to Nangoro’s 
 place, but settled in my own mind that it must be somewhere between 
 a five and a twenty days’ journey. I therefore made ready to treck on 
 to one of the fountains that the elephants frequented, and to stay there 
 for a little until I could bribe a guide to show me the way on. There 
 were a great many things to be done which required at least a 
 fortnight’s rest ; the waggon sails, which were torn in shreds, had to be 
 well mended, ox hides had to be dressed and then cut up into reims ; 
 saddle-bags were wanting, the men's shoes were worn out; more ride- 
 and pack-oxen had to be broken in, and I had a great deal of country 
 to map up and several observations to work out. 
 
104 
 
 WAGGON BREAKS DOWN. 
 
 [chap. vi. 
 
 On the 19th of April we had started for the fountains, when an 
 accident occurred that detained me much longer than I had expected. 
 I ought to have premised that the character of the country had entirely 
 changed; instead of small bushes some magnificent timber trees 
 began to appear, forming belts of forest as regular in shape as the 
 designs of an ornamental gardener could have made them, but offering 
 a very considerable impediment to waggon travelling. The oxen were 
 very fresh, and as soon as they were inspanned bolted down a slight 
 descent with the waggon ; there was a stump in the way ; it looked a 
 rotten affair, such as we had constantly crushed over, but it really was 
 a hard sound piece of wood. The off fore wheel of the large waggon 
 came against it, and crash went the axletree and ever so much more of 
 the woodwork— and there we were ! 
 
 We did not sit one moment with our hands in our pockets and 
 lament, but brought the other waggon up alongside, and at a proper 
 distance off, and then out-spanning worked diligently at making a 
 regular encampment. It would never have done to appear dis- 
 heartened. We were in a complete jungle, but that we soon cleared 
 sufficiently out of our way ; a space was then hedged in round the 
 waggons, half of which was made into a strong ox-kraal, and round 
 this I made my five married couples of savages build their huts at 
 equal distances that they might act as a watch over it. In this sort of 
 work the day passed, and I most heartily congratulated myself that 
 the accident had happened where it did, near water and near friendly 
 Damaras, and in almost the only place that we had seen, since 
 Schmelen’s Hope, where wood fit for a new axletree could be obtained. 
 I did not dare to trust myself to one of unseasoned wood, as it would 
 not have stood a day’s work through such country as that we were 
 now travelling over, and if the next breakdown should lie in a spot 
 far from trees, grass, or water, we might find ourselves in very great 
 difficulty. I therefore determined to ride with Andersson on to the 
 Ovampo, and to leave Hans behind in charge of the waggons — which 
 he undertook to repair. Curiously enough, though there were so 
 many timber trees, yet we searched for hours before we could find 
 two that were fit for our purpose — straight, not too large, and not 
 worm-eaten. These were cut down at once and brought to the camp. 
 The next day found us busily engaged in strengthening the encamp- 
 ment and making it comfortable. The space between the waggons 
 was awned over, the stumps of bushes rooted out of the ground, the 
 
CHAP. VI.] 
 
 SAVAGES VERSUS EUROPEANS. 
 
 105 
 
 fore part of the broken waggon prized up, the wheels, etc., taken away, 
 and stones built under it, and some very active days were thus spent. 
 
 Chapupa passed most of the time with us ; he had been much indebted 
 to Nangoro for assistance in some Damara squabbles and fightings, 
 and was tolerably intelligent and friendly. It seemed that the Ovampo 
 carry on a cattle trade with the Damaras at this point. Two Ovampo 
 caravans, each consisting of from twenty to thirty men on foot, come 
 here with beads, shells, assegais, wood-choppers, and suchlike things, 
 which they exchange for cattle. They obtain the beads and some of 
 the assegais from the half-caste Portuguese traders who frequent their 
 northern frontier. Some years back the then principal Damara chief 
 received the Ovampo with great civility, and allowed them, as usual, 
 to travel about and barter as they liked ; but when they had sold 
 everything and brought a fine drove of cattle together, the chief 
 attacked and robbed them. Chapupa was at that time a second-rate 
 captain, and having been himself robbed he sent to Nangoro for help, 
 which was given ; their men joined together, killed the obnoxious 
 chief, and then divided his cattle between them ; and Chapupa now 
 lives in great plenty, and shows the greatest respect towards all the 
 Ovampo. He evidently did not wish to take the responsibility of 
 himself sending me on to Nangoro, as he feared that I might be a 
 spy, and that Nangoro would find fault with him for allowing me an 
 opportunity of learning the road ; but he begged that I would wait till 
 the next Ovampo caravan came, when I should have an excellent 
 opportunity of returning with it. 
 
 However, on the 25th of April, a man offered himself as guide; I 
 asked him how soon he would be ready ; he replied, as was very true, 
 that he had nothing to pack up, only his assegai to take with him, and 
 would start directly. These savages look with great contempt at our 
 wants, and indeed no European could be a match for them in fatigue- 
 work for two or three days ; yet, on the other hand, in a long steady 
 journey the savages very quickly knock up, unless they adopt some 
 of our usages. They cannot endure the cold for many nights with- 
 out a rug to cover them. The mid-day sun gives them a headache, 
 and they require a cap. Their sandals do not keep out the thorns 
 and they have to make shoes, and they cannot do more than a week’s 
 work on pig-nut diet. A savage who makes a dash at work for three 
 or four days gets through it well enough, and a long rest sets him to 
 rights again after his forced exertions ; but where there is no such 
 
io6 RIDE ON TO THE OVAMPO, [chap. vi. 
 
 rest, but in its place a steady continuous strain, then he fails unless 
 to a considerable degree he adopts our dress and habits. 
 
 April 26th . — We started ; John St. Helena, Timboo, John Williams, 
 Andersson, and myself were all on ride-oxen ; we had three carrying 
 packs, and a few others loose, with a small drove of sheep : I also 
 tcck half a dozen Damaras with me. We passed vast numbers of 
 old elephant tracks, but saw no fresh spoors, and halted after pro- 
 ceeding a short distance, but the next day we made a long tedious 
 journey from sunrise to sunset, getting among hills and quite losing 
 our way. We passed a magnificent set of pitfalls, which the Bushmen 
 who live about these hills had made ; the whole breadth of the valley 
 was staked and bushed across. At intervals the fence was broken, 
 and where broken deep pitfalls were made. The strength and size 
 of the timber that was used gave me a great idea of Bushmen industry, 
 for every tree had to be burnt down and carried away from the hills, 
 and yet the scale of the undertaking would have excited astonishment 
 in far more civilised nations. When a herd of animals was seen among 
 the hills the Bushmen drove them through this valley up to the fence ; 
 this was too high for them to jump, so that they were obliged to make for 
 the gaps, and there tumbled into the pitfalls. We had seen no people 
 about, but at night when we off-packed, the hill-top in front of us 
 blazed with fires. I presume that more trees were being burnt to 
 make a second set of pitfalls. It was no encouragement to us to see 
 these fires, for three or four Bushmen, each with one meal's provision 
 of water, might have walked over from a great distance, and made 
 them, and therefore I had no reason to expect to find near at hand 
 the water that we already were in want of for the oxen. 
 
 April 28 th . — After some hours’ travel the guide confessed that he 
 had no idea where we were ; so we separated to look for tracks, some 
 climbing one hill and some another. The day was hazy, but Andersson 
 made out something like green grass, five or six miles to the north 
 west, and the guide found a Bushman who directed him in that very 
 course ; so we went there, and found not only dry rushes but also a 
 troop of baboons. This was a sure sign of there being water some- 
 where near, and after looking about a little we came upon wells. 
 We generally found water by observing geese, ducks, baboons, parrots, 
 doves, and little birds (not linnets) in flocks. Guinea fowl are seldom 
 more than three hours from water. Plovers I have seen much further. 
 Fresh converging tracks of men or animals of course indicate it, but 
 
CHAP. VI. ] 
 
 DAMARAS ARE BAD GUIDES. 
 
 107 
 
 old paths only mislead ; these generally are made when the ground is 
 soft during the rainy season, and lead to some valley which is dry at 
 all other times. In practice, when looking out for water, the first sign 
 that gives hope is a flock of guinea fowls, then following the lay of 
 the country every distant tree is carefully scanned until a parrot is 
 seen, which, as the bird is fond of perching on the very topmost 
 branches, is, even at great distances, a conspicuous object. A parrot 
 is seldom more than half an hour from water, nor baboons either. 
 Continuing a sharp look-out, and taking a likely course doves are seen 
 flying about, and little birds are found in all the bushes, and they are 
 close upon it. 
 
 The well and fountain that we were at was called Otchikango ; a 
 bold range of hills bounded it on one side, and along their foot a 
 considerable sheet of water appeared to have lain in the rainy seasons. 
 The guide recognised the place as the station he had wanted to take 
 us to, and promised that there should now be no further mistakes. 
 
 April 29th . — We went on, and after straying for three and a half 
 hours, came again to a nonplus ; we had cleared the mountains, and a 
 thick mass of shrubs lay before us. The guide had been following an 
 old elephant, or some other wild beast path, instead of the Ovampo 
 track. I made him climb a pretty stiff hill with me, the cactus and 
 broken stones of which he did not at all like, — but it was of no use 
 to us. A wide forest extended below, without a landmark, so we 
 came down and returned to Otchikango. 
 
 The Damaras are bad guides considering that they are savages, and 
 ought to have the instincts of locality strongly developed. On subse- 
 quent occasions, in retracing our routes over wide extents of country, 
 it was a common amusement to try each other’s recollection of the 
 road by asking what would be the next object or next turn of the path 
 that we should come to. But it is difficult to compare a European’s 
 idea of a country with that of these savages, as they look at it in such 
 different ways, and have their attention attracted to such entirely 
 different objects. A Damara never generalises: he has no one name 
 for a river, but a different name for nearly every reach of it ; thus the 
 Swakop is a Namaqua name, there is no Damara word for it. A 
 Damara who knew the road perfectly from A to B, and again from 
 B to C, would have no idea of a straight cut from A to C : he has no 
 map of the country in his mind, but an infinity of local details. He 
 recollects every stump or stone, and the more puerile the object tho 
 
FIND SOME BUSHMEN. 
 
 [chap. VI. 
 
 inf5 
 
 more strongly does he seem to recollect it. Thus, if you say: “I 
 intend to sleep by the side of the great hill where the river-bed runs 
 close under its foot,” he would never recognise the place by the 
 description ; but if you said, “ under the tree, a little way on the other 
 side of the place where the black and white ox lowed when the red 
 ox was in front of him, and Koniati dropped his assegai,” etc., etc., 
 every savage in the party would understand the exact locality. The 
 Damaras pick out their way step by step ; they never dream of taking 
 a course and keeping to it. All their observations are directed to 
 spoors, sticks and stones, and they perpetually look down on the 
 ground and not round about them. 
 
 We had, as usual, been such early risers, that plenty of daylight 
 remained, which we occupied in watching the baboons and climbing 
 about their hills. We had made so zigzag a journey that I mapped out 
 this mountainous region very satisfactorily. Towards evening I saw 
 Andersson walking like a chief with a long string of Bushmen at his 
 heels ; they had come together on the hill-side, and he brought them 
 to the camp. We lavished favours of tobacco and suchlike things 
 upon them, showed them their faces in a looking-glass that I always 
 carried with me, chiefly for that purpose, and finally succeeded in 
 persuading some of the party to guide me to the next place — Otchikoto. 
 One Bushman was to remain all night as a hostage : the others were 
 to tell his wife, and to bring next day what they required for the 
 journey. I am sure that Bushmen are, generally speaking, hen-pecked. 
 They always consult their wives. The Damaras do not. Our new 
 friend became uneasy at nightfall when his companions had left him 
 alone, so we watched him alternately throughout the night to see that 
 he did not run away. I do not think the poor fellow slept a wink. 
 I am sure he did not in my watch, for I constantly caught his bright 
 eye gleaming distrustfully round, whilst he pretended to be asleep. 
 In the morning we went on with him, and stopped at a place which was 
 full of grass, about an hour off, till his companions should come to us 
 by a short cut over the hills. After a little time three Blacks were 
 seen running from the direction of Otjikongo. As soon as we could 
 make them out clearer, the Bushmen and Damaras all called out 
 “ Ovampo,” and so it was. 
 
 They were part of the long-expected caravan which had arrived 
 immediately after we had started, and as our spoors and way of 
 camping of course excited the greatest curiosity among them, three 
 
CHAP. VI.] THE OVAMPO CARAVAN. ' 109 
 
 men were despatched to bring us back. They were ugly fellows, 
 immensely muscular and most determined looking ; they insisted that 
 we should go back; we laughed at them; they took our Bushman 
 aside, and used all kinds of threats to him, till he hardly dared proceed. 
 In the meantime I was much struck by the cool, fearless bearing of the 
 men, and their peremptory, yet not uncivil manner; and seeing at once 
 that I had quite a different style of men to deal with from either 
 Bushmen or Damaras, I acknowledged that it was but reasonable that 
 they should desire to know something of a stranger before they could 
 allow him to pass into their country, and I returned with them to the 
 encampment we had that morning left. 
 
 My new acquaintances were entirely a different looking race from the 
 Damaras, but very like the Ghou Damup. They were ugly, bony men, 
 with strongly marked features, and dressed with a very funny scantiness 
 of attire. Their heads were shaved, and one front tooth was chipped 
 out. They carried little light bows three and a half feet long, and a 
 small and well made assegai in one hand. On their backs were quivers, 
 each holding from ten to twenty well-barbed and poisoned arrows, and 
 they carried a dagger-knife in a neat sheath, which was either fixed to a 
 girdle round the waist, or else to a band that encircled the left arm 
 above the elbow. Their necks were laden with necklaces for sale, and 
 every man carried a long narrow smoothed pole over his shoulder, from 
 either end of which hung a quantity of packages. These were chiefly 
 little baskets holding iron articles of exchange, packets of corn for their 
 own eating, and water bags. 
 
 The Ovampo were twenty-four in number, with a tall enterprising- 
 looking young man as captain. I admired greatly the neatness and 
 order of their encampment, and their demeanour was really polished. 
 We soon became good friends, and I killed a young ox for them and 
 for ourselves ; they added some corn, which was a most grateful change 
 of diet to us. They paid us every attention, but refused most decidedly 
 to let any of their party guide us, and insisted that we should return 
 with them to Chapupa’s werft, promising at the same time that when 
 they had finished their bartering and returned they would take us with 
 them. The first question that Chikorongo-onkompd (their captain) 
 asked us, was whether we were rain-makers. I regretted that we were 
 not, else we could travel when we liked and where we liked, and be 
 independent of guides. He told us a long and minutely circumstantial 
 lie — at least he afterwards denied every word of it — to the effect that 
 
 9 
 
no 
 
 CHIKORONGO-ONKOMPE. 
 
 [chap, VI. 
 
 rain-makers were in great request in Ovampoland, and that a tribe of 
 ^ them lived by the great river that bounded it to the north, and that 
 Nangoro sent a woman with several presents to these people. If rain 
 (was scarce in any year they killed and eat the woman, and had a fresh 
 one sent to them. He also said that the Bushmen on our road to 
 Nangoro’s were very ferocious, and that he and his companions had 
 been fighting with them as they came by, and that now they were more 
 exasperated than ever. These were the only two lies that I have ever 
 heard from an Ovampo. The second was natural enough ; as to the 
 first I cannot yet understand why he took such pains to invent and 
 tell it. 
 
 Chikorongo-onkomp6, or “ Chik,” as I will for brevity’s sake call him, 
 spoke Damara language perfectly, but with an accent, and so did 
 Katondoka and Netjo, the next in command, but the others could barely 
 make themselves intelligible. Their own language is most musical and 
 liquid, and they speak it in a slow singing manner. It seems nothing 
 but L’s, which is curious, as the Damaras do not possess that letter and 
 cannot pronounce it. It is odd enough that Damara children, who say 
 L as all other children do when they try to pronounce R, should as they 
 grow older reverse matters, and forgetting how to pronounce the L, 
 always say R instead of it ; thus Mr. Kolbe’s name was changed to 
 Korube ; my man, whom we nicknamed Bill, was called by the 
 Damaras “ Biro.” They took infinite pains to master my name, which 
 after various transformations settled into Bortonio — the “ io ” being an 
 affectionately diminutive affix. Andersson’s name was too full of 
 consonants for them ; they gave it up in despair, and called him 
 Kabandera (the bird-killer). Many of the Ovampo and Damara words 
 are much alike; thus if you say “bring fire” it is “et omuriro” in 
 Damara, “ella omuliloo” in Ovampo. 
 
 The Ovampo way of encamping is very characteristic, for they do 
 not sleep by the side of a large burning log of wood, but instead ol 
 that go to great pains in collecting stones about the size of bricks, and 
 make two or three rows of small fires, perhaps five in each row, placing 
 the stones round each of them in a rude circle of two feet diameter ; so 
 as to confine the ashes and keep the brands from falling about ; then 
 they lie down and go to sleep between the fire-places. They arrange 
 these encampments with great regularity, and the plan of them is cer- 
 tainly a good one in countries where there may be a sufficiency of dry 
 sticks and brush, but no large firewood ; for by keeping up the fires 
 
chap, vi.] SALT NOT A NECESSARY OF LIFE. 
 
 Ill 
 
 throughout half of the night, which one or two men can easily do, the 
 stones become hot enough to radiate for some hours longer when the 
 fuel has become exhausted and everybody has dropped off to sleep ; 
 again, from the men -sleeping so close in between the hearths, they 
 receive the full benefit of whatever heat is afforded. We, like the 
 Damaras, simply made a roaring fire and slept to the windward of it, 
 for we always had plenty of firewood. I never liked sleeping between 
 two large fires on account of the smoke, and of the great danger of 
 sparks. Hans’ bed was more than half burnt under him one night, but 
 some sheep-skins that he was lying on kept him from being scorched, 
 and saved his powder flask. When a heavy log that is half-burnt 
 through breaks and falls with a crash, it scatters burning cinders all 
 about, which the wind will often carry some distance. 
 
 The Ovampo had little pipkins to cook in, and eat corn (milice) 
 steeped in hot water ; they also eat some salt, which the Damaras never 
 take by any chance. In fact the Damaras could not get it, for there is 
 no salt in their land. There are salt-springs in the lower part of the 
 Swakop, near where we first struck it when we left Scheppmansdorf, 
 and there are large salt-pans, as I afterwards found out, in Ovampo- 
 land, and also in the far east, but none whatever in Dainaraland. In 
 Europe it is generally supposed that salt is a necessary of life, but here 
 we never find it so. I was once on a riding excursion with Andersson 
 and three other men for six weeks, and a pill-box full of salt was all 
 we used. We had then nothing else whatever but meat and coffee, 
 the latter of which, after a certain degree of “ condition ” has been 
 obtained, is also a very unnecessary superfluity, and one that I could 
 at any time abandon without regret. The Namaquas occasionally use 
 salt, but they set no store upon it. There is no doubt that people who 
 live on meat and milk would require salt much less than those who live 
 
 S on vegetables, but half the Damaras subsist simply on pig-nuts, — the 
 most worthless and indigestible of food, and requiring to be eaten in 
 excessive quantities to afford enough nourishment to support life. The 
 
 I Hottentots by Walfisch Bay, who live almost entirely on the ’nara 
 gourd, and who have the sea on ^ne side and salt springs in front of 
 
 ( them, hardly ever take the trouble to collect salt, which they certainly 
 would do if they felt that craving lor it which distresses many Euro- 
 peans. The last fact that I have to mention with reference to salt, is 
 that the game in the Swakop do not frequent the salt rocks to lick them 
 as they do in America. I visited these salt rocks (below Oosop) when 
 
112 DAMARAS NEVER EAT IT [chap. vi. 
 
 there had been plenty of game about, and when the spoors of a month 
 old were perfectly distinct, yet no tracks led to the salt which hung 
 down like stalactites from the rock, from one to twenty feet above the 
 ground, at a place where a small brack-spring dribbles over it, and 
 which was perfectly accessible, and in full view.* 
 
 The Ovampo were very quiet and sociable ; they always seemed to 
 make a point of giving orders in a low tone of voice, and if possible 
 aside. They can count, for they explained to me at once the number 
 of Nangoro's wives, one hundred and five, using their fingers rapidly to 
 show the number. They also counted my oxen as quickly as I could 
 have done it myself. The next day we returned with them, and on the 
 morrow reached my werft. The Ovampo traders then separated into 
 bands, and went about the country bartering. Chik alone remained 
 behind and received such oxen as were from time to time sent him. 
 He spent most of his time with me, and told me a great deal about the 
 Ovampo and Nangoro. We found that it would require more than a 
 fortnight’s steady travel to get there. My cattle were becoming very 
 thin, and I could ill spare the three weeks that the Ovampo kept me 
 waiting. The grass on this side of the Omoramba was different to that 
 on the other, and the sheep fell off sadly from the change of food, and 
 were hardly worth eating ; their tails once so full of luscious fat, as is 
 the case with all African sheep, were now reduced to cords. There 
 was no game about for us to shoot, and the steady consumption of an 
 ox in every three days told heavily upon my slaughter-cattle. Chapupa 
 would not sell me anything. I think he dared not for fear of offending 
 his old customers — the Ovampo — and the market was not extensive 
 enough for all of us. I therefore saw clearly that my headquarters 
 had no chance of being removed turther to the north unless I met with 
 a sufficiency of game in Ovampoland to support my party, or unless 
 my articles of exchange would buy me an abundance of provisions there. 
 I exhibited all that I had to Chik, and he told me what to take, and 
 what to leave behind ; but showed very little rapture about anything 
 except some red beads and some bars of iron. At my request he arranged 
 a present for Nangoro. An ox was essential, then a handful of red 
 beads, and I added my steel-scabbarded sword, a looking-glass, and a 
 few other things. I took the great crown, but said nothing about it. 
 
 * I am informed that certain New Zealand tribes not only eat without 
 salt, but actually look upon it with distaste and aversion. 
 
chap, vi.] DRESSED AND TANNED LEATHER. 
 
 "3 
 
 I had always plenty of employment for my men ; they dressed some 
 hides and made them into good saddle-bags, and also into packing 
 reims, which have to be no less than sixty feet long. It is perfectly 
 impossible to pack oxen with a short reim, for their hide is so loose, 
 and their sides so shaky, that the packs require eight or ten turns of 
 reim round them on the ox’s back before they are properly fastened. 
 The tugging that is necessary is enormous. It requires two skilled 
 hands and one native to pack an ox. The native holds him by his nose- 
 reim (or thong) ; the things are placed on his back, the middle of the 
 reim on the top of them, and the loose ends are pulled under the ox’s 
 belly from the opposite side. Then each packer puts his foot against the 
 ox’s ribs, and, holding tightly his end of the reim, pulls at it with all his 
 might and main, till the ox’s waist is considerably, and even fashionably 
 compressed ; then the reims are crossed over his back, and the loose 
 ends again drawn through under his belly, and another pull is given, 
 and so on, till the reim is exhausted ; finally the ends are tied. 
 
 My savages never could pack ; they had not strength enough to do 
 it. It is true that Damaras do sometimes put things on the back of an 
 old worn-out ox that has not energy enough to kick them off ; but they 
 could never pack, as we did, one hundred and fifty pounds’ weight on 
 young oxen that had to be driven through thick cover, and amused 
 themselves with trying to rub their pack off against every trunk or 
 bough of a tree that they could get at. 
 
 We never had a sufficiency of leather to make reims of ; in fact, we 
 always wanted leather, and I would gladly at any time have exchanged 
 a live ox for a dressed skin. It takes at least two days to dress an ox- 
 hide, and two days’ provision is nearly one ox. If game was 
 slaughtered, the Damaras eat so much that they could not work at 
 dressing the hide, which is a most laborious job to undertake, and 
 must be entered upon willingly, or the hide is spoilt. When a hide is 
 dressed, in order to cut it into reims, the projecting edges are first 
 trimmed off, and then with a knife the remaining part is cut spirally 
 round and round the whole way from the circumference to the centre. 
 The reim or band for packing purposes ought to be about an inch 
 thick, and of a very regular breadth throughout. A reim, or any other 
 piece of ox-hide that is dressed, is more limp than if it had been 
 tanned ; but it feels greasy, and is a nasty thing to handle. Tanned 
 
 ! leather is abused by Hottentots and Dutchmen, but I conceive that is 
 simply because it is an innovation upon their ideas. If I travelled 
 
H4 
 
 HEAR CF KAHIKENE’S DEATH. 
 
 [chap. vi. 
 
 again, I should invest largely in it, and only use dressed leather when I 
 had nothing better. Wet ruins the latter, for it makes it soppy and 
 extensible ; drought makes tanned leather rotten, but not if a very little 
 fat be rubbed in occasionally. All my tanned leather things lasted 
 admirably, and far outwore the rest. 
 
 I had, whilst waiting for the Ovampo, some fresh oxen broken in, 
 and among them Kahikene’s fine black ox. I did so because news 
 arrived one evening that Kahikene was killed, and I wished to keep 
 a memento of him, and not to eat his present. It appeared that he went 
 to Omagunde’s son’s werft immediately after we had parted, and made 
 a bold charge. When the fighting was at its thickest, all Kahikene’s 
 men dropped off, and ran away, leaving him and his son alone. My 
 old servant, Piet, from Mozambique, remained a little time with him, 
 and shot two men with his gun, but then became frightened, and 
 made his escape. An arrow struck Kahikene; and as he fell to the 
 ground, Omagunde’s men speared him through and through with their 
 assegais. His son, a fine intelligent lad, rushed up to him in despair, 
 and was murdered by his side. 
 
 As I have brought my narrative to the time when we were about to 
 leave Damaraland behind us ; and as we had already lived five 
 months in it, and of course had seen much of the manners and habits 
 of the people, it will be a good opportunity for me to mention them 
 
 in order, and more fully than I could have done before, without 
 
 anticipating or breaking the thread of my story. 
 
 To commence with their name. It is in their own language 
 “ Ovaherero,” or the “Merry People ” ; but those who are settled towards 
 the interior are always called “ Ovampantieru,” or the “Deceivers”; 
 for what reason I am totally unable to find out. Damup which is the 
 Namaqua name for the people generally, has been corrupted by the 
 Oerlams and Dutch traders into “ Damara,” and by this title they have 
 always been known to the whites. Like the word “Caffre,” it is 
 an established name, and also a convenient one ; for it supersedes all 
 
 distinctions of locality and of tribes, which Ovaherero does not; in 
 
 addition to this it is very pronounceable, and therefore I prefer adhering 
 to established usage, and calling the savages by it, rather than by 
 words in their own language. 
 
 Next, as to their jumble of ideas, which, for want oi a better name, 
 must be dignified by that of their religion or creed. 
 
 In the beginning of things there was a tree (but the tree is somehow 
 
CHAP. VI.] 
 
 E AND AS AND OMAKURU. 
 
 US 
 
 double, because there is one at Omaruru, and another near Omutcham- 
 atunda), and out of this tree came Damaras, Bushmen, oxen, and 
 zebras. The Damaras lit a fire, which frightened away the Bushmen 
 and the zebras ; but the oxen remained. Hence it is that Bushmen 
 and wild beasts live together in all sorts of inaccessible places, while 
 the Damaras and the oxen possess the land. The tree gave birth to 
 everything else that lives ; but has not been prolific of late years. It 
 is of no use waiting by the side of the tree in hopes of capturing such 
 oxen and sheep as it might bear. 
 
 Again, notwithstanding that everything comes out of the tree, men 
 have in some separate manner a special origin or “ eanda.” There are 
 six or seven eandas, and each eanda has some peculiar rites. The 
 tribes do not correspond with the eandas, as men of every descent are 
 to be found in each tribe. The chiefs of tribes have some kind of 
 sacerdotal authority — more so than a military one. They bless the 
 oxen ; and their daughters sprinkle the fattest ones with a brush 
 dipped in water every morning as they walk out of the kraal. 
 
 They have no expectation of a future state ; yet they pray over the 
 graves of their parents for oxen and sheep, — fat ones, and of the right 
 colour. There is hardly a particle of romance, or affection, or poetry, 
 in their character or creed ; but they are a greedy, heartless, silly set 
 of savages. 
 
 Independently of the tree and the eanda, there is also Omakuru ; 
 he can hardly be called a deity, though he gives and withholds rain. 
 He is buried in several different places, at all of which he is occasionally 
 prayed to. 
 
 The Damaras have a vast number of small superstitions, but these 
 are all stupid, and often very gross ; and there is not much that is 
 characteristic in them. Messengers are greased before they set out 
 on a journey, and greased again when they come back ; of one sort 
 of ox only grown men eat ; out of one particular calabash of milk only 
 grown men drink, and so on ad infinitum. A new-born child is washed 
 — the only time he is ever washed in his life — then dried and greased, 
 and the ceremony is over. Some time during boyhood the lads are 
 circumcised, but at no particular age. Marriage takes place at what 
 appears to be the ages of fifteen or sixteen, but as the Damaras. keep no 
 count of years it is scarcely possible to be certain of their ages ; my 
 impression was that the Damaras were not so precocious as black 
 people usually are. The teeth are chipped with a flint when the 
 
n6 HUTS AND FINERY. [chap, v*. 
 
 children are young. After death the corpse is placed in a squatting 
 posture, with its chin resting on its knees, and in that position is sewn 
 up in an old ox-hide (the usual thing that they sleep on), and then 
 dropped down into a hole that is dug for it, the face being turned to 
 the north, and covered over; lastly, the spectators jump backwards, and 
 forwards over the grave to keep the disease from rising out of it. A 
 sick person meets with no compassion ; he is pushed out of his hut 
 by his relations away from the fire into the cold ; they do all they can 
 to expedite his death, and when he appears to be dying, they heap ox- 
 hides over him till he is suffocated. Very few Damaras die a natural 
 death. The huts are wretched affairs — I have already slightly de- 
 scribed them — the women are the builders. They first cut a number 
 of sticks eight or nine feet high, and also strip off quantities of bark 
 from the trees, which they shred and use as string ; holes are then 
 "crowed” in a circle of eight or ten feet across, in which the sticks are 
 planted upright, their tops are next bent together, and pleached and 
 lashed with the bark shreds — this makes the framework ; round about 
 it brushwood is woven and tied until the whole assumes a compact 
 surface ; a hole for a door three feet by two, is left in one side, and a 
 forked prop is placed in the middle of the hut to support the roof ; 
 the whole is then daubed and plastered over, and the work is completed. 
 As the roof becomes dried and cracked with the heat of the fire, and 
 indeed as it generally has a hole in it for a chimney, the Damaras 
 lay old ox-hides on the outside upon its top, weighting them with stones 
 that they may not be blown off ; these they draw aside when they 
 want ventilation, but pull them over at night when they wish to make 
 all snug. The furniture of the hut consists of a couple of ox-hides for 
 lying and sitting on, three or four wooden vessels, a clay cooking pot, 
 a bag of pig-nuts, a leathern box containing a little finery, such as red 
 iron earth to colour themselves with, and a small skin of grease. 
 There may perhaps be an iron knife and a wood chopper ; everything 
 else is worn on the person, or buried secretly in the ground. When 
 they sleep, the whole population of the hut lie huddled up together 
 like pigs, and in every imaginable position round the small fire. They 
 have nothing to cover themselves with. The children before they can 
 walk, are carried in a kind of leather shawl at the mother’s back ; 
 afterwards they are left to shift for themselves, and pick up a living 
 amongst the pig-nuts as well as they can. They all have dreadfully 
 swelled stomachs and emaciated figures. It is wonderful how they 
 
DAMARA LANGUAGE. 
 
 117 
 
 CHAP. VI.] 
 
 can grow up into such fine men. The Damaras do not dance much, 
 only on great occasions, when they perform war-dances ; neither do 
 they sing together, although they are very fond of chaunting solos in 
 a sing-song air, inventing the words as they go on, and having a chorus 
 to break in now and then. Thave seen one guitar amongst them, 
 but it was, I think, an Ovampo importation ; their only musical instru- 
 ment is their bow. They tie a piece of reim round the bow-string and 
 the handle, and bind them tight together, then they hold the bow 
 horizontally against their teeth, and strike the tense bow-string with 
 a small stick. A good performer can produce great effect with it ; 
 they attend more to the rhythm than the notes, and imitate with its 
 music the gallop or trotting of different animals to perfection. The 
 baboon’s clumsy canter is the chef d'ceuvre y and when well executed 
 makes everybody roar with laughter. 
 
 The natural colour of the Damaras is by no means easy to determine, 
 except during the heavy rains which wash off the layers of grease and 
 red pigment with which they so plentifully besmear themselves. 
 In dry weather the Damara comes out ruddy and glossy like an old 
 well-polished mahogany table ; he is then reeking with oil, his features 
 are plump and smooth, his appearance genial and warm, but a few 
 hours’ steady deluge quite alters the man. His skin becomes dead- 
 looking and devoid of all lustre — there is not a tinge of ruddiness in it ; 
 it is not even black, but of a pale slate colour, or like old iron railings 
 that want fresh painting, and the Damara, when cleaned, becomes a 
 most seedy looking object. 
 
 Concerning their language I shall say little, as it can only interest 
 philologists, and for their benefit a most copious manuscript grammar 
 and dictionary has already been sent by the Rev. Messrs. Hahn and 
 Rath, to Bonn. Its grammar is much the same as that of the Sichuana 
 and Caffre languages ; which are said to be kindred to that of nearly 
 every known negro language in south Africa. It is highly flexible, so 
 that when a new word is once obtained they can express immediately 
 and intelligibly every derivative from it. Thus if they learnt the word 
 “bread" they would have no difficulty in forming the word “a baker.’’ 
 The great clumsiness of the language is its want of comparatives and of 
 adjectives. It has one great but not peculiar beauty in the prefix which 
 every substantive possesses. These prefixes have all a special power 
 which it is not easy to define, but which is soon caught up by the 
 learner. To take a simple instance, Omu is the prefix that signifies 
 
n8 
 
 PREFIXES. 
 
 [chap. Vi. 
 
 manhood ; Otji, a thing. Now Omundu is simply a man ; but by saying 
 Otjimundu, the idea of an inanimate thing is superadded to the idea of 
 a man, and the word expresses an old crone. The prefix of the sub- 
 stantive which governs the sentence is continued or hinted at through 
 all the declinable words in it and gives a bond of union to the whole. 
 The vocabulary is pretty extensive ; it is wonderfully copious on the 
 subject of cattle ; every imaginable kind of colour — as brindled, dappled, 
 piebald — is named. It is not strong in the cardinal virtues ; the 
 language possessing no word at all for gratitude ; but on looking hastily 
 over my dictionary I find fifteen that express different forms of 
 villainous deceit. 
 
 DAMARA WEAPONS, ETC, 
 
CHAP. VII.] 
 
 DA MARA HELPMATES. 
 
 119 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Damara Helpmates — Marriage Tie — Caravan to Ovampoland — Yearly Traffic 
 — Otchikoto — Improvised Chaunts — Reach an Ovampo Cattle-post — 
 Archery Practice — The Parent Tree — We reach Ondonga — Corn, Beans, 
 and Palms — Fruit Trees — Native Beer — Density of the Population — 
 — Encamp by Nangoro’s Village — Cannot obtain Pasturage — Nangoro 
 pays us a Visit — Ovampo Belles — We go to a Ball — Description of 
 Dances — Charms and Counter-charms — Nangoro’s Palace — The Great 
 River — Prospects — The King is crowned — His Lawful Successors — 
 The Queen’s Duties — Ovampo Dentists — Surgical Practice. 
 
 May 22 nd . — The Ovampo and ourselves were all in readiness, and we 
 travelled for a couple of hours to a place of general rendezvous. I was 
 very curious to see what our caravans would consist of, as it would 
 give an accurate idea of the amount of trade and communication that 
 goes on northwards from Damaraland. There are four of t-hese 
 caravans yearly, — two to Chapupa’s werft, and two that travel between 
 those Ovampo and Damaras that severally live near the sea. Kahikene 
 had told me of these last ; and I have since heard much fuller particulars 
 about them. We had fifteen ride- and pack-oxen, eight slaughter ; two 
 cows, one calf, thirty sheep, and three goats. Goats are very useful to 
 furnish leather, in case anything should be torn, or bags have to be 
 made ; they do not, however, travel quite so well as sheep. 
 
 We encamped as usual at night, letting the oxen graze about us, not 
 dreaming of any accident, when a Damara, who was going through the 
 trees, luckily came upon a lion, who was crouching at one of my ride- 
 oxen, almost within springing distance. The lion, of course, decamped, 
 as lions always do when they are discovered at their wicked practices, 
 and we had the satisfaction of hearing him roar hungrily throughout 
 the night. The cry of a lion as he walks about, when he is baulked of 
 sport, is plaintive, and not unmusical ; but I never heard them utter it 
 in the menageries in England. It was quite a new sound to me when 
 I first listened to it ; and I should never then have guessed it had come 
 from a lion unless I had been told so. Another very peculiar cry is that 
 of the zebra ; at a distance it sounds more like the roo-coo-cooing of a 
 dove than anything else. We cut bushes and kraaled in the oxen during 
 the dark ; and as I had now only a small drove with me, and plenty of 
 Damaras, I came to a resolution to make a kraal every night for the 
 
120 
 
 MARRIAGE TIE. 
 
 [chap, vii. 
 
 oxen, and so relieve myself of all anxiety about them. I had found it 
 such a luxury both at Schmelen’s Hope and Okamabuti, to have kraals 
 to drive the cattle safe into at nightfall, for, dismissing from our minds all 
 care about them, we could then sleep undisturbed throughout the night. 
 The men of my party were, besides myself and Andersson, John Allen, 
 John St. Helena, and Timboo. I had five picked Damaras with four 
 wives. The women are very useful, for they carry the men’s things, 
 and make their huts, and cook for them, leaving the men unhampered 
 and disengaged, ready to run and drive the oxen, and do anything that 
 might be wanted. Damara women have not much to complain of; 
 they are valuable helpmates ; and divorce themselves as often as they 
 like. The consequence is that the marital rule depends not upon 
 violence nor upon interest, but upon affection. A wife costs a Damara 
 nothing, for she “crows” her own pig-nuts, and she is of positive use, 
 because she builds and plasters his hut, cooks his victuals, and carries 
 his things when he moves from place to place. A Damara seldom beats 
 his wife much ; -if he does, she decamps. This deference of husband 
 to wife was a great difficulty in the way of discipline ; for I often wanted 
 to punish the ladies of my party, and yet I could not make their 
 husbands whip them for me, and of course I was far too gallant to have 
 it done by any other hands. They bored me to death with their ever- 
 lasting talking; but I must own that there were many gpod points in 
 their character. They were extremely patient, though not feminine, 
 according to our ideas : they had no strong affections either for spouse 
 or children ; in fact, the spouse was changed almost weekly, and I 
 seldom knew, without inquiry, who the pro tempore husband of each 
 lady was at any particular time. One great use of women in my party 
 was to find out any plan or secret that the natives I was encamped 
 amongst were desirous of hiding. Experience tells us of two facts ; 
 first, that women delight in communicating everybody else’s secrets to 
 each other ; secondly, that husbands and wives mutually tell one 
 another all they know. Hence the married women of my party, when- 
 ever I stayed near a werft, had very soon made out all the secrets of the 
 inhabitants, which they retailed directly to their husbands, and they to 
 me. It was a system of espionage which proved most effectual. A 
 difficulty arising from women’s gossipings had occurred at Okamabuti, in 
 which Chik behaved very well. My man Kambanya told his wife, who 
 told other wives, who told their husbands, that the Ovampo intended to 
 rob and murder me as soon as I arrived in their country. The story, 
 
CHAP. VII.] 
 
 YEARLY TRAFFIC. 
 
 121 
 
 by passing through so many hands, had acquired several circumstantial 
 details, quite enough to make it worth inquiring into ; so I, not knowing 
 the origin of the tale, had Chik up in judgment before me, and taxed 
 him with what I had heard. He protested his innocence ; and then I 
 said that to clear himself he must investigate the report, which he did 
 in a most masterly manner ; and traced the whole affair down to the 
 unhappy Kambanya, who had fabricated the story to dissuade me from 
 going, and from taking him to Ovampoland, so Kambanya was whipped, 
 and my friendship with Chik cemented all the stronger. 
 
 May 23rd. — We rode on six hours, to the second place of rendez- 
 vous, Ootui, and there found all the Ovampo at their encampment, and 
 parties of Damaras under every bush ; and as we travelled on next 
 day, I counted in our caravan eighty-six Damara women, nearly half of 
 whom had yelling babies on their backs, and ten Damara men. Our 
 party consisted of fourteen, and the Ovampo of twenty-four ; making 
 about one hundred and seventy souls in all ; two hundred and six head 
 of horned cattle were driven along, independently of my own, and were 
 the result of Ovampo barter; and of these three-fourths were cows or 
 heifers. 
 
 The eighty-six women went on various speculations, — some to get 
 work in Ovampoland, some to try and get husbands, others merely 
 to sell their ostrich-shell corsets. Chik thought the caravan a little 
 above the average ; therefore, as there are altogether four caravans, 
 we may consider eight hundred oxen as the annual export of Damara- 
 land to the north ; in exchange for which at least half of the Damaras 
 are kept supplied with weapons and ornaments, the other half deriv- 
 ing theirs from the Namaquas and the Missionaries to the south. The 
 Damaras have no communication whatever with any other country, a 
 broad land dividing them from the natives to the east, and the sandy 
 tract by the sea-shore bounding them to the west. 
 
 May 24 th . — Arrived at Otchikango, the baboon fountain, passing a 
 very curious circular hole in the middle of a chalky patch of ground ; 
 it was exactly like a bucket, ninety feet across, and thirty feet deep : 
 its name was Orujo : the sides were perpendicular, the bottom flat ; 
 and in the middle was a small well, down to which a person could 
 easily scramble. All the ground about is limestone ; and wherever 
 there is a bare patch of it, numbers of circular holes, like miniature 
 Orujos, are to be seen : generally they are about the size that would 
 just admit a round lucifer-box ; some a few sizes larger ; several about 
 
122 
 
 OTCHIKOTO. 
 
 [chap. VII. 
 
 a foot across; and in these trees are often growing just as they would 
 in a flower-pot : those that are open make dangerous pitfalls. The 
 effect is very curious. Mr. Oswell tells me that by Lake Ngami he has 
 met with the same things. 
 
 May 25 til . — For the third time we left Otchikango, and travelled all 
 day, till four p.m., passing over some] very rugged ground and dense 
 thorns, such as no waggon could get across : it was a pass over a low 
 chain of hills. The encampments at night were very pretty. There 
 were fires in all directions. Everybody was in the best of spirits. The 
 Ovampo sang their manly choruses with charming effect. We had 
 no water, but were to reach a wonderful place, Otchikoto, on the 
 morrow, at eleven, — which we did. 
 
 Alay 26th . — Without the least warning we came suddenly upon that 
 remarkable tarn, Otchikoto. It is a deep bucket-shaped hole, exactly 
 like Orujo, but far larger, for it is four hundred feet across : deep down 
 below us lay a placid sheet of water which I plumbed, leaning over 
 from the cliff above, to the enormous depth of one hundred and eighty 
 feet, the same depth within five or six feet at four different points of 
 its circumference. The water could be reached by a couple of broken 
 footpaths, to the top of one of which the oxen were driven to drink 
 out of a trough, and a line of men handed up bambooses of water 
 from one to another to fill it. There were small fish in the water ; 
 it is curious how they got there. I was told that fish were also to 
 be found in the fountain-head of Otjironjuba, but I did not see them. 
 There were infinite superstitions about Otchikoto, the chief of which 
 was, that no living thing which ever got into it could come out again. 
 However, John Allen, Andersson, and myself, dispelled that illusion 
 from the savage mind, by stripping and swimming all about it, under 
 the astonished gaze not only of the whole caravan, but also of 
 quantities of Bushmen who lived about the place, and who came to 
 greet the Ovampo, with whom they are on the best of terms. 
 
 Although the Ovampo live on the borders of a great river, yet none 
 had ever been seen swimming. It appeared that alligators were so 
 numerous in its waters that the natives feared to venture in. Chik had 
 been extremely friendly up to the present time, but he now began to 
 look with some suspicion upon us ; the fact of our having swum about 
 Otchikoto alarmed him, — it looked like magic. Again my Damaras 
 were always teasing the others by saying that we were cleverer than 
 Ovampo — a fact which these would not admit ; but now it was proved 
 
IMPROVISED CH AUNTS. 
 
 CHAP. VII.] 
 
 i?3 
 
 beyond doubt, and the whole eighty-six females sang songs about us ; 
 one matron improvised, and all the others joined in a shrill chorus, 
 like “ tirri-tirri-tirri.” The self-esteem of the Ovampo had certainly 
 been wounded. Chik at first ridiculed guns. He had seen guns in 
 Benguela, but they must have been worthless affairs, and badly 
 handled, for he laughed at any comparison between them and arrows ; 
 however, by degrees he became frightened at seeing what they really 
 could do. There was a duck swimming about the water, not more 
 than sixty yards off, but it looked very much further, as things below 
 one always do, and I shot him very neatly with my little rifle ; and 
 again, the next day, Andersson was shooting some birds on the wing 
 for specimens, and Chik became so frightened that he would not pick 
 them up. We had great fun at Otchikoto ; there was a cave there 
 full of bats and owls, which we swam to and explored. The place 
 swarmed with doves, and every now and then a white hawk swooped 
 in amongst them. The Bushman captain fraternised with me, and we 
 interchanged smiles and small presents. 
 
 May 2 itli . — We travelled through the everlasting thorns and stones 
 for nine hours, and offpacked at wells — wretched affairs, that we had 
 to sit up half the night to clean and dig out. 
 
 May 29 th . — We came on ox spoors. Old Netjo, who is a family 
 man, was beside himself with joy, and kept by my side pointing out 
 all the indications of the neighbouring Ovampo. Passing a reedy, 
 boggy fountain, we came an hour after to Omutchamatunda, which 
 then was thronged with the Ovarrfpo and their cattle. We were 
 received very hospitably, and had a tree assigned us to camp under. 
 The Ovampo gave us butter to grease ourselves with ; but as it was 
 clean, and as they also brought corn, I preferred eating it. There 
 was a little game about, and we had some shooting, and also a bathe, 
 and a battue of ducks and partridges. No corn was grown here, 
 neither were there any women; it was simply a cattle-post, and far 
 from the corn country of the Ovampo. 
 
 May Tpth . — We passed the grave of the god, Omakuru ; the 
 Dainaras all threw stones on the cairn that covered it, singing out 
 Tati-kuru ! Tati-kuru ! (Father Omakuru). Came to Etosha, a great 
 salt-pan 
 
 It is very remarkable in many ways. The borders are defined and 
 wooded ; its surface is flat and effloresced, and the mirage excessive 
 over it ; it was about nine miles in breadth, but the mirage prevented 
 
ARCHERY PRACTICE. 
 
 [chap. vii. 
 
 124 
 
 my guessing at its length ; it certainly exceeded fifteen miles. Chile 
 said it was quite impassable after the rainy season ; and it must form 
 a rather pretty lake at that time. We arrived late in the evening at 
 another werft, on the south border of the grand flat, Otchikako-wa- 
 Motenya, which appears to extend as a grassy treeless estuary between 
 wooded banks the whole way hence to near the sea. The Ovampo 
 here could not believe that I was able to express sounds by writing 
 on paper, so I jotted down the names of a number of people, one aftei 
 the other, then read them out. I may as well give a few of them, 
 as a guide to the rhythm of the languge : Kangura, Entongo, Eping&, 
 Angerd, And;ihe, Akoosa. I planned a shooting match ; there were 
 a great many naturalised Bushmen on the spot, and as all the Ovampo 
 carry bows, I had a large archery meeting. I put up a sheep-skin 
 (which gives a target of about three feet by two), and placed the men 
 eighty paces from it. The prize was tobacco ; there were twenty 
 competitors, and each shot six arrows, so that one hundred and twenty 
 shots were made ; but out of these one hundred and twenty only one 
 hit the target fairly, and another brushed it. At very near distances, 
 as from five to ten yards, the men shot perfectly. I have frequently 
 given prizes to Damaras, Bushmen, and Ovampo, to shoot for, but 
 I have only seen wretched archery practice, far worse than that of 
 our societies in England. I suppose 1 have been unfortunate ; but 
 though I have taken some trouble to see good practice, not only with 
 bows and arrows, but also with rifles, I have never witnessed per- 
 formances that approached to the accuracy which shooters often profess 
 to attain, although I have certainly seen lucky shots made, and indeed 
 have made them myself. Andersson made a beautiful one at an 
 ostrich in Damaraland. The bird was standing two hundred and 
 eighty yards from him, in a thick but rather low cover, which concealed 
 its body, while its neck stood high, in bold relief. Andersson stalked 
 up to within that distance, but as the creature was alarmed, and the 
 ground immediately in front was exposed, he could not get nearer. 
 He aimed of course, high up the neck, intending to hit the body, but 
 the elevation was a little too great, yet the aim proved so perfect, that 
 he shot him dead through the neck. 
 
 Katondoka was sent on to tell Nangoro the news of the approach 
 of the caravan, and to carry a message from me to him ; and now 
 came our hardest stage of all. It was nineteen hours’ actual travel, 
 and told cruelly on the oxen ; for they were weak, and had been badly 
 
CHAP. VII.] 
 
 CORN, BEANS, AND PALMS. 
 
 '25 
 
 off for grass on the road. We crossed the flat in four hours, keeping 
 close by its easternmost margin ; to the west it widened out, and 
 stretched to the far horizon. Four hours from the north border of the 
 flat we passed a magnificent tree. It was the parent of all the Damaras. 
 The caravan stopped awhile, and the savages danced round and 
 round it in great delight. We slept without water. In the morning 
 we had some delays with the oxen, but travelled from early day-break, 
 passing an empty well at eleven, and another a little later. We pushed 
 through thick thorns the whole time, and had begun to disbelieve in 
 Ondonga, when quite of a sudden the bushes ceased : we emerged out 
 of them, and the charming corn-country of the Ovampo lay yellow and 
 broad as a sea before us. Fine dense timber-trees, and innumerable 
 palms of all sizes, were scattered over it ; part was bare for pasturage, 
 part was thickly covered with high corn stubble ; palisadings, each of 
 which enclosed a homestead, were scattered everywhere over the 
 country. The general appearance was that of most abundant fertility. 
 It was a land of Goshen to us ; and even my phlegmatic waggon-driver 
 burst out into exclamations of delight. Old Netjo’s house was the 
 nearest, and he therefore claimed the right of entertaining me the first, 
 and to it we went. He had two or three wives, and a most wonderfully 
 large family, to every member of which he presented us. Then he 
 took Andersson and myself over the establishment, and showed us 
 his neat granaries and thrashing-floors, and his cocks and hens : the 
 pigs, he regretted, had been sent out of the way ; and lastly, Mrs. 
 Netjo, No. I, produced a dish of hot dough and a basin of sour milk, 
 on which we set to work, burning our fingers as we pulled off large 
 bits, which we dipped into the milk and swallowed. Then we went 
 on to Chik’s house, who encamped us under a magnificent tree, and 
 took our cattle under his charge. He told me that we were still a long 
 day’s journey from Nangoro, and that the whole of our way there 
 would lie through a corn country like this. 
 
 The harvest was now over; but the high stubble was still standing, 
 and in it the oxen were allowed to feed. There was at this time 
 hardly any other pasturage for them. The Ovampo have two kinds of 
 i corn ; one is the Egyptian doura (or exactly like it), a sort of hominy, 
 and the other is a corn that was new to me, but kindred, as I am told, 
 to the Indian “badjera;” its head is cylindrical, and full of small 
 grey seeds, which, though not larger than those of millet, are so 
 numerous that each head contains a vast deal of nutriment. Both 
 
 io 
 
126 
 
 . FRUIT TREES. 
 
 [chap. VII. 
 
 kinds of corn grow to much the same height, about eight feet ; and 
 in harvesting the reapers bend down the stalks and only cut off the 
 heads. As we journeyed on the next day our surprise at the agricul- 
 tural opulence of the country was in no way decreased. Chik told us 
 a great deal about the tenure of the farms, and the way they dig them. 
 Each farmer has to pay a certain proportion of the tobacco that he 
 grows to Nangoro (tobacco is the chief circulating medium in Ovampo- 
 land) ; but the corn can be planted without any drawback upon it. 
 The fields are hoed over before each sowing season, and the corn 
 planted. The manure from the cattle kraal is spread over the ground. 
 They plant beans and peas, but adopt no systematic rotation of crops. 
 The palms that grew here were of the same sort as those that I saw 
 near Omanbonde ; but the fruit of these was excellent, exactly like 
 those of the Egyptian doum, while that of the others was oitter. The 
 other trees that I observed were fruit trees : they were sparingly 
 scattered over the country ; but nearly all- that I saw were of magni- 
 ficent size, as large as those in any English park ; their foliage was so 
 dense and green that a real shade from the sun could be obtained, 
 which never is the case in Damaraland, as the straggling stunted thorn, 
 with its few shrivelled leaves, offers little more of a screen to its rays 
 than an English tree in winter time. The fruits are of two kinds, one, 
 which I never saw myself as it was not the season for it, was a kind 
 of cherry according to Timboo’s authority, who recognised at once 
 all the produce of his own country (Masapa, by Moviza) here in 
 Ovampoland. The other is a very acid fruit, not unlike an apple in 
 shape, colour, smell and size, but with a stone in it. No other tree 
 stands in the corn country of the Ovampo, or at least gives any feature 
 to the landscape. 
 
 Ondonga, for that is the name of the land, is most uniform in its 
 appearance ; and I should think no stranger could recollect his 
 way for any distance in it. I don’t know what we should have done 
 here, if I had brought my waggons. We could never have taken 
 them across the Ovampo fields, trespassing everywhere. The roads 
 that the natives and we travelled were only pathways through the 
 stubble ; and we were particularly requested to keep to them. There 
 was hardly any grass whatever, it was perfectly eaten up ; and the 
 Ovampo oxen had been sent away to distant cattle-posts on every side 
 to get food. They were now being driven back in small herds to eat 
 off the stubble upon the farms of their owners. By each homestead 
 
chap, vn.] DENSITY OF THE POPULATION. 
 
 127 
 
 were five or six cows and a quantity of goats, very small, but yielding 
 a great deal of milk. To give water even to these was a great 
 difficulty, for the wells have to be dug twenty or thirty feet deep 
 through the sandy soil before water is reached ; and then it oozes out 
 so slowly that only a very limited supply can be obtained. There had 
 been great trouble in getting even my small drove of cattle watered ; 
 but Chik said that there were some vleys still left, which were Nangoro’s 
 property ; but to which he would probably allow my oxen to be 
 driven. The Ovampo make a great fuss about water : if I wanted any 
 to drink I had to buy it with beads. I was greatly pleased with the 
 mutual goodwill and cordiality that evidently existed among the 
 Ovampo; they were all plump and well fed; even the blind old people, 
 who are such wretched objects in Damaraland, were here well tended 
 and fat. They looked shy at me ; but Chik had been impressing upon 
 me during the whole of our journey that his countrymen would all 
 keep away until Nangoro had seen and approved of me, then they 
 would come from all sides, and be as civil as possible. Chik introduced 
 me to some of his most particular friends, who were very hospitable 
 indeed, stopping us on the road, and giving us beer and biscuits, and 
 suchlike luxuries. The beer is not to be despised, although it is very 
 thin and sweet ; it is made from crushed corn and water, and takes 
 two or three days before it is quite ready. I should think that a person 
 must drink immense quantities before he could become intoxicated 
 with it, but two or three tumblers full make one sleepy. 
 
 We travelled short stages, sleeping one night at the house of one 
 of Chile’s friends who kraaled our oxen in. I was much afraid of 
 their straying in the night, as if they did so they might cause all sorts 
 of damage. I felt ill at ease in Ovampoland, because I was no longer 
 my own master. Everybody was perfectly civil, but I could not go as 
 I liked, nor where I liked ; in fact I felt as a savage would feel in 
 England. My red coat was the delight of all the little boys and girls, 
 plump merry little things, who ran after me shouting and singing as 
 happy as could be. The Ovampo took much interest in seeing the 
 oxen packed and ridden ; they had never seen them used in that way 
 before, and carefully examined the saddle-bags, and the way they were 
 put on. 
 
 To gain some idea of the amount of the Ovampo population I counted 
 the number of homesteads that I passed, and found that I saw, on an 
 average, thirty in each hour’s ride, about three miles. From the undulat- 
 
128 
 
 ENCAMP BY NANGORO'S VILLAGE. [chap. vii. 
 
 ing nature of the country, and from the number of palms, I considered 
 that I could only see a mile and a half on either side of me, and there- 
 fore these thirty farms would take up a square of three miles in the 
 side, or nine square miles ; that is, in round numbers, three farms would 
 occupy a square mile ; allowing from thirty to forty souls in each farm, 
 it gives a population of a hundred persons to a square mile. There is 
 no town whatever in Ondonga, for the population is entirely rural. 
 
 Travelling on we passed a few Damaras who had lately arrived from 
 Omaruru to make amends to Nangoro for some thefts which the natives 
 on that side of the country had been committing against the Ovampo. 
 A little further we met four Ovapangari who had come south from the 
 great river ; they were frightened and suspicious, and Chik would not 
 interpret for me to them. 
 
 At last a particularly fine clump of trees came in sight, and there Chik 
 said we were ordered to stay, Nangoro’s palisading being only a quarter 
 of a mile further. Here we off-packed, and made a kind of encamp- 
 ment. 1 pitched my tent, and we made as good a screen as we were 
 able with the saddle-bags, and a few palm branches, but we had hardly 
 any firewood, grass, or water. After a great deal of trouble I made 
 Chik obtain for us the use of some wells close by, but we had to wait 
 half the day till they were disengaged. Then I could find no place to 
 send my oxen to feed. No kind offer was made of a stubble field, and 
 Chik would not bestir himself much. He was always saying, “You 
 must wait ; Nangoro will come down and see you to-morrow, and then 
 he will arrange everything ; ” but in the meantime my oxen were 
 starving. The Ovampo kept away from us, and Chik was almost the 
 only person that we were allowed to communicate with. We all felt 
 uncomfortable, I never for a moment expected any attack from the 
 Ovampo, but I had considerable misgivings that they purposely intended 
 to keep my oxen in low condition that I might be less independent. 
 
 Ondonga is a very difficult place to get away from. Indeed if anything 
 had occurred to make it advisable for me to force a quick retreat I 
 hardly know how I should have done it. It would have been very 
 questionable if we could have found our way back by Netjo’s house; 
 for, as I mentioned before, the country is remarkably uniform, inter- 
 sected with paths, and quite destitute of natural features to guide us. 
 It is also slightly undulating, enough so to limit the view to a mile or 
 two ahead. There was vley water, if we did not miss it, near to Netjo’s ; 
 and thence there remained a journey of twenty-one hours, two hours in 
 
CAMP IN OVAMPO LAND. 
 
CHAP. VIl.] 
 
 NANGORO PAYS US A VISIT. 
 
 J29 
 
 Ondonga, and nineteen in the thorns and flats without Water; and as 
 part of this lay over a bleak country the stage was too severe a one for 
 any weak ox to endure. I found that some Ovampos had been 
 tampering with my Damara cattle-watchers ; one, a man whom I had 
 taken from Chapupa’s werft, became impudent, and instead of driving 
 my cattle to grass, kept them on a bare place for half the day ; so I took 
 active measures upon his back and shoulders, to an extent that astonished 
 the Ovampo and reformed the man. 
 
 June 6th . — Nangoro did not come, but sent us a little corn as a 
 present, and requested us to fire off our guns, as he wished to know 
 what kind of noise they made. We had plenty of ammunition, and 
 therefore amused ourselves with some rifle practice, which several 
 Ovampo watched from a short distance with great interest. 
 
 June Jth . — The oxen looked dreadfully thin. I began to fear that 
 they would die, and then we should have to abandon our luggage and 
 get back on foot — an exertion which I had little fancy for. However about 
 midday Chik came in great excitement to tell me that Nangoro was on 
 his way to me, so I smartened things and made ready for him. There 
 was a body of men walking towards us, and in the middle of them an 
 amazingly fat old fellow laboured along ; he was very short of breath, 
 and had hardly anything on his person. This was the king himself. 
 He waddled up looking very severe, and stood in the middle of his men 
 staring at us, and leaning on a thin stick very neatly shaped, that he 
 seemed to carry about as a sceptre. I hardly knew what to do or what 
 to say, for he took no notice of an elegant bow that I made to him, so I 
 sat down and continued writing my journal till the royal mind was 
 satisfied. After five or six minutes Nangoro walked up, gave a grunt of 
 approbation, and poked his sceptre into my ribs in a friendly sort of 
 manner, and then sat down. He could, I believe, understand Damara 
 well enough, but he persisted in making Chik interpret for me into 
 Ovampo. Nangoro had quite a miniature court about him ; three 
 particularly insinuating and well-dressed Ovampo were his attendants 
 in waiting ; they were always at his elbow and laughed immoderately 
 whenever he said anything funny, and looked grave and respectful 
 whenever he uttered anything wise, all in the easiest and most natural 
 manner. I gave Nangoro the things that I had brought as a present for 
 him, regretting excessively that I could spare him nothing better. In 
 fact all my gilt finery was but little cared for by these people. It would 
 look as outre for an Ovampo to wear any peculiar ornament as it would 
 
130 
 
 0VAMP0 BELLEb. 
 
 [chap. VII. 
 
 for an Englishman to do so. The sway of fashion is quite as strong 
 among the negroes as among the whites ; and my position was that of 
 a traveller in Europe, who had nothing to pay his hotel bill with but a 
 box full of cowries and Damara sandals. I would have given anything 
 for ten pounds’ worth of the right sort of beads ; half of that value 
 would have made a really good present to Nangoro, and franked me 
 into the good graces of all his people. As it was he was rather sulky, 
 for it is considered a kind of insult to an African chief to visit him, and 
 make use of his country without commencing acquaintance by sending 
 a tribute. He insisted upon my giving him a cow which I, or rather 
 John Allen, had with me, besides the ox I had presented him with; and 
 as there was no help for it, the cow went. We then had a short con- 
 versation ; he looked at our guns and made us shoot with them, chatted 
 a little, and then left us, saying that we were free to buy and sell with 
 his people as much as we liked. Immediately crowds of the Ovampo, 
 who had been gathering during the interview, poured down upon us, 
 laughing and talking, but taking the greatest care not to touch our 
 things, or to annoy us in any way. They were a merry set, and all of 
 them dressed, or rather ornamented, very tidily. They wore a great 
 quantity of beads and rings, but scarcely anything else except a kind of 
 cartouche box, in which they kept a tuft of hair for painting and pow- 
 dering themselves. The ladies were buxom lasses, having all the appear- 
 ance of being good drudges. Their hair was worn short in front, but 
 spread out behind into a broad fan. They were decidedly nice-looking ; 
 their faces were open and merry, but they had rather coarse features, 
 and shone all over with butter and red pigment. They seemed to be 
 of amazingly affectionate dispositions, for they always stood in groups 
 with their arms round each other’s necks like Canova’s graces. They 
 hummed sentimental airs all day long, swaying themselves about to the 
 tune, and completely ruined the peace of mind of my too susceptible 
 attendants. I began to buy corn and beans from them ; the women 
 brought small baskets full, often only a handful each, and were 
 paid in beads. I had brought a bar of iron, half an inch thick, and 
 four feet long, that procured me one hundred pounds of corn at once. 
 Timboo was the most successful bargainer; he sat in the middle among 
 the beads, and twenty or thirty corn-selling damsels crowded about 
 him. He was in his glory, chaffing and chattering in a most original 
 aptois ajl the day long, for he had picked up a few Ovampo words, and 
 many of the Ovampo knew a little of Damara. 
 
CHAP. VII.] 
 
 WE GO TO A BALL. 
 
 131 
 
 Every night Nangoro gives a ball, to which the elite of Ovampo- 
 land have a free entree. He kindly sent me an invitation by Tippoo, 
 that one of his three courtiers under whose protection we had 
 been especially placed. As soon as night sets in the guests throng 
 together from all sides, and as the country is full of palms, one 
 member of each party generally picks up a dried, broken-off branch, 
 and lights it as a torch. It gives a brilliant flame, and the effect of the 
 many lights on every side is particularly pretty. I went, about eight 
 o’clock, down the sanded walk, between quickset hedgerows, that leads 
 to Nangoro’s palisading. When we had entered it, we turned to the 
 right, into the dancing-court, which was already filled with people who 
 talked and flirted just as though they were in an English ballroom. 
 
 There was a man with a feeble guitar, or banjo, in one corner, and 
 a powerful performer on the tom-tom in front of him. The first dance 
 was remarkable as a display of dexterity, though I hardly think of 
 elegance ; it was undertaken by twelve or fourteen gentlemen, all the 
 others looking on. The dancers were ranked in double files, and 
 dos-a-dos ; they then passeed from side to side with a tripping 
 operatic step, but a wary and cautious eye. Every now and then one 
 of the performers spun suddenly round, and gave a most terrific kick 
 right at the seat of honour of the gentleman whom he then found in 
 front of him. This was the dance ; there was a great deal of dexterity 
 shown both in delivering and avoiding the kick which, when success- 
 fully planted, hit with the force of a donkey’s hoof. I observed that 
 the three courtiers danced very well and very successfully, indeed I 
 would not have found myself dos-a-dos with Tippoo for any considera- 
 tion. The ladies applauded the dance most vociferously. After this 
 came a promenade ; we were all jammed together into a compact mass, 
 and then stepped round and round the court to the sound of the tom- 
 tom, tapping the ground with our feet in regular time. Dance number 
 three was for the Bushmen, a large kraal of whom lay close by 
 Nangoro’s palisading ; they are his body-guard. This dance was 
 entirely mimicry, either of animal steps or anything else they liked, 
 and then a grand promenade closed the evening. I saw only thirty 
 or forty of Nangoro’s wives there. I suppose that the others, being 
 old, did not dance. They wear a copper armlet as a sign of distinction. 
 
 I had a difficulty with Nangoro, from not having complied with one 
 of the principal Ovampo customs on first entering the country. I did 
 not like it, though if I had had a proper idea of its importance, I should, 
 
132 
 
 NANGORO’S PALACE. 
 
 [chap. vii. 
 
 I suppose, have submitted with the best grace I could. The Ovampo 
 are, as all blacks and most whites, very superstitious ; a particular fear 
 seems to possess them of a stranger charming away the life of a person 
 he may happen to eat with. Why dinner time should be the season 
 when the charm has most power I do not know ; but such is considered 
 to be the case. Accordingly, counter-charms are used ; sometimes 
 one is in fashion, sometimes another; now, Nangoro, when a young 
 man, being a person of considerable imagination, framed a counter- 
 charm for his own particular use, and this being of course taken up 
 by the court, is at present the fashion of the whole of Ovampoland, 
 and it was to this counter-charm that I personally objected. The 
 stranger sits down, closes his eyes, and raises his face to heaven ; then 
 the Ovampo initiator takes some water into his mouth, gargles it well, 
 and, standing over his victim, delivers it full in his face. This ceremony 
 having once been performed, all goes on smoothly, though I am 
 inclined to think that, like vaccination, it requires to be repeated at 
 intervals, as its effect dies away. Old Netjo yielded to my objections 
 the day I dined in his house, as Chik had done when I first met him, 
 and compromised the matter by rubbing butter between my eyes 
 instead. But Nangoro’s mind was not so easily satisfied ; he was 
 harassed with suspicions ; and though he invited me to drink beer at 
 his palace, yet he contrived to be out of the way when the beer was 
 brought in, and made the three courtiers sit down with me instead. 
 
 The plan of all the Ovampo houses is intricate, but Nangoro’s was 
 a perfect labyrinth, and I could never find my way about it. Conceive 
 walls of palisading, eight or nine feet high, the poles of which are 
 squared, smoothed, and driven in so close together, that it is only here 
 and there that an arrow could be shot out between them. With these 
 an irregularly circular place of about one hundred yards across is 
 walled, one entrance being left, and to that entrance a broad double 
 pathway leads, which is marked and divided by slight hedges. Within 
 the outer circle other walls of palisading are placed in various ways ; 
 on one side a passage leads to the cattle kraal, in another place there 
 is one leading to the dancing-court ; passages lead to Nangoro’s rooms, 
 to the granaries, to the threshing floors, to the women’s apartments, 
 and to those of the attendants and of the three courtiers. I tried to 
 sketch out the plan several times, but my head would never take it in. 
 
 Nangoro came to my encampment one morning for a chat, and to see 
 the guns fired ; we talked about the countries to the north, and of the 
 
CHAP. VII.] 
 
 PROSPECTS. 
 
 *33 
 
 great river, which was four long or five easy days’ journey ahead, but 
 towards visiting which I could obtain no offer of assistance from him. 
 He told me that the traders (Portuguese) who went there never crossed 
 it, but that his people went to them and were ferried across by the 
 Ovapangari. I had become quite familiar with this river by hearsay, 
 as nearly every Ovampo had been there, and many Damaras also. 
 There were some runaway slaves from Benguela who knew all the 
 places marked in the usual maps, as Caconda, Bihe, Quinbumba, and so 
 forth, and spoke of the houses of many storeys with great wonder. 
 The river runs from east to west, and with a very rapid current, so 
 much so that boats never went up it but only ferried from side to 
 side ; the breadth of the river was so great, that though a man’s shout- 
 ing could be heard perfectly across it, yet his words could not. They 
 said it was very deep, and full of alligators. It ran down to near the 
 sea, and there it ended in a large pool, percolating, of course, like very 
 many other large African rivers, through the sands. In this pool were 
 great numbers of hippopotami, and the sand between it and the sea 
 was so soft and treacherous that people could not walk over it. The 
 names of the people who lived along it I have put down on the map at 
 the places they were described to inhabit. The Damaras call them all 
 “ Ovampo.” The traders who go down to thig river to barter have 
 occasionally horses (their spoor, neigh, and gallop all being mimicked 
 to me). They bring brandy, beads, and assegais, to exchange for ivory 
 and cattle. These traders must be very nearly black, because not only 
 the colour of our skin but the straightness of our hair was a constant 
 marvel to the Ovampo. They wondered if we were white all over, and 
 I victimised John Allen, who had to strip very frequently to satisfy the 
 inquisitiveness of our hosts. Nangoro positively refused to believe in 
 the existence of any country which was inhabited by whites alone. 
 He seemed to consider them as rare migratory animals of unaccountable 
 manners but considerable intelligence, who were found here and there, 
 but who existed in no place as lords of the land. 
 
 In all the inquiries that I made I had much trouble in worming out 
 my information, for Nangoro was not at all communicative; and Chik, 
 from some cause or other, became daily more distant and reserved. The 
 subject of the oxen was always a sore one. Nangoro would not give 
 me the use of his stubble-fields, or the right of watering my oxen at the 
 wells before his own had drunk ; the consequence was that they re- 
 mained hanging about till noon, and then were driven off two or three 
 
134 
 
 THE KING IS CROWNED. 
 
 [chap. 
 
 miles to a piece of ground as barren as Greenwich Park in summer-time. 
 They came home every evening thinner than they were the day before, 
 and were now in a wretched state : the poor things were becoming very 
 weak indeed, and we were perpetually talking over the chances of their 
 breaking down on the return journey. It was exactly eighty hours 
 actual travelling from Okamabuti, or allowing two miles and three 
 quarters an hour, two hundred and twenty miles ; of this, nearly sixty 
 miles, partly choked with thorns, partly as bleak as Salisbury Plain, 
 had to be travelled without water. This, of course, would be nothing 
 to animals in good condition, and in a European climate ; but it was 
 a very different matter to me in Africa. I had been given to understand 
 from the first that I must neither go back nor go on without Nangoro’s 
 express permission ; so that we were always under some anxiety. Of 
 course I did all I could to please him ; but still, either from want of 
 consideration on his part or intentionally, things did not go on smoothly. 
 Once when he was in a good humour I produced my theatrical crown, 
 which I had not shown him before, and gave him a long discourse 
 upon it. I told him that the great captains of our country usually 
 wore a head-dress of that description, and that I therefore begged he 
 would do me a favour of wearing it, as a memento of my visit to him. 
 It had a contrivance behind for altering its size, and I stretched it to 
 its full extent, for Nangoro’s head was like a bullock’s, and then put it 
 on him with great solemnity, patting it down to make it sit tight. I 
 must say that he looked every inch a king. The three courtiers were 
 in ecstasy, and Nangoro himself gave every sign of self-satisfaction 
 when I held up a looking-glass before him to show the effect ; and 
 afterwards carefully sketched him. Nangoro, in the first instance, had 
 views with reference to me to which I confess I showed but little in- 
 clination ; it is really a great drawback to African explorings that a 
 traveller cannot become on friendly terms with a chief without being 
 requested and teased to receive a spare wife or a daughter in marriage, 
 and umbrage taken if he does not consent. It is, I know, very un- 
 gallant to betray tender secrets, and I would not do so on any account, 
 if the charming Chipanga was ever likely to read this book ; but I 
 cannot help hinting at the subject, as it not only illustrates a phase of 
 African life, but also indicates a direction in which any adventurous 
 fortune-hunter may successfully push his addresses. For the benefit 
 of those gentlemen I must explain how matters stand. Nangoro is 
 king by virtue of his deceased first wife ; by her he has no children. 
 
CHAP. VII.] 
 
 THE QUEENS' DUTIES. 
 
 135 
 
 Chipanganjar^ married that lady’s sister, who also is dead, leaving one 
 daughter as heiress to the kingdom ; and this daughter is Chipanga. 
 She, greasy negress as she was, never forgave me the “spretae injuria 
 formse.” 
 
 I observed that some wild ducks and geese flew over our encamp- 
 ment every morning and evening, and begged Tippoo that I might be 
 allowed to go to the water where they drank. We walked a couple 
 of hours due east, and came to a long succession of vleys, where 
 droves of Nangoro’s cattle were watered. There was no grass near, 
 or else I should have insisted on encamping there. Beyond the vleys 
 the thorns began again. Elephants come down at times in great 
 numbers, and do much mischief to the corn. I fancy that game is 
 very abundant in the neighbourhood of the great river, although there 
 must be a great deal of cultivated ground adjacent to it. The course 
 of the river is very long, and its stream is undoubtedly swift, because 
 although a considerable slope might be allowed for from Nangoro’s 
 werft northwards to its bed, still the height of the bed at that place 
 above the sea can hardly be less than 3,000 feet. To the westwards of 
 north the river is formed by the confluence of three others ; and in 
 that country the Ovabundja live: it is marshy and flooded, and the 
 people live in houses built on poles. 
 
 It is very remarkable that between Chapupa’s werft (where the 
 waggons were left) and Nangoro’s, a distance of two hundred and 
 twenty miles, we had not crossed a single river-bed. There was 
 the mark of one little rivulet about four feet wide, near Otchikoto, and 
 that was literally all. I could obtain no answer from Nangoro as to 
 whether or not I might proceed. Chik, who was our only medium of 
 communication, put off everything with a “to-morrow.” We were 
 so teased with his procrastination, that we christened him “ Mahuka,” 
 which was his favourite word. I went to Nangoro’s to see his wives 
 at work, threshing corn. They make meal by pounding the grain 
 in a stone mortar ; everything was scrupulously clean and tidy. The 
 granaries are in shape and manufacture exactly like our common bee- 
 hives, though considerably larger, about four feet in diameter; these 
 are placed with the point downwards, each in a rough frame-work on 
 three legs, which raises it a foot from off the ground ; into the bee- 
 hive the grain is put, and the whole is thatched and plastered over ; 
 in Nangoro’s granary rows and rows of these were standing. 
 
 I have no fancy for their houses ; they are so absurdly small. They 
 
136 
 
 OVAMPO DENTISTS. 
 
 [chap. VII. 
 
 are circular, five and a half feet across, and three feet high, with a conical 
 thatched roof above all ; the door is two feet high, and one and a half 
 broad. Nangoro sleeps in the open air under a shed, as he is too 
 fat to creep into one of these houses. Each hut is occupied by an 
 entire family: a husband, a wife, and a few small children; and when 
 the door is closed by the mat, and a cozy fire made in the middle of 
 the hut, they must find the atmosphere particularly genial and sweet. 
 Their utensils are remarkably neat ; they have wooden cups, beer 
 ladles, spoons, and so forth. I regretted much that I had not enough 
 
 things of exchange to buy some of these which took my fancy. Their 
 dagger-knives were creditably made, and very pretty. The knife 
 was set- into a wooden handle, and fitted into a wooden sheath ; but 
 both handle and sheath were in part covered with copper plating, and 
 in part wound round with copper wire beaten square. There is 
 plenty of copper in this country. The Bushmen brought us quantities 
 of ore at Otchikoto. 
 
 Tippoo took me to see a blacksmith ; but his bellows were scarcely 
 larger than an accordion, and were worked in a similar manner. He 
 
CHAP. VIII.] WE ARE ORDERED TO RETURN. 
 
 137 
 
 was not a successful artificer. I had occasion to make inquiries for 
 a professional gentleman, a dentist, as one of my teeth had ached so 
 horribly that I could hardly endure it. He was employed at a distance ; 
 but I subsequently witnessed, though I did not myself undergo, the 
 exercise of his skill. He brought a piece of the back sinew of a sheep 
 which forms a kind of catgut, and tied this round the unhappy tooth , 
 the spare end of the catgut was wound round a stout piece of stick, 
 and this he rolled up tight to the tooth, and then prized with all his 
 force against the jaw till something gave way. I saw the wretched 
 patient sitting for the rest of the day with his head between his knees, 
 and his hands against his temples. 
 
 The practice of surgery is rather rude among the Ovampo. Timboo 
 had run a thorn very deeply into his hand ; it did not remain in, but 
 the prick caused a painful abscess, which pointed and partly broke. 
 He applied to the Ovampo doctor, whose measures were simple : he 
 squatted down, resting Timboo’s hand upon his knee, and then grasped 
 a tough stick with both hands, with which he energetically kneaded 
 down the swelling. Timboo endured the operation without a cry ; but 
 a black can bear anything. 
 
 There are no diseases in these parts except slight fever, frequent 
 ophthalmia, and stomach complaints. I kept a bottle full of eye- 
 water for the sufferers from ophthalmia, and stuck a feather into the 
 bottom of its cork, with which I could paint the eyes of a whole row 
 of patients one after the other. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 We are ordered to return— Hesitation — The Slave Dealings here— Future of 
 Ovampoland — A Field for Missionaries — Best Way of getting there — 
 Slavery and Servitude — Giving Men away — Arrange my Packs — Start 
 Homeward — Leave Ondonga — The Oxen suffer severely — Reach 
 Okamabuti — The Waggons are Safe — Start for Omaramba — Okavare — 
 Elephants visit us — Ice every Night — Pass Omagunde — Reach Barmen. 
 
 On one occasion Nangoro told me that he would send Chile back with 
 me to my country. I promised to take him as far as that of the 
 Hottentots, where he could see some of my countrymen ; but that my 
 country was so far off, that if he went to it, he would never find his way 
 
HESITATION . 
 
 [chap. VIII. 
 
 138 
 
 back again ; besides, it was cold, and he would die there ; so it was 
 agreed that Chik should go back with me to Barmen. I was very 
 glad of this arrangement, as I wanted to obtain fuller information from 
 him than I possessed. I wished to make a small vocabulary of the 
 language of the Ovampo, and learn something more than I could 
 observe of their manners and customs ; but here in Ovampoland 
 Chik would scarcely answer a single question. He constantly 
 replied, “You must not ask these things ; Nangoro will think that you 
 want to take away his life.” And he became quite sulky if he was 
 pressed. Indeed, I have no conception to this day whether or no the 
 Ovampo have any religion, for Chik was frightened and angry if the 
 subject of death was alluded to. 
 
 My articles of exchange were now reduced to a few handfuls of 
 beads ; and I could not stay longer in the country. A man can no 
 more travel without things of exchange here than he can without 
 money in England. I therefore insisted upon being allowed to leave 
 Ondonga, where my cattle were dying by inches, and where I was 
 eating up my food, and could afford to stay no longer ; and I begged 
 hard for a guide to take me on to the river, or to some place where I 
 should find pasturage and game. 
 
 June 13 th . — Nangoro sent me word “that day I might buy and sell; 
 that the next day I must come and take leave of him ; and the day 
 after that I must go back to Damaraland.” 
 
 Now came the question what was to be done. The river was four 
 long days ahead. It was a goal to reach, and in itself probably well 
 worth visiting. Its commercial importance might be great, as it appears 
 to offer a high road into the very centre of Africa, through countries 
 which, if as healthy as Ovampo or Damaraland, leave nothing to be 
 desired on that score. It was precisely the most interesting point of 
 my whole journey. Ought then a visit to it to be abandoned because 
 Nangoro would not let us go? Or ought we to push on for it at all 
 hazards ? On the other hand, the river was well known to, and 
 frequented by, traders from Benguela ; there would therefore be no 
 difficulty in fully exploring it from that side, and probably infinitely 
 more could be learnt by inquiries properly made at Mossamedes than 
 anything that I could report from having seen it with my own eyes 
 during so cursory a visit as I proposed. Now, as to the risk I should 
 run by temporising with Nangoro until I had obtained permission to go 
 there. My oxen would entirely knock up, and probably die ; and then 
 
CHAP. VIII. J 
 
 THE SLAVE DEALINGS HERE. 
 
 139 
 
 what could I do ? Even if I walked back to the waggons, leaving 
 things of the greatest value to me in Ovampoland, the want of ride- 
 oxen would be felt most seriously throughout the return journey. 
 They were everything to me. It was on them that I explored the 
 roads, followed tracks, and made the most successful expeditions. 
 If Omagunde, through whose pasture grounds I must return, was to 
 attack us, as I thought he most probably would, it must be by the 
 ride-oxen alone that we should have a chance of escaping. I could 
 not spare them nor risk losing them. It would be impossible to replace 
 them before many months, as it is not one ox out of forty that will 
 make a ride-ox, for only those are fit to break in that show far less 
 gregariousness of disposition than oxen ordinarily do. The beasts that 
 walk first and lead the herd, are the only oxen that can be ridden with 
 any comfort or success ; the others jib and crowd together and fight 
 with their horns, when you try to urge them on, and the whole caravan 
 comes to a standstill. It takes half a year to break in an ox to 
 anything like travelling purposes ; he has not only to learn to be quiet, 
 but also to bear a weight on his shoulders. Now, with great trouble 
 I had collected together fifteen efficient ride- and pack-oxen : they were 
 the stay of my party in cases of difficulty or danger, and I would not 
 for any but the weightiest considerations run the risk of losing them. 
 With no better supply of water and pasturage than they were now 
 allowed, I felt sure that though they might reach the river, and even 
 return to Nangoro’s, yet that they would never see Damaraland again. 
 I also feared that the Portuguese traders might play me some tricks, 
 as these half-castes are by no means scrupulous, even less so than 
 traders are elsewhere ; and I could not help thinking of the way in 
 which our own countrymen had behaved to the late Mr. Ruxton, when 
 he landed at Walfisch Bay, with a view to explore the interior. 1 
 confess that greatly annoyed as I was at being unable to visit the river, 
 I could not help feeling that Nangoro’s refusal to let me proceed was 
 all for the best, and I accommodated myself to his orders, and put 
 myself in readiness to start on my return. 
 
 I made many inquiries as to whether there were any slave-dealings 
 between the Ovampo and the Portuguese, but I was always answered 
 in the negative. I afterwards heard at St. Helena that slaves were 
 not exported from the south of Benguela, because they never thrived 
 when taken away, but became home-sick and died. This is exactly 
 what I should conceive of the Ovampo ; they evidently have strong 
 
140 FUTURE OF OVAMPOLAND. [chap. vin. 
 
 local and personal attachments ; they are also very national, and proud 
 of their country. 
 
 I should feel but little compassion if I saw all the Damaras under 
 the hand of a slave-owner, for they could hardly become more wretched 
 than they now are, and might be made much less mischievous ; but it 
 would be a crying shame to enslave the Ovampo. To me, as a 
 stranger, they did not behave with full cordiality; and it was natural 
 enough that they should not ; but among themselves the case was 
 quite different. They are a kind-hearted, cheerful people, and very 
 domestic. I saw no pauperism in the country ; everybody seemed 
 well to do ; and the few very old people that I saw were treated with 
 particular respect and care. If Africa is to be civilised, I have no 
 doubt that Ovampoland will be an important point in the civilisation 
 of its southern parts. It is extremely healthy, and most favourably 
 situated for extending its influence. From the sea-coast it must be 
 accessible ; and inquiries really should be made at Mossamedes about 
 the river which bounds it. A ship cruising along the sea-shore there 
 can see nothing at all, for the coast is a low sandy desert, which 
 extends quite out of ken of people afloat ; it is behind this strip of 
 desert that the habitable country begins, and probably through the 
 sand of it that the river percolates. It is very much to be wished 
 that some explorer would make an attempt from Little Fish Bay, or 
 thereabouts. It would be a far easier undertaking than that which 
 I have gone through, because the starting-point is an inhabited place, 
 where every necessary can be bought with money. Full information 
 could be obtained there on all the articles of exchange, and horses 
 could be procured. Black men, who speak Portuguese, can readily, 
 I am assured, be found ; and there is so large an export of skins and 
 ivory (according to Portuguese authorities) from Benguela, that there 
 must be excellent shooting somewhere in the country. I will guarantee 
 the healthiness of the lands to the south of the river ; and the Portu- 
 guese declare the same of those to the north. * I also earnestly 
 
 * Translation from Jose 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 
 
CHAP, vm.] BEST U r AY OF GETTING THERE. 
 
 I4i 
 
 recommend this land to the notice of all who are interested in 
 missionary enterprise. The Ovampo have infinitely more claims on 
 a white man’s sympathy than savages like the Damaras, for they 
 have a high notion of morality in many points, and seem to be a 
 very inquiring race. It would be an easy country to secure a footing 
 in, as the king’s goodwill alone has to be gained, and not that of 
 numbers of independent captains, who never settle by the missionaries, 
 but come suddenly with their cattle, eat off all the grass near, and 
 then move on to a fresh pasturage. 
 
 I should have said that I use the word Ovampo in the Damara 
 sense, in which it includes all the corn-growing tribes to their north. 
 These seem to be of precisely the same race, manners, and customs ; 
 and they speak one language. I have seen men from several of them ; 
 and whenever I asked the Ovampo, they said that all their neighbours 
 were just like themselves. 
 
 On my voyage back to England, as I was very anxious to determine 
 the question of how the Ovampo river was connected with the sea, 
 and whether it afforded a good road up the country, I waited a month 
 at St. Helena for the chance of a vessel to take me to Little Fish Bay ; 
 owing, however, to the suppression of the slave-trade, none of our 
 cruisers called there as they used frequently to do, neither was it 
 expected that they would do so. I therefore abandoned the attempt. 
 
 But a traveller who, starting from the north, desired to make the 
 expedition, should go in the first instance to Rio, and thence plenty 
 
 I of opportunities would offer of crossing over to Africa. 
 
 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. 
 
 II 
 
142 
 
 SLAVERY AND SERVITUDE. 
 
 [chap. vm. 
 
 Though no slaves are exported from the countries in which I travelled, 
 yet there is a kind of slavery in the countries themselves. It is not 
 easy to draw a line between slavery and servitude ; but I should say 
 that the relation of the master to the man was, at least in Damara and 
 Hottentotland, that of owner rather than employer. 
 
 I cannot speak with certainty of the exact standing in which the 
 Damaras and the Bushmen severally live among the Ovampo. The 
 first are employed principally as cattle-watchers ; the second, who 
 are even more ornamented than the Ovampo themselves, are a kind of 
 standing army; but I have great reason to doubt whether either the 
 one or the other class is independent. The Ovampo, as I have 
 mentioned, looked down with much contempt on the Damaras ; and 
 there is not a single instance, so far as I could learn, of any Ovampo 
 woman marrying a Damara, and settling in Damaraland ; but the 
 reverse is a very common case. The Bushmen appear to be natural- 
 ised among the negro tribes, and free in the border-lands between 
 them to a distance very far north of Ondonga. I cannot say how far ; 
 but I certainly think to the latitude of Caconda. I believe them to be 
 a very widely spread race. Of the Ghou Damup I lost all trace in 
 Ovampoland. The Namaqua Hottentots and Oerlams, in all their 
 plundering excursions, capture and drive back with them such Damara 
 youths as they take a fancy to, and they keep them, and assert every 
 kind of right over them. They punish them just as they please, and 
 even shoot them, without any one attempting to interfere. Next in the 
 scale of slavery are those Damaras, Ghou Damup, or Bushmen, who 
 place themselves under Hottentot “ protection,” and on much the same 
 footing as those among the Hottentots, are the paupers that are 
 attached to different werfts among the Damaras. These savages 
 court slavery. You engage one of them as a servant, and you find that 
 he considers himself your property, and that you are, in fact, become 
 the owner of a slave. They have no independence about them, 
 generally speaking, but follow a master as spaniels would. Their 
 hero-worship is directed to people who have wit and strength enough 
 to ill-use them. Revenge is a very transient passion in their character, 
 it gives way to admiration of the oppressor. The Damaras seem to me 
 to love nothing : the only strong feelings they possess, which are not 
 utterly gross and sensual, are those of admiration and fear. They 
 seem to be made for slavery, and naturally fall into its ways. Their 
 usual phrase with reference to the missionaries is, “ Oh, they are wise, 
 
ARRANGE MY PACKS. 
 
 CHAP. VIII.] 
 
 143 
 
 'but weak;” but Jonker and the Hottentots are, I could almost say, 
 their delight. They wonder at their success. 
 
 All over Africa one hears of “giving ’’men away: the custom i_ 
 as follows. A negro has chanced to live a certain time in another’s 
 employ ; he considers himself his property, and has abandoned the 
 trouble of thinking what he is to do from day to day ; but leaves 
 the ordering of his future entirely to his employer. He becomes 
 too listless to exist without a master. The weight of independence 
 is heavier than he likes, and he will not bear it. He feels unsup- 
 ported and lost if alone in the world, and absolutely requires some- 
 body to direct him. Now, if the employer happens to have no 
 further need oi the man, he “ gives ” him, that is to say, he makes 
 over his interest in the savage to a friend or acquaintance ; the savage 
 passively agrees to the bargain, and changes his place without 
 
 I regret ; for so long as he has a master at all, the primary want of his 
 being is satisfied. A man is “given” either for a term or for ever; 
 and it was on this tenure that I held several of my men. Svvartboy 
 gave me his henchman ; Kahikene, a cattle-watcher ; Mr. Hahn, 'a very 
 useful man, Kambanya. As a definition of the phrase “giving a 
 man,” I should say it meant “making over to another whatever 
 influence one possessed over a savage ; the individual who is given 
 not being compelled, but being passive.” 
 
 Before starting on my return I bought as much corn as I could carry 
 back, which also proved to be exactly as much as I could buy with my 
 stock of beads. I knew by this time pretty well what weights the 
 different oxen could carry, and arranged their saddle-bags accordingly. 
 I always carried a couple of spring balances with me when on ride- 
 oxen, and as they each marked up to forty pounds, by using the two 
 together I could weigh up to eighty pounds, which was as much as I 
 ever wanted on this occasion, though afterwards when ivory had to be 
 carried I was put to shifts for weighing it. It saves infinite trouble in 
 packing to have the two saddle-bags of exactly the same weight, and I 
 am sure that no practice will train the hand to judge with certainty 
 whether they are so ; a small heavy thing always feels lighter than its 
 real weight, and a bulky thing heavier. I have constantly tested the 
 guesses that practised muleteers and camel-drivers have made of the 
 weights of things, and often convicted them of great mistakes. In my 
 waggon I carried a steel-yard, and knew and registered the weight of 
 everything I carried. 
 
144 
 
 LEAVE ONDONGA. 
 
 [chap. vm. 
 
 I mentioned that the Ovampo had fowls ; they are very pretty small 
 bantams, and I bought three — thinking that being a new breed they 
 might have some points about them which would be valuable to poultry 
 fanciers ; they eat very little, and laid eggs every day. I put them in 
 an Ovampo basket, covered it with a piece of skin, and made one of 
 the Damara women carry it on her head. 
 
 June \^th . — We left Nangoro’s in company with Chik, and with 
 Tippoo, who did the honours for Nangoro. The oxen kicked exces- 
 sively with their packs. Kahikene’s black ox ripped up with his horns 
 two of the bags of corn that he carried, and galloped about, kicking and 
 tossing like mad. We caught him at last, and had him down, and 
 sawed off the tips of his horns on the spot. We were about three 
 hours in doing four miles, and had to encamp under a tree ; the first 
 start is always the most troublesome part of a journey. 
 
 June 16th . — Travelled four hours and slept at the vley. The oxen 
 were so stiff that I had to take them on by easy stages. They strayed 
 in the night, and were not recovered till past mid-day. Spooring is 
 out of the question in Ondonga, as the ground is trodden up every- 
 where. Luckily the oxen had done no damage, only a little trespass, 
 and we went on to Chik’s house, where we stopped. There was 
 evidently no means of getting water for the cattle before leaving 
 Ondonga, so we made ready to be off very early. The morning came, 
 and, to our surprise, Chik would not go with us. We persuaded him 
 to go as far as Netjo’s, whom we knocked up out of his snug hut in the 
 chill early morning, and wishing him and his family an affectionate 
 adieu, gave him the last beads that we had, and started away on our 
 old track to Damaraland. 
 
 It was with the greatest relief that I once again felt myself my own 
 master, and could go when I liked and as I liked ; anything for liberty, 
 even though among the thorn bushes. 
 
 I was sincerely grieved that Chik would not return with us, as he 
 was a person of great consequence in the country, and I had hoped 
 that by his means the Damaraland Missionaries would be enabled 
 easily to extend their stations among the Ovampo, which was an object 
 they had long hoped for. They would also have had leisure to learn 
 from him enough of the Ovampo language to make themselves inde- 
 pendent of an interpreter. I believe Chik wanted to go, but he could 
 persuade no companions to join him, and, naturally enough, did not like 
 to go alone. 
 
CHAP. VIII.] 
 
 THE OXEN SUFFER SEVERELY. 
 
 »45 
 
 The oxen went very steadily and quickly, and although we had 
 often to adjust their packs, yet we made eight hours’ actual travelling 
 by four o’clock ; they seemed to know they were going home ; we 
 then stopped in a grassy place, and the oxen had the first good meal 
 they had enjoyed for more than a fortnight. It was quite pleasant to 
 watch their lank sides distending. There was no time to be lost, so 
 that we were up and packed and off before day-break. The night was 
 bitterly cold, and when we started the Damaras and ourselves carried 
 firebrands, breathing their smoke to keep us warm. We travelled five 
 hours and came to the edge of the flat. There are wells of brackish 
 water there. The oxen were utterly tired, for we had gone quickly, 
 and the sun was intensely hot after a cold night. I thought the oxen 
 might choose to drink the water though we could not, so I off-packed 
 and tried them, but they refused although now forty-eight hours without 
 water. They would not eat either. We packed up again after noon 
 and struggled over the flat. The oxen were dead tired ; they tripped 
 their legs together and looked as miserable as could be, but just before 
 nightfall we reached the wells ; there is no shelter nor firewood here, 
 but the bleak wind sweeps over the flat, and tired as we were we had 
 to watch the oxen all night. They drank excessively, and then wandered 
 restlessly about in the dark, so that during my watch I could hardly 
 keep them together, though running and walking a great part of the 
 time. 
 
 That night fairly broke the constitutions of Frieschland, Timmerman, 
 Buchau, and Kahikene’s ox, and severely tried all the others. The 
 first four were never the same oxen again that they had been before. 
 We stayed at the wells till the forenoon of the next day, and then 
 pushed through the Ovampo werft at the south border of the flat, and 
 off-packed at Etosha. 
 
 June list . — We arrived at Omutchamatunda, which we now found 
 deserted, except by a few Bushmen. We pushed on the day after to 
 beyond Otjando, and then following our old spoor we arrived safely at 
 Otchikoto ; there we took a day’s rest, and amused ourselves in bathing. 
 I made some fish-hooks out of needles, and caught about a hundred 
 small fish, which we ate. We could hear nothing of the waggons 
 from the Bushmen. News travels very slowly in these parts. 
 
 Even at Otchikango no information could be obtained. Ootui was 
 deserted, and we were sick with anxiety. If Chapupa had played 
 false with Hans, what should we do?— a handful of men on worn- 
 
REACH OKAMABUTI. 
 
 146 
 
 [chap. viii. 
 
 out beasts, with all the savage Damaras and a dried-up country in 
 front. 
 
 June 30 th . — Three hours from Okamabuti, we came upon Damaras ; 
 they said that the waggons were to have started that very morning 
 to rejoin Chapupa, who had changed his encampment some days 
 previously. Hans, they said, was well, but they knew nothing more. 
 We rode to Namboshua, took a drink of water there, and then, 
 two hours after, came upon our waggons’ spoor, and upon Okamabuti 
 at the same time. We anxiously examined the now deserted kraal 
 for tokens that all was right. We found John Morta’s cooking fire 
 still burning, and unmistakable signs of his handiwork about, so that 
 no harm had happened to him. Phlebus’ spoor was recognised 
 directly ; he had a large foot and walked flatly, and we found some 
 signs of John Williams. As the cattle kraal was well trodden down, 
 my oxen were probably all well; after a long search and comparing 
 remarks, we rested satisfied that no great mishap could have befallen 
 the party, and that Hans had trecked on, either for better pasturage 
 or for some other good reason. It was clear, from what the Damaras 
 said, that the waggons were not very far off ; and as the news of 
 our arrival would reach them the same night, I off-packed the tired 
 beasts and intended to give them a good feed in the morning — waiting 
 till Hans either sent me some Damaras or came himself to fetch me 
 on. As we were off-packing, to my dismay I found that we were one 
 pack-ox short, and he was the animal that carried my MSS., nautical 
 almanac, gun tools, bullet moulds, and numberless knick-knacks, 
 that were particularly necessary to me. One never counts oxen on 
 the road ; they are so gregarious, that, as a general rule, it is quite 
 unnecessary. In this case we had all been pressing forwards and 
 riding in front of the drove, and none of us could tell whether we 
 had seen the lost one since our first start. It was a very awkward 
 case, for the country was stony in part, and, where not stony, ploughed 
 up with the spoors of the lately migrating Damara oxen. Tired as 
 they were, two of my men and three Damaras went back after him, 
 and, strangely enough, at Namboshua, and by one of those chances 
 that travellers are so often indebted to, one of these Damaras came 
 right upon him as he was lying down, tired, among some thick trees ; 
 he was, of course, brought back in triumph. 
 
 The next morning a posse of my Damaras came running joyfully 
 to me ; they had heard of my arrival at the waggons the previous 
 
CHAP. VIII.] 
 
 START FOR THE OMARAMBA. 
 
 147 
 
 night, and came to tell me the news, and escort me to them. My party 
 had trecked on with Chapupa, to be near him for the sake of protection, as 
 the Bushmen had of late been stealing a great deal in the neighbourhood. 
 
 July 1 st . — After three or four hours’ ride, I recognised the burly 
 form of my faithful servant Hans, on the look-out at the top of a hill. 
 To my extreme relief I learnt that all had gone on well ; that Chapupa, 
 although troublesome, had done no mischief ; that several sheep had 
 been bought, that the oxen were well, and the axletree was as 
 successful a piece of carpenter’s work as the one that had been 
 broken. Chapupa had bought things and never paid for them, and, 
 being in disgrace, sneaked away from me. Kasupi was our principal 
 friend now ; he said that it was absurd to try to go back the way 
 we came, as of all the watering-places at which we drank between 
 Kutjiamakompe and Omanbonde, a journey of three weeks, not more 
 than two now remained that were not dry. He said that we must 
 return by the Omaramba, where we should find both water and grass, 
 and that he would guide us there and start us. A lad made his 
 appearance, who said that he knew the Omaramba road perfectly, 
 and under these escorts we proceeded. Numbers of Damaras wished 
 to join me : I allowed a few to do so, and my party now numbered 
 thirty-four. We returned by our old road to Okatjokeama, and then 
 turned to the left. At a werft there I found my old guide who had 
 stolen the horse-rug and ran away from me. He had the impudence 
 to wear it before my eyes. He was six feet seven inches high, and 
 large in proportion, and therefore too heavy for me to give a shaking 
 to, and I dared not whip him, so I only pulled the rug off his back 
 and rated him soundly. 
 
 We hit the Omorainba and followed it to the confluence of its two 
 branches. Game began now to show, and we had no need to kill any 
 oxen. We had some charming hunts — one after wild boars. Kasupi 
 could not, any more than the other Damaras, give me much information 
 about the road down the Omoramba. It seemed most unfavourable to 
 waggon travelling. They said the Omoramba ran between hills where 
 Ghou Damup lived, and the Damaras dare not go there. 
 
 If my ride-oxen had not been so entirely worn out, and the country 
 so arid, I should have much liked an excursion in that direction, which, 
 as I have since discovered, would be a most interesting route. Now, 
 however, it was out of the question. 
 
 July 12 th . — My entire werft at Okavare consisted of eighty cattle, 
 
148 
 
 ELEPHANTS VISIT US. 
 
 [chap. VIII. 
 
 and one hundred and ten sheep and goats ; of these many belonged to 
 the men, and not to me. I had only seventy cattle and eighty sheep 
 and goats : of these about forty were useful waggon oxen, and fifteen 
 ride and pack, leaving me a surplus of fifteen slaughter oxen and the 
 eighty small cattle. My articles of exchange were at a very low ebb 
 indeed, although I had a small further supply at Walfisch Bay. I had 
 no reason to expect getting more than ten oxen with them in Damara- 
 land ; but when I arrived among the Hottentots, I intended to sell one 
 of my waggons for forty or fifty oxen, which can always be done ; and 
 thus becoming independent, should have amply enough for a second 
 excursion on a smaller scale. 
 
 We now trecked steadily up the Omoramba, and one day’s work was 
 like another’s. There were wells every two, three, or four hours, but 
 deep ones, and choked with sand, which we had on every occasion to 
 clear out, working for hours, and often half through the night. The 
 river-bed is sometimes a broad reach of sand with high banks, some- 
 times imperceptible, except to a very practised eye. Thorns of course 
 hem it in. 
 
 The few incidents that occurred on our return journey were these. 
 One night we slept close to water-holes : our encampment was any- 
 thing but a quiet one, and the dogs barked all night, as they almost 
 invariably did. We had watered the oxen out of a heavy wooden 
 trough that Damaras had made and left at the wells, and this trough 
 blocked up the pathway down to the largest well. In the morning, to 
 our surprise, we found elephant spoors all about us : three large ones 
 and two calves. They had pushed the trough to one side, and walked 
 down to the well till their trunks could reach the water, and had 
 stamped the sand in, and made a great mess of our handiwork. Then 
 they had walked close round us till their minds were satisfied, and finally 
 moved off straight away across country. 
 
 A very large springbok was shot, which we weighed against a large 
 and fat sheep that we killed. The first was one hundred and twenty 
 pounds ; the second, one hundred and twelve pounds. Damara sheep 
 stand much higher than our English sheep, and have no wool ; the hair 
 of their hides is like that of a calf. Hans sold two of his curs to some 
 of the Damaras for two oxen each. I cannot conceive what could have 
 induced them to make such a bargain. They were keen upon dogs, for 
 they offered four oxen for another one, “ Watch ” ; but he was too useful 
 to me in worrying night marauders to be spared. 
 
CHAP. VIII.] 
 
 PASS OMAGUNDk. 
 
 >49 
 
 We had a fine night for chevying hyenas. After one was killed, and 
 everything was silent, I sent a Damara out among the bushes to imitate 
 their howl, that we might hear the others answer, and know where they 
 were. He did it so successfully, that all the dogs were at him in an 
 instant, and he was bitten. 
 
 July lyth.— Our old friend the hill Omuvereoom came into sight. 
 The air was very thick and cold at nights. The sky had quite an 
 English November appearance. We found ice about us nearly every 
 morning since leaving Ondonga. For the last three weeks I have 
 observed that there is a vast deal of electricity in the air, every woollen 
 thing crackles when rubbed with the hand. My large black dog 
 “Wolf” is quite a powerful electrical machine when his back is stroked 
 down. 
 
 July 25 th . — We arrived at Ontikeremba, where there are a great 
 many deep wells about four feet in diameter, and thirty feet deep. 
 A row of four men contrived to hand up the water out of them ; but it 
 was as much as they could do. I can hear nothing of the proceedings 
 of the Hottentots, during my absence, but learnt the full particulars of 
 Kahikene’s death. The bed of the Oinoramba is now that of a small 
 sandy streamlet ; yet wells are found in numbers along it. 
 
 July 26 th. — At Otjikururume we came in full sight of Diambotodthu, 
 and Omatako was right before us. 
 
 July 2%tli. — Left the Omoramba, along which we had been travelling 
 everyday (except two) for more than a fortnight; and on July 29th 
 arrived at Okandjoe. 
 
 We had now passed through the midst of Omagunde’s country ; but 
 he had moved to where Kahikene had been staying, and therefore I 
 saw nothing of him. Crowds of Damaras and nearly one thousand 
 head of cattle were at Okandjoe, where there is copious well-water. I 
 sent in a civil way to beg the use of two wells for my cattle ; but the 
 Damaras were very impudent, and refused. We therefore seized upon 
 the wells, and the Damaras became obliging and highly courteous. 
 
 It gave us quite a home feeling to see the hills that we knew so well 
 round about us. I was now safe as regards water ; for by my map I 
 knew the distance to Kutjiamakompe, and thence, happen what might, 
 I could pass through to Schmelen's Hope. We heard some news of 
 the Missionaries here, that Mr. Hahn had been to Omaruru, and also 
 that the Hottentots had been quiet, and not plundering. 
 
 July 31 sf . — Arrived at Kutiiaroakompe, and were once again on our 
 
REACH BARMEN. 
 
 [chap. VIII. 
 
 ISO 
 
 old waggon-spoors. It was strange to see how the dry season had 
 altered the place ; I should never have recognized it at a cursory glance. 
 The fine sheet of vley water was now baked earth, and we drove over 
 it to wells which were on the other side. 
 
 August 1st . — In the clear evening we passed over the ridge which 
 separates the water-shed of the Swakop from that of the Omoramba. 
 The Schmelen’s Hope Hills, and those by Jonker, and opposite to 
 Barmen, rose into view at once, and we took our farewell leave of the 
 beautiful cones of Omatako and the other high landmarks that had so 
 long guided us. We found water at Okamabonde, and next day at 
 Okandu, whence I sent a messenger on to Barmen with a note. 
 
 August 3 rd . — We rested at Schmelen’s Hope, and August 4th, 
 arrived safely at Barmen, being a year all but ten days from the time 
 when 1 sailed from Cape Town, and five months from the day that the 
 waggons left Schmelen’s Hope ; of these five months ninety days were 
 employed in journeying onwards, independently of such excursions 
 as were made from time to time to look out for roads. I occupied 
 fifty days of travel to reach N.angoro’s from Schmelen’s Hope, and 
 forty days to come back again. The return distance was one hundred 
 and sixty-eight hours, or about four hundred and sixty-two miles, and 
 we were forty-nine days on the road, nine ofthem being days of rest 
 or necessary delay. This gives, including stoppages, an average of 
 nine and a half miles a day, which is very fair travelling for a 
 continuance, even over known roads. 
 
CHAP. IX.] THE WAGGONS ARE CONDEMNED. 
 
 * 5 * 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 llie Waggons are condemned — Messengers to the Cape — The Kaoko — 
 History of Damaraland — Ghou Damup Genealogies — Start for Elephant 
 Fountain— Excessive Drought — Engage Eybrett — Sell my Cart and 
 Mules — Travel from Eikhams — Shooting Giraffes in the Dusk — Elephant 
 Fountain — Numerous Pitfalls — Plundering Expeditions — The Kubabees 
 reach ’Ngami — Trouble of taking Observations — Leave Waggon and 
 ride to the East — Engage Saul — Hans and a Lion — We enter the Bush- 
 man Tract — Rhinoceros Skulls — Hear of the Kubabees Hottentots — 
 Start for ’Tounobis — Shoot a White Rhinoceros — Reach ’Tounobis — 
 Elephant in a Pitfall — Prepare for Sport — Night-Watching for Game — 
 Rhinoceros Veal — Opera Glasses — Herd of Elephants — Fights and 
 Frolics — Bulk of the Rhinoceros — A Picturesque Finale — Spring Hares 
 — Remarks on my Route — Unicorns and Cockatrices — Bushmen 
 Springes — Setting Guns at Night — Description of Plate — Poisoned 
 Arrows. 
 
 During my absence some little news had been received from Europe, 
 for an Englishman had arrived by ship and settled near Walfisch Bay, 
 to try his hand at cattle-trading ; and one newspaper had been received 
 through his means. Of my own family I heard no tidings, and of 
 course had been unable to receive any since I had left England, a year 
 and four months previous to this time. 
 
 The missionaries receive their communications once in every two 
 years, unless, by some chance accident, a post can be dispatched by 
 ship from Cape Town. They tried to establish sets of messengers 
 from Rehoboth to the Orange River, but the road is so long and 
 difficult that the plan had to be abandoned. One of these messengers 
 murdered his comrade, and said that he had been eaten by a lion ; at 
 another time the letters were spoilt by the rains : on every occasion 
 there was some delay or accident. 
 
 I was delighted to find that the Hottentots had remained very peace- 
 able, only those under Cornelius having done any mischief to the 
 Damaras during my absence. Confidence was being restored, and 
 troops of Damaras were gathered about the watering-places and 
 pasturages of the Swakop, which had long been abandoned on account 
 of their dangerous proximity to Jonker. 
 
 Now, as regards my own plans, the waggons were pronounced 
 scarcely fit for an overland journey to the Cape. The tires of the 
 
152 
 
 MESSENGERS TO THE CAPE. 
 
 [chap. ix. 
 
 wheels were worn out ; the mended axletree was of doubtful wood ; 
 and the waggons were altogether become rickety. On the other hand 
 the missionaries expected a vessel some time not earlier than December, 
 and we were now at the beginning of August. If, then, I returned by 
 the ship, I should have August, September, October, and half November, 
 to do what I liked in, and leaving Barmen not later than the end of the 
 first fortnight in November, I could easily push down to the bay in 
 time to join the vessel. 
 
 As a way of ridding myself of the waggons and all my remaining 
 properties, I should arrange with Hans to act as agent for me to 
 convert them into oxen, and drive them for sale down to the colony, 
 by which means I should recover some part of their value. Then 
 in order to occupy the fifteen weeks that I had to spare, I intended 
 to make a quick journey to the eastward, both for the purpose of 
 seeing something of the “Hottentots, and also to find out whether, 
 as I had at first been assured was the case, the Karrikarri Desert was 
 interposed as an impracticable barrier between the sea-coast countries 
 and Lake ’Ngami. I divided my party into two : one waggon went 
 down with Hans to the bay, to bring back all the articles of exchange 
 that I had left there ; and the other waggon, together with all my ride- 
 oxen, went with me by Jonker’s village on my road to the east. 
 
 To make matters more secure, I dispatched messengers to the 
 Orange River, in obtaining whom Swartboy very kindly assisted me ; 
 and among my letters, I wrote one to the agent of the missionaries in 
 Cape Town, offering to bear a certain part of the expense of the vessel, 
 on condition that it was dispatched not earlier than the first of December, 
 or later than the last of January. We then busied ourselves for a 
 week in packing, and in repairs, and in enjoying Mr. Hahn’s kind 
 hospitality. 
 
 Mr. Hahn had made an excursion to Omaruru during my absence, 
 in company with Katjimasha’s sons. It is a spring, situated in the 
 neighbourhood of extensive pasturage, a very important place to the 
 Damaras, and about four and a half days’ travel from Barmen, being 
 a little way beyond Erongo, — the Ghou Damup mountain that I have 
 already mentioned. Omaruru is a rendezvous for the caravans that 
 travel between the Damaras and the sea-side Ovampo; and immediately 
 north of it begins a broad barren tract called the Kaoko, which those 
 caravans have to cross, and which, though now very thinly inhabited, 
 appears to have been the original home of the Damara nation. 
 
HISTORY OF DAMARALAND. 
 
 >53 
 
 chap, nt.] 
 
 I heard of the safety of three of my mules which had travelled down 
 to Scheppmansdorf and taken up their quarters there; they grazed, 
 strayed, and slept just where they pleased, for the Hottentots could not 
 manage them. They were five in number when they ran away from 
 me at Schmelen’s Hope, but two of them must have been killed on the 
 road by lions ; they certainly did not die of starvation, for the other 
 three arrived at Scheppmansdorf very plump and in good condition, 
 
 I ought to mention that the horse distemper does not appear to exist 
 at Scheppmansdorf : five or six horses have at different times been 
 kept there, but none have suffered from the disease. I had much 
 satisfaction in comparing the results of my inquiries with those of Mr. 
 Hahn, with regard to the earlier history of Damaraland. It appears 
 undoubted that seventy years ago not a single Damara existed in the 
 parts where I had been travelling, but that they all lived in the Kaoko, 
 while tribes of Bushmen and Ghou Damup possessed the entire country 
 between the Orange River and the Ovampo, excepting only the Kaoko 
 on the north-west, and the central Karrikarri Desert on the east. 
 
 The Ghou Damup, though treated kindly by the Bushmen, were 
 always considered as inferiors, and the two races never intermarried. 
 The Ghou Damup lived then, as they do now, about the hills, and the 
 Bushmen on the plains. I saw an old Damara, and an old Ghou Damup 
 who remembered this state of things, and several who were born just 
 after it was put an end to ; among these was Katjimaha himself who 
 looks about sixty-five years old. The Damaras at that time made a 
 sweeping invasion eastwards right across the country, to the very 
 neighbourhood of Lake ’Ngami, and attacked the Mationa (as they call 
 the people who live there). Subsequently the Mationa retaliated and 
 invaded the land as far as Barmen on one occasion, and on a second 
 attack passed up the Omoramba as far as Omanbond£. The last 
 Mationa invasion took place about twenty-two years ago. The result 
 of all this fighting was that the Bushmen tribes have been exterminated 
 or driven out of the whole pasture country between Barmen and 
 Okamabuti (the place where the waggons broke down) and the Damaras 
 inhabit it in their stead. Eastwards, they are now separated from the 
 Mationa by only a broad strip of barren country. The Ghou Damup 
 live in large communities about a mountainous district on the lower 
 part of the Omoramba, where they appear to be by no means an im- 
 poverished nation, but agriculturists and traders with the Ovampo and 
 other nations to the north. My own belief is, that very long ago the 
 
154 
 
 GHOU DAMUP GENEALOGIES. 
 
 [chap. ix. 
 
 Ghou Damup were the aborigines not only of the present Damaraland 
 but also of the whole country to the south of it half-way down to the 
 Orange River, and that they are of a race in every respect kindred to 
 the Ovampo. The Bushmen appear to have invaded and thoroughly 
 conquered the Ghou Damup, for they not only exist as the superior 
 caste of the two, but have also taught them their language, to the entire 
 exclusion of whatever other one they may at some former period have 
 possessed. Those Ghou Damup that I saw have no tradition of any 
 other language than that they used ; but the tribes who live on the lower 
 parts of the Omoramba were described as speaking several languages ; 
 and some of these were said to be ignorant of Hottentot. All these 
 bits of information were derived from very many sources ; some I 
 received from persons in Damaraland, some from Ghou Damup among 
 the Namaquas, and the rest from Bushmen who lived far to the east of 
 them. The Ghou Damup are abused and tyrannised over by every- 
 body, but servitude has become their nature, and the very name of 
 Ghou which they themselves adopt and use is far from complimentary. 
 Like many other Hottentot names it is not translatable to ears polite. 
 The missionaries for delicacy’s sake call them “Hill ” Damaras, because 
 they live on the hills. A standing joke against the Ghou Damup is, 
 that they trace their descent from the monkey-tribe. An old man 
 amongst them gave me the following history of his family; he worded 
 it very neatly : — “ My great uncle was a baboon, and lived on excellent 
 terms with the rest of the family, but the following occurrence caused 
 his separation from it. My grandfather had been gambling, and lost 
 all the ornaments, etc., that he had on his person, but wishing to continue 
 the game, requested his brother the baboon to go to my great grand- 
 father, the famous Hadji-Aybib, and beg enough beads from him to form 
 another stake. My great uncle the baboon went, but passing a Hottentot 
 werft by the way, in which were many fierce dogs, before unknown in 
 the country, he became so alarmed at their barking and snapping at 
 him that he ran to the hills, and never dared face man again. Why 
 should not we and the baboons be brothers ? ” said the old gentleman. 
 “ Everybody persecutes us alike. We both live on the hills, eat the 
 same roots, and ‘ crow ’ for them with our hands in the same manner ! ” 
 Hadji-Aybib, my friend’s great grandfather, married a Bushwoman 
 for his second wife, who annoyed her stepsons by her hauteur, and 
 twitted them on account of their vulgar habits and low connections. 
 Influenced by her, Hadji-Aybib cruelly treated his Damup progeny, 
 
EXCESSIVE DROUGHT. 
 
 CHAP. IX.] 
 
 SS 5 
 
 and they on their part earnestly longed for his death. One day he was 
 missing, rumour gave out that he was killed, and the sons gave way to 
 the greatest paroxysms of merriment, during which they behaved in 
 such an unseemly manner before the eyes of their fine lady Hottentot 
 connections that on Hadji- Aybib’s return, — for he was not killed after 
 all, — they were obliged, from absolute shame, to hide themselves away 
 from his presence, and fled to the hills, bearing with them the reproachful 
 name of Ghou Damup. 
 
 August 13 th . — Our party separated, one detachment en route to the 
 bay, and Andersson, Timboo, John Morta, Phlebus, and myself, travel- 
 ling towards Lake ’Ngami. I took only five or six of the most active 
 Damaras with me, and appointed the neighbourhood of Jonker’s werft 
 as a place of rendezvous for both parties at the beginning of November. 
 
 The dryness of the country was now really alarming ; all the 
 watering-places that remained were crowded with cattle, and every 
 blade of grass within miles of them was being eaten off. Over a 
 great part of Damaraland rain had not fallen more than ten times 
 during the whole rainy season ; and a mortality from actual starvation 
 had already begun among the cattle, and the year will probably 
 be remembered and named by the Damaras as that of the great 
 drought. 
 
 It was therefore no easy matter for me to travel about ; but I had 
 one advantage on my side, which was, that on the road, when far 
 away from watering-places and the grazing limits of the cattle by them, 
 L often found grass, and there I outspanned to sleep, and let the 
 oxen feed, then travelling on in the morning I came to the next 
 watering-place at the middle of the day, when the cattle of the natives 
 were all sent off to the fields, and the wells were disengaged. I thus 
 ensured an evening’s meal to the oxen, and also one in the early 
 morning, if they chose to eat it, and water in the middle of the day, 
 but no more. 
 
 On the road to Jonker we found hardly any grass, and I do not 
 know how I should have been able to keep my cattle at his place, if 
 it were not that a valley was left unoccupied, owing to a superstitious 
 feeling arising from a cattle-watcher having been lately murdered 
 there by the Damaras. Jonker received me very kindly, and I expressed 
 to him how glad I was to hear of the excellent manner in which he 
 had kept order among his people during my absence. He had, I 
 knew, been put to very great trouble in doing so, as the disposition 
 
ENGAGE EY BRETT. 
 
 [chap. ix. 
 
 156 
 
 to pillage is general among the Hottentots, and requires a far more 
 despotic ruler to repress than Jonker or anybody else in this republican 
 part of the world is allowed to be. I found a man settled here who 
 was of great use to me, and whom I engaged; he was white, and 
 born in the Cape; spoke English and Dutch perfectly, and was brought 
 by the missionaries here as half-carpenter, half-schoolmaster. He, 
 however, did not suit them, and had for a long time been dismissed 
 their service; I found him installed as Jonker’s prime minister. He 
 spoke Hottentot very fairly, and had a winning manner about him 
 that vastly smoothed down the minor difficulties of my way; and 
 though he was always getting himself and us into scrapes, yet he 
 had a marvellous faculty of creeping out of them again. Eybrett, for 
 that was his name, undertook to guide me to Elephant Fountain, 
 a deserted station on the northern frontier of Amiral’s tribe. No 
 waggon had passed that road for years, and the way led along a 
 country which was rarely travelled over, owing to its being a border 
 district between the Damaras and Namaquas. 
 
 Elephant Fountain and the country immediately adjacent had been 
 the Ultima Thule of missionaries and traders, but the Oerlams, under 
 Amiral, had recently extended themselves about forty miles further to 
 the east, and on their late shooting excursions had reached a point 
 considerably more distant. I was assured that the appearance of the 
 land would be found to alter considerably, the thorns and rugged hills 
 of Damaraland giving place to broad plains, and grass, and timber 
 trees. Beyond was the desert which had hitherto been considered 
 quite impassable, except for men on foot, after the rainy season, and 
 which therefore barred out the lands of the west coast from those of 
 Central Africa. 
 
 It was principally with a view to try if this desert were really 
 impassable that I proposed now to travel, and my object was to strike 
 upon some road that led from the colony up to Lake ’Ngami. The 
 Lake itself I was indifferent about reaching, for it is of no great 
 size, and might prove a very unhealthy place for us, who had been 
 accustomed so long to the pure air of a high plateau. It was two 
 years since its discovery, and there was every reason to suppose that 
 it was by this time perfectly well known. Lastly, I should never get 
 on amongst the blacks there without an interpreter, being, as they 
 are, deadly enemies to the Damaras, from whose side I should have 
 come. I also looked forward with much pleasure to a little spor* 
 
TRAVEL FROM E1KHAMS. 
 
 chap, ix.] 
 
 157 
 
 for game had been so scarce in Damaraland that it made shooting 
 a real toil. 
 
 I sold my cart and harness which were lying at Otjimbingue, and 
 the three mules which were at Scheppmansdorf, to Jonker; he gave 
 me twenty oxen and forty milch goats for them ; but all my efforts to 
 buy horses were unavailing. He, however gave me a mount to 
 Rehoboth, where I went to induce Swartboy to meet Jonker and 
 Cornelius and settle many matters that were in dispute between them, 
 and also to overawe Cornelius and keep him in better order, for he 
 had lately been stealing a great deal of Damara cattle. 
 
 My Hottentot interpreters now were Eybrett and Phlebun ; but 
 Eybrett was an educated man, and could interpret from English to 
 Hottentot at once, so that I generally employed him. He was an 
 excellent interpreter into Dutch when he chose to take pains. 
 
 We had between us a motley command of languages ; for including 
 those of Europe, one or other of the party could converse fluently in 
 nine different languages — English, French, Swedish, Dutch, Danish, 
 Portuguese, Hottentot, Damara, and Movisa ; besides having some 
 acquaintance with German, Arabic, Caffre, and a smattering of Ovampo. 
 
 It will be tedious to describe my journey now as minutely as I did 
 that in Damaraland, for it was much the same thing over again — uncer- 
 tainty of the way and want of water; but we had become far quicker 
 and more self-confident in emergencies, and were altogether a very 
 active and efficient body of men. Among my Damaras I had two of 
 the smartest men and best runners that could be found in the country ; 
 all of them, indeed, were picked men, and they had become much 
 attached to us, and worked very well, and willingly. 
 
 In a few hours from Eikhams we had emerged from the valley of the 
 Swakop on to the high plateau. Thence we followed the Quieep River 
 easterly: this we left for the Noosop, crossing a broad plain, and having 
 some shooting; we then followed the Noosop, and game began to 
 appear in abundance. We passed one great herd of springboks that 
 were migrating ; they eat up the grass almost as locusts would on their 
 way. It was by no means so numerous a herd as is often seen in 
 Bechuana country ; but the tufts of white hair on the backs of the 
 males were as thickly scattered over the country as daisies on a lawn. 
 We never had to kill oxen, — only sheep now and then, for the sake of 
 the fat ; for all the game was very dry ; and where you have no 
 vegetables, fat becomes an essential element of food. 
 
 12 
 
SHOOTING GIRAFFES IN THE DUSK. [chap. ix. 
 
 158 
 
 It was a great drawback to us that elands were hardly ever seen in 
 this country ; they are the staple food of sportsmen in Bechuanaland, 
 and are very fat. 
 
 We discovered how to shoot giraffes on foot from Andersson 
 having gone successfully after a herd in the dusk of the evening, 
 when we found that they allowed him to stalk close up to them. 
 They see very indistinctly in the dark. He shot at two, who did 
 not run far when wounded, but seemed bewildered. He fired all his 
 bullets away at them, and brought one to a standstill, and the other to 
 a slow walk ; but they would not fall. He could only find one pebble 
 in the sandy soil to fire out of the gun, instead of a bullet, and that 
 seemed to have no effect upon the animal : he then thought of ham- 
 stringing them ; but though he nicked the skin of one deeply, yet as he 
 struck out both with his horns and heels when he did so, it was too 
 dangerous to continue the attempt. In despair, he took his rifle-barrel 
 (which was a common thick thing) from the stock, and kept flinging it 
 at the giraffe’s head like a knob-kerrie, and at length the beast dropped. 
 In the morning the other one had walked away, and though he was 
 tracked a couple of miles, yet he could not be found. We jerked the 
 giraffe, that is, cut the flesh that we did not eat into strips, and dried 
 them in the sun. The skin was of great service to us, as our shoes 
 were worn out, and wanted new soles. It is strange to see in how 
 small a compass the meat of the whole animal packs up when it is 
 dried. 
 
 Something was shot every day till we came to Kurrikoop, and there 
 we slept out by the water. A buffalo, a gnu, five zebras, two harte- 
 beests, and three roebucks were “ bagged ” in two nights. The natives 
 of the place had a grand feast : and so had we. 
 
 At Elephant Fountain we found Amiral, and about forty men, who 
 had just arrived there en route for a shooting excursion to the east. 
 They take their waggons with them for some days, and then make an 
 encampment, whence they journey short distances on ride-oxen, and 
 shoot what they can, bringing the meat back jerked to the waggon. It 
 was delightful to hear people talk familiarly of the rhinoceros as an 
 everyday kind of game, and we longed for a raid upon them. I had 
 not yet seen a single rhinoceros. One was shot by Andersson and 
 Hans when they went down to the bay, but I was not then present. 
 On the last shooting excursion Amiral’s men had "bagged” forty of 
 them. 
 
CHAP. IX.] ELEPHANT FOUNTAIN. 159 
 
 Elephant Fountain is a rather copious spring on the side of a black 
 thorny hill, above a narrow river-bed. Herds of animals come here to 
 drink ; and the ground at the principal place is bored full of pitfalls. 
 By arranging the bushes in different ways, different sets of paths and 
 pitfalls can be used at pleasure, and the animals are unscared by the 
 smell of the blood of their companions, who may have been caught and 
 slaughtered the preceding evening. No less than thirty-four zebras 
 were entrapped in one night. 
 
 We could not of course shoot here, as it might frighten the game 
 away, and there was no great temptation, as only zebras and roebucks 
 came to drink. There were a great many lions about, some of whom 
 had lately taken two men, who had sat up watching for game ; but none 
 troubled us. In the daytime, while we were waiting for Amiral, a few 
 animals were shot, and jerked as food for the party that was to stay 
 with the waggon, for I intended to let it stop here, and to ride on with 
 Andersson, Eybrett, and Timboo, leaving John Morta and Phlebus 
 behind. 
 
 Elephant Fountain acquired its name from the enormous number of 
 tusks that were found in the water of this place. When the Hottentots 
 settled there, the pool into which the water runs was overgrown with 
 reeds, and harboured lions and hyenas, and all kinds of wild beasts. 
 So the reeds were burnt down, and the pool cleared out : it was not at 
 all a large one, perhaps twenty-five paces across ; but in the mud at the 
 bottom of it they found quantities of elephants’ bones and tusks, so that 
 a trader bought enough ivory to fill more than one, and I think two 
 waggons with it. Elephants were then numerous at the place, but they 
 have now quitted it. 
 
 A very fatal intermittent fever occurs here, and has depopulated the 
 place more than once ; it breaks out in April, and rages for two or three 
 months. It does not extend to the west of the place ; I cannot say 
 whether or no it does to the east. Amiral told me that the Mationa, 
 or Bechuanas, as he called them, occasionally visited him ; but that, 
 having no interpreter, he could not converse with them. One large 
 party of chiefs had just left Wesley Vale. He said that the Bushmen 
 had always told him that the desert to the east was impassable ; but 
 that from time to time they had found springs in their hunting excur- 
 sions ; and that very likely there was a way across it, if the Bushmen 
 would only choose to point it out. It seemed that the desert was bare 
 sand opposite to Wesley Vale, four days south of Elephant Fountain, 
 
160 THE KUBABEES REACH 'NGAM 1 . [chap. ix. 
 
 but covered with grass at this latitude. I therefore had good reason 
 to hope that we should turn its flank. Last year a large party of 
 Kubabees Hottentots (who live a few days east of Bethany) rode up 
 to the north, passing alongside of Amiral’s country ; but far to the east 
 of it, i they came to a place called “ ’Tounobis,” whence they made 
 plundering excursions on all sides ; some against the Damaras, and 
 some against the Mationa, who lived on Lake ’Ngami itself. A 
 nephew of Amiral’s, who could write Dutch, was in the expedition, 
 and sent Amiral a letter about it. He described the boats that were 
 there, and said much about the alligators, who killed very many of their 
 dogs. The Hottentots made a most murderous excursion, having fallen 
 upon a village that was situated on the river, connected with the west 
 of the lake, and cut every person’s throat they could lay hands on. 
 They then robbed the huts and decamped with their booty. Carosses, 
 made of skins that were unknown to them, were amongst the plunder. 
 The lake itself they did not dare to go to ; a hill or mountain was 
 pointed out to them, at the foot of which not only the lake, but a large 
 werft of natives were ; and these they did not venture to approach. 
 I was told that I should probably see the Bushmen, who guided them. 
 Amiral was very anxious to lay hold of these Bushmen, and require 
 them not to guide strangers, as the harm which the Kubabees 
 Hottentots had done would probably be retaliated on his head. 
 
 It was most likely on a visit of expostulation, or as spies, that the 
 Mationa chiefs had been to Wesley Vale ; but as no interpreter could 
 be found, the interview ended in nothing but an exchange of presents. 
 I heard that there was a woman born among the Mationa, but now 
 naturalised in Amiral’s tribe ; and I sent messengers long distances to 
 try and bring her, but she was not to be found — only her two half-caste 
 children, who knew nothing but Hottentot. 
 
 The country appeared to have become quite devoid of all landmarks, 
 only a few rising heads and long undulating ridges being visible, which 
 I could make no use of in triangulating. I had brought my triangulations 
 to within eleven hours of Elephant Fountain, and, indeed, with a slight 
 gap, to Elephant Fountain itself; but here it seemed that they must 
 cease, so I took a great number of lunars, to fix as accurately as I could 
 the position of the place. I had done the same at Okamabuti, which 
 was the northern limit, or near to it, of my network of triangles ; that 
 of Walfisch Bay was given by Captain Owen’s survey, and I had taken 
 many sets at Barmen, as a check upon the whole. These were all 
 
chap, ix.] LEAVE WAGGON AND RIDE TO THE EAST. 161 
 
 observed with a large sextant, for which I had contrived a stand ; but 
 in travelling on ox-back I was obliged to leave this behind, as being 
 nuch too cumbrous to carry, and packed a small but excellent circle 
 imong plenty of stockings, etc., in a fishing-basket, which I made a 
 man strap on his back. With this circle I had already taken sets for 
 longitude at Ondonga, and I proposed now doing the same at the 
 most eastern point I should arrive at, filling up the intermediate places 
 by a careful dead reckoning, checked by latitudes. I had so few 
 subjects of interest in the journey, that taking sets of observations, 
 which would be a great nuisance to a person under any other circum- 
 stances, was to me a source of occupation and a great pleasure, and 
 I slaved at it. It requires some care to “ pit ” one observation against 
 another, so as to eliminate the error of a doubtful instrument. The 
 packing and unpacking is troublesome, and an instrument cannot be 
 left for a moment unguarded, or the goats will butt at it, the sheep 
 and dogs run over it, or the oxen brush against it : and it is cold work, 
 having to leave the fire, that its glare may be avoided, and to wait for 
 the culminating of one star after another. 
 
 We were detained longer than we ought to have been at Elephant 
 Fountain, by a break-down of Amiral’s waggon, just as he was start- 
 ing, but, as it was a light vehicle and the roads were level, a piece oi 
 green wood was made into an axletree, and we were ready to proceed 
 in two days. Our dates were, left Jonker, August 30th; arrived at 
 Elephant Fountain, September 14th ; proceeded, September 19th. 
 
 Hardly a Hottentot lived at Elephant Fountain, but there were large 
 werfts of Berg Damaras there, who of course belonged to Amiral. I 
 therefore felt no fear whatever at leaving my two men, for there is 
 security of life in the country of the Hottentots, and we parted in high 
 spirits for a six weeks’ tour, my time being limited by the expected 
 arrival of the ship at Walfisch Bay, from which I was now distant 156 
 hours (390 miles), or, with a single span of oxen, at least a month’s 
 journey off. 
 
 We rode over to ’Twas in eleven hours, following the track of Amiral's 
 waggon, and there we found a large werft. I engaged a Dutchman, by 
 name Saul, whom I found there. He was to take two or three pack- 
 oxen, and to pack them himself, and to help my party in everything. 
 He was a well-known shot, spoke Hottentot perfectly, and was just the 
 man I wanted. 
 
 It seemed to me that, small as Amiral's tribe was, it was infinitely 
 
1 62 
 
 ENGAGE SAUL. 
 
 [chap. IX. 
 
 the most civilised of all I had seen, and seemed possessed of more 
 resources by far than either Svvartboy’s or Cornelius’. I mean that, 
 R.'ith the usual articles of exchange, whatever was wanted, might be 
 found and bought there with far more facility than elsewhere. The 
 others keep no “ stock in hand ” of anything, but scramble on from hand 
 to mouth. If you want a pair of leather trousers made, the goat must 
 be killed and the skin dressed, for nobody cares to keep a spare piece 
 of leather. In the same way with caresses, each man has his own 
 sleeping things, but no overplus by him to sell. Every Hottentot has 
 his ride-ox, which he will not dream of parting with until he has broken 
 in another one to take its place, and there is a want of capital every- 
 where, so that although a traveller may be abundantly supplied with 
 articles of exchange, and the natives around him by no means badly off, 
 yet it does not at all follow that he will find anybody to barter with 
 him as he journeys through their country. 
 
 September 2 6 ph. — We left 'Twas on our shooting excursion. I took 
 no dogs ; mine were useless curs for anything else but night-watching ; 
 and under the guidance of Saul we travelled five hours and a half, 
 passing a succession of little springs on our way. Early the next 
 morning we went three hours to the place of rendezvous, and Amiral 
 came shortly afterwards : numbers of other Hottentots soon dropped 
 in, and we had a very merry evening, telling tales, and talking about 
 the habits of animals. Of course we had lion and elephant stories in 
 abundance. I was curious to know what animals here were the most 
 fatal to man, and we counted over all the deaths that we could think 
 of. Buffaloes (though not common here) killed the most, then rhi- 
 noceroses, and lastly, lions. Areep, the predecessor of Cornelius, as 
 chief of his tribe, was killed by a black rhinoceros. It is curious how 
 many people are wounded by lions, though not killed. A very active 
 Damara, who was some time with me in Damaraland, but who stayed 
 behind as I journeyed up the country, was in a dreadfully mangled 
 state when I returned. He had found a lion in the act of striking 
 down his ox, and rushed at him with his assegai : he gave him a wound 
 that must have proved mortal, for the assegai went far into his side ; 
 but the lion turned upon him, and seizing him, bit one elbow-joint quite 
 through, and continued worrying him until some other Damaras ran up 
 and killed the animal. 
 
 My servant, Hans, had a very narrow escape some time since. He 
 was riding old Frieschland (the most useful ox I had, but now worn 
 
chap, ix.] WE ENTER THE BUSHMAN TRACT. 163 
 
 out by the Ondonga journey) along the Swakop, when he saw some- 
 thing dusky by the side of a camelthorn-tree, two hundred yards off. 
 This was a lion, that rose and walked towards him : Hans had his gun 
 in his gun-bag by the side of his saddle, and rode on, for there is no 
 use in provoking hostilities single-handed with a lion, unless some 
 object has to be gained by it, as every sportsman at last acknowledges. 
 The coolest hand and the best shot are never safe, for a bullet, however 
 well aimed, is not certain to put the animal hors de combat. After the 
 lion had walked some twenty or thirty yards, Frieschland, the ox, either 
 saw or smelt him, and became furious. Hans had enough to do to 
 keep his seat ; for a powerful long-horned ox tossing his head about 
 and plunging wildly is a most awkward hack for the best of jockeys. 
 The lion galloped up. He and Hans were side by side. The lion 
 made his spring, and one heavy paw came on the nape of the ox’s 
 neck, and rolled him over ; the other clutched at Hans’ arm, and tore 
 the sleeve of his shirt to ribbons but did not wound him, and there they 
 all three lay. Hans, though he was thrown upon his gun, contrived to 
 wriggle it out, the lion snarling and clutching at him all the time ; but 
 for all that, he put both bullets into the beast’s body, who dropped, then 
 turned round, and limped bleeding away into the recesses of a broad 
 thick cover; and of course Hans, shaken as he was, let him go. There 
 were no dogs to follow him, so he was allowed to die in peace ; and 
 subsequently his spoor was taken up, and his remains found. 
 
 Probably many more people are killed by lions than one hears of, 
 for the most frequent victims are paupers who scatter themselves about 
 the country, squatting on the ground and crowing pignuts ; they become 
 so absorbed in their occupation that a lion could easily crouch behind 
 and spring upon them. Numbers of people are reported to be missing 
 in Damaraland, but no one cares to search out their fate. I made a 
 list once of the people I had met with who had been wounded by lions, 
 but I have lost it. It was a very long one. The wounds were always 
 bad ones to heal. They frequently became almost well, and then broke 
 out afresh. 
 
 26 th. — We were now fairly en route, and had entered the Bushman 
 country ; we travelled along the brow of a long ridge that rose insensibly 
 to perhaps one thousand feet above a wide plain, which stretched far 
 away to the east, and was covered with timber trees ; — this was the 
 margin of the great desert. I was told that we should continue jour- 
 neying along this ridge till we reached the furthest point that Amiral’s 
 
RHINOCEROS SKULLS. 
 
 164 
 
 [chap. ix. 
 
 men had yet travelled to, and thence our course would, if we intended 
 to go to ’Tounobis, lie across this plain. 
 
 The news of our shooting expedition had spread far and wide, and 
 Damaras flocked like crows from all quarters to share in the food. The 
 place where we slept on the 26th was a charming spot, among black- 
 thorn trees, lighted up by fires in all directions, round each of which 
 were grouped parties of our guests. We steadily rode on, keeping 
 ahead of Amiral’s party, and on the evening of the second day we 
 arrived at the first great shooting place. It was a picturesque gorge 
 in the ridge which led down to the plain, and in which was a succession 
 of small springs. Rhinoceros skulls were lying in every direction, but 
 strangely enough only one spoor could be seen. The whole of that 
 night did Saul and I watch without seeing anything but a jackal. It 
 was very disappointing, but the animals clearly were not there. We 
 therefore pushed on. Saul had told us that the rhinoceroses would 
 begin trooping in at nightfall, and that we should continue firing at them 
 till daybreak, and I had believed him. Forty were killed here about 
 a month since. I could not doubt it, for I counted in a small space 
 upwards of twenty heads ; but I suppose that a vast number were 
 also wounded, and that the whole game was fairly scared from the 
 place. Amiral’s men were hard up for food ; each man came on his 
 ride-ox, and carried nothing with him. 
 
 On the 28th we arrived at the furthest place the Namaquas had 
 explored to. We saw about a dozen fresh spoors of elephants, and a 
 few of rhinoceroses. I tried all I could to make the people encamp 
 out of ear-shot of the water but they would not. No elephants came 
 that night, but a rhinoceros, a lion, a hyena, and a gnu were “ bagged.” 
 The Damaras were only allowed the carrion, as Amiral’s suite of forty 
 men all had to be fed : these poor people were in a sad state ; they 
 searched for pieces of old rhinoceros hide, the skin of animals that had 
 been slaughtered here before, and which had dried in the sun before 
 wild beasts had had time to devour it. This cooked in the fire and 
 beaten with stones to make it soft enough to chew is not at all bad, 
 and I have often eaten it ; but there was not enough of it to feed the 
 whole crew of Damaras, neither were there pignuts here for them to 
 crow, and they were, consequently, in great distress. 
 
 Several Bushmen came to us here, of the tribe that lived at ’Tounobis ; 
 the Namaquas can hardly understand them ; they laughed excessively 
 at the odd double way in which they pronounce their clicks, One man, 
 
START FOR 'TOUNOBIS. 
 
 CHAP. IX.] 
 
 «6S 
 
 the son of the chief whose name means “ Buffalo,” was much the most 
 intelligible, and I engaged him at once as guide. He told us all about 
 the Kubabees Hottentots, how they came and where they went, whom 
 they killed, and whom they robbed, and gave us every particular. All 
 the Bushmen were well acquainted with the great waters to the north- 
 east (the Lake ’Ngami and its rivers) and described the boats on them, 
 and mimicked the alligators and the hippopotami. They had heard 
 also of the Soun Damup, that tribe of Ghou Damup that live in an 
 independent state along the lower part of the Omoramba, and pointed 
 out the direction of their country. They knew of waggons having gone 
 to Lake ’Ngami, and said that they had some things which were given 
 to them by the people who travelled in them, whom they particularly 
 described. They, however, protested that the country was, in this 
 peculiarly dry season, impassable beyond ’Tounobis. 
 
 How far this place was we could not well make out, but it certainly 
 was a long journey without water ; tired and footsore as the oxen were, 
 I was determined however to attempt it. The Bushmen declared that 
 the game was all scared away from where we were ; but that we should 
 see immense quantities at ’Tounobis. One informant asserted that the 
 buffaloes were so thick upon the ground that we should have great 
 difficulty in driving the waggons through them. But they all agreed 
 that near ’Tounobis it would be dangerous to travel at night, as the 
 wild animals would certainly charge us and our oxen when we met 
 them on the way. 
 
 We started for ’Tounobis on the afternoon of October 1st with Amiral 
 and half of his men ; after about three hours we came to a little well 
 that the Hottentots who were before us had just drank dry, and, going 
 on, to our delight saw two huge white rhinoceroses, three or four hun- 
 dred yards on one side of us. They are indeed immense creatures, so 
 far longer than the black ones, and their horns so much larger. The 
 rhinoceros now in the Regent’s Park Gardens is a black rhinoceros ; it 
 is much the most vicious of the two kinds, but nothing like the size of 
 the other. We all tumbled off our oxen, some twenty of us (the others 
 had returned to Amiral’s waggons), and ran helter-skelter through the 
 bushes each his own way, till we were pretty near them, and then, as 
 one trotted up to see what was the matter, a volley was blazed into 
 him, that bowled him over like a hare. The other one took a sweep 
 and escaped unshot. The rapidity with which the slaughtered one 
 was cut up was perfectly astonishing. I minuted the whole occurrence ; 
 
REACH ’TOUNOBIS. 
 
 [chap. IX. 
 
 1 66 
 
 it only took twenty minutes, and we were in our saddles again thirty- 
 five minutes after we had left them. It must be recollected that three- 
 penny pocket-knives are not the best of instruments to make an 
 impression on rhinoceros hide. There is no knife so good as a 
 common butcher’s knife ; as a general rule, soft steel, or even iron, 
 is far better than hard steel, because you can sharpen the first on any 
 bit of stone, and the metal does not splinter when it comes against 
 a bone. 
 
 We followed an elephant path, which went as straight as a Roman 
 road. I took its direction several times with an azimuth compass, and 
 it did not vary four degrees. We travelled till past nine, having been 
 on the move for six and a quarter hours. 
 
 The next day, starting very early, poor Timmerman and Frieschland 
 both knocked up ; they had never recovered the Ondonga journey ; we 
 drove them as far as we could, but it was no use, and as we of course 
 could not wait in the middle of the plain without water, we had to leave 
 the poor creatures to their fate. 
 
 This day we managed eleven hours’ actual travelling, and could have 
 easily pushed on again, at midnight, but the Bushmen begged us not, 
 as we were coming to where the rhinoceroses were very numerous, and 
 assured us that if we started in the morning we should arrive at 
 'Tounobis before the heat of the day. This we did ; we passed along 
 a labyrinth of wild beasts’ paths, put up one rhinoceros, and, after four 
 hours, a valley in front where smoke rose among the trees announced 
 that we had arrived at ’Tounobis. 
 
 We hurried to the water to look for spoors, and now we were, without 
 any doubt, in a game-country. The river-bed was trodden like the 
 ground in a cattle fair by animals of all descriptions. The water lay 
 in pools among rocks, and there were evident marks of where the 
 water had stood at the preceding evening, and the depth to which it 
 had been drunk out by the animals during the night ; by the sides of 
 these holes were the circular walls of loose stones, two or three feet 
 high, that the Kubabees Hottentots had built up as screens, from behind 
 which to shoot. 
 
 A little way off were crowds of Bushmen ; we went to them, and 
 found them clustered round one of a series of deep uncovered wells, 
 about twelve feet across, and eight or ten deep, and very close together, 
 into which an elephant had been pushed the preceding night by his 
 comrades, as they had scrambled in droves to drink, and there he lay 
 
ELEPHANT IN A PITFALL. 
 
 CHAP. IX.] 
 
 167 
 
 just killed, and great pieces of flesh were being cut off and hauled up 
 from his carcase. 
 
 All this was delightful, and we off-packed our lean oxen in the highest 
 spirits about a quarter of a mile from the water, in the midst of a thick 
 grove of trees. Amiral encamped near us ; we made a kraal and settled 
 down for at least a week’s pleasuring. As soon as the elephant was 
 disposed of, I collected all the chief Bushmen in a ring, and gave them 
 tobacco and so forth, and began asking them about the country further 
 on ahead. One of my men came to say that he had just found a Bush- 
 man cooking with a large iron pot ; this was a sure sign of the neigh- 
 bourhood of civilised man. The Bushman said that it was given to 
 them by people from a waggon some distance to the east, and who had 
 gone to the lake during the previous rainy season. The man who had 
 guided the Kubabees Hottentots lived here — Toes-u-wap was his 
 melodious name. He and the other Bushmen wore great numbers of 
 elephant hair necklaces, with three or four beads strung on each of 
 them ; they are, as I now And, worked after the manner that the 
 English ladies call “ tatting.” Old Buffalo's son and Toes-u-wap were 
 the only two who could understand much of the language of the Hot- 
 tentots ; they interpreted for us to the other Bushmen as well as they 
 could, but our conversation was far from fluent. Several of these 
 Bushmen knew the Mationa language, and as I had a little MS. Sichuana 
 dictionary with me, I asked the Sichuana names for sixty words ; of 
 these about twenty were identical with those in my dictionary, twenty 
 were somewhat like them, and the other twenty I could not find. I 
 presume, therefore, that their language is Sichuana, or a dialect of it. 
 The Bushmen were unanimous in saying that our next stage to the 
 east was longer than the one we had just travelled. The season was 
 so excesssively dry that all the wells were exhausted. The Kubabees 
 Hottentots had passed by this place in the dry season, but it was sub- 
 sequent to an ordinarily rainy summer, and they left 'Tounobis in the 
 afternoon, travelled all night, and next midday drank water with reeds, 
 after their manner, from a place where the sand was damp ; on the 
 ensuing day they came to a Bushman werft, and so on every day till 
 the fifth, when they reached a Mationa cattle post ; they call it Eisis in 
 Hottentot, Chuesa in Mationa language; from there the hills that 
 border the great water (river or lake I am not sure which) can be seen. 
 There is said to be much game there. 
 
 We had great difficulty in making the Bushmen distinguish between 
 
NIGHT-WATCHING FOR GAME. 
 
 [chap. ix. 
 
 1 68 
 
 the lake and the rivers ; they called the whole water-country by one 
 name — Tl’ Annee. However, I will not enter at length into these 
 details, as more accurate information will certainly be received before 
 long from the whites, or whiter races, who are now steadily pushing 
 northwards. 
 
 We repaired the circular walls of loose stones that were to form our 
 shooting-screens. The lower they are the better, generally speaking, 
 as being less likely to attract attention ; but when it can be managed, 
 a wall about two feet nine inches high is much the most convenient to 
 shoot over, as a man’s position is not cramped when he kneels down 
 and fires from behind one of these: they ought to be six or seven feet 
 across. A hole in the ground is sometimes made instead of a wall ; 
 but generally speaking, the neighbourhood of large watering-places in 
 these parts is a mass of limestone rock, into which one cannot dig. 
 
 It is one of the most strangely exciting positions that a sportsman 
 can find himself in, to lie behind one of these screens or holes by the 
 side of a path leading to a watering-place so thronged with game as 
 ’Tounobis. Herds of gnus glide along the neighbouring paths in 
 almost endless files : here standing out in bold relief against the sky, 
 there a moving line just visible in the deep shades ; and all as noise- 
 less as a dream. Now and then a slight pattering over the stones 
 makes you start ; it jars painfully on the strained ear, and a troop ot 
 zebras pass frolicking by. All at once you observe twenty or thirty 
 yards off two huge ears pricked up high above the brushwood ; another 
 few seconds, and a sharp solid horn indicates the cautious and noiseless 
 approach of the great rhinoceros. Then the rifle or gun is poked slowly 
 over the wall, which has before been covered with a plaid, or some- 
 thing soft, to muffle all grating sounds ; and you keep a sharp and 
 anxious look-out through some cranny in your screen. The beast 
 moves nearer and nearer ; you crouch close up under the wall, lest he 
 should see over it and perceive you. Nearer, nearer still ; yet somehow 
 his shape is indistinct, and perhaps his position unfavourable to warrant 
 a shot. Another moment, and he is within ten yards, and walking 
 steadily on. There lies a stone, on which you had laid your caross and 
 other things, when making ready to enter your shooting-screen ; the 
 beast has come to it, he sniffs the taint of them, tosses his head up 
 wind, and turns his huge bulk full broad-side on to you. Not a second 
 is to be lost. Bang! and the bullet lies well home under his shoulder. 
 Then follows a plunge and a rush, and the animal charges madly about, 
 
CHAP. IX.] RHINOCEROS VEAL. 169 
 
 making wide sweeps to right and left with his huge horn, as you crouch 
 down still and almost breathless, and with every nerve on the stretch. 
 
 He is off ; you hear his deep blowing in the calm night ; now his 
 gallop ceases. The occasional rattling of a stone alone indicates that 
 he is yet a-foot ; for a moment all is still, and then a scarcely audible 
 “sough” informs you that the great beast has sunk to the ground, and 
 that his pains of death are over. 
 
 The animals are picked up in the morning ; but it is not very easy to 
 find them. Spooring is, in most cases, quite out of the question, on 
 account of the numberless tracks. The Bushmen jerked every particle 
 of the meat of all the animals that we killed, excepting that which we 
 used ourselves. I like rhinoceros flesh more than that of any other 
 wild animal. A young calf, rolled up in a piece of spare hide, and 
 baked in the earth is excellent. I hardly know which part of the little 
 animal is the best, the skin or the flesh. 
 
 The Hottentots shot away a great many bullets at rhinoceroses, 
 and did, I daresay, a great deal of mischief ; for they lie six or seven 
 together in each shooting-screen, and blaze volleys at long distances — • 
 often thirty or forty yards — at the rhinoceros. The consequence is 
 that they “ bag ” but very few, compared to the number that they fire 
 at ; the others most likely linger on for a few days, and then lie down 
 and die elsewhere. One night Andersson and myself were lying out 
 together when a rhinoceros came, that I fired at. Something smaller 
 was following at its heels ; but we could not see what, on account of 
 the shade of the dark bushes. It was a brilliant moonlight ; and we 
 were foolish enough to leave our screen, and poke about after the 
 animal, which luckily we never found. In the early morning Andersson 
 went to look for the game that had been shot ; and first followed the 
 spoor of the rhinoceros we had been seeking. He soon found the 
 animal lying dead among the bushes ; and he walked carelessly up, 
 with rifle over his shoulder, when as he was just upon the animal, a 
 full-grown calf rushed out from behind its dead mother right at him. 
 He had a very narrow escape, for the creature brushed by him in the 
 narrow pathway ; he was about as large as an ox, and his spoor was 
 half size. Had we come upon them the preceding night, we should 
 have run some risk. On one occasion a rhinoceros that he fired at, 
 brushed down the stones of one side of his shooting place. 
 
 If I were to travel again on a shooting tour I should certainly take 
 a large opera-glass with me. It is one of the most perfect of night- 
 
170 
 
 HERD OF ELEPHANTS, 
 
 [OHAP. IX. 
 
 glasses, besides being the most useful of telescopes. I should think it 
 would put a man’s sight in the dusk on a par with that of wild beasts 
 generally ; and it is so portable and manageable an instrument, that I 
 should never lie out watching for animals without one. Since my 
 return to England I have often amused myself at night in trying their 
 powers, which certainly are marvellous. At sea they are coming into 
 general use, and more than one naval officer of considerable experience 
 in chasing slavers, has assured me of their great superiority over the 
 ordinary cumbrous night telescope. Talking of these things, I may 
 add, that a powerfully magnifying telescope is of very little use in 
 tropical Africa ; the air is always seething and waving from the heat, 
 so that images are seldom sufficiently distinct to be worth magnifying. 
 
 I generally used the “ direct ” telescope of my sextant for day pur- 
 poses ; it is in fact a small single opera-glass, and I liked it very 
 much. 
 
 Elephant shooting was out of the question at ’Tounobis for men 
 in our position, without horses and without dogs. The river-bed is 
 perfectly bare and very light in colour from the quantity of slabs of 
 limestone. I should be extremely sorry to be chased by any animal 
 over it. The Hottentots made such a noise that the elephants only 
 came down twice whilst I was there ; the first time we ran up to them 
 and fired among their legs, there were fourteen in the herd, fine 
 fellows, standing in a row fronting us in the open moonshine. None 
 of us dared go nearer than sixty yards ; we there had the shelter of a 
 low slab in the limestone, but beyond the ground was quite flat. 
 
 1 should think the legs were the best part to fire at, in these cases, 
 because if the bullet strikes the bone it is sure to break it, and an 
 elephant on three legs is like a waggon on three wheels, quite brought 
 to a standstill ; and, again, if the bone be missed, the wound, if any, is 
 only a flesh wound, and does not kill the animal. Our shots produced 
 no effect except some very angry trumpeting from the elephants, who 
 first faced us and then decamped. The second time we let them 
 alone, and a young bull fell into one of the wells, which we shot. I 
 think I would have given anything for horses at ’Tounobis. I should 
 have enjoyed myself amazingly if I had had them. 
 
 There were no lions whatever there ; they and rhinoceroses do not 
 hit it off together, and are seldom found in numbers at the same place. 
 A rhinoceros is a sulky morose brute, and it is very ridiculous to watch 
 a sedate herd of gnus bullied by one of them. He runs among them 
 
chap, ix.] BULK OF THE RHINOCEROS. 171 
 
 and pokes about with his horn, while they scamper and scurry away 
 from him in great alarm. He surely must often kill them. 
 
 For my own taste, I should like to spend nights perched up in some 
 tree with a powerful night glass watching these night frolics and 
 attacks. I really do not much care about shooting the animals, though 
 it makes a consummation to the night work, as the death of the fox 
 does to a fox hunt, but it is the least pleasurable part of the whole. 
 Great fun seems to go on among the different animals ; jackals are 
 always seen and are always amusing ; their impudence is in- 
 tolerable ; they know that you do not want to shoot them, and will 
 often sit in front of your screen and stare you in the face. Sometimes 
 whilst straining your eyes at the dimly seen bushes about you, the 
 branched stem of one gradually forms itself into the graceful head of 
 some small antelope. The change is like that of a dissolving view, the 
 object had been under your notice for a minute, yet you could not 
 tell when it ceased to be a bush and became an animal. The young 
 rhinoceroses must be much chased by the hyenas and wild dogs, for 
 you never find one, either young or old, whose ears do not show marks 
 of having been sadly bitten. 
 
 I do not think an elephant gives anything like the idea of bulk and 
 power that the white rhinoceros does. An elephant is so short and so 
 high upon his legs, that he looks what jockeys would call 11 weedy,” in 
 comparison to the low and solid rhinoceros. The largest of these 
 that we shot was eighteen feet long and six high ; the head and neck 
 forming, I should say, a third of the entire length. If a creature of 
 this size be imagined against the wall of a room, an idea may be formed 
 of his immense size. Their rush is wonderfully quick ; they seem to 
 me to get up their speed much quicker than a horse or any other 
 animal I know. I really think that if a rhinoceros and horse caught 
 sight of one another at the same instant, when not more than ten yards 
 apart, the beast would catch the steed. Their movements are amaz- 
 ingly rapid when they receive a bullet. 
 
 Oct. 7th . — I had a most picturesque finale to a rhinoceros hunt. The 
 Bushmen came to tell me that a black rhinoceros was lying wounded 
 under some trees, about an hour off, and very savage, so I went to 
 him, and put him up with a bullet as he lay twenty-five yards from me. 
 After the scrimmage which ensued, I ran after him, he going a lame trot, 
 and I, as hard as I could pelt, putting three or four bullets into him at 
 long distances, and loading as I ran. At length we came to the edge 
 
172 
 
 SPRING HARES. 
 
 [chap. ix. 
 
 ol an open flat that was about two hundred yards across. At the 
 further side of that was a mound, on the top of which stood a fine 
 overshadowing tree, and in the middle of the flat was a scraggy, rotten 
 stump, and two or three dead branches. The rhinoceros went across 
 this, climbed the mound, and stood at bay under the tree. I did not 
 much like crossing the open flat, but I thought I could certainly run two 
 yards to his three, which would take me back in safety among the 
 bushes, so I went my best pace to the middle of the flat keeping the 
 dead branches between me and him, they were a mere nothing, but a 
 rhinoceros’ sight is never keen, and his eyes were, I dare say, dim from 
 his wounds. As soon as I came to the tree, I dropped down on my 
 knee, steadied my shaking hand against one bough, for I had run very 
 far and was exhausted, and, resting the muzzle of my heavy rifle in the 
 fork of another took a quick shot and gave the beast a smart sharp 
 sounding blow with a well-placed bullet. He did not start nor flinch, 
 but slowly raised his head, and then dropping it down, poured volumes 
 of crimson blood from his mouth. He did this again and again ; at 
 length he staggered a very little, then he put his fore legs out and apart 
 from each other, and so stood for some seconds, when he slowly sunk 
 to the ground upon his broad chest and died. I sketched the scene 
 from memory when I returned, regretting that I had not had a pencil 
 with me at the time to do it more justice, for the dying beast with the 
 branched tree above him was quite a study for an artist. Having shot 
 animals till we were tired, a pleasant moonlight evening was spent on 
 much smaller game — the spring hare as the Dutch call it. It is a 
 creature about two feet long, shaped like a kangaroo in body and tail, 
 but with a different head ; it burrows and lives in holes all day, but at 
 night frisks about and grazes. 
 
 We and the Bushmen arranged ourselves in large circles, enclosing 
 fresh patches of ground each time, and then beat up towards the centre. 
 We generally enclosed two or three of these funny creatures, who 
 hopped about in the oddest way, and we rushed in and assassinated them 
 with sticks. The sinews of their powerful tails form excellent materials 
 for sewing carosses. 
 
 I worked hard to fix the longitude of ’Tounobis, which I did more 
 successfully than I could have hoped, as my instrument was a small 
 and not very legible one, and for want of oil, I had to read off the 
 observations by firelight. The Bushmen assured me that the character 
 of the country between that place and the lake was of exactly the same 
 
CHAP, XX.] 
 
 REMARKS ON MY ROUTE. 
 
 173 
 
 description as that around us, a sandy soil with not unfrequent dried-up 
 vleys, and covered with trees, but by no means so thickly as to impede 
 the progress of a waggon. 
 
 In fact if a person wanted to go from Walfisch Bay to the lake, he 
 would have an excellent waggon road after he had left Eikhams 
 (Jonker’s place) one day behind him. He should follow the Quieep 
 River as far as it goes eastwards, and then make a straight course for 
 Kurri-koop, taking the chance of vley water by the road ; from Kurri- 
 koop, through Elephant’s Fountain to ’Twas, all is excellent ; thence 
 he should follow the foot of the ridge and not the top of it, as we had 
 done, sending the oxen to water up the gorges. In the twenty-one 
 hours’ journey to ’Tounobis, three or four large vleys were passed, in 
 which water would lie for many months. From there onwards I should 
 have no fear whatever in the rainy season, even if the Bushmen refused 
 to guide me, because the character of the country is adapted for hold- 
 ing water; but from Damaraland to the Ovampo no person could 
 think of travelling without guides, unless there was a recent track to 
 follow. If he once strayed from the path he would be hopelessly in- 
 volved in the thorn thicket. 
 
 I fancy that the Bushmen spoke truth about the want of water 
 1 ahead, as the droves of animals which had congregated in the neigh- 
 bourhood of ’Tounobis continued drinking every night, the repeated 
 firing being insufficient to drive them away ; it seemed as though they 
 had no other neighbouring watering-place to go to. 
 
 As the Bushmen learnt to understand our Hottentot a little better, 
 we had some long talks about the animals on the river that joins the 
 western end of the lake; that there are many there quite new to the 
 Hottentots is beyond doubt, as several carosses were stolen by the 
 Kubabees and brought back south, and the skins that many of these 
 were made from were quite unknown to them. The Bushmen, without 
 any leading question or previous talk upon the subject, mentioned the 
 unicorn. I cross-questioned them thoroughly, but they persisted in 
 1 describing a one-horned animal, something like a gemsbok in shape 
 and size, whose horn was in the middle of its forehead. The spoor of 
 the animal was, they said, like that of a zebra. The horn was in shape 
 like a gemsbok’s, but shorter. They spoke of the animal as though 
 they knew of it, but were not at all familiar with it. It will indeed be 
 strange if, after all, the creature has a real existence. There are recent 
 travellers in the north of tropical Africa who have heard of it there, and 
 
 13 
 
BUSHMAN SPRINGES. 
 
 *74 
 
 [chap. IX. 
 
 believe in it, and there is surely plenty of room to find something new 
 in the vast belt of terra incognita that lies in this continent. 
 
 Of another fabulous monster, the cockatrice, a most widely spread 
 belief exists. The Ovampo, the Bushmen of this place, and Timboo, 
 all protested that there is such a creature, and that they had often seen 
 it. They described it as a snake, sometimes twelve feet long, and as 
 thick as the arm ; slender for its length, with a brilliantly variegated 
 skin ; it has a comb on the head exactly like a guinea-fowl, but red, 
 / ,d has also wattles ; its cry is very like the noise that fowls make 
 \tfhen roosting— I do not mean crowing, but a subdued chucking; its 
 bite is highly venomous, and it is a tree snake. I heard an instance of 
 ten cows having been bitten one after the other ; they said that some- 
 times people when on their way home at night hear a chucking in the 
 tree, and think that their fowls have strayed, and as they are peering 
 about under the branches to see where they are, the snake darts down 
 upon them and bites them. It appears to be a particularly vicious 
 snake. I have generally heard it called “ hangara.” I never heard of 
 its possessing wings. 
 
 Since my return I have had my attention directed to a recent book, 
 Mr. Gosse’s “Notes of a Naturalist in Jamaica,” in which he mentions 
 the prevalence of the same belief there, and relates several reported 
 facts relative to the creature. In the Penny Cyclopaedia, under the 
 head cockatrice, many old drawings of these snakes are reproduced, 
 and are worth looking at ; they differ much in character from one 
 another, and seem to have been derived from different originals. I can 
 give no clue to the fable of the cockatrice’s eggs. 
 
 The Bushmen of ’Tounobis are far superior to the Damaras in the 
 art of catching animals ; their springe is a very simple one. I admired 
 the simplicity of the method by which the antelopes were induced to 
 leap into the middle of it ; an unpractised hand would have made a 
 fence as though he were laying out a steeple-chase course, but the 
 Bushmen simply bend a twig across the pathway, which does not in 
 the least frighten the animal, but which, in the gaiety of his heart, he 
 overleaps. The pitfalls are neatly made ; there is, however, nothing in 
 them which an English gamekeeper would not contrive as well. 
 
 I must take this opportunity of explaining to the uninitiated how to 
 set a common gun (as a spring gun), to shoot game in the night. The 
 use of such a contrivance is obvious. Hyenas, perhaps, vex and 
 trouble you night after night, and it is a horrid bore to sit up through 
 
CHAP. IX.] 
 
 DESCRIPTION OF PLATE, 
 
 *75 
 
 the cold when sleep is in these tropical climes so peculiarly grateful, 
 simply for the chance of shooting the worthless animal ; it is far 
 simpler to have a gun in his path, and let him pull the trigger himself, 
 to his own destruction. Again, as to lions, they do real mischief ; and, 
 after all, they are not noble animals whose character entitles them to 
 the privilege of a code of honour, but skulking, troublesome creatures, 
 who give infinite annoyance, and will seldom wait to be shot at. In 
 England one thinks differently, but a traveller who has large herds of 
 cattle with him is only too glad to exterminate lions out of the land, 
 and a spring-gun is the best way of doing this. This is my creed, 
 though I personally am guiltless of its use upon the king of beasts. The 
 way of setting a gun is very simple ; everybody has a sort of general 
 conception how an animal when he chests a string shall in some way 
 pull the trigger and be shot ; but without a more definite notion consider- 
 able difficulty would in practice be found in making the necessary ad- 
 justments. The accompanying plate will explain how to do it. A piece 
 of stick is lashed across the narrow part of the stock of the gun in such 
 a way as to have a slight play backwards and forwards ; a string from 
 the lower part of the stick is fastened to the trigger, one from the upper 
 leads through the ramrod tubes (the ramrod being taken out), and 
 passes across the pathway ; it is evident that when an animal pushes 
 the string the gun will go off. A few points have to be observed ; one 
 is, that the string should not be too tight, else as soon as it is touched 
 the trigger will be pulled, and the bullet make only a skin wound in 
 front of the animal’s chest. The other, a very important point, is that 
 the height to which the gun is lashed should be such as to send the 
 bullet through the beast’s heart, or thereabouts. The rule is, that for 
 a hyena the barrel should be as high as a man’s knee from the ground, 
 but for a lion a span (or eight inches) higher. Neither the string nor 
 the stick that is lashed to the stock, and which acts as a lever, should 
 be too strong, lest, if the animal carries all before him in a rush, they 
 should not break, but the gun be torn from its supports and smashed. 
 
 When a lion's death is determined upon by means of a spring-gun, 
 advantage is taken of the first animal that he kills ; this is probably 
 found half eaten, and the lion is sure to return to his prey the ensuing 
 night. Bushes are then put round the carcase, a doorway is made to 
 one side of a couple of posts, against these two posts, the gun is lashed, 
 and the trigger-string passes across the doorway to the opposite side 
 (see plate). 
 
176 
 
 HEAR OF THE FATE OF MY TWO OXEN. [chap. x. 
 
 I have never seen instances of native poison doing much mischief; 
 that of the Damaras is in practice very harmless. I have seen plenty 
 of people who had been wounded by poisoned arrows, and have 
 dressed their wounds, but saw no great harm experienced from them. 
 The poison becomes so hard and dry on the arrows that it will not 
 dissolve. The Bushman poison is far stronger and more complicated , 
 the manufacture of it is kept secret, but many ingredients are put into 
 the composition. Beside vegetable poisons the Bushmen assured me 
 that the poisonous black spider (a kind of Tarantula) is an important 
 ingredient. It seems to be, for its size, the most venomous of creatures. 
 Death is very frequently the consequence of its bite. Amiral’s son, 
 who was with me, had lingered between life and death for a long time 
 after having been bit by one, and his escape was considered as a 
 singular piece of good fortune. I saw one once ; it happened to be 
 among my bedclothes, and was a nasty creature with huge nippers ; 
 though a very quick runner it had comparatively short legs. When 
 I teased it with a little twig it snapped its nippers together and made 
 quite a noise with them. 
 
 Throughout our journey we have had great good luck as regards poison- 
 ous animals, nobody but Timboo having been bitten, and that only by 
 a scorpion, but we suffered pretty severely from hornets’ stings, both at 
 Otjimbingue and elsewhere ; the oil from our tobacco pipes was the 
 panacea in all these cases. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 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 Horseback — Description of the Plate — 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, etc., and Amiral said that he 
 
>77 
 
 chap, x.] PLAN AN ATTACK TO AVENGE THEM. 
 
 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 October.ioth, 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 1 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 oppor- 
 tunely, 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 
 
i7» 
 
 MAKE AN ATTACK ON TWO WERFTS. [chap. x. 
 
 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 
 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 
 vvished-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 wbre 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 werfts 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 
 
chap, x.] HOTTENTOT PASSION FOR ONSLAUGHT. 
 
 •79 
 
 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. How- 
 ever, 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 appli- 
 cation 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, \r 
 
i8o 
 
 RETURN TO EIKHAMS. 
 
 [chap. x. 
 
 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 
 Svveetland. 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 vve reached 
 22nd of October; vve had left ’Tounobis loth of October; the entire 
 distance between the places is fifty-three hours, or one hundred and 
 forty-six 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 Oman- 
 bonde to Ovampoland, and the whole way from Ovampoland 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 fidgety 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. 
 
chap, x.] BEST SORT OF TRAVELUNG COMPASS. 
 
 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 bearing 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. Occulations 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 
 
WATCHES AND ALARUMS. 
 
 [chap. x. 
 
 IS2 
 
 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 7nean 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, etc., etc. 
 
 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 abund- 
 ance. 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 1. 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 
 vve put up eight lions ; they were not close together, but within a space 
 about two hundred 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 shower the landscape looked charming; the sere leaves 
 
chap, x.] A TALE LEARNT FROM TRACKS. 183 
 
 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 bo 
 learnt from spoors ; a few tracks will tell along 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 light 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 ot 
 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 
 
184 
 
 ACCIDENTS WITH GUNS. 
 
 [CHAP. X. 
 
 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 dis- 
 lodged ; 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 horseback, 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 com- 
 plication 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 
 
CHAP. X.] 
 
 SADDLE ARRANGEMENTS. 
 
 185 
 
 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. More- 
 over, 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 opposite) 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 insepar- 
 able 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 as a whip could 
 be raised, and it can be left on the animal's back when the rider dis- 
 mounts. 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, 
 
TRAVELLING DRESS. 
 
 [chap. X, 
 
 i8'6 
 
 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 Barkel, 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 night-cap 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 approxima- 
 
cwap. x.] BRIGHT COLOURS OF SKULKING ANIMALS . 187 
 
 tion to obtaining the best-coloured dress for the purposes of conceal- 
 ment, 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, what- 
 ever 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 dis- 
 appeared, 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 gaudi- 
 ness. No more conspicuous animal can well be conceived, according 
 to common idea, than a zebra ; but on a bright starlight night the breath- 
 ing 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 
 
JOIN HANS' PARTY. 
 
 [ciiak a. 
 
 188 
 
 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 effects 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 paint- 
 ing 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 promi- 
 nent 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 experi- 
 mentalize, 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 1 st 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 morning; we there found Damaras, who 
 to my great relief, assured me that he was alive and well, and I there- 
 fore left the waggon oxen with the men, to have drink and food, and 
 6tarted on first, and walked till I had the pleasure of seeing Hans 
 again, who, after all, had had no accident whatever ; he had everything 
 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, 
 
chap, x.] BEGIN TO BREAK UP THE EXPEDITION. 
 
 1S9 
 
 instead of fighting and knocking their horns together as new acquaint- 
 ances 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 $th . — 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 headquarters 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 Otjimbingue 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 knock- 
 ing 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 Otjimbingue, 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 
 
 14 
 
190 
 
 TRAVEL DOWN THE SWAKOP. 
 
 [chap. X- 
 
 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. 
 
 Noveniber i\th . — 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 
 Annaas on the 27th, at Davieep 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 Davieep 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 calcu- 
 lated 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 Otjimbingufe 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 
 1 33. Jonker had still some to pay, when he received the mules. 
 
 December \th . — 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 
 
I 9 I 
 
 chap, x.] WHALES, SHARKS, AND OSTRICHES. 
 
 faces about eight o’clock, and to my intense delight I saw in the disl lace 
 two vessels at anchor in Walfisch Bay. We arrived there at ten ir. the 
 forenoon, not a bit tired, but highly excited. The vessels were whal :rs ; 
 all the Scheppmansdorf party were on the beach, and seeing and tall ing 
 to so many people seemed quite another world to me, after my 1 )ng 
 and almost solitary ramble. These whalers were the very first vesf els, 
 excepting one, which had touched at the Bay since my arrival irr the 
 country. I now put the store-house into habitable order, and s( ttled 
 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 daytime 
 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 ne_t, 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 habitues 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. [Their skulls were wanted by Prof. Owen.] 
 
 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 harass- 
 ing journey I had made. It was undertaken with servants who, at 
 starting, were anything but qualified for thew- work, who grumbled, held 
 
192 
 
 LEAVE AFRICA. 
 
 [chap. X. 
 
 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 urn 
 known tongue. The country was suffering from all the atrocities ot 
 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 ot 
 the lake district. Of the natural history of Damaraland 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 Ovampoland. 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. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 It now remains to briefly sketch the subsequent history of the chief 
 I dramatis persona who have figured in this narrative, and that of 
 the land where its scene was laid. 
 
 Egotistically to begin with myself, I recur with keen and sustained 
 jj pleasure to the memory of the journey. It filled my thoughts at 
 1 the time with enlarged ideas and new interests, and it has left an 
 enduring mark on all my after life. 
 
 Andersson’s subsequent career became identified with Damara- 
 land and the adjacent countries. It was chequered by good and 
 bad fortunes. He first returned to Eikhams and ’Tounobis, and 
 thence made his way to Lake ’Ngami, where he spent some time, 
 almost alone, in exploring its affluent river from the north. He col- 
 lected cattle in Damaraland and drove them overland to the Cape 
 with commercial success, and thenceforward became a cattle trader 
 and merchant in Damaraland, as well as a widely-known traveller and 
 naturalist. He must not be confounded with either of two subse- 
 quent travellers bearing the same or at least similar names. His 
 first book, “Lake ’Ngami,” was published in 1856 (Hurst & Blackett). 
 Hans Larsen and John Allen, who had accompanied him to Cape 
 Town, were thence attracted to Australia by the then new discovery 
 of gold. They have never since been heard of, to my great regret, 
 though many inquiries in likely quarters were made. 
 
 Andersson returned to Damaraland about the end of 1856 or the 
 beginning of 1857, and Timboo and John Morta were of his party. 
 In this journey, from which extracts will be given further on, he 
 attempted to reach the Cunene, but his passage through Ovampo- 
 
194 
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 land was peremptorily refused, owing to recent occurrences. The 
 Revs. Messrs. Hahn and Rath, the missionaries, and Mr. Green, the 
 hunter, had come into serious conflict with those people, as will be 
 shortly described, and many lives had been lost. He then turned to 
 the north-east and discovered che Okovango River ( see the maj)'). 
 This journey was described in a volume called by that name and 
 published in 1 86 1 . 
 
 During all this time numerous traders and hunters were arriving 
 in Damaraland, pushing their commerce and their travels in all 
 directions. The Namaquas were again in continual hostilities with 
 the Damaras, and the country w r as much disturbed. A mining 
 company with an extensive plant, including oxen and waggons, had 
 been established in Damaraland, but did not succeed. The pro- 
 perty was put up to sale at Cape Town in 1863, and Andersson, who 
 was then residing there, bought it. So he again returned to Damara- 
 land, but this time as the owner of a large commercial undertaking. 
 The Namaquas resisted his settlement and threatened his life. He 
 made common cause with the surrounding Damaras. There was 
 a great fight, in which he commanded them, and in which they w r ere 
 quite beaten; and Andersson received a bullet wound below the knee 
 that shattered the bone. Then followed months of great danger 
 and pain. He was ultimately brought back to the Cape, and the 
 leg at last was healed, though he remained partly crippled. He 
 was also nearly ruined. As a final and desperate venture he deter- 
 mined to make another commercial expedition ; and, though in 
 shattered health, his determined spirit carried him on, and he con- 
 trived to reach Ovampoland and the Cunene. His strength and 
 health now began greatly to fail, and as his sickness increased he 
 turned back, only to die on the way, in 1867, a little to the north-east 
 of Ondonga. Extracts from his journal were edited by Mr. Lloyd 
 and published in 1875, under the title of “Notes of Travel in South 
 Africa.” 
 
 It is impossible in a few pages to unravel the tangled skein of 
 events that ran their several courses during the period of the above 
 transactions. Marauding expeditions, the rise of new chiefs, inter- 
 minable squabbles about disputed land and about personal wrongs, 
 form the general staple of all South African history. It is therefore 
 better to attempt no consecutive narrative, but merely to give a few 
 extracts from various sources that severally afford a pretty clear 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 195 
 
 glimpse from time to time of what was then going on. I will select 
 such as are best adapted to prolong the history of the persons and 
 peoples described in the narrative. 
 
 Extract from “ Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society S 
 (1858). 
 
 Vol. ii . , page 350. — A letter from the Rev. C. Hugo Hahn, dated 
 Barmen, October 7th, 1857, ^ as appeared in the Cape Town Com- 
 mercial Advertiser, describing the disastrous issue of a journey 
 taken by himself and his colleague, the Rev. Mr. Rath, together 
 with Mr. F. Green, from Damaraland to the Ovampo, in search of 
 the river Cunend. A published letter from the latter gentleman has 
 also been received. 
 
 The missionaries pursued the track of Mr. Galton and Mr. 
 Andersson as far as the Omoramba K’Omanbonde, where they left 
 it and followed the river bed. After a few days they unexpectedly 
 met with Mr. F. Green, who also wished to travel to the Cunene, 
 and w'ho informed them that the Omoramba ended abruptly, about 
 forty miles farther on, in a sandy soil. Consequently the two 
 parties joined and proceeded northwards. 
 
 They ultimately fell in w'ith another river-bed running north-west, 
 (I believe the beatings to be magnetic), and they followed it. This 
 brought them unexpectedly to a small lake situated about thirty-two 
 miles east-south-east of the Etosha salt pan. It was well stocked 
 with flamingoes, pelicans, and other water-fowl, and its circumference 
 was judged by Mr. Green to be twenty miles. It is called Onondova, 
 is occupied by Bushmen tributary to the Ovampo, and is the frontier 
 of the pasture-grounds of Ovampoland. Messengers w r ere sent from 
 Onondova to Nangoro, the king of the Ovampo, asking permission 
 to visit him, and a travelling party of Ovampo w'ere afterwards 
 met, whose leader undertook to conduct them to his village, saying 
 that it was his special office to introduce strangers. 
 
 On entering Ondonga, the fertile district of Ovampoland, they 
 were met by one messenger after another, sent to them by Nangoro, 
 and were received cordially and respectfully by the people. The 
 caravan consisted of four w’aggons and one hundred loose oxen, 
 besides those yoked to the waggons, and about thirty Damaras. 
 Just before reaching Nangoro’s house their guide told them that 
 
196 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 the king desired their assistance in an expedition against a small 
 neighbouring tribe with whom he was at war, At this request the 
 missionaries were surprised and disgusted, and refused indignantly. 
 1 he guide took it very quietly, and immediately allowed the subject 
 1 o drop ; but, from that moment, there was an evident change in 
 their mutual relations. Nangoro would not see them for five days, 
 and when he did so he gave them a cold reception and flatly refused 
 to allow them to proceed farther. Mr. Green’s account of their 
 reception in Ovampoland is as follows : — 
 
 “ The guide appearing a frank and honest fellow, we gladly 
 placed ourselves under his directions ; and as he was very com- 
 municative — added to which, a shrewd character — we became rather 
 disposed in his favour. Upon our arrival at the chief’s residence, 
 he appeared to be a complete master of ceremonies ; our messages, 
 together with our presents, were delivered by him, and the custom 
 of lighting our fire from that of the chief’s hearth was strictly 
 attended to and executed with a little skill of witchcraft by him. 
 Our first present w r as returned, with a message that whatever we 
 intended to give his royal highness, besides the beads, must be 
 despatched at the same time. We became exceedingly annoyed 
 at his impertinence, and told him very plainly that it was our custom 
 to send presents in that way, and he must conform to it ; that in 
 sending the present back he did not appear to be on friendly terms 
 with us, and we did not like it ; that if we had anything further 
 to give the chief, we should do so after we had the honour of seeing 
 him, ‘ if his words were good for us; ’ if not we should not give him 
 anything more. I was determined not to allow myself to be imposed 
 upon by this beggarly chief, which was also the same in Mr. Hahn’s 
 case. (Mr. Galton allowed himself and party to be sadly imposed 
 upon by Nangoro, which induced the latter to make a like attempt 
 upon us.) This returning of presents was at length amicably settled, 
 but we had occasion to be exceedingly angry at the non-appearance 
 of the chief; after we had been at his town for three days, we sent 
 a message to inform him that we were not accustomed to wait the 
 pleasure of a chief so long, and that if he did not come the following 
 day we should inspan and ride away — also, that if he considered 
 himself a great chief, then so did we. This message appeared 
 rather to astonish his highness, and we shortly received a reply 
 that we must not imagine that it was done with any evil design, but 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 197 
 
 it was a custom from the day he was born, and that he would come 
 and pay his respects the ensuing day. He kept his promise, and we 
 were not sorry when we were rid of the company of this fat old man.” 
 
 Many incidents occurred while the party was encamped near 
 Nangoro which aroused suspicion and great alarm, the Damaras 
 were exceedingly afraid, and appeared in momentary expectation 
 at all hours of the night and day of being surrounded by the 
 Ovampo and massacred ; but no overt act was committed until the 
 party prepared to leave : — 
 
 “On the morning of the 30th of July we yoked in the oxen at 
 daylight, and made a start just as the sun was making its appear- 
 ance above the horizon. To guard against their opposing our exit 
 from Ondonga, our caravan was arranged as follows : the loose 
 cattle and donkeys were kept in advance, under an escort of all the 
 available Damaras ; after which came the four waggons, that of 
 Mr. Hahn bringing up the rear. As I still retained a horse, I was 
 mounted, and continued with the cattle in advance. We had not 
 ridden many hundred yards when a party of the Ovampo came 
 running from the direction of the chief’s village ; one of the sons 
 of the latter asked both Mr. H. and myself if we were going, to 
 which we replied that we were ; shortly after, the ‘ war cry ’ 
 resounded on all sides. Some made a rush forward for the road 
 to bar our progress.” 
 
 Mr. Hahn went unarmed to one of Nangoro’s sons whom he 
 recognized in the crowd and expostulated with him. This had a 
 slight effect in checking the demonstration, but shortly after there 
 was a cry, and Nangoro’s son had driven his assegai through the 
 back of one of the Damaras ; the poor fellow dropped, but as he 
 fell he fired off both barrels of his gun, killing an elder son of 
 Nangoro and another man, besides wounding his murderer. This 
 was the critical moment. Mr. Green says 
 
 “ I rode forward to meet one man, more daring than the rest, who 
 was stealthily approaching with his javelin quivering in his hand ; I 
 suddenly dismounted, and, whilst he sat thinking to escape the bullet, 
 with a well-directed and steady aim I shot him ; and the words 
 ‘ blood for blood ’ rested on my lips. It was the first fellow-creature 
 I had ever killed. There remained nothing more but to fight for 
 my life, and that of the people I had brought into danger— and I 
 was determined to sell it dearly.” 
 
ig8 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 About noon the Ovampo had desisted, and Mr. Hahn having 
 most fortunately heard, only the night before, that uninhabited plains 
 might be reached at no great distance in a south-west direction, 
 that course was adopted ; and ultimately, after a forced march of 
 three days and two nights making a wide circuit, they reached the 
 Otjihako wa Motenya utterly exhausted. The missionaries appear 
 to have reached Barmen without further disaster, and Mr. Green 
 dates his letter from the shores of Onondova, the new lake. 
 
 A letter of Mr. Ch. J. Andersson has also been received, in which 
 he announces his intention of himself starting for the Cunen6. He 
 adds that he is wretchedly equipped, but that rather than lose the 
 season he will start at once. 
 
 A discussion followed the reading of this paper from which the 
 following is extracted. Mr. Galton said : “ I must express great 
 regret at the tenor of a large part of this account. I quite gather 
 from Mr. Green’s letter that he adopted a domineering tone towards 
 the Ovampo, which I believe to have been eminently injudicious, 
 to have been construed by them as a menace, and to have been 
 resented in the way we have heard. In passing judgment on the 
 conduct of the Ovampo, we must try and place ourselves in their 
 position. Their territory is visited, almost invaded, by a strong 
 party of foreigners, who are judged to be kindred to the Namaqua 
 chiefs from their colour, language, creed, and intermarriages ; and 
 the Namaquas are a race of marauders, who have lifted cattle from 
 the very borders of Ovampoland, and are known to be awaiting 
 a favourable opportunity for invading that country. These foreigners 
 are fully armed and dictatorial in their ways; they refuse to give 
 those presents which are well described as taking the place of 
 customs duties in African nations. They show scant courtesy to 
 the king, and. they very probably trespass in not a few of the many 
 requirements of a witchcraft ceremonial. Why, if such a thing 
 could be imagined as that thirty or forty headstrong Englishmen 
 were to make a sudden descent upon the shores of a continental 
 power, at a time when war seemed to impend, professing peace but 
 armed to the teeth and ready to fight, unfurnished with any kind 
 of credentials, violating quarantine laws, setting all authority at 
 nought, and coming for no conceivable purpose except that of 
 making an armed reconnaissance, I presume they would have been 
 treated by the nearest inhabitants or military guard in a not less 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 199 
 
 hostile manner than this exploring party has been by the Ovampo. 
 As to the treachery of which complaint has been made, I do not see 
 that it is proved, for the expedition was treated with little favour. 
 Or, even if it were proved, that it would make the attack much more 
 difficult to excuse. Treachery is not so black a crime in the morale 
 of African nations as it is in our own ; we must also recollect that 
 it is a last resort of the weak against the strong, such as the Ovampo 
 suspected they might be before the much dreaded guns of their 
 unwelcome visitors. Mr. Green remarks that I was imposed upon 
 by Nangoro in the matter of presents ; but, on reading his list of 
 gifts, I find I do not deserve the credit of having been so liberal as 
 himself, yet I had the good fortune to conciliate where he had not, 
 and I was able to leave, in peace, the happy country of a noble and 
 a kindly negro race, which has now, for the first time, been confronted 
 and humbled before the arrogant strength of the white man.” 
 
 Extract from Andersson’ s posthumous “ Notes of Travel in South 
 
 Africa." (1875.) 
 
 Page 237. — “The loss on Mr. Hahn’s side was only a single native 
 attendant, who was killed near to the missionary’s waggon previous 
 to the commencement of the fight, whereas that of the Ovampo was 
 very considerable, many being either killed or wounded ; and amongst 
 the former one of the sons of Nangoro.. Nangoro himself, moreover, 
 is reported to have met his death on this occasion (a statement at 
 variance with the general impression, as elsewhere stated, that he 
 came to his end by foul means), for although not present at the 
 fight, yet on hearing the repeated discharges of fire-arms he became 
 so excited and terrified that he dropped down dead.” 
 
 Extracts from Andersson' s “ Okavango River." (1861.) 
 
 Page 5. — “I have omitted to mention one interesting fact connected 
 with this expedition (of Messrs. Hahn, Rath and Green), and which, 
 in some measure, redeems the credit of the undertaking. This was 
 the discovery of a fresh-water lake, called Onondova, which the 
 explorers actually stumbled upon ; for though they had people with 
 them perfectly well acquainted with the country, they were not 
 aware of its existence until they actually and accidentally caught 
 sight of the water. This lake, as far as it is possible to judge, 
 
20 ® 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 either from the west or east, — and I have been within a couple of 
 days’ journey of it, — is situated in about lat. 2i°, and long. 19 0 . 
 The travellers did not go round it, they merely saw it at its eastern 
 extremity ; but water appeared as far as the eye could reach all 
 round, and they estimated its circumference at from twenty-five to 
 thirty English miles. Mr. Galton and myself, in the year 1850, 
 actually passed within one day’s march of this superb inland sea 
 without — such is the difficulty of obtaining information from the 
 natives — having the slightest suspicion of its existence. 
 
 Again, p. 113. — “ It was now close upon eight years and a half 
 since I first visited Omanbonde. On my first visit to this place, in 
 company with Mr. Galton, Omanbonde was, as I have already men- 
 tioned, nothing more than a large dried-up vley; and this being again 
 a year of severe drought, — at least to judge from the state of the 
 Omuramba, — I had expected to see it in a similar condition. Most 
 agreeably was I then surprised to find a sheet of water four and a half 
 miles in extent, abounding with water-fowl, and largely resorted to by 
 a great variety of game and wild animals, such as elephants, rhino- 
 ceroses, elands, koodoos, gemsbucks, zebras, pallahs, lions, etc. 
 There were no hippopotami, however, though plenty of ‘sea-room ’ 
 for a dozen or two. Besides this vley, I discovered another in the 
 immediate neighbourhood, almost rivalling Omanbonde in size ; 
 several Bushmen villages besprinkled its borders or banks, which 
 were very high, but sloping, not steep, and richly covered with a 
 luxuriant vegetation, consisting chiefly of very fine groves of acacias, 
 and the giraffe thorn-tree, just bursting forth into spring life. In 
 the background, and to the northward, were the broken and pic- 
 turesque limestone ranges of Otjirokaku, Otjomokojo, etc. Alto- 
 gether the scene, very pleasing, was rendered perhaps more so 
 by the contrast it afforded to the dry and parched state of the 
 country immediately surrounding it. To me it was a real oasis in 
 the desert.” 
 
 Again, p. 139. — ‘‘The Damara caravan, alluded to in the last 
 chapter, returned suddenly and unexpectedly to Omanbonde. To 
 my surprise, I learnt that they had not succeeded in getting further 
 than to the neighbourhood of Etosha. Here they had encountered 
 one of the Ovampo outposts, the occupants of which had per- 
 emptorily forbidden them to proceed further. To remove this un- 
 foreseen hindrance, messages were despatched to the paramount 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 201 
 
 chief of the tribe, Chipanga, the successor of Nangoro. The answer 
 they received was a decided negative. To their repeated entreaties 
 to be allowed to enter Ondonga, he invariably replied — ‘ On no 
 condition whatever.’ 
 
 “ In the interchange of messages that ensued, much was also said 
 about white men. Indeed, ever since Messrs. Green’s and Hahn’s 
 engagement with the Ovambo, Chipanga had lived in constant 
 trepidation. On the mere report of my being at Omanbonde, he 
 fled precipitately to a distant Bushman village, there to hide himself, 
 it was said, till assured of my absence from the neighbourhood. 
 This barbarian not only believed that white men’s guns were in- 
 vincible, but also entertained the notion that, w’ithout any weapons, 
 by merely looking at a person, a white man could cause his death. 
 ‘ If not,’ the brave chief was heard to exclaim, ‘ how was it that 
 Nangoro was killed by the mere report of fire-arms ? ’ 
 
 “ The Ovampo never seemed thoroughly to understand the dread- 
 ful efficacy of these weapons, until their disastrous defeat by Green 
 and his party. It would appear that their previous fearlessness 
 arose in a great measure from merely seeing, when fired, the flash 
 of the discharged gun, and not the missile. 1 When we throw an 
 assegai, or shoot an arrow, we SEE it going through the air,’ said 
 they, ‘ but with your rifles, nothing but a harmless fire is perceived.’ 
 From a supreme contempt of our arms they had now, however, gone 
 to the other extreme, and had a most exaggerated notion of their 
 fearful destructiveness.” 
 
 Exti'acts from Andersson' s posthumous “ Notes of Travel in 
 South Africa . ” (1875.) 
 
 Page 212. — “With the first return of daylight I was in the saddle, 
 eager not only to meet my people once more, but to gaze upon that 
 country which, some sixteen years before, I had visited in company 
 with my esteemed friend Galton, to w'hom the public is so much 
 indebted for his valuable contributions to science. 
 
 “ Ovampoland, or rather Ondonga, as that portion of the country 
 is commonly called, has since then undergone many changes. 
 Bloody civil wars had sw'ept like a hurricane over its quiet rural 
 beauties, immolating or dispersing one-half of its industrial, gay- 
 hearted, and inoffensive population, and leaving but the fame of the 
 
202 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 vast herds of cattle that once gave additional charms and import- 
 ance to the country. The exactions and contributions of foreign 
 auxiliaries called in by one or other of the contending parties, and 
 the insidious and destructive ‘lung sickness,’ left but a small 
 remnant of these, their chief wealth. Old Nangoro, the obese king 
 spoken of by Mr. Galton, who was chieftain on my former sojourn 
 here, had died under very suspicious circumstances, and more than 
 one other ruler of the country had subsequently met with a tragical 
 death. But there had now been peace for some years, and the 
 country itself presented the same beautiful appearance as had 
 enchanted me on our first becoming acquainted with it. The like 
 magnificent trees, both forest and fruit, were observable everywhere, 
 and the landscape, as heretofore, was dotted in all directions with 
 patriarchal-looking hamlets, and further enlivened by groups of 
 men, women, and children, occupied in their several vocations. 
 The cheerful twitterings andwarblings of numerous birds, moreover, 
 added an additional charm to the scene. I have seen many lands 
 and places, some perhaps, strictly speaking, more beautiful ; but 
 amongst the extensive Savannahs, or the interminable forests of 
 South Africa, which so long has been my home, there was but one 
 Ondonga. 
 
 [A few weeks after writing these kindly words, poor Andersson 
 was dead. — F.G.] 
 
 Page 225. — “There are no rivers in Ondonga, only an “omur- 
 amba,” or periodical water-course, containing grass as well as 
 water, which intersects nearly its whole length, and never dries up 
 entirely, even in the hottest summer. From the level nature of the 
 country, however, it hardly drains an area of half-a-mile on either 
 side ; and in extraordinarily wet seasons, therefore, the country is 
 half under water, from which cause, as will naturally be inferred, it 
 becomes extremely unhealthy. But more of this hereafter. 
 
 “ Neither are there minerals in Ondonga, or, in fact, in any part of 
 the extensive country surrounding it that is claimed by the Ovampo. 
 Iron these people obtain by barter from neighbouring tribes ; and 
 copper is brought to them, in the shape of ore, by the Bushmen who 
 inhabit the border country between Ovampo and Damara lands. 
 With gold and silver they are unacquainted, as also with all other 
 known metals except the two just namt d. 
 
 “The climate of Ondonga cannot be looked on as healthy, the 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 203 
 
 natives at all times suffering more or less from ophthalmia, dysentery, 
 and fever ; for none of which diseases have they any specific. In 
 very wet seasons, moreover, when the rains, generally lasting from 
 January to May, have been unusually heavy, and the country as a 
 consequence laid half under water, a kind of intermittent fever (to 
 which foreigners and strangers are equally as liable as the natives) 
 extensively prevails, causing the mortality to be frightful. This 
 disease arises, no doubt, from the excessive amount of evaporation 
 that takes place after the downpourings have ceased. Nevertheless, 
 the country generally cannot with propriety be called either swampy 
 or marshy ; for, as said, the soil is sandy, and neither reeds nor 
 rushes will thrive in it. With the exception of the ‘ Omuramba ’ 
 spoken of, none of the ‘vleys’ hold water throughout the year, and 
 consequently there is no encouragement for the formation of decom- 
 posed matter.” 
 
 Page 215.— “Thus was a journey of very considerable extent, 
 attended by some real dangers and many inconveniences, speedily 
 and safely accomplished ; and by taking a route different from 
 that pursued by Mr. Galton and myself, I was enabled to rectify 
 much of the map that I had constructed of Damaraland, besides 
 adding largely to its details, which map I have since sent to the 
 Royal Geographical Society in London. As regards my researches 
 in natural history, moreover, I was enabled to corroborate much that 
 was previously somewhat doubtful, as also to add no inconsider- 
 able quantity of new matter to my previous store. On the evening 
 of this day, therefore, though still very ill in body, I retired to 
 rest with great satisfaction, and truly grateful to Providence for 
 the many mercies and blessings vouchsafed to me during my recent 
 wanderings. 
 
 “ On the evening of my arrival at Ondonga I received a visit from 
 Chykongo, the paramount chief of Ovampoland. He is perhaps 
 fifty years of age, but appears younger. His figure is commanding, 
 though slightly inclined to corpulency, and his face intelligent ; but 
 if the eyes are closely examined they will be found somewhat sinister 
 in expression, especially if he is at all unpleasantly excited. But, 
 taken altogether, the Ovampo ruler is certainly by far the most 
 chief-like in aspect and bearing of all the native sovereigns between 
 the Orange River and the Cunenfi, with whom I am acquainted. 
 
 “ But Chykongo did not succeed to his present elevated position 
 
204 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 quietly. Immediately on Nangoro’s death, which, as recently 
 observed, I have reason to believe was sudden and unnatural, the 
 sovereign sway was assumed by Chypanza, his elder brother, though 
 I imagine this w T as quite in accordance w r ith the law of succession 
 in the country. There was at the time a strong party who inclined 
 for another chief, at the head of which was Nakonjona (a re- 
 markably intelligent and fine-looking man), but Chypanza, dreading 
 his influence, caused him to be put out of the way. On this, the 
 younger brother of the murdered man, the present chief Chykongo, 
 sent for assistance to Jonker Afrikaner, the famous Namaqua free- 
 booter, who shortly afterwards appeared in Ovampoland with a 
 considerable force. For a while he amused himself by laying heavy 
 contributions of cattle, etc., on the natives, besides slaying very 
 many of them. 
 
 “ After varying fortunes and manosuvrings, it would seem that at 
 last an open fight between the people of Chypanza and those of 
 Chykongo took place, in wdiich the latter were victorious, entirely 
 dispersing their adversaries, many of w r hom fled for protection to 
 neighbouring rulers. Since then Chykongo has governed the 
 country, and wdth the same tyrannical power and freedom as his 
 predecessor, Nangoro, but he seems less reserved with his subjects, 
 who address him much more familiarly.” 
 
 Extracts from. ‘ ‘ Report of C. TV. Palgrave, of his Mission to 
 Damaraland and Great Namaqualand in 1876.” (Cape 
 Town : 1877). 
 
 Page 44 . — “ In round numbers it may be stated that Damaraland 
 has an area of 100,000 square miles. Of these 20,000 maybe struck 
 out as useless or unknown coast, desert, and other barren tracts ; 
 35,000 square miles are taken up for commonage, and of the remain- 
 ing 45,000 square miles, one third should be set aside for the 
 occupation of Berg Damaras and Bushmen, and those Namaquas, 
 who at the present time are recognized inhabitants of the country. 
 
 “ In the 30,000 square miles remaining, all those who know the 
 country agree that farms for at least 400 families might be found, 
 and some of them with sufficient water to be sites for villages. 
 My own observation leads me to the same estimate, although I 
 am by no means certain that permanent waters could be found 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 2C5 
 
 for so many 'places.’ I think, even for stock farms, and few could 
 be made anything else of, one half of them would require t have 
 dams constructed. 
 
 “ Suitable pasture is everywhere abundant for oxen, and although 
 the northern part of the country is considered too richly gra sed for 
 sheep and goats, there are considerable tracts of ' veldt ’ like the 
 karoo, in the Colony, where the Cape sheep is known to thrive ad. 
 mirably, in which it is already contemplated to place the Mer'no. 
 
 “ Western and north-western Damaraland, or the Kaoko, ie 
 however, essentially a cattle-breeding country, and when its waste 
 pastures are utilized, should be able to supply four or five thousan 
 oxen annually to the colonial market. 
 
 “ For many years it was held in the highest estimation by the 
 Damaras, and I am at a ^loss to understand how they came to 
 abandon its healthy, bracing, high lands for the plains they now 
 occupy, and desire to retain for their exclusive use.” 
 
 Page 83. — “ With the mention of the Bastards, I believe I have 
 enumerated all the different tribes and people to be found in 
 Damaraland, and their numbers may be compared in the following 
 list : — 
 
 Herero, or Cattle Damaras . , , , , f ij^co 
 
 Honquain, or Berg Damarrs 30, coo 
 
 Bushmen 3,000 
 
 Namaquas 1,5 >o 
 
 Bastards 1,502 
 
 Europeans and other whites (not including Boers) . 150 
 
 Total . . 121,150 
 
 “ The trade of the country may be said to e confined to ivory, 
 ostrich feathers, and cattle, although but little interest is taken in 
 the latter trade. A few hides and skins re exported, but the 
 -[uantity is too small to require notice. As f r as I have been able 
 to ascertain them, the shipments for the last two years to this Colony 
 from Walwich Bay, have been as follows : In 1875, ivory, 32,ooolbs'. 
 ostrich feathers, 5, 6oolbs. ; 1876, ivory, 34, 5 oolbs. ; ostrich feathers, 
 5,8oolbs., and in each of these years about 3,00., oxen have been 
 despatched overland to markets within the colony. The gross value 
 of each year’s exports maybe estimated roughly at .£45,000, a small 
 
io6 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Amount, when we consider the immense extent of country placed 
 under contribution. 
 
 Those actively engaged in this trade, believe that it is not capable 
 of any material extension, and I am inclined to this opinion; for 
 although a more settled government will afford increased protection, 
 and enable the trader, with less risk, to carry his wares to remoter 
 tribes, this will but balance the falling off of the trade nearer home, 
 caused by the destruction of the animals on the existence of which 
 it mainly depends. But it is not on any increase in the supply of 
 ivory' and ostrich feathers that the future welfare of the country 
 depends so much as on the peaceful occupation of its almost 
 uninhabited parts, by an industrious population content to look to 
 their flocks and herds for a livelihood, and the effect of the example 
 of such a population on the neighbouring natives. 
 
 “ The Damaras will, some day, make most excellent flock masters, 
 for although their position and circumstances have not been favour- 
 able to their earning a reputation for industry, as herders of sheep 
 and cattle they are unrivalled, and I have often been an astonished 
 witness to the great care and trouble taken by them in the rearing 
 of these. 
 
 “ Their long intercourse with white people has developed singu- 
 larly few wants amongst them, so that the export trade of the 
 country is but little affected by the majority. A universal desire to 
 possess fire-arms and ammunition, which once existed, has been st 
 fully gratified, that this trade may be said to have ceased, and the 
 dealers, with large stocks on hand, now look for markets with the 
 Ovambo, and the people about Lake ’Ngami. At page 22 of this 
 report I have already called attention to the extent to which the 
 Damaras are armed, and the enormous number of fire-arms in the 
 country awaiting sale. Two or three years must elapse before 
 purchasers are likely to be found for them all. 
 
 “The demand for clothing increases with each year, and at least 
 one fourth of the Damara males may be said to have adopted 
 civilized dre«s. Of the women only those, as a rule, who are 
 members of the Mission congregations are as far advanced in this 
 respect as the men, but with both sexes the missionaries make the 
 'Option of European clothing a condition of church membership. 
 
 “ Bullock waggons and horses, are freely bartered for cattle, 
 srhiih change hands again for ostrich bothers and ivory. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 207 
 
 “ A few ploughs and a little saddlery, iron cooking pots, iron 
 wire, beads, knives, tinder boxes, coffee and tobacco, complete the 
 list of articles required for the Damaraland trade. 
 
 “Nearly the whole of this trade is done with Cape Town by 
 means, at the present time, of a schooner of about 120 tons, which 
 makes about six voyages in the year, and now and then a vessel 
 employed on the coast calls at Walwich Bay for passengers and 
 cargo for Cape Town. 
 
 Extracts from “ A Journey from Mossamedes to the River 
 Cunene, S. TV. Africa ,” by the Earl of Mayo. ( R . Geo. Proc. 
 1883.) 
 
 Page 458. — “I left Liverpool in s.s. Benguella. Mr. H. H. 
 Johnston was with me, and my servant Paul Kelly. We arrived at 
 S. Paul de Loanda, the capital of Angola, on June 9th, 1882, and 
 found we were too late to catch the Portuguese steamer going south 
 to Mossamedes ; but through the kindness of the Admiralty at 
 home, I was enabled to get a passage in H.M.S. Ra?>ibler, and 
 on June 22nd we dropped anchor in Little Fish Bay, off Mossamedes. 
 Mossamedes is a pretty little town, built of white stone, on the shores 
 of the bay, with an esplanade of palm-trees running along in front 
 of the houses. The country to the east and south is a complete 
 desert. We found that waggons had come down to meet the 
 Portuguese steamer that had arrived here from Lisbon on the 8th, 
 but had again gone up the country ; so here we were, stranded on 
 the coast, with no possible means of reaching, except by walking, 
 the new Boer settlement Humpata,* which I intended to make my 
 fied-a-terre. That very afternoon I despatched letters to Humpata 
 to three people there, entreating them to send down waggons to 
 take us into the interior, with our goods and baggage.” 
 
 Page. 462. — “ The waggons that had brought us from Mossamedes 
 remained at the foot of the mountains. The oxen were driven up 
 to Humpata, and on July 27th appeared again with three other 
 waggons. We reached Humpata from Erickson’s Camp about 
 eleven at night, the disselboom or pole of one of the waggons break- 
 ing en route , delaying us. The cost of bringing our goods from 
 
 * Humpata is about 100 miles as the crow flies, from Mossamedes, 
 inland, and about 140 miles north-west cl Humbe on the Cunene (see map). 
 
2oS 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Mossatnedes to Capangombe, all included, was ^45. No oxen died 
 on this route as they very often do. 
 
 “ Humpata, the new Boer settlement, had been established some 
 eighteen months when I arrived. The Boers, with their wives, 
 children, and cattle, had trecked from Pretoria in the Transvaal, 
 and took seven years’ wandering to reach this place. They were 
 already living in comfortable little thatched cottages, with stone 
 and mud walls, and all were most kind, obliging, and hospitable. 
 Taking them all round, a finer set of men I had rarely seen; with- 
 out doubt, during that terrible seven years’ journey it was a case 
 of the survival of the fittest. The whole account, written by Mr. 
 W. W. Jordan, is given from a Cape journal in my report on 
 Ovampoland, now in this Society’s Library. The little cottages at 
 Humpata are scattered about on rolling downs. To the north 
 mountains rise up, and to the south the ground gradually falls till 
 near Iluilla, which is on the second plateau. The temperature is 
 the same nearly the whole year round, and a healthier place I can- 
 not well imagine. ' Two streams water the many Boer farms lying 
 around, and a cleverly constructed canal with many branches brings 
 water within reach of all the cottages and gardens. 
 
 “ On July 31st, we left Humpata for .the river Cunene. The first 
 thing that happened was that one of the waggons stuck in a muddy 
 irrigation channel just outside Humpata ; we had to dig it out. 
 We reached Huilla the next day. It is a Portuguese military 
 station situated in a fertile valley with a muddy and deep stream 
 running down it ; the position is fixed by Dufour in 15 0 2' 4" south 
 latitude. Thisis the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Mission, and 
 here I had the pleasure of meeting Pere Duparquet, who has given 
 to the world so much information on the river Okavango, and the 
 tribes of Ovampoland. The mission at Huilla is flourishing ; they 
 are building a college for pupils from St. Paul de Loanda, and 
 Huilla is a healthy and pleasant place to reside in.” 
 
 Page 466. — “ Before reaching Humbe we passed a Portuguese 
 settler’s home ; this district is thickly inhabited by Ovampos, who 
 are little different from those living south of the Cunene ; in fact, 
 as Pere Duparquet stated to me, he cannot see any difference 
 betwe&n the tribes near the north bank of the Cunene and those 
 living south in the so-called Ovampoland. I have seen natives from 
 the south : they are the same in dress, language, and manners and 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 209 
 
 customs. These North Ovampos speak a dialect of the Damara 
 language, and cultivate each hereditary farm separately and not 
 in common like the Hahe and Huilla natives ; they will not willingly 
 sell their land ; they possess plenty of cattle and goats, and take 
 care of the natural fruit trees of the country, which, with Indian 
 corn, form their staple food. Indian corn is the food of all races 
 in this part of Africa. Boers, and the poorer Portuguese eat large 
 quantities of it. Bananas and oranges are a cultivated luxury, and 
 the poorer natives seldom get meat, except as hangers-on to a 
 European camp, where they become hewers of wood and drawers 
 of water, and return in a short time to their villages strong and 
 well loaded with the dried meat of antelopes, giraffes, etc., which 
 they have saved up. I found all natives during my journey quite 
 peaceable, very much frightened at the horses, for before the Boers 
 came into the country, some eighteen months ago, they had never 
 seen a horse ; a mounted man makes them run away, but they are 
 now beginning to be accustomed to these animals, especially the 
 villagers living near the waggon track in whicli we were travelling, 
 and which is the one made by the Boers on their journey from the 
 Transvaal to Humpata. This district so thickly inhabited is covered 
 with large baobab trees. 
 
 “ On the night of October 19th, by the light of the full moon, we 
 drove our waggons into Humbe (lixed by Dufour in 16 0 50' south 
 latitude), camping under a large wild fig-tree in a mealie field, not 
 far from the Roman Catholic mission-house. The next day I went 
 to see Fathers Hogan and Lynch, who have charge here ; they were 
 much pleased to get papers and news from England.” 
 
 [Mr. H. H. Johnston tells me that a variety of European comforts 
 were procurable at Humbe, which had been brought there by the 
 traders through Damaraland from Walfisch Bay. Humbe itself 
 was very populous ; it was not a town of adjacent houses, but each 
 house had a separate plot of ground, and a large tract of country was 
 covered by them. He estimated the total population at no less 
 than 80,000. — F. G.] 
 
 ‘‘The Cun6nd is a much smaller river than many would imagine 
 from its appearance on the map, and the reports that have been 
 received of it. A good deal further up the river from where I was, 
 Mr. Jordan informed me that it was navigable, but at the place 
 where I saw it, ar.d at that season, it certainly was not navigable 
 
210 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 for large boats. At its mouth there is a bar, which totally prevents 
 any vessels from entering the river. In fact, a Portuguese naval 
 officer who was employed about five years ago in exploring that 
 part, told me that it was scarcely passable on a plank. Some 
 seventy miles above its mouth there are rapids, I might almost 
 say cataracts, and much further up there are large falls, evidently 
 where the river pierces the continuation of the Serra de Chella. 
 Little is known of the river between Humbe and its mouth. The 
 Boers have visited this part, and say that hippopotami are plentiful, 
 and elephants are found in numbers among the rocks and mountains 
 along its banks. Hunters this year penetrated through the moun- 
 tains to within about thirty miles of the large cataracts, and the 
 horses being unshod, their hoofs were completely worn down, and 
 they had to hunt on foot. For further information as to the mouth 
 of the river, I may refer my readers to a journey of Fernando da 
 Costa Leal in 1854, recorded in Petermann’s ‘ Mittheilungen,’ 
 vol. iv. (1858) p. 412 ; and also the Portuguese Expedition of 1878, 
 reported in the Lisbon ‘ Boletim da Sociedade de Geographia,’ 
 2a Serie, No. I. (1880), p. 1. It is a great pity that the river cannot 
 be entered from its mouth, as it would open up that part of the 
 country to a great extent. 0 
 
 The following are extracts from the discussion that ensued on the 
 conclusion of the foregoing paper : — 
 
 “ Mr. Francis Galton said few persons present could have looked 
 forward to the results of Lord Mayo’s journey with greater interest 
 than himself, because it was his own fate some thirty years ago to 
 be travelling very near to the same district, and in his exploration 
 of Ovampoland and Ondonga he reached a point about five days’ 
 journey from Humbe. There were many points of extreme interest 
 in Lord Mayo’s paper. The first was the confirmation of Sir 
 Roderick Murchison’s well-known theory of Central Africa being 
 a basin bounded by high ramparts, through which the various rivers 
 broke. Lord Mayo found two great chains, one 2,000 feet high, and 
 the other higher. The existence of the ramparts to the north and 
 the south was previously known, and Lord Mayo had supplied the 
 missing link. The two ranges converged further south, and at 
 Walfisch Bay only a single ridge could be noticed, where an ascent 
 of 4,000 feet leads to the higher plateau. Allusion was made in 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 21 1 
 
 another part of the paper to the mist on the lowlands. The 
 peculiarity of this coast was that a deep ocean current which 
 appeared to have come far from the south and to have been 
 chilled by the melting of the polar ice, rose to the surface, and 
 hugged a long stretch of the south-western shore of Africa. The 
 current had long been known to navigators, and its existence was 
 brought very forcibly home to his own knowledge ; because he 
 happened to be one of the Council of the Meteorological Office, and 
 on a recent occasion it fell to his lot to superintend the discussion 
 of a vast number of observations that traced that current distinctly. 
 The cold was so much greater on the coast than inland that when 
 he (Mr. Gallon) returned to Walfisch Bay from the interior, at 
 a time of the year when the sun was vertical at midday, he shivered 
 with cold during the night, and even in the daytime had to be well 
 wrapped up. The water was exceedingly cold for the latitude, and 
 the existence of the mist of which Lord Mayo had spoken showed 
 that the same climate extended to Mossamedes. What became of 
 the polar current afterwards he could not say, but it disappeared 
 by degrees. Wherever that current flowed there was an abundance 
 of fish, and it appeared from the paper that there was a plentiful 
 supply of fish south of Mossamedes. 
 
 “ It was a matter of extreme interest to him to hear of the change 
 that had come over the country since the days when he knew of it 
 by hearsay. Dutch Boers had now found their way to Humpata. 
 They were a marvellous race, with great power of acclimatizing 
 themselves ; for certainly the Dutchmen seemed to live and thrive 
 and multiply in regions where the English race did not thrive so 
 well. Possibly the fineness of the men met with at Humpata was 
 partly due to the same cause that makes the Mormons such a fine- 
 looking race. As a rule the Mormons were recruited from by no 
 means the most stalwart persons in England, but they went through 
 very great difficulties in reaching their destination, the weaker 
 men died out, and the survivors were the strongest representa- 
 tives of (he party. Probably the same sort of thing might account 
 for a stalwart Dutch population being found at Humpata. Another 
 point new to him, was the strong hold the Portuguese seemed to 
 have over the land down to the Cunene, their forts being scattered 
 about the country, while the Catholic Missions were established on 
 the Cun6n6 it st If. He had long looked upon this comparatively 
 
21 Z 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 small part of Africa, as one of the most interesting to explore, and 
 he had no doubt that many facts of still greater interest than those 
 that had already come to light remained to be discovered towards 
 the source of the Cunene. There the land was still higher, large 
 rivers flowed from it in all directions, and there the natives might be 
 expected to possess the superior vigour commonly found among the 
 inhabitants of mountainous districts. He wished to pay a tribute 
 to the well-deserved success of lord Mayo. His journey was not 
 undertaken rashly. Before he went he obtained from the best 
 authorities all the materials he possibly could, and the information 
 so obtained was printed for private circulation in a small book 
 which formed most agreeable reading. Having laid out his plans 
 thoroughly well, he had in the short space of ten months from the 
 time of leaving England to his return, thrown very important light 
 on a most interesting geographical subject. 
 
 “ Sir Bartle Frere said that Lord Mayo’s paper had thrown an 
 interesting light upon some of the important migrations of late 
 years. The Trek Boers were seven years in passing from the 
 Transvaal to the place they now occupied in Portuguese territory, 
 but their travels might be traced still further back. Probably there 
 were very few of the men among them whose fathers or grandfathers 
 were not within living memory inhabitants of the lower part of Cape 
 Colony. Consequent upon the emancipation of the slaves the Boers 
 first of all travelled in a north-easterly direction towards what is now 
 the Orange Free State and the Transvaal, and some of them 
 reached as far as Lake ’Ngami. No doubt there were other gentle- 
 men present besides Mr. Galton who recollected how Dr. Smith and 
 General Frederick Cotton met the principal settlement of the Trek 
 Boers not very far from the present Diamond Fields in Griqualand 
 West. They were then moving northward. Owing partly to their 
 desire to get as far as possible into the free wilderness, and partly 
 to political causes, they turned north and settled in the Transvaal, 
 where they remained for some years, till, being dissatisfied with the 
 Government which they had themselves set up, they determined to 
 seek the fertile country of which they had heard from elephant 
 hunters, beyond Lake ’Ngami. It was some time before they 
 ventured to cross what had been properly called the Great Thirst 
 Land, and Mr. Vanzyl, when he was afterwards at Cape Town, 
 attributed his success to the knowledge he had obtained of the best 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 213 
 
 seasons for crossing the desert. Lord Mayo had mentioned how 
 the great fall of rain immediately changed the whole face of the 
 country, and enabled the Trek Boers to move with their large herds 
 of cattle and their waggons over a country which, for nine months 
 in the year, was utterly impassable. In this way about three hundred 
 successfully reached the neighbourhood of Lake ’Ngami, but many 
 more perished by the way. In some cases almost entire families were 
 lost, but at last about seven hundred, including the three hundred who 
 had first crossed, reached the western borders of the desert, and 
 turned towards Damaraland, and follow'ed nearly the same track as 
 Mr. Galton did about thirty years before. Finding that they were 
 then in the neighbourhood of other Europeans who had come from 
 Walfisch Bay, they moved northward, and about three or four 
 years ago first crossed the Cunene river. There was some little 
 difficulty at first in arranging matters with the Portuguese Govern- 
 ment, but everybody must rejoice to hear that after all these 
 wanderings they had firmly settled down in Portuguese territory. 
 As a people occupying the country, and not as single travellers, 
 they had travelled a distance of between 3,000 and 4,000 miles 
 within the recollection of many now present at the meeting. 
 Movements such as these must in time produce great results in 
 Africa. It must be remembered that temperate Africa did not 
 end at the Tropic, but extended along the highlands far towards 
 Central Africa. It was no doubt the solitary traveller or hunter who 
 first led these families to follow their fortunes northw'ard into the 
 wilderness. No better illustration of the results thus produced 
 could be found than in the fortunes of Mr. Erickson. When he 
 (Sir Bartle Frere) was at the Cape, he was assured, on the authority 
 of Mr. Erickson’s partner, that he who as a young man started as 
 an assistant to Andersson the traveller, had at that time sixty 
 waggons in the field, each waggon with not less than sixteen pairs 
 of oxen, with one or two men of European blood as hunters, leading 
 some ten or twelve native hunters, all engaged in collecting ivory 
 and ostrich feathers, and other products of the wilderness, such as 
 the skins of antelopes, which abounded there. He had good 
 reason to believe that at that time the firm of Erickson had a 
 capital of not less than ^200 000 employed between the Orange 
 river and the Cunene. Looking at these facts, there could be no 
 doubt that there was a great future before the countries of South 
 
214 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Africa, and the Society must feel greatly obliged to those who, as 
 Lord Mayo had done, gave them graphic accounts of the regions 
 they visited.” 
 
 Damaraland has now been taken by the Germans under their 
 protectorate. Many articles have been written on its products and 
 capabilities, but those I have seen are largely made up of materials 
 already before the reader. 
 
INDEX 
 
 Alarum watches, 1S2 
 Alexander, Sir James, 5, 42, 43, 70 
 Allen, John, 50 
 
 Almanack, nautical (old form of), 181 
 Amiral, met with, 158 
 
 his tribe the most civilised, 162 
 
 Andersson, 2, 3 
 
 in charge at Sand Fountain, 21 
 
 from Otjimbingue to Bay, 50 
 
 returns with waggons, 58 
 
 reconnoitres from Schmelen’s 
 
 Hope, 76 
 
 — — remains in Damaraland, 192 
 
 his history after we parted, 193 
 
 Arrows, poisoned, 176 (see Bows) 
 
 Bam, Rev., 11 
 Barmen, reach, 51 
 
 return to, 1 50 
 
 Barter, 8 ( see Presents) 
 
 Benguela, 4, 207 
 Bivouac (see Encampment) 
 
 Boers, 4 
 
 history of the Trek Boers, 212 
 
 settled in Benguela, 20S 
 
 ■ stalwart through selection, 21 1 
 
 Bows, poor skill with, 124 
 
 Bows, musical instrument, 1 1 7 
 Bushmen, 95 (see Namaquas, Hot 
 tentots) 
 
 mimicry, 131 
 
 buried for witchcraft, 72 
 
 — — - consult their wives, 108 
 
 pitfalls, 106, 174 
 
 springes, 174 
 
 ■ bodyguard to Nangoro, 131 
 
 • — — at ’Tounobis, 166 
 
 Cape Town, left, 9 
 route overland to Walfisch Bay, 
 
 14 
 
 Capital, want of, among natives, 162 
 Cattle ( see Oxen) 
 
 Chikorongo-onkompe, “Chik,” no 
 Clicks, in singing hymns, 18 
 
 doubled, 164 
 
 Cockatrice, 174 
 Cold, 145 
 
 at Walfisch Bay, 19 1, 21 1 
 
 Colours of wild beasts, 187 
 Compass, pocket, 180 
 
 azimuth, 181 
 
 Coquette, Gliou Damara, 63 
 Ovampo, 130, 134 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Cornelius, 42 
 
 • massacring Damaras, 43, 70 
 
 Crows at Walfisch Bay, 16 
 Cunene river, reports of, 133 
 now well known, 209 
 
 Dabby bushes, 1 1 
 
 Damaras, general account of, 114-118; 
 see also the following scattered 
 notices 
 
 accounts of, at Cape, 5 
 
 by Mr. Mahn, 41 
 
 • further history, 153 
 
 caravans to Ovampo, 121 
 
 state of, in year 1876, 205 
 
 protected by Germany, 214 
 
 their parent tree, 125 
 
 features, 60 
 
 — — ■ nakedness disgraceful, 84 
 chip their teeth, 90 
 
 • will not eat raw meat, 84 
 
 fancies about meat, etc., 84 
 
 accoutrements, 118 
 
 fond of iron, 57 
 
 huts, 63 
 
 wives, useful informants, 102, 
 
 120 
 
 reticence, 82 
 
 impudence to weak parties, 
 
 101, 149 
 
 are not strong, 113 
 
 sit up late, 67 
 
 do not eat salt, 1 1 1 
 
 kill their sick, 68 
 
 a dance after a murder, 55 
 
 . tenacity of life, 41, 56, 68, 88 
 
 imperfect idea ol number, 81 
 
 no generalising power, 107 
 
 recollection of oxen, 89 
 
 Damaras bad as guides, 107 
 
 language, 50, 54, no 
 
 want comparatives, 81 
 
 cannot pronounce the letter L„ 
 
 1 10 
 
 sheep, 148 
 
 dogs valued highly, 14S 
 
 Davieep, 27, 190 
 
 disaster with lions, 30 
 
 Distemper breaks out, 47 
 
 Hottentot horses. 48 
 
 Dogs from Cape Town, 8, 148, 149,192 
 Dr^ss and colours for stalking, 186 
 Drought this year, 155 
 Ducks, wild, 95 
 Duparquet, Pere, 208 
 
 E AN DAS, 84 
 
 Elephants kill a man, 103 
 
 among us at night, 148 
 
 going to die in same place, 1 59 
 
 pushed into well, 166 
 
 hair necklaces, 167 
 
 Elephant Fountain, 159 
 Emigrant ship, 3 
 Encampments, at first, 26 
 
 routine of making, 66 
 
 signs of water near, 106 
 
 Erickson, 213 
 Erongo, Mt., start for, 59 
 
 reach, 62 
 
 Eshuameno, 90 
 Etosha salt pan, 123 
 Eybrett, 156, 157 
 
 Flamingoes, 13 
 Fog by Walfisch Bay, 23 
 Fowls in Ovampoland, 144 
 Frere, Sir Bartle, 212 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Gabriel, 8, 32, 61 
 Gliou Damup, 1 54 
 
 on Swakop, 26, 30 
 
 on Erongo, 63 
 
 on Koniati, 83 
 
 on the Omoramba, 153 
 
 character, 78 
 
 case of honesty, 74 
 
 Giraffe at 'Tsobis, 33 
 
 by Otjimbingue, 47 
 
 good climbers, 93 
 
 shooting in dusk, 158 
 
 Goats for their hides, 1 19 
 Gum from thorn trees, 51 
 
 as food, 68, 164 
 
 Gun as spring gun, 174 
 
 accident, 183 
 
 to carry, riding, 1S4 
 
 opinion of, Ovampo, 123, 201 
 
 Hahn, Rev., 40 
 
 am guest of, 152 
 
 after history, 195 
 
 Ilans Larsen, first account of, 35 
 see him, 37 
 
 ■ buy his cattle, 46 
 
 in charge of broken waggon, 
 
 147 
 
 detached to Bay, 152 
 
 lion adventure, 162 
 
 join near Eikhams, 1S8 
 
 after history, 193 
 
 Herds of game, 90 
 
 of springboks, 157 
 
 Hides ( see Leather) 
 
 for thongs, 1 13 
 
 as food, 164 
 
 ■ dog, water-skin, 74 
 
 Hippopotami, 98 
 
 Holes dug with stick 48 
 
 in rock, 121 
 
 Horses bought, 7 
 
 escape, 12 _ 
 
 killed by lion, 29 
 
 die of distemper, 47 
 
 use in marauding, 49 
 
 Hottentots (see Bushmen, Namaqua) 
 
 at Walfisch Bay, 10 
 
 colour, 41, 75 
 
 buttocks of women, 54 
 
 disappear in half-castes, 75 
 
 republicanism, 71 
 
 orderly discussion, 75 
 
 marauding, 160 
 
 Huts, of Damaras, 63 
 
 Ghou Damup, 63 
 
 Ovampo, 132, 135 
 
 Hyenas and sleeping persons, 54 
 
 hunts, 77, 149 
 
 bait for, with old woman, 54 
 
 Ice, 149 
 
 Interpreters, 13, 73, 74, 157 
 conversing by, 73 
 
 Johnstone, H. H., 207 
 Jonker Africaner, 7, 43, 71. 76 
 
 attacks Schmelen’s Hope, 37, 
 
 40 
 
 written to, 45 
 
 answers, 51 
 
 visited, 70, 155, 189 
 
 further history, 204 
 
 Kahikene, 40, 85, 86 
 
 death of, 114 
 
 Kaoko, 152 
 Katjimasha, 69 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Karrikarri, 4, 159 
 
 Knives, butchers’, 166 
 Kolbe, Rev., 40 
 Kraal, to make, 66 
 Kuisip, R., 10, 26 
 
 Language, Damara, 50, 54, no, 117 
 
 Dutch, 63, 156, 157 
 
 Ghou Damup, 30, 63, 1 54 
 
 - — — Hottentot, 18, 164 
 
 Ovampo, 1 10 
 
 Laws, making, 75 
 Leather (see Hides) 
 
 instead of rope, 59 
 
 different sorts, 59 
 
 tanned, is best, 1 14 
 
 dressed, is soppy, 94 
 
 Life, tenacity of, 41, 56, 68, 88 
 Lightning, death by, 53 
 Lima, J. J. Lopez de, 140 
 Lions, to imitate, tracks, 16 
 
 at Scheppmansdorf, 18 
 
 smell not dreaded by horse, 21 
 
 kill horse and mule, 28 
 
 at Otjimbingue, 46 
 
 providers of meat, 49, 64 
 
 mistaken for a koodoo, 99 
 
 cry when baulked, 1 19 
 
 Hans when on ox, 162 
 
 deaths caused by, 163 
 
 • — — and rhinoceros, 170 
 
 ■ shot by spring guns, 175 
 
 eight, and again fourteen, in 
 
 one pack, 1S2 
 Locks respected, 22 
 
 Mapping, first attempt, 22 
 
 ■ routine of, 18 1 
 
 Mayo, the Earl of, 207 
 
 Meals, often no breakfast, 39 
 
 number given by each ol 
 
 various animals, 80 
 Messages to authenticate, 57 
 Milk, superstitions about, 84 
 Mirage at Walfisch Bay, 10 
 Missionaries (see Bam, Hahn, 
 Kolbe, Rath) 
 
 — — often thought spies, 44 
 Mist by Walfisch Bay, 23 
 Mormons, a selected stock, 21 1 
 Morta, J., 8 
 
 is put in charge, 32 
 
 Mules bought, 7 
 
 breaking in, 49 
 
 killed by lions, 28, 153 
 
 run quite away, 76, 153 
 
 Nam aquas, 42 (see Bushmen) 
 Nangoro, report of, 97 
 
 visits us, 129 
 
 is crowned, 134 
 
 his ball, 131 
 
 - — -- after history, 199, 201 
 
 his successors, 204 
 
 Nara, the, 11, 14 
 Natives (see Party) 
 
 fed irregularly, 101 
 
 versus Europeans, 105 
 
 Nautical almanack (old form), 1S1 
 ’Ngami, Lake, 156, 165, 193 
 Nose stick for oxen, 23 
 Numbers, Damara idea of, 8 1 
 Ovampo, 1 12 
 
 Observations of stars, 161 
 
 preparing for, 181 
 
 Oerlam, 41, 70 
 Okamabuti, 103 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Omakuru's grave, 123 
 Omanbonde, 52, 82 
 reached, 97 
 
 subsequent accounts of, 200 
 
 Omaruru, 152 
 Omatako, Mt., cones of, 83 
 Omuvereoom, Mt., 92 
 Ondonga ( see Ovampo) 
 
 Onondova, 195, 199 
 Oosop, 25, 190 
 Opera glass, merits of, 169 
 Ostrich eggs, 35 
 
 young, hunted, 191 
 
 Oswell, Mr., 45, 122 
 Otchikongo, 107, 121 
 Otchikoto, 122 
 Otjimbingue, 36 
 Ovaherero, 114 ( see Damaras) 
 Ovampo, accounts of 52 
 
 first seen, 108 
 
 • features like Ghou Damup, 109 
 
 is a general term, 141 
 
 encampment, no 
 
 huts, 132 
 
 accoutrements, 109 
 
 corn country (Ondonga), 125 
 
 — — - density of population, 127 
 
 land tenure, 126 
 
 language, no 
 
 trade with Damaras, 105 
 
 relations with Damaras, 142 
 
 quictcness in counting, 112 
 
 kindness to the old, 127 
 
 are not sold as slaves, 139 
 
 do not swim, 122 
 
 ■ wonder at our whiteness, 133 
 
 girls, 130 
 
 blacksmiths, tooth drawing, 
 
 surgery ophthalmia, 136 
 
 Ovampo weapons, etc., 137 
 
 ■ fear witchcraft, 138 
 
 opinions on guns, 123, 201 
 
 doubts about writing, 124 
 
 fowls, 144, 192 
 
 interest in ride oxen, 127 
 
 to be reached from Eenguela, 
 
 140 
 
 I fail to do so, 141 
 
 subsequent history, 195, 201 
 
 not healthy country, 203 
 
 Lord Mayo’s journey, 208 
 
 Oxen for riding, 12 
 
 my ride-ox Ceylon, 21 
 
 breaking in, 23, 46 
 
 merits, 32, 69, 72 
 
 pack oxen, 113, 143 
 
 waggon oxen, 46 
 
 front oxen, 87 
 
 slaughter oxen, 79, 80, 91 
 
 sulkiness, 39, 93 
 
 • — — gregariousness, 66, 139 
 
 wildness, 65, 80 
 
 watering, 66 
 
 stock of, 76, 80, 147, 189 
 
 chief object of Damara thought, 
 
 89 
 
 recollecting each other, 188 
 
 robbed, 87, 178 
 
 Palgrave, C. W., his report, 240 
 Palms first seen, 100 
 
 in Ondonga, 126 
 
 Party, my travelling, 8, 73, 70, 
 1 57 
 
 one bad character, 72 
 
 very efficient at last, 137 
 
 Pelicans, 13 
 Pereira, Signore, 4 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Pitfalls, 106, 159 
 Poison for arrows, 176 
 water, 190 
 
 Portuguese by Cunene, 208, 21 1 
 Presents for barter, 8, n, 13, 130 
 Prison in Cape Town, like a club, 
 32 
 
 Raids, excitement of, 179 
 Rains, in Oct., 51 ; in Dec., 183 
 Rate of travel, 150, 180 
 Rath, Rev., 36, 50 
 
 after history, 195 
 
 Rehoboth, 71 
 Rhinoceros, 165, 17 1 
 
 calf as food, 169 
 
 Ropes and thongs, 59 
 Ruxton, Mr., 42, 139 
 
 Sand Fountain, 11, 15, 21 
 Sandwich Bay, 10 
 Sands along coast, 9 
 
 dunes, 18 
 
 Salt not eaten, ill 
 
 springs, 1 12 
 
 pan (Etosha), 123 
 
 Savages versus Europeans, 105 
 Scales, 142 
 
 Scheppmansdorf, 16, 18 
 Schmelen’s Hope, 68, 78, 150 
 
 massacre at, 37 
 
 Sheep, 148 
 Shoes, 186 
 
 Shooting from screens, 1 68 
 Slavery and servitude, 142 
 Snakes, 92, 174 
 Soap making, 94 
 Socks, 186 
 
 Spots and Stripes, 187 
 
 Springes, 174 
 Spring-gun, 174 
 Stevvartson, 1 1, 15 
 
 lion hunting, 19, 20 
 
 guides us, 23 
 
 returns, 50 
 
 Swakop, lions in, 17 
 
 reached, 25 
 
 its importance, 26 
 
 Swartboy, 70, 72, 76 
 
 Tenacity of life, 41, 56, 68, 88 
 Thief captured, 88 
 Thirst, 73 
 
 Thongs ( see Hides) 
 
 Thorns, xiii, 51 
 
 checking oxen, 93 
 
 Timber, 21 
 
 to season, 22 
 
 rarity of good, 1 14 
 
 Timboo, 8, 32 
 Tinkhas, Mt., 27 
 Tobacco as barter, 11, 81 
 'Tounobis, news of, 159 
 
 reach, 166 
 
 Tracks, 146, 183 
 Travel, rate of, 180 
 
 routine of, 83, 1C0 
 
 Tree, parent, 125 
 Triangulations, 160 
 ’Tsobis, R., 31 
 
 water poisoned, 190 
 
 ’Twas, 161 
 
 Unicorn, 173 
 
 Waggons, 7 
 
 accidents, 21, 104, 152 
 
 dislike to, 64 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Waggons sold, 189 
 Walfisch Bay, 6, 9 
 
 fish, 13, 21 1 
 
 mirage, 10 
 
 mist, 22 
 
 return to, 191 
 
 whales at, 191 
 
 cold, 191, 211 
 
 Wate", signs of, 106 
 carrying, 74, 91 
 
 Whales, 9, 191 
 
 Wild beasts, watching for, 17 1 
 
 deaths through, 162 
 
 Women informants, 102 
 
 songs, 123 
 
 Wood (see Timber) 
 
 Zebras, a herd, 62 
 
 their call, 1 19 
 
 i invisible at night, 187 
 

 
 - 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
VACATION TOURS. 
 
 SELECTED FROM “ VACATION TOURISTS," 186012. 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 FRANCIS GALTON. 
 
 I. A Visit to North Spain at the Time of the Eclipse of i860. 
 By Francis Galton, F. R.S. 
 
 II. Nablcos and the Samaritans. 
 
 By Sir George Grove, D.C.L. 
 
 III. Naples and Garibaldi. 
 
 By ti-ie late W. G. Clark, M.A., sometime Vice-Master of 
 Trinity College, Cambridge, and Public Orator of 
 the University. 
 
 [Reprinted by kind peimission of Messrs. Macmillan & Co., and of the r.u'.hu s 
 or their representatives.] 
 
I. 
 
 A VISIT TO NORTH SPAIN AT THE TIME OF THE 
 
 ECLIPSE OF 1S60. 
 
 By Francis Galton, F.R.S. 
 
 DIRECTION was given to my summer rambles by the desire of 
 
 H witnessing the solar eclipse oflast June, and by the fact that the 
 path of its totality, where nearest to England, lay across a country 
 which I ardently longed to visit. The result was that I applied for 
 permission, and obtained it, to form one of the party of astronomers 
 who, under the leadership of the Astronomer-Royal, were taken by 
 H.M.S. Himalaya to Spain. 
 
 The Himalaya is truly a noble vessel, and we were right imperially 
 treated. Those whose experience has been drawn from coasting 
 passenger-steamers, in English or Mediterranean waters, would hardly 
 credit that anything floated comparable in spaciousness and luxury to 
 this magnificent ship. And she is as fast and as easy excepting a 
 tendency to roll, as she is spacious and comfortable ; for we steamed 
 out of Plymouth Sound on a Saturday forenoon, so steadily, that I 
 hardly knew we were moving; and on the Sunday night we were going 
 at half-power, because we were too near the Spanish coast whose bold 
 outlines lay in full view on the early Monday morning. 
 
 It was therefore with one of those feelings of contrast so often 
 enjoyed by travellers, that I, with my eyes still toned to that dim 
 English daylight in which we had just bade farewell to our shores, 
 found myself paddling up the Bilbao river in a small shore-going craft, 
 under a full Hood of southern sunshine, by the side of suburbs and 
 quays crowded with people — where every incident, shape, colour and 
 sound, assured me that I was in a new country, and amidst a civiliza- 
 tion that was neither English, French nor Italian, nor resembling 
 that of any other country I knew, but something wholly peculiar. 
 
2 I S 
 
 A VISIT TO NORTH SPAIN AT TIIE 
 
 At Bilbao, the plans of that section of the Himalaya party, which 
 had there been landed, were discussed and arranged. Different groups 
 of two, or three, or four persons, undertook to occupy different stations 
 with the purpose of scattering the observing power of our party as 
 widely as possible over the path of totality. I joined myself to two 
 friends — Mr. Atwood and Mr. Charles Gray — and we accepted one of 
 the more distant positions, near Logrono. My friends were prepared 
 to observe the “ Red Protuberances,” and I for my part had hoped to 
 make some experiments on the heat radiated by the Corona, though, 
 afterwards, an accident to my instrument compelled me to alter my 
 plans. 
 
 The thoughtful arrangements for our comfort on landing, and the 
 energy with which Mr. Vignolles fulfilled the self-imposed duty of 
 host and guardian to our large party, were such as made us feel an 
 almost painful debt of gratitude. I and my friends were billeted as 
 guests in a capital house, belonging to a Spanish merchant, who tended 
 us like infants. Even a packet of tea, provided by Mr. Vignolles, was 
 in readiness for our use. Our luggage was looked after, our money 
 was changed, our plans were settled, introductions to the authorities at 
 Logrono were given to us, and every difficulty was smoothed away as 
 soon as it was discovered. Not less do we owe to the leadership of 
 the Astronomer-Royal, and to the trouble he took in originally organiz- 
 ing the expedition. It is a matter of congratulation that he has 
 undertaken the part of historian to the eclipse, and that we shall soon 
 learn the whole value of the results that have accrued from it, by 
 means of a comparative analysis of the numerous observations that 
 were made upon each separate phenomenon of that strange and magni- 
 ficent meteor. 
 
 For my part, I do not profess to do more in this place than to give 
 a brief account of two or three appearances which made considerable 
 impression on me at the time, and which do not seem to have been so 
 fully, if at all, observed by others, either in the present eclipse, or in 
 previous ones, and which I am glad of an opportunity of putting upon 
 record. To these I will recur. At present, I will endeavour to describe 
 a few of my general recollections of that rapidly improving part of 
 Spain which I had the opportunity of seeing. I think I may be excused 
 for doing so, although my stay was a very short one, because I have 
 not found any book that gives a recent, and at the same time what 
 appears to me to be a fair account of this portion of the Basque 
 
TIME OF THE ECLIPSE OF O6o. 
 
 219 
 
 provinces. They are usually described as different from Spain only in 
 being less Spanish, and by having a strong infusion of the Basque 
 mountaineer element ; yet I found it, as the Germans would say, 
 thoroughly “ selbst-standig,” and with none of the airs of an outlying 
 province of a larger and vivifying central kingdom. Bilbao is becoming 
 exceedingly wealthy ; the provinces to which it and Santander are the 
 outlets, are being cut into by railways. There is every sign of abundant 
 local activity ; no beggary or apparent poverty, or listless indolence : 
 added to all this, there is a remarkable picturesqueness in its social 
 life. In short, this portion of the Basque provinces did not appear to 
 me as I had been led to expect. 
 
 Almost the first thing that arrested my attention on Spanish land 
 was the chiaro-oscuro tint of everything I saw. It was especially 
 remarkable in the soil and in the buildings. There was an abundance 
 of bright colour, but it seemed to have none of that garish effect which 
 is so remarkable under a French sky. The exquisite mellowness and 
 depths of shading surpassed anything I had previously seen, and 
 explained at once the possibility and the truthfulness of Murillo’s 
 treatment. It also showed me that the universal black dresses of the 
 upper class of either sex were in no way incongruous or dismal when 
 seen through a Spanish atmosphere, and with Spanish surroundings. 
 The eye soon becomes used to a new influence, and while I always 
 recognised its effect, I afterwards tried in vain to recall the vividness 
 of that first impression of novelty. However the converse effect struck 
 me forcibly when I left Spain for France, and found myself at Bordeaux. 
 There is a well-known and strongly contrasting influence of this nature 
 not unfrequently to be seen when crossing the hills above Villafranca, 
 which separate Mentone from Nice ; the east side of this very natural 
 though not the actual, frontier between two great kingdoms being 
 thenceforth wholly Italian in its colours and its aspect, and the west 
 side as French as it is possible to conceive. 
 
 It is evidently the lowermost stratum of air that has the greater 
 power in giving a mellowness of light, or an apparent depth of blue- 
 ness, to the sky. One sees this unmistakably in those Italian valleys 
 that lie south of the Alps, where a blue, low-lying haze, which a little 
 hill-climbing surmounts, floods the strath and mellows the view. So, 
 again, a man standing at Chamouni and looking south over Mont 
 Blanc, proclaims that the sky is decidedly Swiss, that it is hard and 
 pale blue ; while another man who is stationed on the opposite side of 
 
220 
 
 A VISIT 70 NORTH SPAIN AT TIIE 
 
 the mountain at Cormayeur, and looks north, asserts that the sky is 
 soft, and deep blue, and eminently Italian; yet in each case, whatever 
 sky the observer sees above the mountain’s crest, is on the opposite 
 side of it. The Swiss man sees an Italian firmament and the Italian 
 man a Swiss one. Hence it is manifest that the characters of these 
 aerial tints do not reside in the stratum that lies above the level of high 
 mountains. The peculiarity of the Chamouni, or Cormayeur sky is 
 caused by the quality of the atmosphere that dwells in the Chamouni 
 or Cormayeur valleys, and in no way by that which spreads aloft in the 
 higher regions. 
 
 It was a great delight to me to find that the Spanish ways of life 
 appeared thoroughly characteristic, and wholly uncopied from other 
 nations of modern Europe. There is a common cant phrase used 
 sometimes in respect to France, and sometimes to England, of “ ad- 
 vancing in the van of European civilization.” Yet, however flattering 
 to our vanities, it would be a matter of deep regret if European 
 civilization should ever become so far one and indivisible, that nations, 
 whose instincts and geographical conditions of life are different, should 
 make it a point of fashion or of education to live on the same model. 
 One longs to see a freer development than exists at present, of the 
 immense variety of aptitudes and peculiarities that are found in the 
 human race, and are fostered by different geographical circumstances. 
 Let us, at least hope that a united Italy may develop a vigorous and 
 high-class, but an autogenous form of social life. If she did so, it 
 would be as welcome to the majority of educated Europe, as a new 
 face and a new mind to a small provincial society. Yet an exception 
 to this latter statement must be made on behalf of the French to whom 
 any hope of the kind would be wholly unintelligible. They are 
 strangely unconscious of their own monotony, and seem honestly 
 convinced of the doctrine they subscribe — that all which is not 
 Frenchified is pagan, that there is but one path of perfection, and that 
 the panacea for afflicted aliens is French influence and the Code 
 Napoleon. 
 
 With feelings very different from theirs, it was an inexpressible 
 pleasure to me to witness a busy, thriving nationality utterly distinct, 
 as I have already said, from any I had seen before, and, moreover, of 
 a character which strangely fitted into my peculiar tastes. Every 
 wheel of life in these northern parts of Spain, so far as a stranger can 
 judge by what goes on in the streets before his eyes, appears to move 
 
TIME OF THE ECLIPSE OF i860. 
 
 231 
 
 freely, while the whole forms a machine absolutely different from any 
 other in Europe. Nothing in common use seemed borrowed from 
 other countries. The dresses of the men, women, priests, porters, 
 and muleteers, were peculiar and not ineffective. The cattle were 
 mules and oxen, and did their work excellently — better, I dare sa). 
 under a driver of Spanish temperament than a horse would. The 
 animals and the men are notoriously well matched ; indeed, the skill 
 of the muleteers, the mastery they showed over their art, and the 
 ingenuity and novelty of their harness and pack-saddle appliances, 
 were an endless astonishment to me. The street architecture was 
 peculiar and exceedingly imposing, with its large, square, well-glazed 
 balconies, and numerous awnings. Every act of the people was 
 original — their gait, their implements, their way of setting to work. I 
 looked into many shops — such as tinkers’, blacksmiths’, potters’, and 
 so forth — and came to the conclusion, speaking very broadly, that if 
 any of their patterns were introduced into England, or that if any of 
 ours were made to replace theirs, the change would involve decided 
 incongruity, and lead to questionable improvement. Another subject 
 which struck me at once, and with which, up to the last moment of 
 my stay in Spain, I became no less charmed, was the graceful, supple, 
 and decorous movement of every Spanish woman. It was as constant 
 a pleasure to me to watch their walk, their dress, and their manner as 
 it is a constant jar to all my notions of beauty to see the vulgar gait, 
 ugly outlines, mean faces, bad millinery, and ill-assorted colours of 
 the vast majority of the female population that one passes in an 
 English thoroughfare. The hideous bonnet is still wholly absent in 
 these parts, and, in place of it, every Spanish woman of every class, 
 has her dense black uncovered hair divided with a straight, clean, 
 white parting down to the forehead, and beautifully smoothed on 
 either side. 
 
 Taking it all in all, I felt myself as one dropped in a thoroughly 
 new land, with an infinity to learn and observe. Yet I did not feel 
 any strangeness in its ways, but imagined I could accommodate myself 
 with ease and pleasure to the every-day matters of Spanish life, so 
 far as I could judge from what lay on the surface. The marked 
 orientalism of the place captivated me. I enjoy oriental life even 
 under the drawback of knowing that the natives are ready to spit at 
 me as an unclean dog of a Christian ; how much more then should I 
 be at case where I was only liable to be cursed as a Protestant heretic, 
 
222 
 
 A VISIT TO NORTH SPAIN AT THE 
 
 The nurses sing oriental airs to the children ; the colours of the 
 peasantry are Moorish in hue, pattern, and harmony, yet Spain is no 
 mere Moslem country in its appearance. Among many others, there 
 are two notable points of difference in its favour — the one that unveiled 
 women form more than half of the population in the streets ; and the 
 other a consequence of non-seclusion of the sex, that the houses are 
 enlivened, as I have already observed, by their large projecting windows 
 and numerous balconies. 
 
 We were treated with marked courteousness wherever we were 
 recognized ; but another minor welcome delighted me the most by its 
 evident sincerity. It was this ; I have always noticed that a stranger 
 is soonest discovered and objected to by children and by dogs. Now 
 it was a fact, which I do not recollect to have experienced elsewhere, 
 that although I was dressed like an Englishman — for instance, I usually 
 wore a light-coloured shooting-coat, while all the Spaniard upper 
 classes wear black, and the lower ones national costumes — yet, when- 
 ever I explored side streets and came unexpectedly upon groups of 
 children or scattered curs, they one and all treated me as a fellow- 
 countryman, and hardly ever raised a cry of terror or a bark of 
 antipathy. I fairly fell in love with Spain at first sight, and have 
 continued constant in my admiration ever since. 
 
 Let me devote a paragraph to the Public Promenade. I had never 
 realized that truly Spanish institution until I saw it. A large half- 
 deserted square, or suburban garden fills towards night with a well- 
 dressed swarming crowd, that hums with low conversation. All the 
 spare population of the town takes part in it. They walk in ranks 
 of three or four, the two sexes never intermingled in the same group, 
 and they pace rank behind rank, on a broad gravelled path, under the 
 warm starry sky, between low trees. The promenade leads down 
 the walk, round at the end, and back again. The ascending and 
 descending stream almost touch each other, that everybody may have 
 one good view of everybody else in each round. Conversation seems 
 to be carried on merrily, but in a well-bred gentle tone of voice. All 
 ranks except the lowest take part in it, and all have the air of ladies 
 and gentlemen. It is a very pleasing exhibition to a stranger, the 
 more so, as there is no gendarmerie or beadledom. These great 
 crowds seem to keep order for themselves ; there is no appearance of 
 military or police. 
 
 I saw few beautiful faces in the north of Spain, but I rarely saw 
 
TIME OF THE ECLIPSE OF i860. 
 
 223 
 
 a mean one. The men were all moulded in a high order of a high 
 type, especially the peasantry. It was an absolute grief to me, when 
 I left Spain, by way of that fashionable watering-place, St. Sebastian, 
 to see the inferiority of physique, manner, and address, of the upper 
 classes of Madrid society, who congregate there, to those of the Basque 
 peasantry I had so lately travelled amongst. How remarkable is this 
 in many oriental and semi-oriental countries 1 With us, the higher 
 classes, speaking generally, have the higher make of body and mind, 
 and by far the nobler social tone ; they form a true aristocracy in 
 our land, to whom Scriptural depreciations of the Syrian wealthy 
 in respect to the Syrian humble are singularly inapplicable. 
 
 I have no fault to find w’ith the inns in the only three towns where 
 I stayed — Bilbao, Vittoria and Logrono. (I do not reckon St. Sebastian 
 i as a genuine north Spanish town.) The lodging and cooking were 
 
 I not only equal, but considerably superior to that in the large towns of 
 France, not on any regular line of tourist traffic — superior, for instance, 
 to that in Nantes. There was no disagreeable quantity of garlic, 
 or of anything that was unusual in the food ; and much of the common 
 wine was exceedingly good. Some of the eatables, for instance, 
 the sugary biscuits like hardened froth, or fine pumice stone, but 
 white and soluble, which all the world consumes, dipping them into 
 chocolate or water — are excellent. The chocolate is really good . 
 far better — I wonder why— than I can get elsewhere. As for the solid 
 articles, I don’t care to enter into details ; suffice it, that I found 
 them toothsome and digestible, which English inn dinners are not. 
 If the inns were dirty, yet the bed linen was clean, and the towns, 
 from end to end, were remarkably free from dirt and bad smells; 
 It is not doing justice to these parts of Spain to talk of them as being 
 extraordinarily backward ; as for mendicancy, it does not seem to 
 exist. I had with me a recently published nnmber of the “Journal 
 .of the Statistical Society,” — that for June i860 — in which is an 
 exceedingly interesting account of the recent progress of Spain. The 
 , conclusion of the writer is, that her exports and imports had doubled 
 between 1850 and 1856, and were steadily increasing (the last published 
 census being of 1857), and that whatever tests may be applied to the 
 stated fact of her rapid advancement, the result is uniformly favourable. 
 I would strongly recommend all who care to learn the actual state 
 of modern Spain, to study this paper. 
 
 The road from Bilbao to Vittoria is full of interest. Besides the 
 
224 
 
 A VISIT TO NORTH SPAIN AT TIIE 
 
 history of the great Peninsula struggle, which gives some memorial 
 to nearly every village, brook, and road, there is abundant intrinsic 
 charm of landscape, and wayside incident. One interesting pheno- 
 menon of physical geography, on which, by the way, our eclipse 
 prospects were intimately dependent, was a subject of continual 
 inquiry and remark. It was the rapid change from a humid sea- 
 coast climate at Bilbao on the north face of the Pyrenees, to an arid 
 soil and a clear blue sky on the south of them. It is the old story. 
 The cold mountains condense a large part of the moisture in the 
 Atlantic winds ; therefore, whatever air has passed over the mountain- 
 tops is comparatively dry and cloudless. The valley of the Ebro 
 is literally parched and would be utterly barren if it were not for 
 an elaborate system of field irrigation — elaborate, I mean, in its extent 
 and comprehensiveness, but simple enough in its details. 
 
 We had naturally sought information with eagerness, from the 
 moment of our landing, about the relative sunniness of different places 
 on the calculated path of total eclipse — it was an all-important question 
 to us — and I heard that, as a rule, travellers to the interior left Bilbao 
 under an overcast sky, that they ascended the mountains in fog and 
 rain, that the clouds broke long before reaching Vittoria, and that 
 from Logrono onwards the sky was cloudless. I do not know that 
 anybody has examined into the proportionate effect of this nature 
 produced by mountains, with reference not only to their height, but 
 to other geographical conditions. There seems to be considerable 
 variation that is difficult to account for ; for instance, not to travel 
 further than our own country, the west wind is far wetter than the 
 east wind, but the district at the eastern foot of many of the Westmore- 
 land hills is little, if at all, drier than that on their western, notwith 
 standing the enormous quantity of rain that falls upon the latter. I 
 believe the average distribution of cloud and blue sky, as distinct 
 from rain and drought, to be far less uniform over any given district 
 than is commonly supposed. In a country like England, a difference 
 of a few miles makes a considerable alteration in the average character 
 of the sky. Clouds collect over clay soils, and are dispersed over 
 chalk. In fact, I endeavoured once,* but failed from an absence of 
 anything like a sufficient number of recorded facts, to compile, for 
 my amusement, a sun and cloud chart of England, the intensity of 
 shading to represent the average amount of cloudiness. I, however, 
 * Mem : This was written in i860. 
 
TIME OF THE ECLIPSE OF i860. 
 
 225 
 
 collected enough matter to make me believe that there was, as I 
 have stated, great inequality in this element of climate. Thus with 
 all the faults of a London atmosphere, the clearness of its sky at a 
 late hour of the night, or rather at a very early one of the morning, 
 is probably unsurpassed in all England, but in this case Sir J. 
 Herschel has well described the cause in his valuable article on 
 Meteorology , in the Encyclopedia Britannica. 
 
 Until our arrival at Vittoria, my two companions and myself were 
 almost as helpless as babies in the art of expressing our wants. 
 Spanish is so obviously a language that one ought to know, from 
 its resemblance to Latin, etc., — the mere light of nature enabling one 
 to read it with reasonable fluency, after the rudimentary matters of 
 grammar have been once mastered, and a few minor words learnt — 
 that I felt quite ashamed of myself at my inability to frame an 
 intelligible sentence. What made the matter worse was, that the 
 Spaniards I accosted did not seem hopeful about the possibility of 
 understanding me. The power of impressing on a foreigner, of whose 
 . language you know but little, that it is within his power to compre- 
 hend you if he only chooses to try, is a sine qua non to success in 
 conversation. With mutual faith abundant interchange of ideas may 
 be carried on through the medium of an abominably broken dialect ; 
 without it a fairly good vocabulary may be absolutely useless. French 
 was an unknown language to hotel servants, diligence-office keepers, 
 and all that genus. I heard of exceptions to this rule, but saw only 
 one or two instances myself. However, after our second day at 
 Vittoria, the spell of dumbness was broken by the effective assistance 
 of a railway inspecting engineer, whose invaluable services had been 
 made available to us through the kindness of Mr. Vignolles, and he 
 henceforth managed all our little difficulties and wants. 
 
 This gentleman was one of a class who form an influential element 
 in the districts where railroad making under English superintendence, 
 is being carried on. A line of railway is undertaken by a contractor, 
 inspecting engineers are appointed, each to a particular section of 
 the line a few miles in length, to see that the contractor does his 
 work fairly. They live in strange out-of-the-way Spanish villages, 
 lodging with some Spanish family, and spending all the day in 
 riding about the line. Now and then, it is possible for them to take 
 a few days’ holiday at Vittoria or Logroho, or at the reputed Paris 
 ol these parts, Bilbao. They have exacted fixed charges for them- 
 
226 
 
 A VISIT TO NORTH SPAIN AT THE 
 
 selves at the hotels, introduced some good dishes into the bills of 
 fare, and in one case at least where accommodation was bad, had 
 established a respectable person as the landlord of a new inn to 
 the convenience of the travelling public. They are all of the class 
 of young rising engineers, receiving considerable salaries, and looking 
 forward to some future time when they themselves shall be con- 
 tractors and wealthy men, in Europe, Australia, or America, or wherever 
 a good opening for them may then happen to exist. 
 
 It is of course impossible for a Protestant to forget for one moment 
 that he is a reputed heretic, and that on however good terms he may 
 be with a Spaniard, there is an essential difference between them, 
 which any accident may unmask. I was curious to know how far 
 this feeling would affect the somewhat intimate relationship which 
 must necessarily spring up between a lodger and his hosts. I under- 
 stood from our friend the engineer that, as a general rule, there 
 was no appearance of meddling intolerance, the Englishman being 
 considered as an unaccountable sort of animal, and allowed to go his 
 own gait ; the more so, as an Englishman’s probity and energy has 
 a name in these parts of Spain. Yet little circumstances constantly 
 arose to show how easily this thin crust of forced indifference might 
 be broken through. The death of a Protestant, and the question of 
 his burial, is sure to create a difficulty. Our friend told us that 
 he every now and then received a serious, but kindly lecture, from 
 some elderly female, pointing out to him the danger of his heretical 
 ways and the certain future that threatened him, and far more 
 frequently, that semi-serious allusions were thrown out to the same 
 purport. 
 
 I made many inquiries about the honesty and the morality of the 
 Spanish peasantry, and being assured from different sources that it 
 is very high, much higher than in England, I believe it. However, 
 the use of the knife is rather common. 
 
 We hired a carriage at Vittoria, and passed, by a little used 
 mountain road, over the Sierra di Tolonio to Logrono, beyond which 
 our proposed station was situated. The crest of the Sierra formed 
 the northern boundary of the valley of the Ebro, and we felt much 
 anxiety to witness the reputed blue sky of the new country, for hitherto 
 the weather had been capricious and frequently overcast. When we 
 attained the ridge, and had descended clear of the clouds that lay 
 on it, the largeness and aridity of the view took me by surprise. The 
 
TIME OF THE ECLIPSE OF i860. 
 
 227 
 
 valley was almost as tawny as an African wady, and some forty miles 
 in breadth, running in ample sweeps between lines and groups of 
 mountains that towered in wild disorderly masses, flanked with some 
 noble crags, and garnished with a few isolated peaks. It was a first- 
 class view, deserving to rank among the best ten or twelve of those 
 with which I am acquainted. There are three views, more or less, 
 of this description, to which I habitually refer myself as convenient 
 standards of comparison, and which I usually quote as the finest that 
 I know. Their similarity lies in the amplitude of the mountain shoulder 
 whence the view is taken, in the vast unbroken sweep of rich country, 
 extending from its foot, and in the completeness of the picture, owing 
 to its limits being framed with natural objects, and not passing out 
 of sight in an untidy, indistinct haze. These views are — 1. That 
 from the hills above Trieste. 2. From below the cedars of Lebanon, 
 over the plains of Tripoli ; and 3. From our own Devil’s Dyke, near 
 Brighton. The sweep of the valley of the Ebro is little inferior to 
 any of these. 
 
 The Spaniards, at least in the northern provinces, seem mad upon 
 road-making ; here and there were pieces of our present way tended 
 with incommensurate care. It debouched by no less than three roads 
 down into the valley. One was a bad one ; then came another, with 
 grand zigzags, and parapets, as good as could be desired : but not 
 contented with this, a third road, also with zigzags, cutting across 
 the second one at many places, was newly constructed. The hill- 
 side looked a labyrinth of roads from their curious inter-crossings. 
 Our driver, as he spun down hill, was constantly puzzled which turn 
 to take, and the mules were pulling in opposite directions, at many 
 awkward corners. We saw some ascending waggons in similar in- 
 decision, passing up different ways. Everywhere the road-makers 
 seemed to revel in funds, though they certainly do not apply them 
 equally. 
 
 On reaching the plain, our way led us through a village, called 
 La Guardia. It was perched up on the top of a detached conical hill, 
 burrowed with wine-vaults, in a situation that dominated the plain. 
 It was battlemented with ancient walls and towers, and suggested the 
 very ideal of its name. Here we had to stop to bait — it was eleven 
 miles short of Logrono — and our proposed station was twenty miles 
 on the other side of that town, on the opposite boundary of the Ebro 
 valley, on a broad hill-top — inaccessible to carriages on account of 
 
22S 
 
 A VISIT TO NORTH SPAIN AT THE 
 
 some broken bridges, and deficient in buildings where our instruments 
 could be housed and got into order. But La Guardia was fully as 
 well situated both as regards the path of the shadow, and the position 
 of the stations of the other observing parties. House room for our 
 instruments was there, the view of the plain towards the south-east, 
 along which the black skirt of the shadow of totality would sweep 
 when the sun reappeared, was uninterruptedly visible ; and, lastly', 
 the clouds clung about the high hill-tops, while all the sky above us 
 was bright and clear. A few words sufficed to show that we all 
 appreciated these advantages; so we sallied forth, up the principal 
 church-tower, among the clock and bells, about the tumble-down 
 ramparts, and everywhere where we could hope to select the best 
 station, to the wonderment of the natives, who did not at first com- 
 prehend the object of our proceedings. The result was, that we 
 ventured to transmit a civil message to the owner of a house that 
 rose high and had a flat top, used for clothes-drying, and partially 
 roofed over. It proved to be tenanted jointly by a priest and doctor. 
 They cordially and most courteously welcomed us. We clambered 
 up the little stone staircase that led to its roof, knocking our heads 
 and grating our elbows, and found the place exceedingly well fitted 
 for our wants. Our hosts put it at once at our full disposal. They 
 gave us trestles into which we could screw the telescope-stands, tables, 
 and chairs. We then went to a carpenter, who took in hand some 
 little matters that were wanted by us, and did them, as I find foreigners 
 usually do on such occasions, with an intelligence and quickness 
 of apprehension rarely seen in an English mechanic. Finally, we 
 locked up our precious instruments, in an empty room, to await the 
 day preceding the eclipse, when we were to return to mount them 
 in readiness, and to make a few prefatory observations. La Guardia 
 was not a place to stay at with comfort — it was a mere village; 
 besides, we had letters of introduction to Logrono, so we went on 
 there and established our quarters, taking Spanish lessons, bathing 
 in the Ebro, buying trifles, and prying everywhere. 
 
 Logrono was the most thoroughly national town we saw, and I have 
 carried away a great affection for it. The streets and arcades are busy 
 in the morning, for besides business, there is a good deal of church- 
 going. I was vastly interested in the movements of the ladies’ fans 
 ac church. All the world knows that Spanish fans are in perpetual 
 motion, and betray each feeling, real or assumed, that passes through 
 
TIME OF THE ECLIPSE OF iS5o. 
 
 22Q 
 
 the mind of its bearer. I felt convinced I could guess the nature of the 
 service at any particular moment by the way in which the fans were 
 waving. The difference between a litany and a thanksgiving was 
 unmistakable ; and I believed that far minuter shades of devotion 
 were also discernible. 
 
 In the afternoon the military were paraded, and the bands played in 
 the square. Of course, all the spare population went to see them ; 
 but what amused us especially was the part taken by the nurses and 
 the children, both here and at Vittoria. They came in' hundreds, 
 scattered among the crowd. The instant the music began, every nurse 
 elevated her charge sitting on her hand, at half-arm’s length into the 
 air, and they all kept time to the music by tossing the babies in unison, 
 and slowly rotating them, in azimuth (to speak astronomically), at each 
 successive toss. The babies looked passive and rather bored, but the 
 energy and enthusiasm of the nurses were glorious. At each great bang 
 of the drummers a vast flight of babies was simultaneously projected 
 to the utmost arms’ length. It was ludicrous beyond expression. 
 
 The environs of Logrono greatly pleased my particular taste. The 
 land is utterly arid when in a state of nature, but whenever a runnel 
 of water can be led, pumped up from the Ebro, there is fertility ; 
 consequently the charms of an oasis are always present : there is the 
 air of the desert, with abundance of neighbouring verdure to cheer the 
 eye. I could not understand how it was, that not a single country 
 residence had been anywhere seen since Bilbao. The landscape was 
 exceedingly varied, and in all cases exhibited the appearance of a most 
 liveable country. I had been everywhere looking for “gentlemen’s 
 seats,” like the Yorkshire servant in Kinglake’s Eothen when riding 
 across the Balkan ; yet I saw nothing but peasantry — hard-working 
 men, who seemed only to want a good pattern of agricultural imple- 
 ments, and modern agricultural knowledge, to become first-rate small 
 farmers — or else muleteers and others riding on gaudy saddle-cloths, 
 so gaudy, that one which I bought at Logrono of the common pattern 
 and material, is now amongst the most showy pieces of drapery in my 
 drawing-room. It is woollen, woven in bands of colours, and absolutely 
 Moorish-looking. 
 
 The day before the eclipse, we drove to La Guardia, to arrange our 
 instruments. It was there I discovered a disaster which had befallen 
 mine. I had taken an actinometer (Herschel’s), and on exposing it to 
 the sun, found something had gone wrong. It proved that the enclosed 
 
 1 7 
 
230 
 
 A VISIT TO NORTH SPAIN AT TIIE 
 
 thermometer stem had broken. I candidly confess that a rising 
 though stoically repressed feeling of exultation accompanied this dis- 
 covery. I was not now necessarily obliged to spend the precious 
 three minutes of the eclipse in poring on an ascending column of blue 
 fluid in a graduated stem, and noting down the results by a feeble 
 lamp-light, but I was free to enjoy in full the whole glory of the 
 eclipse. I should here say, that there is something very faulty in the 
 mechanical arrangement of these very important instruments. Negretti 
 and Zambra, who are the makers of them, tell me, that in no instance 
 have they ever sold one that was not sooner or later returned for 
 repair, the enclosed thermometer being broken. 
 
 It now became necessary to fix on some other limited class of 
 observations ; and I decided upon sketching the Corona, and also on 
 endeavouring to determine the exact colour of the eclipse light, about 
 which there had been discrepancy of opinion. For the first, I required 
 merely my naked eye, pencil, paper, and a lantern. I happened, how- 
 ever, to possess a small theodolite telescope of the lowest power, very 
 conveniently mounted, that would enable me to isolate any portion ot 
 the Corona I chose, and thus to guard against the possibility of opticel 
 illusion from adjacent appearances. For experimenting on the eclipse 
 light I happened also to have with me a tiny box of twelve colours, 
 which I had selected some years ago, after numerous trials, as being 
 those which were most distinct each from the other, that I could obtain. 
 Whenever 1 wanted to paint upon a map different marks, meaning 
 different physical features, or travellers’ tracks, I used these colours. 
 I accordingly painted a sheet of paper in squares, numbered very 
 legibly, and proposed observing them from time to time during the 
 eclipse and to note whenever any of the twelve became mutually 
 indistinguishable ; then it would always be in my power, as I supposed, 
 to reproduce this effect by light passing through glass, of a colour to 
 be determined by after trials. After I had found a piece of glass that 
 produced the required effect, its colour, when looked through, would 
 be the average of that thrown down by the sky at the time of the 
 eclipse. My colours were as follows — I especially mention their names, 
 because I can recommend the selection to any person who wants a 
 box for purposes similar to those for which I originally procured mine, 
 and about which I took a good deal of trouble: — Violet carmine, 
 Vandyke brown, Prussian green, Hooker’s green, Emerald green, 
 Orange chrome, Cobalt, Vermilion, Crimson lake, Olive green, Burnt 
 
TIME OF THE ECLIPSE OF i860. 
 
 231 
 
 sienna, Indian yellow. Nine of these, including most of the greens, 
 strangely enough, are very distinguishable by candle light. 
 
 Mr. Atwood and Mr. Gray had large telescopes, and chiefly devoted 
 themselves, as I have said, to the Red Protuberances. We arranged 
 our lanterns and watches in convenient positions, and rehearsed the 
 proceedings of the morrow. The weather was far from being as satis- 
 factory as we had expected. The clouds hung about the mountains, 
 while La Guardia was comparatively free ; so we felt reassured as to 
 the wisdom of our choice, although exceedingly anxious as to the 
 prospect of the precious three minutes of the eclipse, next afternoon, 
 finding us under a favourable sky. The wretched weather of this 
 summer has afflicted even Spain, but we returned to Logrono in 
 hope. 
 
 The morning of the eventful day broke grey and unpromising — wind 
 north, and therefore over the Sierra di Tolonio — drifting clouds from 
 its summit, where an abundant reservoir of them lay piled. The 
 drifted clouds were low cumuli, with few indications of blue between 
 them ; however, the sky improved as the day advanced, and when we 
 had reached La Guardia, the clouds were settled into rounded forms, 
 with large blue spaces in their intervals. The wind gradually died 
 away, and our massive enemies moved very slowly and undecidedly, 
 sometimes in one direction, sometimes in another. We had a good 
 view of the beginning of the eclipse ; after that, a succession of clouds 
 passed before the sun, hiding it from time to time, and making us sorely 
 anxious ; but about twenty-five minutes before totality they gave place 
 to our wishes, and the welcome crescentic sun shone perfectly clear 
 from out of a good English blue sky, — perfectly clear, I say, but not so 
 deep a blue as we had previously seen in the magnificent atmosphere 
 of the Ebro valley. There was, doubtless, vapour in the air, which the 
 chill of the eclipse might possibly convert into a thwarting haze, or a 
 source of accidental and puzzling appearances ; nevertheless, from this 
 time onwards, we had no trouble, the blue space above head enlarged 
 rapidly and continuously, and the evening closed with a constant sun- 
 shine. 
 
 Crowds of people were clustered at the foot of our tower, and about 
 a dozen spectators were on the roof-top by our side. They carefully 
 ar.d courteously respected the portion we occupied and added to our 
 pleasure by their shrewd remarks and manifest interest in our proceed- 
 ings. My notes were as follows : — Eclipse commenced at ih. 50m. by 
 
232 
 
 A VISIT TO NORTH SPAIN AT THE 
 
 my watch. 2h. 15m. Light sensibly diminished. 2h. 22m. No apparent 
 
 difference ; my colours unchanged. B thinks the landscape is 
 
 becoming fainter. 2h. 35m. Light still more peculiar; the colours as 
 before. The people on the roof remark the colour of the sky to be 
 darker. I doubt it. The spots on the sun as seen through a telescope, 
 appear decidedly darker. We all agree in this. 45m. The light 
 certainly appears more yellow, but the country is yellow, and is now 
 everywhere in full sunlight. My colours just as distinguishable as ever. 
 50m. Indian yellow, cobalt and emerald green are lower in tone. I 
 can distinguish all twelve colours perfectly. Light much fainter. 55m. 
 Light far fainter. I made a hole in a paper screen, and watched the 
 crescentic image of the speck of sun-light that shone through it on the 
 floor. The shadows were very dark and sharp. Air cold. 58m. The 
 numerous pigeons of the place began to fly home, fluttering about 
 hurriedly, taking shelter wherever they could. There was something 
 ef a hush in the crowd. 
 
 At about 3h. — I forgot to note the exact\vatch-time, I am sorry to say 
 — totality came on in great beauty. The Corona very rapidly formed 
 itself into all its perfectness. It did not appear to me to grow, but to 
 stand out ready formed, as the brilliant edge of the sun became masked, 
 I do not know to what I can justly compare it, on account of the 
 peculiar whiteness of its light, and of the definition of its shape as 
 combined with a remarkable tenderness of outline. There was firm- 
 ness but not hardness. In its general form, it was well balanced, not 
 larger on one side than the other. It reminded me of some brilliant 
 decoration or order, made of diamonds and exquisitely designed. 
 There was nothing to impress terror in the sight of the blotted-out sun; 
 on the contrary, the general effect of the spectacle on my mind was one 
 ol unmixed wonder and delight. A low buzz of voices arose among 
 the crowd at the foot of the tower, like what is heard when an exceed- 
 ingly beautiful firework is displayed at a fete. The Corona-light 
 sufficed abundantly for writing rough notes and for seeing my colours. 
 Oddly enough, the burnt sienna and the vermilion alone ceased to be 
 distinguishable from each other. Indian yellow had greatly lost 
 brilliancy. I made a rough sketch of the Corona — it was too manifold 
 in its details and too beautiful in its proportions for me, bad artist as I 
 am, to do justice to it in the short time the spectacle lasted — yet the 
 drawing which I made, and which is given here, is to my mind a fair 
 diagram of this splendid meteor. I drew it without taking any measure 
 
TIME OF THE ECLIPSE OF iSSo.'' 
 
 233 
 
 ments to guide me, but simply as I would sketch any ordinary object. 
 The uppermost part is that which was uppermost when I drew it. I 
 used no lantern, and required none; there was a sufficiency of light. 
 The principal facts were, firstly that the long arms of the Corona, 
 Fig. 2, do not radiate strictly from the centre, neither are they always 
 bounded by straight lines. The upper edge of a was truly tangential, 
 that of d and of others, nearly so ; c was remarkably curved, and so 
 was the lower edge of b, though less abruptly ; it was like a finch’s 
 
 beak, and remar. ab j denned, .'tercndly, the shape of the Corona 
 was not absolutely constant ; speaking generally, it was so ; but in 
 small details, it appeared to vary continually, by a slow diorama-like 
 change. There was no pulsation or variation of intensity, visible in 
 its light : I was particularly impressed by its solemn steadiness. 
 
 It seemed scarcely possible to believe that the light of the Corona 
 was other than the rays from the sun, made visible in some incom- 
 prehensible manner round the edge of the moon, the appearance being 
 eminently suggestive of a brilliant glistering body, hidden behind a 
 screen. The nearest resemblance I can think of, to express my mean- 
 ing (not that I am to be understood as supposing the remotest analogy 
 between the causes of the two appearances), is the effect of a jet of 
 water, playing from behind against sjme obstacle, and throwing an 
 irregular halo of spray around it, on all sides. That a reasonable 
 foundation may exist for ascribing part of the Corona to some diversion 
 of the ordinary rays of the sun, however unintelligible the cause of this 
 diversion may be, and not to a luminous atmosphere surrounding the 
 sun, was powerfully impressed on me by certain appearances that were 
 observed when totality had passed : they were these. Four or five 
 minutes after the reappearance of the sun, Mr. Atwood called attention 
 to remarkable, luminous radiations, like sunbeams slanting through a 
 
*34 
 
 A VISIT TO NORTH SPAIN AT TIIE 
 
 cloud, and proceeding in narrow but long brushes from the cusps of the 
 sun. They changed their angular directions, and even their shapes 
 with such rapidity, that 1 was almost bewildered in a first attempt to 
 draw them. If I looked down on my paper to draw a few strokes, the 
 appearances had become changed when I again raised my head. 
 Nevertheless, between 3I1. nm. and 3I1. 13m., I managed to make 
 three sketches ; the two that were most characteristic are here very 
 fairly represented. After 3I1. 13m. the light of the emerging sun was 
 too strong to admit of further observation. The brushes were perfectly 
 distinct and unmistakable ; they were best seen by holding up the 
 
 hand so as to mask the sun, and they were perfectly visible through the 
 telescope when it was so turned as to exclude the sun. There was 
 no mistake whatever about their existence. I trust the attention of 
 observers of future eclipses will be directed to them, both before and 
 after totality. Now, whatever may have been the cause of the brushes, 
 would also, I should guess, be competent to create the greater part of 
 the Corona : the two appearances being of identically the same genus. 
 It will be observed that the brushes in Fig. 3 enclose an angle of about 
 133° on the side of the emergent sun, and that this same angle had 
 changed to about 195 0 in Fig. 4, to say nothing of the new appearance 
 of a central bar ot light. The angular change of the brushes was 
 continuous, so long as I had an opportunity of looking continuously at 
 them. 
 
TIME OF THE ECLIPSE OF i860. 
 
 235 
 
 The skirt of the shadow of totality sweeping over the country to the 
 south-east, did not impress me as I had expected ; there happened to 
 be the shadow of a broad distant belt of clouds near the horizon, in 
 which the eclipse-shade merged, and the skirt was never well defined. 
 Our range of vision in that direction was immense. We could see but 
 little, and I looked for nothing, towards the north-west. 
 
 The lightening of the landscape was rapid : even at 3h. 16m. every- 
 thing looked to my eyes as almost natural. At the time of totality, 
 the sky did not appear to me to descend. The sky was quite yellow 
 near the horizon, but I remarked the absence of light, rather than the 
 colour of the light ; and a strangeness, rather than a mournfulness of 
 effect. A couple of gusts of wind preceded totality. 
 
 As to my colours : after a good deal of trouble, I find I can reproduce 
 the exact effect that I witnessed, by placing them in a closed box 
 having a dark ceiling, and admitting a faint white light at a low angle. 
 I then view the colours, also at a low angle, through a piece of dull 
 yellow glass. All these details seem essential to effect : they are, in 
 some sort, the equivalents to a yellow sky near the horizon, and gloom 
 above head. 
 
 Thus was completed the object that had brought us to Spain, and 
 we drove down the hill of La Guardia amid cries of “ Viva Ynglaterra ! ” 
 for we had become exceedingly popular in the town, thanks to the kind 
 way in which our hosts had introduced us everywhere, and we increased 
 the triumph of our departure by scattering coppers among the raga- 
 muffins who had collected to see us go. 
 
 It was a marked instance of the local nature of sunny weather, that 
 the people at Logrono could not credit we had been so fortunate in our 
 day. At that town, nothing of the eclipse had been seen ; and a party 
 from the Himalaya, Mr. Pole and Mr. Perry, who were stationed on a 
 hill-top near it, and in full view of us, though some ten miles off, were 
 greatly annoyed by clouds ; they, too, could with difficulty understand 
 our good fortune. 
 
 The instances are as many in this eclipse as in others, of discrepant ob- 
 servations and of important things forgotten. My fault was not noting 
 the moment of totality. It would have been of service in calculating 
 the extent to which the sun had emerged, and the exact position of its 
 cusps at the time when Figs. 3 and 4 were drawn, in order to find out 
 whether these brushes of light were exactly or not, in a line of pro- 
 longation of them. One very unlucky piece of forgetfulness is rumoured 
 
2 \ 
 
 VISIT TO NORTH SPAIN AT THE 
 
 to have been made by an eminent photographer, not of the Himalaya 
 party. He went, partly on commercial grounds, excellently provided 
 with instruments, and all the way overland, on purpose to photograph 
 the eclipse. Everything was prepared, the day was glorious, the 
 totality came on, and the slide of the camera was carefully inserted. 
 When all had passed, and the slide was opened in the dark chamber, 
 alas ! the operator had forgotten to put his plate into the slide ! 
 
 Gray and myself did not return by the Himalaya , but went to St. 
 Sebastian, and ultimately spent a part of the summer together, in the 
 Pyrenees — I having in the interim joined my wife at Bordeaux, and 
 taken her with me. 
 
 The valley of the Ebro is separated from the Pyrenees by a belt of 
 broken country, almost untraversed except by horse-roads, along some 
 few of which, invalids are taken as they best can go, to the baths of 
 Panticosa, etc., and occasionally across the Pyrenees, by one or other 
 of the horse-passes, to the French watering-places of Eaux-bonnes, 
 Luz, Cauterets, or Luchon. This belt I did not traverse. The 
 northern part of it afterwards became very familiar to my eyes, owing 
 to the numerous mountain-tops, beginning with that above the dili- 
 gence-road by St. Sebastian, and ending with the Canigou, near the 
 Mediterranean, whence I looked down upon it. The part adjacent to 
 the main chain, including the small republic of Andorre, is very little 
 traversed or known. On the French side, the plain is prolonged up 
 the valleys, to the very bases of the mountains ; but the Spanish side 
 is far more tossed and tumbled. 
 
 Here that remarkable madness of mountain climbing, to which every 
 healthy man is liable at some period of his life, and which I had hitherto 
 believed myself to have gone through once for all, in a mitigated form, 
 began to attack me with extreme severity. I will spare the reader the 
 details of the direction which my malady took, because none of the 
 Pyreneean mountains are sufficiently high to afford a field for feats, 
 though glorious for actual enjoyment. Yet they are of no despicable 
 elevation or grandeur: there are plenty of 10,000 feet, and three of 
 11,000; while the ruggedness and steepness of their sides is fully equal 
 to those of any other chain. I like, too, the absence of fir and pines, 
 and the varied forest foliage that replaces them. The climate is more 
 southern than that of Switzerland, being finer and gloriously hot. 
 Again, when one is tired, a vast deal may be done on horseback along 
 
TIME OF THE ECLIPSE OF 1S60. 
 
 237 
 
 the numerous bridle-paths, that lead to many admirable points of 
 view. One drawback is that the guides are rather a poor set, ignorant 
 of the country, unable or unwilling to carry weights, and bad walkers. 
 There are not half a dozen in Luchon with whom I would care to be 
 accompanied, yet Luchon is the destination of 2,000 yearly visitors. 
 
 The French give a bad name to the Spaniards of the Pyreneean 
 chain; and as the accommodation of the country is, for the most part, 
 villanous, and the language a patois, and there is nothing to do but to 
 climb and to shoot chamois, and explore the beauties of a new country, 
 they do not care to penetrate there. There is no lack of chamois. 
 Bears exist ; in fact, I saw one just shot, but the brute had been tracked 
 and mobbed. A single sportsman would have had small chance of 
 finding him. There are abundance of eagles, and a few ptarmigan. 
 The Spanish side is doubtless a wild land, and is not to be explored 
 except by persons prepared to sleep in chalets or cabins, and to cook 
 for themselves. 
 
 It was always most annoying to me when I had clambered, for some 
 hours, to a distant peak, that the absence of accommodation and means 
 of bivouac drove me prematurely to return. I had long been convinced 
 that the only way of exploring the interesting mountain tracts that still 
 remain almost unknown in Europe, such as these Spanish Pyrenees, 
 Dauphine, the Savoy Alps, the Carpathians, the northern parts of 
 Turkey and Greece, and so on, is for the traveller to take some means 
 of making himself independent of beds, and, to a certain degree, even 
 of a roof. But what those means should be, I could never determine. 
 Alpine travellers (up to this year of i860) seem wholly unversed in 
 the art of comfortable bivouac. I hardly know a single instance when 
 the nights spent by them on the hill-sides have not been recorded as 
 nights of discomfort, and often of misery. Let those who doubt it 
 refer to 11 Peaks and Passes.” This is an old opinion of mine, and one 
 which has set me widely to inquire about facts bearing on the subject. 
 Saussure’s experience is not much to the point, except in showing 
 that a tent will stand in any weather ; witness his hurricane on the 
 Col du Geant. The brothers Schlagintweit also used tents, and they 
 drove sheep for food. Dr. Rae’s Arctic equipment is exceedingly 
 interesting; he relied on snow houses, built with great neatness, for 
 protection against the weather: so did Sir Leopold M'Clintock. I 
 have, indeed, a selection of that energetic officer’s travelling-gear; 
 sledge, cook’s apparatus, and tent-poles, — which he and Captain Allen 
 
23 » 
 
 A VISIT TO NORTH SPAIN AT THE 
 
 Young used in their search after the fate of Sir John Franklin, and 
 were afterwards so good as to' give me. But none of these precisely 
 meet the want I feel. The travelling-gear should be light and con- 
 venient for carrying on the back, and require no previous practice in 
 its use. Each man should be independent of his neighbour ; for the 
 close proximity of snoring and flea-covered guides is a nuisance. 
 Finally, the bedding must be capable of withstanding a night of severe 
 weather, — wet, snow, and tempest. 
 
 These desiderata were well fulfilled by a contrivance I became 
 acquainted with during the very close of my stay in the Pyrenees, 
 
 u hen, I am sorry to say, it was hardly in my power to give it a fair 
 trial. I must, therefore, speak from hearsay and the experience of 
 others. I found a large class of men who were liable, at any hour, 
 in any weather, to be ordered off to any place in the mountains, there 
 to keep watch for two or three days ; while everything was so 
 systematized, that they simply had to take down a sort of large knap- 
 sack from their shelf, certain specified articles of dress, and a sufficiency 
 ®f bread, meat, and wine, and were ready in a minute to be off to their 
 post. These are the French douaniers, who go in twos, to watch any 
 pass where a smuggling attempt may happen to be expected by their 
 chief; and the contrivance w’ich makes it possible to do so, is a 
 
TIME OF THE ECLIPSE OF i860. 
 
 233 
 
 sheep-skin sleeping bag, of a kind I am about to describe, which folds 
 up in the simplest manner possible, and is secured by five small straps. 
 When so folded and secured, it shapes itself into a large, but military- 
 looking knapsack, weighing seven pounds and a half. The bag is 
 shown bottom upwards in Fig. 1. It is open from D to the end, and its 
 coffin shape makes it fit a man without any superfluous space. Fig. 2 
 represents a gusset inserted between the top and bottom faces of the 
 bag, of which the edge c d is sewn to the upper edge from C to D, 
 and c c is sewn to the lower edge from C to E. This is very important, 
 in order to give sufficient space to the breast and arms. The peculiar 
 shape of the gusset gives an exceedingly cozy lay to the machine, about 
 the back and sides. It is easy to spring in a moment out of a bag thus 
 constructed, there being no embarrassment whatever at the sides or 
 shoulders. In folding it up — the bag, of course, lying on the ground 
 with its upper side uppermost, and not as shown in the drawing — is 
 folded at m : again, first at o , and secondly, at n. Then it assumes the 
 appearance of Fig. 4. Next, the straps are buckled to the correspond- 
 ing buckles, the arms are slipped into the straps, and off walks the 
 douanier, with his house on his back. Fig. 3 represents the fastening 
 actually used for the knapsack straps, shown on a smaller scale in 
 Fig. I. I strongly suspect it is the best for these rude purposes. The 
 left-hand part is a piece of wood, round which a thong is sewn. This 
 makes the button. Two or three button-holes are cut in the corre- 
 sponding knapsack strap. From the time when a man is lying fully 
 dressed, shoes and all, inside one of these bags, to that when he has 
 begun to march off with it, strapped upon his back, need not exceed 
 ninety seconds. It is an invention, as I was informed, of about twenty- 
 five years standing, and has, alone, rendered it possible to watch this 
 mountain frontier, with regularity and strictness. The Spaniard 
 Customs’ men, on their side, use cloaks, and cannot approach to the 
 effectiveness of the French. The French douaniers seemed to speak 
 with great fondness of their bags. They make them themselves, and 
 they last many years. It is easy to buy one that has been more or less 
 used, at a cost of about fifteen shillings. They are not oppressive 
 to sleep in, as a slight half-unconscious fidgetting will pump out the 
 used air, and re-supply it with fresh. Besides, the skin of a man who 
 has been perspiring all day in a rare air, is incomparably more 
 quiescent at night than that of a sedentary citizen. During the day- 
 time the bags are of use, for the douaniers sit with them pulled up to 
 
240 
 
 A VISIT TO NORTH SPAIN. 
 
 their waist, when the weather is wet or cold. At night they take off 
 their shoes, but nothing else, and wrap a small cloak round their heads 
 and shoulders. The sheepskin is that of the beautiful merino sheep ; 
 it is double at the feet and legs, and also in the small of the back ; 
 those are the places where the cold is most felt. 
 
 Numerous travellers have used sleeping-bags, and there is no novelty 
 in the fact of their weather-proof capabilities, but the way of folding 
 them into a knapsack in place of carrying them in a cumbrous roll, 
 is new and well worthy of record : so also is the fact that the high 
 snow regions may be securely braved in one of them. 
 
n. 
 
 NABLOOS AND THE SAMARITANS (in iS6i). 
 
 By Sir George Grove. 
 
 EW places in Palestine are more interesting than the town of 
 
 -L N&bloos. To begin with, there is something unusual about its name. 
 N&bloos — or Naplouse, as the French write it — is the Arabic attempt to 
 pronounce the Greek nameNeapolis, the “ new city,” the title given to the 
 old Canaanite town of Shechem when it was restored or rebuilt, pro- 
 bably during Vespasian’s reign. It is rare to find a modern or foreign 
 name in the East that has succeeded in supplanting the ancient home- 
 born Semitic one. In Egypt, at one time, almost every town of any 
 importance was called Heliopolis, Lycopolis, or some other Greek or 
 Roman name. Now, hardly one is to be found along the whole length 
 of the Nile. In Palestine itself, Ptolemais, Diospolis, Antipatris, AElia, 
 have all completely disappeared, and the old names, which existed 
 before these high-sounding titles were conferred — Akka (Acre), Lydd, 
 Kefer-Saba, Jerusalem, have re-established themselves as firmly as if 
 they had never been displaced. Sebaste and Neapolis have, however, 
 succeeded in maintaining themselves, and preventing the return of 
 Samaria and Shechem. 
 
 In its situation there is something still more unusual. It lies in a 
 valley, between two lofty hills, while nineteen-twentieths of the towns 
 of the Holy Land — at least those in the highlands — are perched on 
 the top of eminences. The reason for the prevalent custom is obvious. 
 In a country so open to the incursions of marauders of all sorts as 
 Palestine has always been, it is important to seize any little natural 
 advantage of situation which can assist the peasant against the robber, 
 he Philistine, Midianite, Roman, Crusader, Frenchman, or modern 
 
242 
 
 NABLOOS AND THE SAMARITANS. 
 
 Bedouin Arab. And this, amongst other reasons, explains why the 
 villages are so often put in the most inaccessible spots possible. Why 
 Shechem should have been an exception to this rule is not obvious. 
 It was one of the most ancient places of the country, and also powerful. 
 Possibly it was founded before there were any marauders to attack it, 
 or was built so strong that it did not fear their attacks. 
 
 Another thing impresses it without trouble on the favourable recol- 
 lection of the traveller. It is usually the first place he reaches which 
 has any natural charm or beauty about it. After riding the whole day 
 in the burning sun over the hills north of Jerusalem, often as bare and 
 nearly as hard as the foot-pavement of the Strand, the springs and 
 brooks of the valley of N&bloos, its green trees and vegetation, soft 
 moist atmosphere and twittering birds, are naturally very pleasant and 
 refreshing. 
 
 But besides this, it is one of the most characteristic examples of a 
 Moslem town in the whole of the country. Compared with Damascus, 
 or even Jerusalem, it is but a small place — some 12 to 15,000 in- 
 habitants. But what its people want in numbers, they make up in 
 independence and spirit. The district of the Jebel Nabloos is now — 
 as it was when it bore the name of Mount Ephraim — one of the mosl 
 difficult to manage in the whole of Syria. If an Englishman wants to 
 know something of a sphere of human life about as -diametrically 
 opposite to his own as can be imagined, he cannot have a better 
 opportunity in all Syria of doing so than he will have in the bazaars 
 of Nabloos. He will see less of the grace and charm of Oriental life 
 than is to be found at Damascus or Cairo ; but he will see more of the 
 fanaticism of Islam, and it is but fair to warn him that there is no place 
 where he will be more soundly cursed as he works his way through 
 the bazaar, or stands a better chance of being mobbed and ilftreated. 
 Native Christians are sadly at a discount. There are very few of 
 them, and they have a furtive anxious look about their thin sallow 
 visages, contrasting very disadvantageously with the noble countenances 
 and lofty figures of some of the other inhabitants. 
 
 But there is more than all this in Nabloos. Its archaeology is 
 indisputable. Not even Dr. Robinson doubts the tradition which 
 identifies the two long, rough, lofty, ridgy hills, that rise so steeply on 
 either side of the valley, with Ebal and Gerizim, or which sees in the 
 ruined well at its eastern end, the well of Jacob. It would puzzle even 
 Mr. Fergusson to find any arguments with which to assail the genuine- 
 
NABLOOS AND THE SAMARITANS. 
 
 243 
 
 ness of the flat sheet of rock on the summit of Gerizim, which lias 
 been the holy place of the Samaritans for more than 2,000 years. 
 
 We have now arrived at that which gives its great charm to this 
 place — the little community of Samaritans, who inhabit one corner of 
 the town. 
 
 Interesting they will always be for their own sake, as one of the smallest 
 and oldest sects in the world, occupying the same spot, and clinging to 
 the same identical sanctuary, through nearly twenty-five centuries, and 
 that sanctuary not improbably the very earliest holy place in the Holy 
 Land. The bare platform of rock on the summit of Mount Gerizim 
 they believe to be the place on which Abraham was commanded to 
 sacrifice Isaac, and arguments are to be found (not few or feeble to 
 those who will consider them dispassionately) in favour of that spot, 
 instead of the so-called Mount Moriah at Jerusalem. 
 
 Of persecution, the Samaritans have had plenty. From the time 
 when Vespasian slaughtered 11,000 of them on their holy mountain, to 
 the petty oppressions of the Turkish Beys, so touchingly described by 
 Jacob esh-Shelaby, the hand and tongue of every dweller in the East, 
 Heathen, Jew, Mahometan, seem to have been against them. This 
 persecution has had its usual effect. It has attached them more closely 
 than ever to their faith, and has perpetuated their peculiarities — their 
 rites and their books — to a degree of minute conservatism, which at 
 first sight is almost incredible. To name only two instances of this. 
 Justin Martyr, himself a native of Neapolis, writing in the middle of 
 the second century, mentions that the Samaritans roasted their 
 Passover lambs on a spit in the form of a cross. They still do the very 
 same thing after the lapse of 1,700 years. The second is, that they use 
 the ancient Hebrew alphabet instead of the ordinary square letters 
 introduced after the captivity by Ezra. These square letters they 
 vehemently repudiate, and it almost takes one’s breath away to hear an 
 act of Ezra’s, dating from five centuries before the Christian era, still 
 denounced as an absurd and wicked innovation. I brought away a 
 primer from which the little Samaritans are taught in their school at 
 Nabloos, and it is covered with the thin sprawling forms of the 
 venerable letters, much more rude and complicated than the usual 
 Samaritan type of the Polyglotts. 
 
 And this is shown in many other things. Their copies of the 
 Pentateuch differ in many grave (if not material) points from the 
 Hebrew one. That these differences are at least 2,000 years old is 
 
244 
 
 NADLOOS AND THE SAMARITANS. 
 
 rendered very probable, by many of them being found also in the 
 translation of the Septuagint, which is known to have been begun in the 
 third century before Christ. Their mode of chanting (as we shall see 
 afterwards) is peculiar and archaic. Their laws of marriage are most 
 strict ; they never marry out of their own people. With the Jews, the 
 Passover has long ceased to be anything but the feast of unleavened 
 bread ; but the Samaritans encamp on the mountain for a whole week, 
 and slay, roast, and eat the lambs, with their loins girt and staves in 
 their hands, and with every minutest particular of the Mosaic ritual 
 observed. And so in purification and other small enactments, they 
 observe the regulations of the Law in a far stricter manner than the 
 Jews of Palestine or any other country. Now we know from their 
 letters to Scaliger, in 1589, that they kept all these things as strictly 
 three centuries ago as they now do, and this is a strong evidence that 
 they have preserved a great deal from a still earlier age.* 
 
 Indeed, that they are conservative there can be no doubt. But then 
 comes the question, “ What do they conserve ? ” Are they Israelites ? 
 or are they, as usually seems to be taken for granted, mere heathens, 
 who adopted a bastard Jewish religion for their own ends, and whose 
 whole system is an imposture ? This is obviously not the place for 
 the discussion of such a question as this. I will content myself with 
 naming one or two circumstances which seem strongly to favour the 
 idea that the Samaritans have, to say the least, a very strong Israelite 
 element in their composition, and which incline me to the belief, that in 
 
 * Those who would like to pursue this interesting subject farther, may be . 
 referred to the following sources : — The letters from the Samaritans to 
 Scaliger (a.d. 1589), are given by De Sacyin Eichhorn’s “ Repertorium,” etc., 
 vol. xiii., p. 257. Those to Ludolf, with others to De Sacy himself, and with 
 a resume of the whole correspondence, in his Paper in the “Notices et 
 Extraits,” tom. xii. See also Schnurrer in the “ Repertorium,” vol. ix., p. I. 
 On the whole, the fullest report of the existing community is that of Dr. 
 Wilson (“ Lands of the Bible,” ii. 46 — 78, and 687 — 701). He gives lists of 
 their names, a copy and translation of a marriage covenant, their Creed, and 
 other information, which his knowledge of Hebrew and Arabic enabled him 
 to obtain. The narrative of the Abbe Baiges (“Les Samaritains de 
 Naplouse ’’) is worth reading. But as interesting as any is a small book 
 called “Notices of the Modern Samaritans,” the personal history of the 
 family of Jacob esh-Shelaby, as dictated by himself to Mr. Rogers our 
 excellent Consul at Damascus, who was formerly stationed in the neighbour- 
 hood of Nabloos. 
 
NABLOOS AND THE SAMARITANS. 
 
 245 
 
 their seclusion they may have preserved some traits of the Israel of 
 the Bible, and of the ancient worship of Jehovah, which the Jews 
 (properly so called) have lost during their close intercourse with 
 nations and institutions differing so extremely from their own. 
 
 I use the words “ Israel ” and “ Israelite ” advisedly ; because, though 
 the Jews were Israelites, yet the Israelites were not always Jews. The 
 word “Jew ” (Judceus) is really “ Judaean,” and dates only from the return 
 from Babylon, when Judah became the head and representative of the 
 nation. The Samaritans always call themselves the children of Joseph, 
 and the Jews Yehudhim , or Judathites. Perhaps, of all the ancient 
 practices of the Samaritans, none is more startling than their habit of 
 insisting, in the nineteenth century of the Christian era, on the distinc- 
 tion between “Judah and Ephraim,” with all the strength and animosity 
 that can have been thrown into the terms in the days of Jeroboam or 
 Amaziah. The same distinction occurs constantly in their letters to 
 Scaliger. 
 
 But to return. It is usually assumed that the kingdom of Samaria 
 was completely cleared of its Israelite population before the Assyrian 
 colonists were sent there. Was this so? Subsequent occurrences 
 seem to show that it is at least doubtful. 
 
 The “remnant of Israel” are mentioned in the reign of Josiah as 
 being sufficiently numerous to make it worth while to collect their 
 subscriptions for the repair of the temple at Jerusalem.* That some 
 considerable affinity existed between these people and Jerusalem is 
 evident from a remarkable narrative of Jeremiah, which shows that 
 large caravans of devotees from the chief cities of Samaria were in 
 the habit of making pilgrimage to the ruins of the Temple after its 
 destruction by Nebuchadnezzar, for the purpose of lamenting over it.f 
 After Judah returned from captivity, the Samaritans showed their 
 anxiety to join in the worship of Jehovah, and to assist in rebuilding 
 the temple. This, however, the leaders of Judah would not hear of. 
 They repulsed the offer with scorn, as made, not by friends, but by 
 “adversaries of Judah and Benjamin. ”J This was the beginning of 
 the strife. But that very strife was, perhaps, destined to cause a stronger 
 infusion of the Jehovah element into the Samaritan community than 
 
 * 2 Chron. xxiv. 9. 
 
 ' Jer. xli. 5, and the article on Ishmael, son of Nethaniah, in Smiths 
 “L Hionary of the Bible,” vol. i., p. 895. 
 
 t Ezra iv. 1-3. 
 
2|6 
 
 NABLOOS AND THE SAMARITANS. 
 
 would have been the case had they remained at peace with the Jews. 
 For it so happened that Manasseh, son of the high-priest at Jerusalem, 
 and himself acting high-priest, having married a daughter or grand- 
 daughter of Sanballat, the Samaritan chief, was expelled from Jerusalem 
 by Nehemiah, upon which he went over to his father-in-law, with a 
 large number both of priests and laymen, and became the first priest 
 of the sanctuary on Gerizim.* Thus, the religious establishment ol 
 the Samaritans was actually inaugurated by a high-priest of Jehovah 
 directly descended from Aaron, in a city, the inhabitants of which, to 
 use the words of Josephus, were chiefly “deserters from the nation oi 
 the Jews.” These facts certainly seem to indicate a much stronger 
 connection between the Samaritan people and Israel, and a much broader 
 Jehovistic element in their religion, than is commonly assumed. They 
 certainly had the true succession in their priesthood. The political 
 animosity which began with Zerubbabel’s rude repulse (or rather, 
 perhaps, centuries earlier, before the separation of the northern and 
 southern kingdoms), was fanned by the constant secessions of dis- 
 contented and turbulent Jews from the Holy City, and is quite enough 
 to account for the exaggeration and ill-will which have existed on both 
 sides with such virulence and pertinacity. 
 
 I will now endeavour to describe the rites of the Yom kippoor , or 
 Day of Atonement, of the Samaritans, as I witnessed it at Nabloos 
 in 1861 — in an extract from a letter written at the time. 
 
 “I arrived at the town on Friday, October nth. One of the first 
 persons I encountered was a Samaritan, who was well known in 
 England some years back, Jacob esh-Shelaby. In his house I re- 
 mained during my stay, and to him I am indebted for all that I saw 
 and heard. From sunset of Thursday, the nth, to that of Friday, 
 the 1 2th, was the Sabbath of the Samaritans, and from the sunset 
 of the 12th to that of the 13th, the yom kippoor. This is, I believe, 
 about a month later than the date at which the day is kept by the 
 Jews. The reason of this I could not discover, either from the 
 Samaritans, or from some learned Jews of whom I inquired in 
 Damascus: I can only conjecture that it arises from a difference in 
 the calculation of the days which have to be added to adjust the 
 difference between solar and lunar years. 
 
 The Samaritans, who number between ninety and a hundred souls, 
 * Josephus, “Antiquities,” xi. 8, § 2-7. 
 
NABLOOS AND THE SAMARITANS. 
 
 247 
 
 besides women and children, inhabit a quarter of their own at the 
 south-west angle of the town. The Synagogue is situated within the 
 quarter. I entered it first on the evening of the Sabbath, at 5 o’clock, 
 so as to see the conclusion of the ordinary service, and the commence- 
 ment of that of the Fast. They tell you that the building is 600 years 
 old; and though this is probably exaggerated, it has no ornamentation 
 or other evidence to contradict it, and it is a venerable edifice, quite 
 in keeping with the venerable sect who worship within it. Through 
 a little garden, shut in by high walls, I entered a small square covered 
 court, which at that time was filled with women and children. From 
 thence two low steps lead up into the church. Here I put off my 
 boots, and left them amongst the numerous slippers of the community 
 who had already entered. The building may be best described as 
 
 S.TJIANS. 
 
 (i.TRAKa. 
 
 O 
 
 N.B. — The points of the compass are only used relatively', for description’s sake. 
 
 The building did not point E. and W. 
 
 a nave of two bays, with chancel and north and south transepts of 
 one bay each, and a chapel between the north transept and the west 
 end of the nave. The three last-named portions are raised one step. 
 Each bay is groined, and there are two small round apertures in the 
 roof. Besides these the only opening is the door. The walls are 
 white, and from the vaults hang two quaint glass-chandeliers, and one 
 small glass oil-lamp. The door is in the north transept, so that on 
 entering, the recess for the Torah, or Book of the Law, answering 
 to the chancel, was on the left. Directly opposite the door hung a 
 Eur- van clock. I retreated- to the corner immediately on my right, 
 
24S 
 
 NABLOOS AND THE SAMARITANS. 
 
 from whence, being raised a step, I could overlook the rest, without 
 being myself too prominent. 
 
 It was a striking scene. The floor was covered with carpets. 
 Except a space left up the transepts, the whole building was nearly 
 filled by about eighty persons, of whom fifteen or twenty were women 
 and children, the rest men. All were in white surplices or gowns, 
 with white turbans round their red tarbooshes. All were squatted on 
 die ground, and looking towards the recess of the Torah, which points 
 .1 the direction of the Kibleh on Mount Gerizim, the one holy place of 
 the community. The back of this recess was hung with a veil of dull 
 red and gold — the one piece of colour on the walls ; behind which, 
 among other similar, but less precious treasures, was the Book, or 
 rather Roll of the Law, which the Samaritans affirm to be by the 
 actual hand of Abishua, the son of Phinehas, the grandson of Aaron. 
 The only articles of furniture in the chancel were a stool, and some- 
 thing which looked like a high-backed chair — a stand for the exhibition 
 of the sacred rolls. On the stool lay a bundle in blue silk. It was a 
 famous book of the Pentateuch (not a roll) wrapped in handkerchiefs, 
 the offerings of the pious. 
 
 In front of the chancel, a little towards the right, was the priest, 
 erect. He was dressed exactly like the others, and was reading 
 some service in a loud, harsh, monotonous chant or plainsong, varied 
 by occasional jerks or barks , and by strange gestures, as if he were 
 trying to bite violently something immediately in front of him, produc- 
 ing altogether not exactly a ludicrous, but a most disagreeable and 
 discordant effect. Every here and there the congregation joined in 
 with him, with no concord, but the most extreme discord. 
 
 I soon discovered that there was a division in the congregation. 
 Between the door and the corner of the chancel was a single row of 
 figures squatting against the wall. These were the learned. They 
 also filled the recess of the further transept, and one was even 
 within the line of the chancel itself. This single individual, I after- 
 wards learned, was the younger of the two priests of the community. 
 After the minister had proceeded for some time with his violent minis- 
 trations he stopped, and this second priest began in a different tone, 
 much quieter, and evidently on different matter. Presently all rose, 
 and prostrating themselves in the Moslem fashion, with their faces to the 
 ground, uttered a s'ott of booming soutid — the only ap'proach to contord 
 or an agreeable noise which I heard during the whole evening. This 
 
NABLOOS AND THE SAMARITANS. 
 
 249 
 
 I toolc to be the general Amen at the conclusion of the regular service. 
 So it was. It was sunset. The Sabbath had ended ; but the rites of 
 the ydm kippoor commenced without an instant’s interval. I had 
 noticed water-bottles circulating freely amongst the worshippers for 
 several minutes before this. They were now emptied and placed on 
 a shelf over my head. The fast had begun, and till the next sunset 
 neither meat, drink, smoke, or even medicine will be tasted (however 
 grave the case) by man, woman, child, infant, or suckling. 
 
 That the service had changed was quickly evident. The elder priest 
 re-commenced reading, and now the whole congregation with him. 
 It was the first chapter of the Law — the first verse of Genesis — Barasliit 
 bara Elooim.* The services of this great day, the only fast in the 
 Samaritan calendar — which, from its severity, is looked forward to with 
 uneasiness for the whole year— consist of the recital of the whole 
 Pentateuch by priests and people, interspersed with common prayers, 
 of the kind already described, and creeds, or professions of faith. A 
 few of the congregation had books ; but if all had possessed them it 
 would have been of no avail for a considerable part of the time, for 
 the service is continued through the night, without even the feeble 
 lamp, which, on every other night of the year but this, burns in front 
 of the holy books. The two priests and a few of the people know the 
 whole of the Torah by heart ; others know a single book ; others a few 
 chapters; so that there are always respondents. All stood up, and 
 the storm of harsh voices raged around. They seemed to repeat very 
 fast, and with a metrical, jumping sort of measure, which converted it 
 almost into a gallop. Now and then — at what particular passages I 
 could not discover — they roared or barked still more loudly ; now and 
 then they prostrated themselves. The prostrations are made at certain 
 solemn portions of the law, such as the Ten Commandments. They 
 are made by rising from the squatting posture to the knees, then the 
 two hands are placed flat on the floor, the palms down, and the forehead 
 (not the nose, as in the Moslem prostrations) is brought to the floor 
 between them. 
 
 After going in this way through two or three chapters, they stopped ; 
 and the younger priest re-commenced prayers in the plain chant, with 
 occasional responses. His part was very similar to the old Gregorian 
 plainsong of the Roman Church, but even more archaic in its turns. 
 
 * This is the Samaritan pronunciation of the words which in Hebrew 
 are pronounced Bcreshith bara Elohirn. 
 
NABLOOS AND THE SAMARITANS. 
 
 i^<s 
 
 After a quarter of an hour of this, an aged man, seated next the door, 
 began to read the Law. His peculiarity seemed to be the repetition, 
 four or five times over, of the last syllable of each sentence, with a 
 rumbling, mouthing sound, inexpressibly tedious oi hear, but which 
 evidently afforded him the greatest satisfaction. Then the reading 
 in chorus began again, and then I came out. A good deal of private 
 devotion had gone on during the general service. For instance: my 
 host and several others came in, and, taking their places here and there, 
 went through a series of prostrations and elevations, of the same kind 
 as the ordinary prayers of the Moslems, except the small gestures of 
 touching the ears, turning right and left, etc. : and during these, it is 
 only right to say, they were most devout and entirely absorbed. But 
 there was also a good deal of talking amongst the general body in 
 my neighbourhood, arising, in some measure, from the presence of the 
 children, who pushed in and out, and already began whimpering and 
 teasing for water. It was not, however, the talking or minor interrup- 
 tions that struck me, so much as the hard, undevotional, violent 
 character of the proceedings. Not a soul seemed to be touched or 
 interested. It was not disorderly, nor undignified, but seemed a 
 service without worship. 
 
 I have already spoken of the extreme strictness with which the fast 
 is kept. The wails and screams of the unfortunate infants in the 
 neighbouring houses during the whole of the evening and night, testify 
 that this part of my statement is not exaggerated. 
 
 The next morning was occupied in a visit to a village called Awertah, 
 a few miles off, which contains the traditional sepulchres of Eleazar 
 and Phinehas, the son and grandson of Aaron ; and a cave, reputed to 
 have been the residence of Elijah. In the afternoon, I returned to 
 the synagogue. It was *3.45 p.m. : more than two hours of this 
 weary day still remained to be passed before the sunset should 
 release the worshippers. The reading of the Law was going on in 
 earnest. They were deep in Deuteronomy. The church was not quite 
 so full as when I first saw it ; but there were still a large number 
 present. The divan on the right was occupied as before by the 
 unlearned, who looked on with a listless air, and shouted a verse or 
 two now and then, as memory served ; and by sleepers, taking a short 
 rest before the final scenes. Two or three women kept their ground 
 in my corner; and several children and youths, completely exhausted, 
 were stretched like dogs on the mattings. On the other hand, the 
 
nABLOOS AND THE SAMARITANS. 
 
 251 
 
 initiated on the lower part of the floor had gathered closer, and were 
 formed into a wide circle, facing the chancel, squatting round with 
 books of the law open on their knees, or supported on low stands. 
 Some of these books were very large, written apparently with great 
 beauty and width of margin — some of them still in separate sheets. 
 The priests were taking no part, but seemed to have relinquished the 
 reading altogether to the congregation, reserving themselves, no doubt, 
 for what was coming. The younger man occupied himself in wrapping 
 up, in its hundred and twenty handkerchiefs, the book of which I have 
 already spoken, and which had been used during the morning. 
 
 The sound of the service was much the same as it had been last 
 night, only, if possible, more discordant ; but the aspect of the scene 
 was most pleasing, and struck me even more than at first. Many of 
 the men were models of manly beauty, tall and dignified in form, 
 and with lofty, open, and most engaging countenances. There are few 
 postures in the world more noble and graceful than that in which 
 Orientals sit on the ground. But all these were not sitting. A few 
 were standing, if possible, in a still more striking posture ; propped up 
 against the wall, like Belisarius in the well-known picture, on long 
 staves, and holding out both hands in an attitude of deprecation, or 
 adoration. Then, the pure white dresses, just relieved by a little 
 dash of colour in the red caps emerging from the turbans, or of a red or 
 yellow scarf escaping here and there ; the quaint charm and glister of 
 the antique chandeliers, the venerable vaults above, and the rich solid 
 hue of the carpets underfoot, all tempered by the sweet soft light of 
 the Eastern afternoon as it flowed in at the door, or wavered down 
 from the apertures overhead — these things combined to form a picture 
 which, to a deaf man, would have been without alloy, and which was 
 so beautiful as to make even me (who am not deaf) forget the discordant 
 voices for a few moments as I contemplated it. 
 
 But I was not long in coming to myself; and then I found that the 
 speed of the recitation was increasing. At last it became a perfect 
 race. Then they fell as before, only more decidedly, into a metrical 
 pace 
 
 (S2 
 
 LJ LJ 1 
 
 ~jg~[~ g~ g~g ~a!~g~^r| etc., 
 I LJ LJ i 1 
 
 but with a concord of measure only, not of pitch, lhis sort of 
 
252 NABLOOS AND THE SAMARITANS. 
 
 metre was constantly varied during the rest of the service ; now it was 
 
 
 ~z<zz & : 
 
 i i 
 
 -P-- 1* 
 
 1 I 
 
 :a:a: 
 
 i i 
 
 
 and now 
 
 ( pCW-p —JB—\— 9-f^—p— jSt [ 
 
 etc. When at length the two great songs, with which Deuteronomy 
 concludes, had been reached, there was a general stir, and a movement 
 towards the front of the sanctuary. The priests came forth from behind 
 the red veil, clad in dresses of very light green satin down to the feet, 
 and the recitations proceeded with greater clamour and impetuosity 
 than ever. Then the two great rolls, which, according to the Samaritans 
 themselves, have stood to them in the place of the ancient glories of 
 their temple since its destruction, and have certainly been the desire 
 and the despair of European scholars since Scaliger’s time, were 
 brought forth, enveloped in coverings of light blue velvet, and placed 
 on the sloping stand in the centre of the recess. At last the law was 
 ended, amidst a perfect tumult, by the reiteration of one syllable — ah 
 or lah — at least thirty times. Then the two priests again emerged from 
 behind the curtain, this time with a white cloth, or shawl, covering the 
 head and reaching nearly to the knees; they put off the velvet cover- 
 ings, and exposed the cases of the rolls to view. That to the right was 
 bright silver, and evidently of modern make ; the other puzzled me 
 more. It was too distant for me to see any of its details, but the whole 
 effect struck me as that of Veneto-oriental work, of a date some cen- 
 turies back. The sequel will show what it really is. The production 
 of the rolls was the signal for prostrations, fresh prayers, and fresh re- 
 sponses, which lasted at least a quarter of an hour. And now came the 
 great event of the day — nay, of the year. The priests opened the cases 
 so as to expose their contents to view ; and then, with their backs to the 
 congregation, and their faces towards the Holy Place on Gerizim, held 
 them up over their heads, with the sacred parchments full in view of the 
 whole synagogue. Everyone prostrated himself, and that not once, but 
 repeatedly, and for a length of time. Then the devout pressed forwards 
 to kiss, to stroke fondly, to touch, or, if none of these were possible, to 
 
NABLOOS AND THE SAMARITANS. 
 
 253 
 
 gaze on the precious treasures. Several children were allowed to kiss. 
 It was past five ; and now commenced, if indeed they can ever be said 
 to have ceased, a succession of prayers and catechisms between priest 
 and congregation ; he intoning, and they vociferating, after him, with 
 him, before him, apparently in the wildest confusion. His chant had a 
 strong resemblance to the ordinary plainsong in the Roman Church, and 
 was tuneable enough, with the exception of a sort of jerk or hiccup 
 which occasionally occurred, and which threw an individual, and quite 
 a savage character into it. Their part I can compare to nothing but 
 the psalms for the day as performed at St. George’s-in-the-East during 
 the riots, when a majority said , and a minority sung them ; and even 
 that wanted the force and energy which here lent such a dreadful life 
 to the discord. These responses — which I was afterwards told 
 were avowals of their belief in Jehovah and in Moses — were accom- 
 panied by constant sudden prostrations, the effect of which was most 
 remarkable, and by frequently rubbing down the whole face and beard 
 with the right hand, a gesture which I had not noticed till now.* At 
 intervals during this time, the kissing and stroking of the rolls, as they 
 lay in state on the sloping stand, was going on to an extent which must 
 seriously injure them, and would be fatal if it happened oftener. The 
 one in the old case was the favourite. Had I not been present this day, 
 I doubt if, even with Jacob’s influence, I should have seen it; for it is 
 brought out with great reluctance, and all kinds of subterfuges are 
 resorted to, to avoid showing it to travellers. One little episode of this 
 part of the proceedings struck me. There was a youth, whom I caught 
 sight of timidly hovering behind the bolder spirits who pressed round 
 the rolls, as if anxious, yet afraid, to come forward 
 
 "Still pressing, longing, to be right, 
 
 Yet fearing to be wrong.” 
 
 Poor fellow 1 after all he missed his opportunity, and only succeeded in 
 summoning his courage when the roll was shut, and it was too late to 
 do more than touch the silver case. I pitied him from my heart, and 
 
 * I afterwards saw this gesture frequently used by the Moslems. “ It 
 signifies blessing,” I was told. It is used when any sacred name or form of 
 words is said, and seems to be an attempt actually to catch the grace of the 
 words, residing in the breath of the speaker himself, and communicate it to 
 his countenance. 
 
254 
 
 NADLOOS AND THE SAMARITANS. 
 
 longed that such modest, Christian diffidence in sacred things, might 
 have a worthier object for its exercise. It was a pretty little incident, 
 and lormed one of the few touches of human feeling which softened 
 the harshness of this most singular service. 
 
 The catechising I have mentioned went on for nearly an hour, till it 
 seemed positively interminable. My weariness now became extreme. 
 The length, the discordance, the noise, perhaps more than anything the 
 unintelligibility of the whole, and also my anxiety for the poor fainting 
 children strewed around, like so many Ishmaels in the last stage of 
 existence for want of water and food — all combined to make me heartily 
 wish it over. At length came an indication that the end was near. An 
 elder advanced towards the door and put a plate on the ground for 
 contributions. This attempt at a “ collection ” was the only part of the 
 whole in which I could find any connecting link with the practices of 
 our Church. It may have been a customary thing ; but I fear it was 
 aimed at the Nazarene stranger. At any rate, the sums put in by 
 others were so exceedingly minute, that I feel pretty confident they 
 were only deposited as baits for me. I did not disappoint the expec- 
 tations of my friends, though it required some nerve to drop my mite, 
 as the plate was taken in charge by two ancients, who. seized my five- 
 franc piece, almost before it left my fingers, and scrutinised its look 
 and weight with the greatest care. 
 
 At last the Holy Books were consigned to their retirement behind 
 the veil, there to remain for another year. By degrees all went out. 
 The little lamp was lowered from the cieling, lighted, and left burning 
 in the twilight before the sanctuary, and the ydm kippoor for the year 
 1270 (as the Samaritans reckon, according to the Mahometan era) was 
 at an end. 
 
 I confess that I was fairly exhausted. And if this was my case — a 
 mere spectator of a small portion of the proceedings — how must it 
 have been with those who had gone through the whole labour of the 
 day and night ? the priests, the weak, the old, the women, who to the 
 severe privations of the fast had added the pain of twenty-four hours 
 almost incessant vociferation? For a few there were, such as the old 
 man by the door, and some in the transept at the end, who had shouted 
 the whole time. Any one who has taken part in the chorus of an 
 oratorio knows how fatiguing that is, even for the two hours and a 
 half or three hours of its duration, and how absolutely necessary 
 refreshment becomes between the parts, even to those who are in the 
 
NABLOOS AND THE SAMARITANS. 
 
 255 
 
 habit of singing regularly and frequently. But here were people who 
 had been undergoing a similar exertion for twenty-four hours, after the 
 interval of a twelvemonth, with no refreshment whatever, beyond an 
 occasional expectoration ! Strange to say, they were not nearly so 
 exhausted as I imagined. I made my host take me to the elder just 
 mentioned, and he really seemed neither hoarse nor weary. Smoke 
 was the refreshment most immediately in request, and food only later 
 in the evening, when the wants of the children and women had been 
 satisfied. 
 
 And so finished this most curious and suggestive scene. My chief 
 desire throughout, as far as the strange sights and sounds left me any 
 room for reflection, had been, as you will imagine, to see if any 
 illustration could be gained from it of the ancient Jewish ritual — the 
 general ritual I mean, not that of the Day of Atonement only. If the 
 Samaritan community be, as Stanley seems to believe, the most faith- 
 ful representative of the old nation of Israel, is there not some 
 reason for believing it possible that the services of Nabloos may retain 
 a likeness to those of the times of the monarchy ? I do not pretend to 
 have examined the subject at all sufficiently to have come to any 
 conclusion upon it. But what I saw and heard certainly threw a new 
 light upon it in my mind, and as it is an interesting question, I 
 will name one or two points which seem to me worth further con- 
 sideration. 
 
 1. There is the fact of the undeniable likeness which I have noticed 
 between the chant or plainsong of the priest, and that which is always 
 considered to be the oldest part of the music of the Christian Church, 
 and the eastern origin of which is now, I believe, pretty generally 
 admitted. 2. The probability that a small persecuted sect like the 
 Samaritans would retain such a thing without material change, as they 
 certainly have retained other trifling usages ; such, for instance, as the 
 cross on the spit of the passover lambs (of which more anon). 3. The 
 dissimilarity between the method of responding of the Samaritans, and 
 that in the zikkrs or common worship of the Moslems ; which, wild, 
 repulsive, and heathenish as they are, are of an entirely different 
 character, for instance, are always in concord both of time and tune 
 with the leader. 4. The sentiment or sacredness of the words of the 
 Psalms employed in the ancient Jewish liturgy, would be no argument 
 against their having been sung in the discordant tumultuous manner of 
 
256 
 
 NABLOOS AND THE SAMARITANS. 
 
 the Samaritans ; for what can be more sacred or pathetic than some of 
 the passages in the Pentateuch, which I actually heard so sung ? 
 5. On the other hand, may there not be some positive indications of 
 the existence of similar discord in the ancient services, in the constant 
 mention of “horns” (nothing but horns of animals, recollect), and 
 “cymbals;” of “mighty men” (that is great, strong persons) chosen 
 as singers and players ; the frequent use, in describing these services, 
 of such expressions as “ loud noise,” “ make a noise,” “ shout,” “ roar,” 
 etc. The predominance of wind instruments — the “ horns ” just 
 mentioned, as well as "cornets” and “trumpets" of metal, in the 
 displays of which David was so fond, is in itself an evidence of the 
 discord which must have reigned in them; for those instruments are 
 still the great difficulty of our orchestras, and with all the modern 
 resources are extremely difficult to keep, and still more to play, in 
 tune. But it would be premature to argue the question on such 
 slender grounds, and, indeed, I should be almost reluctant to pursue it 
 further, for it would be a real calamity for which even the truth could 
 hardly console one, to discover that the “ Songs of Zion,” which the 
 Christian world has always regarded as the perfection of beauty 
 (according to the modern ideas of beauty in music), at all resembled 
 the harsh vociferations of the Samaritans, or that the "services of 
 the sanctuary” were so bereft of enthusiasm and feeling as theirs 
 are, and so exactly like the repetition of a hard and uninteresting 
 lesson. 
 
 There was one reflection, however, which forced itself on me con- 
 tinually, without my having the least doubt whether I should entertain 
 it or not. I could not help recollecting the great Christian Spectacle 
 at which my wife and I had been present last autumn at Ammergau, 
 and wondering at the force of the principle, which had been sufficient 
 to raise that miracle of ordered beauty, fitness, reverence, and intelli- 
 gence, out of such chaotic beginnings as those before me. 
 
 I must not forget to tell you that later in the evening, when all the 
 rest of the quarter were in bed, through the good offices of my host, he 
 and I met the priest at the synagogue, and in consideration of a liberal 
 backsheesh, and the prese it of my knife, I was allowed to examine 
 the case of the Great Roll, and even to make some rubbings of parts 
 of it — -very imperfect, for I had not at all the proper things with me. 
 He began by assuring me that it was 1,400 years old. I told him 
 
NABLOOS AND THE SAMARITANS. 
 
 257 
 
 if he took away the 1,000, I thought he would not be far from the 
 truth, and so it proved, for not only was my former conjecture confirmed, 
 but on examination, the priest himself found a date which he read 
 as equivalent to A.D. 1420.* It is a beautiful and curious piece of 
 work ; a cylinder of about two feet six inches long and ten or twelve 
 inches diameter, opening down the middle. One of the halves is 
 engraved with a ground-plan of the Tabernacle, showing every post, 
 tenon, veil, piece of furniture, vessel, etc., with a legend attached to 
 each — all in raised work. The other half is covered with ornament 
 only, also raised. It is silver, and I think — but the light was very 
 imperfect — parcel-gilt. My visit would probably have been very much 
 resented by the community, if they had known of it ; and the feeling 
 of this added a curious zest to it ; as it was, I could not help fancying 
 I was committing sacrilege ; stealing-in in the dark and thus handling 
 holy things. Of the roll itself I say nothing, partly because, knowing 
 nothing of the subject, I hardly looked at it ; and, partly because it 
 has been thoroughly examined by, and, I believe, copied by, or for, 
 a Russian Jew named Levisohn, at Jerusalem, who is devoting him- 
 self to the Samaritan Pentateuch, and will very soon publish his 
 discoveries, t 
 
 One thing more, and I have finished. I have solved the mystery of 
 the cross-spit. The Passover lambs (they require six for the community 
 now) are roasted all together, by stuffing them vertically, head down- 
 wards, into an oven, which is like a small well, about three feet 
 diameter and four or five feet deep, roughly stcined, in which a fire 
 has been kept up for several hours. After the lambs are thrust in, 
 the top of the hole is covered with bushes and earth, to confine the 
 heat till the lambs are done. Each lamb has a stake or spit run 
 
 * These rubbings have since been shown to the authorities of the South 
 Kensington Museum, and pronounced to be Venetian work of the fourteenth 
 or fifteenth century. 
 
 J A short account of these discoveries was published in the papers not 
 long since ; and among other statements it was said that 24,000 variations 
 had been discovered between this and the ordinary Hebrew Pentateuch. I 
 have very lately heard from Jerusalem that Mr. Levisohn’s progress is 
 stopped for want of funds — a want common enough in that part of the 
 world, but one which surely might be remedied without difficulty. 
 
258 
 
 NABLOOS AND THE SAMARITANS. 
 
 through him to draw him up by ; and, to prevent the spit from tearing 
 away through the roast meat with the weight, a cross piece is put 
 through the lower end of it. This is all. But it is still a curious thing, 
 and must have startled the first Christian who noticed it in modern 
 times, though he may not have drawn the same inference from it as 
 old Justin did. 
 
 Ocioler 1S61. 
 
garibaldi's birthplace at nice. 
 
NAPLES AND GARIBALDI (i860). 
 By W. G. Clark, M.A., F.R.G.S. 
 
 r T y HR OUGH Tin in to Naples . — I left London on the 1 8th ot August 
 for the tour which has become a matter of annual recurrence. It 
 had been my intention to go to Scotland, but the almost incessant rain 
 which spoilt our last summer drove me to seek for sunshine in some 
 southern land, and the interest attaching to Garibaldi’s daring enter- 
 prise drew me irresistibly to Italy. The route from England to Naples, 
 travelled every year by thousands of our countrymen and not new to 
 myself, would, in ordinary circumstances, be too hackneyed a topic ; 
 and a writer who should suppose that he had anything to say about it 
 which had not been said before — the only justification for writing at 
 all — would show great confidence in his own powers of observation. 
 But I saw Naples under circumstances the reverse of ordinary — at that 
 critical period when it was the centre of interest to all the nations of 
 Europe ; during the occurrence of events so strange and sudden that 
 they resembled incidents of a romantic melodrama rather than real 
 history. The achievements of Rollo and Robert Guiscard were repeated 
 before the eyes of men who are never tired of saying that they live 
 in a prosaic age. The interest of these events is scarcely abated, for 
 they involve momentous consequences yet to come. The great 
 captain who is now playing the part of Cincinnatus at Caprera has 
 potentially — like another captain who once enjoyed a temporary repose 
 in the neighbouring Elba — an army at his command. He is one of the 
 great powers, who, though not officially represented, makes his presence 
 felt in all the councils of Europe. 
 
 ( reached Naples two days before the departure of the kit g. What 
 
26c 
 
 NAPLES AND GARIBALDI (i860). 
 
 1 saw and heard during the eventful three weeks which followed will 
 form the main part of my story. I prefer to tell this story (at the risk 
 of occasional repetition) in the words of a journal written on the spot 
 and at the first leisure hour after the occurrences. In this journal I 
 have corrected nothing but slips of the pen. I have inserted no ex 
 -post facto prophecies. I have merely added a note here and there by 
 way of correction or explanation. 
 
 As the political interest of the time is my only justification for 
 writing at all, I have cut out from my narrative almost all that had not 
 relation to passing events. The excavations at Pompeii and the 
 treasures of the Museo Borbonico have, for the present, lost their 
 interest. Besides, there would be an incongruity in thus mixing con- 
 temporary history with antiquarianism and dilettantism ; nor would the 
 space at my disposal allow me to do so, in any case. I might have 
 touched in passing many such topics and given conclusions without 
 arguments ; but I remember the warning, “ Brevis esse laboro, obscurus 
 fio,” and I have reason to think that a love of brevity is liable to be 
 mistaken for an affectation of smartness and a tendency to dogmatism. 
 
 I crossed from Folkestone to Boulogne in a storm of wind and rain. 
 The rain accompanied me to Paris, scarcely abated during the two days 
 of my stay there, chased me in flying showers to Macon ; then, with- 
 drawing for a while, hung in masses of threatening cloud in front and 
 flank as we crossed the plains and wound along the valleys, guarded 
 with bastions of limestone crag on either hand, the first approaches to 
 the great fortress of the Alps, to Culoy, now, alas 1 a frontier place no 
 more, thence by the lake of Bourget and Chambery, where we saw 
 skeletons of triumphal arches destined for the reception of the new 
 master, to St. Jean de Maurienne, where we exchanged the railway 
 for the diligence. The route of the Mont Cenis is, to my mind, the 
 least picturesque of all the Alpine passes, but what it lacks in scenic 
 beauty it makes up in historical interest, as being the route of Hannibal.* 
 
 * This is conclusively established in a work entitled, “ A Treatise on 
 Hannibal’s Passage of the Alps,” by Robert Ellis, B.D., Fellow of St. John’s 
 College, Cambridge, 1853. The subsidiary arguments derived from the 
 Peutingerian table, the names of places, etc., however ingenious and pro- 
 bable, are less convincing than the main arguments, and tend, on a first 
 reading, rather to invalidate the conclusions. I am disposed to think that 
 Mr. Ellis lays rather too much stress on the fact that the plains of Italy are 
 visible from a point near the summit of the pass. Polybius, from his 
 
NAPLES AND GARIBALDI (i860). 
 
 261 
 
 At Lanselebourg the clouds, which I had been comparing to hovering 
 bodies of barbarians hanging on the line of the Carthaginians’ march, 
 burst upon us in a torrent of rain which lasted to Susa. When at 
 length we reached Turin, at one a.m. (about thirty hours after leaving 
 Paris), there was a cloudless sky overhead, and the soft sweet air of 
 summer Italy to breathe and move in. 
 
 I had been much entertained by one of my companions in the 
 banquette of the diligence — an Englishman going to join Garibaldi. 
 Evidently a gentleman, he had “roughed it’’ through life with the 
 strangest comrades. He had dug for gold in Australia, had driven an 
 omnibus for six months in Melbourne, etc., etc., and now was about 
 to seek his fortune in Italy. “Not,” he said, “that he cared a button 
 for one side or the other ; he wanted, if possible, to get a commission 
 in the Sardinian army, and meanwhile, at all events, to have a lark.” 
 
 I fancy that a good many of the volunteers, if they would confess it, 
 were actuated by similar feelings. 
 
 I stayed nearly a week at Turin, where I found several old friends 
 and acquaintances, several of them Neapolitan exiles, who gave me 
 letters to their friends at home. Among them was Baron Charles 
 Poerio, the gentlest and most innocent victim that was ever tortured 
 by tyrant. I observed in him, as well as in others of his fellow-prisoners 
 whom I saw at Naples afterwards, a subdued manner that was infinitely 
 touching. It was as if long imprisonment had crushed their spirit and 
 robbed life of its vitality. Poerio said that during his short tenure of 
 office, the king affected to treat him as a confidential friend, would 
 offer him a cigar when he went for an audience, and so forth. On the 
 anniversary of the day of his accepting office, he had the chains put 
 
 language, seems to suppose that the plains would be visible, as a matter 
 of course, from the summit of any pass, and he himself probably crossed 
 the Alps only once in the way of business; and if he had such weather as 
 has always been my fortune in crossing the Mont Cenis, he could not verify 
 the fact. The story of Hannibal’s encouraging his men by showing them 
 Italy is, perhaps, after all only a rhetorical figment. Everybody not familiar 
 with Alpine travel would take it for granted that Italy was visible from 
 the summit (not having a clear understanding of the distinction between 
 “ peaks ” and “ passes ”), and the situation, “ Hannibal pointing out Italy 
 to his soldiers,” is too striking not to be accepted as true : “ ut pueris placeat 
 et declamatio fiat.” I doubt, too, whether we have got at the true significa- 
 tion of XevKOTrerpov. However this may be, Mr. Ellis seems to me to have 
 proved his point abundantly. 
 
 *9 
 
262 
 
 NAPLES AND GARIBALDI (i860). 
 
 on in the court of one of the prisons, the benevolent monarch looking 
 on from a window. 
 
 I went one day to a charming villa on the “Collina,” near Moncalieri, 
 to visit an exile of a different race. I found him playing with his 
 children, as youthful at heart as any of them. No prison had bowed 
 his spirit down, and even eleven years of exile had not sickened his 
 hope of triumphant return. He had not a shadow of doubt that the 
 sword of Garibaldi would open through Venice a road to Hungary. 
 “Shall we meet next year in London?” I said at parting. “We 
 shall meet next year, if anywhere, at Pesth,” was the reply. 
 
 On the 28th of August I went to Genoa, on the chance of finding 
 a steamer for Livorno or Naples, there being no trustworthy information 
 to be had in Turin. When I arrived there, I found that I had no 
 choice but to wait till the 31st for the French boat. Three days soon 
 passed among the varied sights of Genoa, the most beautiful as well 
 as one of the busiest of the cities of the world. Garibaldi’s portrait 
 was in every window, ballad-singers were chanting his praises, and as 
 jmu passed a group standing in the street or seated at the cafe, 
 you were sure to hear the magic name. I was made all the more 
 eager to get to Naples, fearing that he might get there before me. 
 
 I here insert some leaves of my journal, omitting, as I said, almost 
 all that related merely to the regular “ sights” on the way. 
 
 Aug. 23. — Turin is the most regularly built city in the world. It 
 would have delighted an ancient Greek. Hippodamus himself might 
 have planned it. Pausanias would have been in ecstasies if he had 
 seen it, all its lines straight and all its angles right angles. And in 
 his eyes the beauty of the regular city would have been enhanced 
 by contrast with the rough shapeless mountains, glimpses of which 
 you get at the end of the streets that run towards the north and 
 west. Only the Contrada del Po deviates somewhat from the due 
 direction, but this is scarcely appreciable by the eye. The spacious 
 porticoes are thronged with people, notwithstanding that this is the 
 season of the Villegiatura , and there is " nobody in town.” 
 
 I went this morning to call upon a friend at the Ministry of Foreign 
 Affairs, which is modestly lodged in a corner of the Piazza Castello. 
 I was surprised with the quietness of the whole establishment. The 
 porter was dozing at the door ; my friend the employe was not at 
 home, nobody was waiting for an audience, and M. de Cavour was 
 “disengaged” in the inner room. “Did I want to see him?” asked 
 
NAPLES AND GARIBALDI (i860). 
 
 263 
 
 the porter. Having no pretext for an interview with the great man, 
 and having neither invention, nor impudence sufficient to extemporise 
 one, I was obliged to decline the honour, and I went away wondering 
 at the stillness which reigned at what may be called the central point 
 of European diplomacy. It reminded me of the brain, which though 
 the source of all sensation, has no sensation itself. 
 
 Aug. 24. — This morning I had a call from Signor , a ministerial 
 
 deputy, and an able as well as honest man. He takes a gloomy view 
 of the state of things in Italy. “ The Ministry is excessively embarrassed 
 by the exigencies of France, on the one hand; by the remonstrances 
 of the great Powers, on the other ; and by the popular enthusiasm for 
 Garibaldi, on the third. (We may suppose an Executive to have 
 three hands, at least : in this case all of them are tied.) Garibaldi 
 is a brave man, but ‘ a fool ’ {sic) ; he is easily led by the people about 
 him, and he is surrounded by the most worthless advisers — as, for 
 example, Crespi. The Mazzini party are taking advantage of the 
 discontent excited by the late measures of the Ministry against the 
 volunteers, and of Garibaldi's easy temper, and hope to proclaim first 
 the Dictatorship of Garibaldi, and then the Republic in Southern 
 Italy. The ultra-liberals are blind to facts and consequences ; they 
 will not take account of the difficulties in their way ; they menace 
 Rome in spite of France and Venetia, in spite of Germany (for it is 
 certain that Prussia has agreed to make common cause with Austria). 
 
 “ Things are going from bad to worse, and we may lose all we 
 have gained. Old animosities— la politico, di ca 77 ipa 7 iile — are reviving 
 again, and are fanned by the ultra-liberals for their ovvn purposes. 
 The people were humiliated at the loss of Savoy and Nice, but all 
 reasonable men felt that the Government had no choice. The citizens 
 of Turin cared much more for Savoy than Nice, because the change 
 brought the French frontier within sight of their walls. Turin is now 
 a defenceless frontier town, and can never be the capital of Italy.” 
 
 Aug. 25. — I met another gentleman, neither deputy nor ministerial. 
 He was enthusiastic for Garibaldi, "the honest man and great captain.” 
 “ Cavour,” he said, “has lost all his popularity, not so much from the 
 cession of Savoy and Nice — for there was no resisting the armed 
 brigand who took them — but from the way in which it was done. 
 Cavour did it jauntily and unconcernedly, when, in decency, he ought 
 to have worn an air of dejection. To parody what Jean Jacques said 
 of a bishop ; ‘ Quelque v6ridique qu’on soit il faut bien mentir quelques 
 
264 
 
 NAPLES AND GARIBALDI (i860). 
 
 fois quand on est diplomate ; ’ but Cavour lied gratuitously. People 
 have lost all confidence in him since he has sold himself to the devil. 
 
 “ Garibaldi is true as steel ; he will conquer Naples and proclaim 
 the R6 Galantuomo King of Italy, who will then find some honester 
 man than Cavour to be his prime minister.” 
 
 Aug. 26 . — Notes of a Conversation with . “The franchise in 
 
 Piedmont is given to all who pay forty francs per annum in direct 
 taxes, which, in a country divided into small holdings, is almost 
 equivalent to universal suffrage. But all landholders are conservative, 
 and those of Piedmont Proper exercise it admirably; they are the 
 mainstay of the constitution. 
 
 “The so-called Tuscan autonomy is not an autonomy in fact; the 
 word is misapplied. It means in this case that, for the present, the 
 judicial system of Tuscany is maintained intact. For instance, if a 
 dispute arises in Tuscany, it cannot be tried at Turin till they send it 
 for trial. 
 
 "Ten years ago, I foresaw that the idea of Italian unity was mounting 
 like a flood, and would sweep all before it. The existence of this idea 
 is a great fact which people at home would not see ; 1 mean, Secretaries 
 of State. Naples might have been saved to the king if he had joined 
 Piedmont. In March, 1859, Lord Malmesbury wanted Sir James 
 Hudson to go to Naples and advise the king to grant a constitution. 
 He said, ‘ It is no use unless you allow me to advise his sending twenty 
 thousand troops or so, to make a demonstration to the Italian side ; a 
 very small demonstration will suffice.’ Lord Malmesbury refused ; ‘ he 
 did not wish Naples to be mixed up in the quarrel between Austria 
 and France.’ Now the quarrel between Austria and France was ‘in 
 the second plan. The battle of Italian unity was uppermost in men’s 
 minds. The great Powers urged the Piedmontese Government to stop 
 the departure of the volunteers as soon as Garibaldi turned his designs 
 on the mainland. Legally, there is no distinction between Sicily and 
 Naples, but morally there is a distinction, because the Sicilians had 
 been deluded by the Bourbons. The promise of a constitution, 
 made in 1812, was never fulfilled. And, as you remind me, Lord 
 Palmerston said in Parliament, apropos of non-intervention, that there 
 was no point of international law which is not liable to exceptions in 
 practice. Farini’s circular was the result of this diplomatic pressure. 
 If after that he had not prevented the departure of the volunteers, the 
 power of Minister of the Interior would have been at an end. He 
 
NAPLES AND GARIBALDI (i860) 
 
 265 
 
 could not act otherwise than he did. The papers cry out, but their 
 influence is almost nil, since Parliament has begun to perform its 
 functions regularly.’ Ten years ago the press was very powerful. 
 Cavour himself used to write articles. Now each paper is the organ of 
 some little knot of politicians. Like a volcano (as you say) where 
 there are at first a number of little outlets, which all cease when a great 
 crater is formed. If Garibaldi is beaten, the Piedmontese Government 
 will see that it must bide its time ; it will still represent the idea of 
 unity, which sooner or later will be realised in fact. The more 
 moderate papers are beginning to see the necessity of waiting for an 
 opportunity of getting Venetia. 
 
 “ If Piedmont receives any further accession of territory, there is a 
 notion afloat that France will demand the island of Sardinia as the 
 price of her assent. The plains are enormously fertile, yielding, they 
 say, fortyfold. A large outlay would be required for draining, etc., to 
 bring land now idle under cultivation. The volcanic rocks and the 
 high mountains which prevent a free current of wind from west to east, 
 are the cause of the unhealthiness of the place. All the island is 
 unhealthy part of the year, and part is unhealthy all the year round. 
 Sardinia is the most retrograde portion of the kingdom, and disaffected 
 because the high taxation has been most felt there. There is an 
 English party and a French party eager for annexation to one or other 
 country, which is rich, and, as they think, would spend money there, 
 but it would not strengthen either. The Bay of La Maddalena was of 
 service to England in the former war, when they were blockading 
 Toulon ; but now that steam-vessels have taken the place of sailing- 
 vessels, and can keep the sea in any wind, it will no longer be of 
 service even in war. But politicians at home are governed by traditional 
 views about British interests. That is why we stick to the Ionian 
 Islands, which are no use to us. If we could only get rid of the notion 
 that France is our natural enemy, and that we are bound to keep up 
 posts of possible annoyance to her ! The Ionian Islands are a perpetual 
 sore between England and Greece. With Malta it is different. It is 
 an island-fortress-prize of war, and I am for keeping it as long as we can. 
 It would be ridiculous at Malta, or Gibraltar, to submit the question of 
 ownership to universal suffrage. 
 
 “The notion prevalent in Germany that the line of the Mincio, or at 
 all events that of the Adige, is necessary to their security in a strategical 
 point of view, is quite unfounded. It has not even the excuse of 
 
266 
 
 NAPLES AND GARIBALDI (i860). 
 
 tradition. Read Metternich’s letters, written at the time of the 
 Congress of Vienna, and you will see that he was unwilling to accept 
 the fatal gift of Northern Italy. But now that they have got the four 
 fortresses, and that the Germans conceive their honour as well as their 
 safety involved in the Austrian retention of Venetia, they will keep it as 
 long as they can 5 
 
 “ After all, we must submit all questions at last to the inexorable 
 logic of facts (as the French say).” 
 
 Genoa, Aug. 29. — Walked for an hour after sunset with a French 
 gentleman, whose acquaintance I had made at dinner, up and down the 
 delightful promenade of the Acqua Sola. It occupies an elevated 
 platform on the eastern side of the city, flanked externally by the walls 
 of the inner circle of fortification, and looking over a valley set thick 
 with painted houses and gardens, the sea to the right, and on the left 
 the hills crowned with fortresses. It is planted with rows of ilex, 
 acacia, and plane, and in the centre is an oval pond with a fountain, set 
 round with weeping willows. It is well provided with stone seats. As 
 we sat upon one of these, looking towards the sea, still lighted with 
 reflected splendour from the west, “ It is a shame,” said the French- 
 man, “ to talk politics in so lovely a place, and at such a time. We 
 ought to talk poetry.” 
 
 “It is your restless Emperor,” said I, “who forces everybody to 
 think and to talk politics at all places and times.” 
 
 “ Maybe so,” he replied ; “ but his view is the true view, namely, 
 that there will be no secure and lasting peace for Europe, until its 
 political system is based upon the principle of nationalities. It may 
 cost us years of disturbance to establish this principle, but it will be 
 the best for peace in the long run. Europe will then be in a position 
 of stable equilibrium (as the mathematicians say). This is the object 
 of French policy. Surely it is nobler and wiser than the hand-to-mouth, 
 purblind policy of your Government, which huddles up all quarrels 
 and has for its object only the adjournment of war in the interest 
 of merchants and fundholders.” 
 
 - He spoke as volubly and rapidly as an actor in a Greek comedy 
 delivering the trvlyos. When at last he paused for breath, I interposed : 
 “ Stop ! what do you mean by ‘ the principle of nationalities ’ ? ” 
 
 “What do I mean! Surely it is clear enough. It is a phrase 
 universally used. Everybody knows it.” 
 
 “ But if it has a definite meaning, it is capable of definition. 
 
NAPLES AND GARIBALDI (i860). 
 
 267 
 
 “ Well, I suppose we may express it thus : Every nation has a right 
 to belong to itself, and to choose its own form of government, and its 
 own governors.” 
 
 “What do you mean by a nation?” 
 
 “ Diable ! mon cher Monsieur, comme vous vous posez en Socrate ! 
 The words of which one knows the meaning best are precisely those 
 which one feels it most difficult to define. Of such words no one asks 
 for a definition in good faith, but only for the sake of puzzling you, and 
 in order to divert a question of facts into a question of words.” 
 
 “ Don’t be angry ! In all good faith, I do not know in what sense 
 you use the word ‘ nation.’ Its etymology ” 
 
 “ Oh, confound etymology — je m’en soucie guere. I use the word 
 in its modern sense, meaning a people of the same race, speaking the 
 same language, inhabiting the same country.” 
 
 “ As for instance ? ” 
 
 “ The French, the English, the Italians •” 
 
 “ Stay a moment. I doubt whether your instances are to the point. 
 Are the people in Brittany, Lorraine, Alsace, and Gascony, of the same 
 race as the people in the centre of France, and do they speak the same 
 language? Yet they are integral parts of the French nation. So it is 
 with the Welsh, the Scotch Highlanders, the people in the Channel 
 Islands — they are not of the same race, nor do they speak the same 
 language as the bulk of the English nation, yet they belong to it, 
 inseparably attached. Of Ireland I do not speak ” 
 
 “ No, you would find a difficulty there.” 
 
 “ I may find a difficulty in combating the rooted prejudices existing 
 on the Continent with respect to Ireland, but you must admit — without 
 prejudice to the future rights of King Macmahon — that it forms at 
 present a part of the United Kingdom, while two-thirds of the people 
 are of Celtic blood ; and a small portion still speak a Celtic tongue. 
 As for Italy, it is inhabited by a multitude of races : Celts and Lombards 
 in the north, Greeks in the south, and a fusion of old Italic tribes 
 in the centre. As to language, a Lombard peasant and a Neapolitan 
 peasant are as mutually unintelligible as an Englishman and a 
 German.” 
 
 “ But there is one language for the educated classes. They under- 
 stand each other.” 
 
 “ Yes, but that was not what you meant when you mentioned 1 a 
 people of the same race speaking the same language.’ Look at 
 
268 
 
 NAPLES AND GARIBALDI (i860). 
 
 Hungary again. I suppose you would help in the establishment of a 
 separate Hungarian nationality if you could ?” 
 
 “ Oh, certainly.” 
 
 “Well, in Hungary there are, I believe, at least four separate races, 
 and four distinct languages, yet all these are united against the Austrian 
 Government, and desire to form one independent nation. We read 
 in the papers how cordially they fraternised at Pesth on the feast of 
 St. Stephen, the other day.” 
 
 “ I admit, my definition will scarcely apply to actual facts ; it is 
 rather a definition of the beau ideal of a nation. Let me see if I can 
 modify it so as to make it practical. You English can only comprehend 
 what is practical. As the Emperor said, you will never go to war for 
 an idea.” 
 
 “ For my part, I don’t see that the annexation of Savoy is a whit more 
 ideal than the annexation of Scinde, unless the combination of fraud 
 with force in the case of Savoy ” 
 
 “ Ah ! ” (with a prolonged sneer) “ quant a la fraude un fils d’ Albion 
 a beau parler.” 
 
 “Allons! let us not quarrel like a couple of commis-voyageurs, but 
 revenons a nos moutons. By the way, where does that phrase come 
 from ? Is it somewhere in Moliere ? ” 
 
 “ No ; it is in the Avocat-Patelin , where you will find the source of 
 a great many popular sayings.” He mentioned several ; and, restored 
 to good humour by this display of erudition, he said, with a smile, 
 “ Ah oui nos moutons ; ou en etions nous?” 
 
 “You were proposing,” I said, “ to modify your definition of a nation. 
 If you had stuck to it, I would have asked you further what you meant 
 by ‘ race,’ and then what you meant by ‘ language ; ’ and each of these 
 words seems to me to be as difficult to define, practically, as nation 
 itself ; that is to say, to lay down any rule capable of practical applica- 
 tion as to what constitutes identity and what diversity in race and 
 language.” 
 
 “Well,” said the Frenchman, “let us not quibble any more ^bout 
 words, let us come to things. I say, then, that a people, of whatever 
 race or language, wishing to separate itself from, or join itself to, 
 another people, has a right to do so.” 
 
 “Pardon me, I don’t wish to quibble about words; but in using the 
 term ' people,’ you are, in fact, begging the question as much as if you 
 had said ‘ nation,’ ” 
 
NAPLES AND G A RINALDI (i860). 269 
 
 “You are hard to satisfy. I will say, if you like, instead of ‘a 
 people,’ ‘a number of persons living together.’ ” 
 
 “ Therefore, if the city of Bordeaux, for example, thinking its material 
 interests more closely connected with England than with France, were 
 to vote for annexing itself to the former country, the French Govern- 
 ment would acquiesce?” 
 
 “ To say the truth, I don’t think it would.” 
 
 “ That is to say, that when it found its interest opposed to its principle, 
 it would follow its interest.” 
 
 “ No ; your reductio ad absurdum is itself absurd. When I said ‘ a 
 number of persons,’ I meant, of course, such a number as might reason- 
 ably claim to form a separate nation.” 
 
 “ But in the case I put, it was not proposed that Bordeaux should 
 form a separate nation.” 
 
 “ It would be ridiculous for Bordeaux to pretend to have a will of its 
 own distinct from that of France, of which it forms perhaps in popula- 
 tion the three-hundredth part. We punished, if you remember, a similar 
 insolence on the part of Toulon.” 
 
 “ Yes, and you punished a similar insolence on the part of La 
 Vendee, without any particular reference to the numbers of the revolted 
 population.” 
 
 “ That was in time of war, and the necessity of self-preservation 
 imperiously demanded the reconquest of Toulon and La Vendee.” 
 
 “ If you assist the Hungarians to revolt, will it not be ‘ time of war ’ 
 then, and will not the necessity of self-preservation, from an Austrian 
 point of view, demand the reconquest of Hungary?” 
 
 “ Have you then no sympathy with an oppressed people? (You will 
 permit me to use the word in this case.) Do you not think that it is the 
 duty of a great and free nation to protect the weak against the strong?” 
 
 “Certainly; but then independent states, represented by their respect- 
 ive governments, existing for the time being, have their rights. These 
 may be respected, and yet much good done in behalf of what you call 
 oppressed nationalities, by peaceful diplomacy, friendly advice, grave 
 remonstrance, or even formal protest. I doubt whether the principles 
 of international law (which I imagine knows nothing of your 1 nation- 
 alities’), would sanction a declaration of war in any case.” 
 
 “ There are extreme cases in which necessity knows no law, inter- 
 national or other. The state of Italy could not have been remedied 
 last year without war.” 
 
270 
 
 NAPLES AND GARIBALDI (i860). 
 
 “ I doubt that. In a general congress, Austria, by the threat of war, 
 might have been induced to erect Lombardo-Venetia into an indepen- 
 dent kingdom, with free institutions, under the Archduke Maximilian, 
 who was personally popular. I believe that the state of Italy would 
 have been better than it is now. At all events, a congress ought to 
 have been tried. France would have saved 50,000 men and 500,000,000 
 of francs, but then Louis Napoleon would have missed the glory of 
 commanding in a real battle, and Nice and Savoy would have still 
 belonged to Sardinia. When once you unchain the demon of war, you 
 know not where the end will be. Over and over again peace has been 
 made at last without any reference to the original objects of the war. 
 No evils are comparable to those of war. The English policy to 
 adjourn war as long as possible, seems to me to be the really noble 
 and humane policy. Induce oppressive governments to adopt gentler 
 means of keeping public order, and time may soften down the fiercest 
 antipathies. Alsace and Lorraine, which detested the yoke of France 
 at first, have now become French at heart ; but if Germany had been 
 constantly inciting them to revolt by promises of military support, 
 successive insurrections would have been quenched in blood, and 
 mutual. hatred perpetuated for centuries. The policy of your Govern- 
 ment towards other nations seems to me the most mischievous possible ; 
 it keeps up discontent among the people, who are perpetually told how 
 much they are oppressed, and it piques the pride of the rulers, who 
 will not relax their system, lest it should be said that they do so from 
 fear of France.” 
 
 Surprised that I had not been interrupted during this long speech, 
 and receiving no reply when I paused of my own accord, I turned 
 towards my companion. He was, or feigned to be, asleep. 
 
 Aug. 31. — I sailed from Genoa by one of the French steamers 
 “ making the scala,” as the coasting voyage from Marseilles to Naples 
 is termed. There was a great crowd of passengers — the Neapolitan 
 and Sardinian boats having been taken up for purposes of war. 
 
 Next morning we stopped at Leghorn, and the morning after at 
 Civita Vecchia, and remained there six or seven hours, enough to 
 enable a party of American gentlemen to pay their visit to Rome, by 
 aid of the new railway. They returned in triumph, having effected 
 their purpose, and spent, as they said,” fifty minutes, sir, in the 
 E-ternal city ! ” 
 
 A moist sirocco, the prevailing wind during last autumn, brought 
 

VIEW OF NAPLES. 
 
NAPLES AND GARIBALDI (i860). 
 
 271 
 
 languor and discomfort to all We were right glad when about six 
 next morning, September 2, we found ourselves sailing by Capo, 
 Miseno, and entering the Bay of Naples. Everything, however, was 
 shrouded in a fog more worthy of England than of Italy. 
 
 As soon as we came to anchor we were boarded by large parties of 
 Neapolitans, chiefly in the new uniform of the National Guard, coming 
 to meet their friends. 
 
 After a very cursory examination of passports and luggage, we drove 
 off to the Hotel Vittoria, where I established myself for the next three 
 weeks, in an upper-room, looking over the ilex, acacias, palms, and 
 pepper-trees of the Villa Reale. 
 
 I kept my eyes and ears open, went diligently wherever there was 
 anything to be seen and heard ; taking copious notes day by day, and 
 occasionally writing long letters to friends in England. The tomb of 
 Virgil, Cumae, Avernus, Pompeii, the statues and frescoes of the 
 Museum, occupy a considerable space in my note-books. All this I 
 suppress for the reasons before mentioned. 
 
 Extract of a Letter from Naples , dated Tuesday , Sept. 4, th . 
 
 Naples is officially in a state of siege ; practically there is no Govern- 
 ment at all. Every man does that which is right in his own eyes, says 
 what he pleases, writes and prints what he pleases, and acts entirely 
 irrespective of all law, military or civil. For instance, three officers of 
 Garibaldi’s army on their way to England, charged with the duty of 
 bringing out the 800 volunteers from Liverpool, landed this morning. 
 Their passports bore no Neapolitan vise, so the police at the custom- 
 house refused them permission to enter the city, whereupon they 
 pushed the said police aside, and walked on in spite of them. 
 
 A crowd oi papers has sprung into existence during the last few 
 weeks. They are all openly for Garibaldi. They record triumphantly 
 the progress of the insurrection, and exhort the citizens of Naples to be 
 ready for action at the right moment. They are sold everywhere in the 
 streets, and as the price is generally one grano (something less than a 
 halfpenny sterling), everybody buys them. 
 
 At the theatres the audience demand “ Garibaldi’s hymn,” a patriotic 
 composition, which is to the Italians of to-day what “Yankee Doodle” 
 and the “ Marseillaise ” were respectively to the Americans and French 
 in their time. The hymn is sung ; the audience stand up, join in the 
 
NAPLES AND GARIBALDI (i860). 
 
 272 
 
 chorus, and, at the conclusion, cry out tumultuously “Viva Garibaldi,” 
 “ Viva Vittorio Emmanuele,” “ Viva l’ltalia Unita.” I see portraits of 
 Garibaldi and of Victor Emmanuel in every shop ; I have not seen one 
 of Francesco II. 
 
 The universal opinion here is that the reign of the Bourbons is over, 
 and that Garibaldi will enter Naples without the faintest show of 
 resistance. If the King had had, as was supposed, any party among 
 his subjects, whether nobles or lazzaroni,* some manifestation would 
 be made in his favour ; but there are no signs of the existence of a 
 Royalist party. When the King drives out — as he did daily up to the 
 end of last week — no notice is taken of him. Here and there a spec- 
 tator, out of pity and courtesy, lifts his hat ; but the majority ostenta- 
 tiously keep theirs on. 
 
 Numbers of officers in uniform are driving about in hackney cabs, 
 chatting and smoking, evidently in high spirits at the thought that they 
 can turn their backs on the enemy as soon as he appears, and this time 
 without dishonour. All accounts agree, that neither officers nor soldiers 
 mean fighting. There is not one regiment upon whose fidelity the 
 King can rely. There is one man in the army who is said to be faithful, 
 viz., Bosco, who commanded at Melazzo : but Bosco is a Neapolitan. 
 The National Guard, just organised, and very conspicuous in their 
 uniform of blue coats and red caps, mount guard at various places in 
 the city. They are to a man in favour of Garibaldi. I am informed, 
 on good authority, that the King has given a promise in writing to the 
 British Minister, and probably to all the foreign Ministers, that he will 
 not in any case order his troops in Sant Elmo and the Castelli to 
 bombard the city. A better security than the promise, written or 
 
 * Lazzaroni. There is great doubt even among well-informed Neapolitans 
 as to the existence of an organised body to which this term is specially 
 appropriate. In general it is used vaguely to designate the poorest classes. 
 A species of tax called “ gamorra ” is levied upon cabmen, small green- 
 grocers, fishmongers, and other tradesmen, by the authority, and for the 
 benefit, of a body of bravoes, called thence gamorristi, who co-opt into 
 their body those who, by strength of arm and skill in the use of the stiletto, 
 may have shown themselves worthy of the distinction. One of Garibaldi’s 
 earliest decrees declared this tax to be illegal. The account I have just 
 given was told to me by a secretary of legation, long resident at Naples. 
 This he believed to be the only organisation among what are called 
 
 lazzaroni,” 
 
NAPLES AND GARIBALDI (i860). 
 
 273 
 
 Otherwise, of a Bourbon, is the assurance that the troops would not 
 obey such an order. The bombardment of Naples would not save the 
 dynasty, and would eventually entail upon the bombarders certain 
 destruction from popular vengeance. Whenever on the mainland the 
 Neapolitan troops have encountered the Garibaldians, they have fired 
 a few shots, for form’s sake, and then surrendered. If such was their 
 conduct when the ultimate result of the war was doubtful, how can we 
 expect that they will act otherwise when the Bourbon cause is evidently 
 desperate ? 
 
 If the 14,000 Swiss who served Ferdinand had been still here, they 
 might have made a last stand for his son. Hated as they were by the 
 people, their best security would have been a desperate defence ; but 
 they are disbanded, and, as I before said, the unhappy Francesco has 
 not a regiment upon which he can count. The very soldiers on guard 
 at the gates of the palace seem to be under no discipline and no 
 restraint. I saw them last night lounging in all attitudes, laughing, 
 smoking, and playing at mora, with shouts that rang through the courts 
 and must have reached the ears of the King. 
 
 As to where Garibaldi is, and when he may be expected here, per- 
 haps you in England know as much as we know. All sorts of reports 
 are circulated. The Cafe d’Europa is crowded all the evening with 
 people circulating the bulletins issued every hour by this or that com- 
 mittee, and telling and hearing news the authenticity of which cannot 
 be tested, and of which one half contradicts the other. “ Garibaldi is 
 at Vallo” — “Garibaldi is at Sorrento” — “Garibaldi is at Salerno” — 
 “The King embarked last night” — “The King is going to-morrow” — 
 “The King declares he will stay at Naples” — “The Ministry has 
 resigned” — “The Ministry has fled in a body” — “The King wants to 
 go, but the Ministry will not let him ” — and so forth. 
 
 This much we know for certain, that the insurrection has spread 
 from province to province and from town to town. Even Salerno * 
 has established a Provisional Government and proclaimed Victor 
 Emmanuel ; and Salerno is under the very eyes of the commander-in- 
 chief of the royal army. The least sanguine expect that, within a 
 week at farthest, Victor Emmanuel will be proclaimed at Naples. 
 Meanwhile, the city itself, with the exceptions I have mentioned, wears 
 its ordinary aspect. Business goes on as usual ; all the shops are 
 open, the streets are crowded with carts and carriages of all sorts. 
 
 * This anticipated the truth by two days. 
 
274 
 
 NAPLES AND GARIBALDI (i860). 
 
 (By the way, Naples is the only Continental capital which is liable to 
 “blocks” such as occur in the thoroughfares of London.) Life and 
 property are just as safe under the new police and the Guardia 
 Nazionale as ever they were ; indeed safer, because there are no 
 sbirri to inform against honest men. Almost all the exiles have 
 already returned without permission from Government, but certain that 
 it dares not, and cannot, molest them. I have talked during the last 
 two days with many persons of all ranks — I was about to say, of all 
 opinions — but, in reality, I find only one opinion. All agree that the 
 Bourbon rule is practically at an end — and the sooner it is nominally 
 at an end also, the better. All look forward with joyful hope to the 
 impending change, but there are some who fear that, between the fall 
 of one Government and the installation of another, there may be an 
 interval of anarchy, during which the lowest class may take an oppor- 
 tunity for acts of pillage and private vengeance. In case of this 
 fear being realised, I am told that preparations are made for landing 
 sailors and marines to guard the embassies and consulates, where, 
 if necessary, strangers of the various nations may find refuge. But 
 in this fear I do not share. Naples can never have a weaker Govern- 
 ment than it has at this moment, when it is not governed at all ; and 
 yet, as I have said, the thieves and assassins are no busier than at 
 ordinary times. In fact, the lazzaroni are a bugbear, which has long 
 frightened the shopkeepers, and led them to suppose that a rigorous 
 police was necessary to the protection of their goods and chattels. 
 It is a generic term, including all the very ragged men and boys of 
 the city — a class which, in times of revolution, may be terrible enough, 
 but which is no more organised for mischief than the mob of London. 
 The upper and middle classes, including in the latter class all labouring 
 men with regular employment, are in this instance of one accord. 
 Therefore I believe that the change of Government will be made 
 without any disturbance and without any interruption in the ordinary 
 business and social relations of the place. 
 
 In all likelihood, however, the conquest of Naples will only be 
 regarded by Garibaldi as a starting point for fresh enterprises much 
 more uncertain and much more arduous. 
 
 “ The end is not yet.” 
 
 Sept. 6. — After spending a long morning at Pompeii, I went 
 with a young English officer by the train at one o’clock towards 
 Salerno. 
 
NAPLES AND GARIBALDI (i860). 
 
 275 
 
 As soon as the railroad turns away from the Bay of Naples, it 
 traverses a valley which at the farther end narrows into a ravine. 
 Castles crowned each peak, towns and villages stretch in white lines 
 along the slopes. The mountains are covered to the top with trees, 
 ilex, elm, chestnut, the lower slopes with vines in festoons, olives, 
 mulberries, maize yellowing to the harvest, cotton with pink and 
 white blossoms, tomatoes golden among the green. At Nocera we 
 saw the Neapolitan soldiers * in their light blue dresses, crowding 
 the staircase and galleries of the great palace which serves for barracks. 
 There was a citizen of Salerno in the train, who made polite offers 
 of his services there. We got to Vietri in about an hour, and taking 
 a carriage, drove at a furious pace from that village to Salerno, perhaps 
 two miles distant. There vve found the place all excitement. That 
 morning a Provisional Government had been installed. Four officers 
 of the national guard had taken the place of the Intendente nominated 
 by the King. The Intendenza itself was decorated with Italian colours, 
 and the arms of the Bourbon dynasty over the door were similarly 
 concealed. 
 
 A few of Garibaldi’s men in red shirts, the only article of dress which 
 is dc rigucur f in his army, were walking about the town. One 
 of them told me that he had just received a telegraphic despatch, 
 announcing that the general had left Eboli, and would be at Salerno 
 by six. Inquiring of another for General Tiirr, to whom I had an 
 introduction, he took me into the Intendenza, and presented me to 
 a white-haired, white-bearded old gentleman, who, as I understood 
 was the general’s secretary. He was very civil, but could not or 
 would not give me any information. 
 
 We then strolled about the town, and went to the cathedral, which 
 has an atrium in front, with columns and capitals taken from some 
 Roman Temple. There are a number of sarcophagi under the arches, 
 which had been appropriated by Normans. You may see a knight in 
 armour sculptured rudely, reposing above, and on the side a group 
 of Cupids and Bacchantes. Two pulpits and the screen of the choi 
 are beautifully preserved specimens of glass mosaic work, such as 
 
 * They were part of the force which had just evacuated ;he lines in front 
 of the capital, and were retreating to Capua — the fatal move which cost 
 Francesco his crown. 
 
 f Even the, red shirt, as I afterwards observed, was not indispensable. 
 There was nothing de rigueur in that army. 
 
2;5 
 
 Naples and garibaldi (i860). 
 
 the tomb of Henry III. at Westminster, long ago defaced.* In the 
 crypt below, rich in marbles, is the body of St. Matthew. 
 
 Returning to the beach, we passed one of the King’s “ Bavarians,” 
 very drunk, wearing a kind of cockade of the Italian colours, crying, 
 as well as he could, “Viva Garibaldi,” and supported by sympathising 
 natives. A bystander informed us, with an air of triumph, that two 
 hundred of these Bavarians had the previous night mutinied at Nocera, 
 killed ( ammazato ) one of their generals, and one of their captains, and 
 then fled in various directions, several having come to Salerno to offer 
 their services to Garibaldi. This story was, we found, true in the 
 main, only “ the general ” was an addition. They had murdered a 
 captain. My companion, as a military man, took a very different view 
 of the feat, which our Italian friends seemed to think meritorious on 
 the whole. 
 
 As the day declined, the crowd gathered more thickly on the terrace 
 which runs along the shore in front of Salerno. New detachments ot 
 tumultuary national guards poured in from the neighbourhood, armed 
 with guns of all sorts and sizes, and without any pretence to uniformity 
 in dress. A strong wind was blowing from the west, and clouds of 
 dust swept along the terrace, so that I thought if the General delayed 
 his entry much longer, we should have no sight left to see him withal. 
 The sun went down, and left the hills purple against the clear orange 
 and rose of the sky. 
 
 Still he came not. By-and-by, men set out to meet him, with 
 bundles of torches ready for lighting, and the householders prepared 
 to illuminate their windows. Bands of music paraded the town, and 
 the crowd kept up a running fire of vivas to pass the time. At last, 
 about half-past seven, a louder and more continuous cheer was heard ; 
 two or three carriages drove in, surrounded with people waving torches. 
 
 It was he at last. As he stopped at the door of the Intendenza, the 
 national guard closed in to keep off the crowd, and escorted him up 
 the staircase. A few minutes after he appeared at the balcony, while 
 some one next him held a moderator lamp so as to throw the light full 
 on his face. He stood bareheaded, fanning himself with his black 
 wide-awake, and looking like anything but the daring freebooter that 
 he is. He has the most benign expression of countenance, and his 
 
 * Is it our damp climate, or our mischievous nature, which mutilates every 
 monument in England ? The mosaics at Salerno look as if they had been 
 wrought last year. 
 
general garibaldi. 
 
NAPLES AND GARIBALDI (i860), 
 
 277 
 
 partia 1 baldness and long beard give him even a venerable look. He 
 might serve as model for the portrait of the most benevolent of ancient 
 philosophers, whoever that may have been.* Long after he had 
 retired, the crowd continued to cheer “ disturbedly ” as the old stage 
 direction says. In a little while all the town was lighted up. Nothing 
 could be more beautiful than the lines of light spreading along the 
 steep slopes of the hills and flashing in the sea below. By-and-by 
 the moon rose, and touched with cold greenish light the rocky summits 
 of the hills, convents, and castles, and white villas in the slope, bright 
 enough to distinguish the grey rows of olives above from the thicket 
 of lemon and fig trees below, and at last blending with the ruddy 
 splendour that shone upon town, and beach, and sea. 
 
 We retired at last to sup and sleep at the Hotel Vittoria (almost the 
 last house on the road to Vietri). 
 
 Sept. 7. — About half-past nine we heard the roar of vivas in the 
 street, and coming to the window, saw Garibaldi himself, passing in 
 the direction of Vietri. One of the crowd, while cheering in the most 
 frantic manner, suddenly fell in a kind of convulsive fit. I asked our 
 landlady, a vivacious, black-eyed Calabrese damsel, whether he had 
 not been drinkmg the General’s health. “No,” she said; "it is joy. 
 Ah,” in a tone of reproach, “you English, who have been always free, 
 cannot imagine the delight of deliverance.” And she made a gesture 
 as if she were about to fly. 
 
 Beside Garibaldi sat a person with gold lace round his cape, who 
 we were told was General de Suget, commander of the national guard. 
 The question for us was, Whither were they bound? Our landlord 
 assured us that they were going no farther than La Cava : he had it 
 from the best authority— it was certo certissimo. So we forthwith 
 engaged a carriage to take us to La Cava. Just as we were setting off, 
 came our acquaintance of the railway in the uniform of a national 
 guard, who told us that Garibaldi was going straight to Naples, and 
 that we might still be in time to catch the special train that was to 
 take him. 
 
 We drove with all speed to the station at Vietri, which was crowded 
 with carriages outside and people inside. There was no chance ol 
 getting through in the regular way ; so climbing up a somewhat steep 
 bank and getting over a low wall, we gained the railway. The train 
 
 * The busts of Euripides, in the Vatican, have a striking resemblance to 
 Garibaldi. 
 
 20 
 
278 
 
 NAPLES AND GARIBALDI (i860). 
 
 was not gone. Without asking any one’s leave, we got into a third-class 
 carriage, containing already about thirty people, like ourselves, a self- 
 invited escort for the Dictator. We were welcomed with cries of 
 “Viva l’lnghilterra.” It seems that the Neapolitan authorities, after 
 the departure of the King, had sent a telegraphic message to General 
 Garibaldi, asking when and where it would be his pleasure to receive a 
 deputation. The answer was : “ Immediately, at Salerno.” Accord- 
 ingly, the deputation came early on Friday morning. To their question, 
 when would the General honour Naples with his presence, he answered, 
 “ At once,” saying that he preferred a spontaneous to a prepared 
 welcome. So every one was taken by surprise. We congratulated 
 ourselves upon our good luck in being there to see. During the whole 
 of our journey, the thirty or forty occupants of the carriage where we 
 were did not cease shouting and singing. Some were in the uniform 
 of the national guard, and almost all were armed in one way or other. 
 The most conspicuous figure was a priest on the podgy side of forty, in 
 the usual long black gown and broad-brimmed hat, with a musket and 
 wide tricolor scarf. His bass voice was loudest of all the choruses, and 
 in the cheers as we passed each successive station. In the intervals he 
 was smoking regalias, which he brandished with the left hand, as he 
 brandished the musket with the right. The songs were interminable. 
 Rather, as it was always the same tune and the same chorus, I should 
 call it one song, of which the verses were extemporised by one or other 
 of the company. I managed to remember two of these verses, which I 
 give by way of specimen. 
 
 “ Siamo Italiani, 
 Giovani freschi, 
 
 Contro ai Tedeschi, 
 Vogliamo pugnar. 
 
 ( Chorus .) 
 
 “Viva l’ltalia ! 
 Viva l’unione! 
 
 Viva Garibaldi 1 
 E la liberta ! 
 
 M Morte a Francesco, 
 
 Del nome secondoj, 
 
 Piu belva nel mondo, 
 Trovar non si put*. 
 
 (Chorus), 
 
 “Viva l’ltalia," etc. 
 
NAPLES AND GARIBALDI (i860). 279 
 
 The tune resembled the ordinary chant of the saints’ litany “ Sancte 
 , ora pro nobis,” allegro instead of adagio. 
 
 At every station a mob of curious people were gathered, who 
 exchanged cheers with the occupants of the train, but it was evident 
 that they scarcely believed Garibaldi himself to be present. Events 
 had hastened to their denouement so rapidly, that people could hardly 
 credit the evidence of their senses. We stopped at Nocera, Torre dell’ 
 Annuziata, and Portici, for a few minutes. The demonstrations of 
 welcome came from all classes ; from the fishermen who left their boats 
 on the beach, from the swarthy fellows naked to the waist, who were 
 winnowing their corn on the flat house roofs, as well as from the national 
 guards who crowded round the carriage to see the famous chief. 
 
 At Naples there was a little delay while the Minister of the Interior, 
 who has transferred his services directly to the Dictator, made a 
 complimentary speech, not a word of which was audible to us. Then 
 Garibaldi got into the carriage which was waiting for him, and drove 
 slowly by the Strada Nuova, the Strada di Porto, and the Largo del 
 Castel Nuovo to the Foresteria. A few carriages followed containing 
 the deputation, and perhaps a dozen of his officers in their red 
 shirts. He himself wore his ordinary costume, red shirt, black wide- 
 awake, black neckcloth, and a coloured silk handkerchief knotted 
 and hanging down his back, to serve, I suppose, on occasion for 
 protection against the sun. A detachment of national guards went 
 before and behind. We elbowed our way among the shouting crowd, 
 and kept close by his carriage all the time. The excitement and 
 enthusiasm were great, but the crowd was an extemporary crowd, 
 composed of persons who had suddenly left their work at the news. 
 Naples had been taken by surprise. The windows were not filled 
 with expectant faces, the houses were not decorated with flags, 
 because no one knew that he was coming. This robbed the event 
 of its beauty as a spectacle, but it threw no doubt on the heartiness 
 of the welcome. 
 
 Garibaldi sat, for the most part, apparently unmoved, but from time 
 to time he lifted his hat, and smiled, as it were, with the eyes 
 rather than the lips. One of his men, with red shirt and plaid scarf 
 and plumed hat, well armed, stood behind the carriage at his back, 
 keeping, as I thought, a sharp eye upon all who came near, as if 
 looking for the handle of a dagger, or the butt end of a pistol. As 
 we passed the Castel del Carmine, a number of the King’s troops, 
 
280 
 
 NAPLES AND GARIBALDI (i860). 
 
 still in garrison there, were looking on. The mob in passing called 
 to them, and, with menacing gestures, demanded that they should 
 cry, “Viva Garibaldi.” Some few obeyed, but the majority stood 
 with folded arms and closed lips, notwithstanding the imprecations 
 of the crowd below. The procession at last reached the great open 
 place (its shape forbids me to call it a square) in front of the 
 palace. Then Garibaldi left his carriage and entered the Foresteria, 
 a large house intended for the reception of foreign guests of distinction. 
 A few minutes afterwards he appeared at an open window on the 
 first floor, and walked along the balcony to the centre of the building. 
 Loud cries, not like the rolling cheers of an English crowd, but con- 
 fused and inarticulate, greeted his appearance. He leaned with his 
 left arm on the iron framework of the balcony, and waited patiently 
 hat in hand. At last the crowd began to understand that he wanted 
 to speak to them, and gradually the cries and shouts died away 
 into silence, obedient to reiterated, “ Zitti, zitti,” from the quieter 
 spirits. It was to the following effect : — “ You have a right to exult 
 in this day, which is the commencement of a new epoch not only 
 for you but for all Italy, of which Naples forms the fairest portion. 
 It is indeed a glorious day and a holy that on which a people passes 
 from the yoke of servitude to the rank of a free nation. I thank 
 you for this welcome, not only for myself individually, but in the 
 name of all Italy, which your aid will render free and united.” * 
 
 He spoke with a clear and loud voice, which was heard by all. The 
 phrase “ Italia intiera ” occurred twice in his speech, and was pro- 
 nounced with unusual distinctness and emphasis, eliciting cheers of 
 especial meaning. 
 
 Wearied with dust, heat, and excitement, I went home to bathe 
 and rest, and found that some patriot had picked my pocket. Mean- 
 while the Dictator went to the cathedral, where a service of some 
 kind was performed, and thence to the Palazzo d’Angri, where he 
 has taken up his abode for the present. 
 
 About three o’clock I drove up the Toledo, and found the street in 
 front of the Palazzo blocked up by a dense mass of carriages and 
 people on foot, crying “Viva Garibaldi!” at the top of their voices, to 
 bring him to the window. At last one of his men appeared and laid his 
 cheek upon his hand, implying that the General had gone to lie down — 
 
 * No newspaper, that I saw, contained a perfectly accurate report of this 
 speech. 
 
NAPLES AND GARIBALDI (i860). 
 
 281 
 
 11 his custom always of an afternoon ” (as I am told). He gets up about 
 three in the morning, and transacts a vast amount of business before 
 the rest of the world is out of bed. Before the day was over, every 
 house, almost every window in the Toledo and Cliiaia and main streets 
 of Naples had its flag. There seemed to be considerable difference of 
 opinion as to what the Italian tricolor was. All were agreed as to the 
 colours, green, white, red ; but whether they should be placed like the 
 French parallel to the staff, or like the Dutch, at right angles : and 
 whether the green should come first, or the red, seemed to be a moot 
 point which each householder decided according to his fancy. The 
 white portion of the flag was adorned either with a portrait of Garibaldi, 
 or with a red shield and the white cross of Savoy. At sunset the town 
 was illuminated, as the Italians say, a giorno ; crowds of pedestrians 
 and a multitude of carriages paraded the main streets. The noise was 
 indescribable. The hero’s name was repeated in all manner of forms, 
 as if it was a declinable noun. Garibaldi, Garibaldo, Garibalda — nay, 
 it was metamorphosed into Gallibar and Gallipot, and Galliboard ; at 
 last the two first syllables were suppressed, and “ Viva 'Board” was 
 the favourite cry, the sound of the last syllable being prolonged to the 
 utmost. You heard, too, “ Viva Vittorio Emmanuele,” and still more 
 frequently, “Viva l'ltalia unita,” which at length was shortened into 
 vna, and when people got so hoarse that they could not articulate any 
 longer, they held out the forefinger and shook it as they passed, indica- 
 tive of their desire for unity. Men, women, and boys crowded the 
 carriages and clung to them like swarming bees — I counted thirteen 
 persons in a small vehicle drawn by one horse. Some waved flags, 
 some brandished daggers, holding them occasionally in unpleasant 
 proximity to one’s throat, and shrieking with menacing scowls, “ Viva 
 Garibaldi ! ” others danced frantically along, waving torches over their 
 heads. I have never seen such a sight as the Strada di Toledo 
 presented as you looked up it, the long lines of stationary lights con- 
 verging in the distance, and the flags drooping from the windows, and 
 down below the mad movements of the torches and the waved banners 
 and gleaming arms. Here and there an excited orator addressed the 
 crowd about him in wild declamation ; little bands of enthusiasts, 
 headed sometimes by a priest and sometimes by a woman, went 
 dancing through the streets and burst into the cafes, compelling all 
 present to join in the popular cry. I was forcibly reminded of the 
 scenes of the French Revolution and Mademoiselle Louise Theroigne. 
 
282 
 
 NAPLES AND GARIBALDI (i860). 
 
 When I was in the Cafe d’Europa a priest rushed in with frantic 
 gestures, with eyes starting from his head, with a banner in one hand 
 and a knife in the other, uttering horrible and inarticulate howlings. 
 Having seen him, I can understand the frenzy of the ancient Bacchantes. 
 
 A friend of mine saw a young and beautiful girl, belonging appa- 
 rently to the upper class, who, standing up in a carriage, began to 
 address the crowd quietly at first, but warming gradually into a fury of 
 enthusiasm, the veins in face and neck swollen, and ending with 
 “Morte ai Borboni,” shrieked out with the accents and gestures of a 
 Rachel. 
 
 Sept. 8 th . — The diversion was repeated on this night (and again on 
 Sunday, the 9th) with more vigour, and violence, and extravagance than 
 ever. 
 
 An unfortunate man who did not cry “ Viva Garibaldi ” when he was 
 bidden, was ripped open by one who carried a dagger, and died on 
 the spot. An English officer saw him lying dead. A proclamation 
 next morning from the new minister of police entreated the people to 
 leave their arms at home, but it did not appear to have much effect. 
 These people have not been accustomed to official entreaties. 
 
 On the afternoon Garibaldi went to the Church of the Piedigrotta, 
 seeing (as the paper informed us) that it had been the ancient custom 
 of the Neapolitan Sovereigns to pay their devotions to the Madonna of 
 that ilk on the 8th of September. 
 
 There used to be a great parade of troops on this day, and country 
 people came in from far and near ; but this year it had lost all its usual 
 characteristics. There were no troops and few visitors, and a heavy 
 fall of rain completed the failure. This I heard from others, as I spent 
 the day at Puzzuoli Cumae and Baiae. I returned in time for the per- 
 formance at the San Carlo, which the Dictator was present at. The 
 performance was listened to with impatience ; people seemed to care 
 for nothing but shouting “ Viva ” between the acts. Some English mid- 
 shipmen, from boxes in the third tier, made themselves very conspicuous 
 by the energy with which they waved their tricolor. The spectacle 
 was spoilt by the avarice of the managers, who had doubled the prices, 
 and consequently halved the audience. The thousand or fifteen 
 hundred who were present did their best to compensate for the 
 beggarly account of empty boxes. “ Viva Venezia ” seemed to be the 
 favourite cry. I saw the Dictator smile grimly when he heard it. 
 Among the persons who came to pay their respects to him was, as 1 
 
NAPLES AND GARIBALDI (i860). 
 
 283 
 
 was told, the very Admiral who had commanded the Neapolitan fleet at 
 Palermo, and also Liborio Romano, who bowed in the humblest manner 
 "con illimitato rispetto.” 
 
 The ballet was brought to an untimely end by some one in a shooting- 
 coat rushing on the stage and crying out "Viva,” etc., in which the 
 whole corps de ballet joined, crowding round the box where the 
 General was, and lifting their arms in the theatrical fashion of supplica- 
 tion. A body of national guards, with drawn swords, escorted Garibaldi 
 through the thronged corridors to his carriage. Some one, in loud voice, 
 cried "Silenzio nel nome de Garibaldi!” which was answered by a 
 prolonged shout. 
 
 Sept. 9. — About ten o’clock, as I was walking by Sta Lucia, I saw 
 a great crowd gathered round a brightly blazing pile — a curious sight on 
 a summer’s morning. Asking a bystander the meaning of it, I was 
 informed that the pile consisted of the furniture, books, and papers of 
 an obnoxious agent of police. He was about to make his escape. 
 Some of the mob being informed of it were on the watch, and as soon as 
 the cart containing his chattels emerged from the door of the fortified 
 place where he lived, they pounced upon it, made aheap of its contents, 
 and set fire to them. They were dancing round the fire in wild excite- 
 ment. Old women threw up their skinny arms and shrieked, and the 
 children were mad with delight. I saw one man seize a loose sheet 
 of manuscript, which had been blown away from the pile, crumple it in 
 his hand, throw it down, and stamp on it, then fold his arms and 
 " stare with his foot on the prey,” in the attitude of Clytemnestra 
 stamping on the corpse of Agamemnon. The Neapolitans, generally 
 speaking, are not handsome in feature nor picturesque in dress — they 
 are commonplace when in repose, but when excited with passion, 
 their countenances and gestures are a study for an actor or a painter. 
 While they were thus engaged, a rumour spr jad that the owner of the 
 furniture was making his escape by sea. Instantly the crowd dispersed. 
 Some put off in boats, others clambered round the rocky point and along 
 the sea-wall — all animated with a desire of vengeance. They were, 
 however, disappointed. The obnoxious functionary either was already 
 gone, or else he prudently waited for a more favourable opportunity. 
 
 It is probably because the officials of the King have been, for the 
 most part, as prudent as their master, and made their escape in time, 
 that so few acts of violence have been committed during these revolu- 
 tionary days. It is not for want of will on the part of the people. 
 
284 
 
 NAPLES AND GARIBALDI (i860). 
 
 To-day I read in the paper, that as Garibaldi was returning from a 
 drive, some one followed him crying, “Viva Francesco II.,” when a 
 “ Guardiano della Dogana ” came up and shot him dead ! The mob 
 wanted to inflict indignities on the corpse (as their wont is), but the 
 Dictator interfered, and ordered that it should be decently buried. It 
 does not appear that he blamed the slayer for excess of zeal. 
 
 This afternoon I saw at the Castel Nuovo the King’s troops with bag 
 and baggage and arms evacuating the place, and the national guards 
 marching in. A considerable crowd assembled, but there was no 
 manifestation of feeling against the soldiers. About 150 of them 
 waited for an hour or more in the street outside. Passers-by talked 
 to them in friendly terms. As far as I could judge from the coun- 
 tenances of the men, they were quite indifferent, and did not seem to 
 care where they went. They were well armed and clothed, and evidently 
 had been well fed. Had they been well led, too, things would have 
 taken a very different turn. While they were still waiting for orders, a 
 regiment of Garibaldians came by, marching, it was said, under General 
 Tiirr, to repress a reactionary movement at Ariano. The contrast which 
 these filibusters presented to the royal troops was exceedingly striking. 
 Of the Garibaldians, no two men were armed or clothed alike : some 
 had only one shoe, some no shoes at all. There were boys of twelve 
 and thirteen years old in the ranks, side by side with grey-bearded 
 veterans ; there were the most bizarre contrasts as to personal stature, 
 such as one has only seen in the army of Bombastes Furioso, and they 
 made no pretence of keeping line or keeping step. Many of them 
 carried loaves stuck on the end of their muskets or bayonets. Yet 
 these are the men before whom a well-appointed army of 150,000 men, 
 with a king’s name for a tower of strength, have broken, and fled, and 
 melted into nothing. 
 
 Apropos of the boys, I was told by one who had seen the battle of 
 Melazzo, that they did excellent service, and showed no sign of fear — 
 laughing and singing, when exposed to a murderous fire, as if their 
 young lives were of no account. “ If such things be done in the green 
 tree,” the kingdom of Italy may in reality be formidable to her neigh- 
 bours a few years hence, and justify the alarm which led Louis Napoleon 
 to appropriate Nice and Savoy for the protection of France. 
 
 Sept. 11. — Now that the shouting is over, we have some leisure for 
 thinking what it means, what realities lie under this surface of triumph. 
 
 On Wednesday night, Sept. 5th, or rather, early in the morning of 
 
NAPLES AND GARIBALDI (i860). 
 
 285 
 
 Thursday, the King left his palace, committing the town to the care of 
 the general commanding the national guard. The official paper, 
 Constitutional Journal, as it was called, contained on Thursday a pro- 
 clamation from the King in dignified terms, promising that when it 
 should please the Divine Justice to restore him to his throne, he would 
 still preserve the constitution which he had granted. To this was 
 added a protest, countersigned by the prime minister De Martino, in 
 which Garibaldi is called “ un ardito condottiere.” 
 
 The same journal of Friday, changing the title of constitutional to 
 that of official, and substituting Naples for the Two Sicilies, contains a 
 proclamation of Garibaldi to the people, dated that morning at Salerno, 
 and a letter from Liborio Romano to ‘‘the most invincible Dictator,” 
 announcing the impatience of Naples for the arrival of its “ Redeemer,” 
 and professing “ to await his further orders with unbounded respect.” 
 This man had two days before countersigned the deeds of Francis II. 
 in his capacity of Minister of the Interior. His ostentatious treason 
 has offended even the Neapolitans. 
 
 The mode in which the title now borne by Garibaldi was conferred 
 is singular. Some half-dozen persons, including Liborio, announced 
 that on the invitation of the General they had formed themselves into a 
 Provisional Government, and in virtue of the authority so derived they 
 declared General Garibaldi Dictator. A curious ruse this for investing 
 the transaction with a semblance of legality. It can only impose upon 
 those who do not see that arguing in a circle proves nothing. By 
 what authority, we may ask, did Garibaldi invite the said half dozen to 
 form a Provisional Government ? 
 
 The gazettes of Saturday and the two following days are filled with 
 decrees nominating ministers, confirming all subordinate e?nployes, 
 except pluralists, in their posts, recognising the national debt, etc. 
 
 The ministers named are not in general (as I am told) men of com- 
 manding ability, but they are all moderate men, and, as such, give 
 satisfaction to the party represented by the Comitato Unitario, the 
 Cavour party. The party which calls itself the Partito d'Azione, of 
 which Crespi, De Pretis and Bertani (perhaps I should now include 
 Mazzini) are the leaders, is, however, believed to have the Dictator’s 
 affections, and in reality to guide his councils. Garibaldi has already 
 alarmed the moderates by the violence of his language more than once. 
 On Friday, in answer to an address, he called Lamoriciere, “ a rene- 
 gade head of a set of ragamuffins without country and without faith.” 
 
286 
 
 NAPLES AND GARIBALDI (i860). 
 
 The King of Sardinia (I am told) sent an aide-de-camp to consult 
 about the mode of annexation, to which he replied, “ It is not even to 
 be thought of till I get to Rome ; ” and this story is confirmed by the 
 proclamation of this morning, September nth, to the Sicilians, in 
 which he declares his intention of proclaiming Italian unity from the 
 summit of the Quirinal. This audacious boast has dismayed the 
 moderate party exceedingly. In a constitutional regime the ministers 
 would all have resigned. 
 
 In the midst of all these political agitations I have found time to visit 
 many of the permanent "sights ” of Naples, and especially the Museo 
 Borbonico, which, like the British, contains several museums in one. 
 The picture gallery may, I suppose, be ranked as the sixth in combined 
 excellence and size, after those of the Louvre, Dresden, Madrid, and the 
 two at Florence. It has not so many great pictures as the Vatican, or 
 even perhaps our National Gallery, but they are small galleries. In 
 sculpture, it ranks next to the Vatican and before the Louvre; in 
 ancient bronzes and mosaics it is facile princeps ; in ancient frescoes it 
 is unique. The frescoes, taken all from Herculaneum and Pompeii, are 
 exceedingly interesting. In point of art, their quality is very various. 
 Some figures are drawn and coloured with a breadth and boldness that 
 reminds one of the Venetian school. There is, for example, a brown 
 stalwart Bacchante which Titian might have painted. But in general 
 they recall the style of the earlier naturalists of Florence more than any 
 other modern school. The " house-sign-and-ornamental painters ” 
 of a country town in the first century had attained a mastery over 
 pencil and brush, which, till Masaccio came, the greatest artists of 
 modern times failed to equal. But then the devotional feeling, the 
 divine calm that charms us in Giotto and Fra Beato, is altogether 
 wanting. Their conceptions are of the earth, earthy. I suppose, 
 however, that we should have found this devotional element in the 
 works of the best painters contemporary with Phidias. He, at least, 
 believed the gods he mounded, Zeus and Athene. 
 
 In these frescoes, even when the drawing is bad, the conception is 
 often good, and now and then we meet with a dash of humour, which, 
 coming to us from a long-buried world, is infinitely charming. The 
 idea we derive from our schooldays of the old Romans is that of a grim, 
 savage, earnest people, who were always fighting, marching, sacrificing, 
 making military roads, innumerable laws, and interminable orations, 
 growing by-and-by foully and desperately wicked. Nothing brings us 
 
NAPLES AND GARIBALDI (i860). 
 
 287 
 
 so near to them as a glimpse of their capacity for fun such as we get 
 in the dramatists now and then, in Cicero’s letters, or in Suetonius, or 
 in these frescoes from Pompeii. For instance, there is a series of small 
 pictures (absurdly described in the catalogue as signs of shops) 
 representing fat winged Cupids hard at work at various trades. In one 
 they are making boots, very like the modern “ Bluchers.” I cannot tell 
 why they are comical, but I defy any one to look at them without 
 laughing — which I take to be the best proof that they are comical. 
 
 In the centre of the room is a recent addition, quite the reverse of 
 comical — a wax mask found in a tomb at Cumae along with a headless 
 skeleton, from which it is inferred that the person interred had been 
 decapitated. It is, I believe, the only relic of the kind in existence. 
 The chances are immensely against the preservation of so fragile an 
 object. In the tomb were found some coins of Diocletian. A few 
 years ago the remains would have been at once assumed to be those of 
 a Christian martyr, and a new saint added to the calendar. 
 
 I have been to-day, September 12th, with a party of English and Italians 
 to visit the prisons of Naples, in virtue of an order given by I know not 
 what minister. First we saw some dungeons at the Prefecture of Police, 
 behind the Largo del Castello — places without light or air, or bed or 
 seat, where we were assured people were kept for a fortnight, or even 
 a month, without trial. One of these, built for a common latrina, had 
 been used, as one of the new officials told us, for a prison, and a man 
 was confined for eight days there, at the end of which time his toes 
 were found to be gnawed to the bone by rats. The sight and smell of 
 the place made two of our party ill for the whole day. 
 
 Then we went, by steep, narrow, filthy by-streets, to Sta. Maria 
 Apparente. There the cells had been newly cleansed and whitewashed, 
 so that there was nothing disgusting in their appearance ; but the 
 prison system in vogue under Ferdinand was such as to convert the 
 most spacious and airy room into a place of torture. There is also a 
 winding passage cut in the rock, which seems formerly to have been 
 divided into cells. Several unfortunates had carved their names, with 
 the date of their imprisonment. One recorded that he had been buried 
 ( sepolto ) for four years, 1856-1860; another added to his name the 
 words, “ Reo senza delitto.” 
 
 After that we climbed up to Sant Elmo, saw its vast subterranean 
 galleries tier above tier, with sloping staircase (if that may be so called 
 which has no steps), like the passages in the Mausoleum by Hadrian. 
 
288 
 
 NAPLES AND GARIBALDI (i860). 
 
 There are prisons also in St. Elmo, though they have been chiefly used 
 to punish military offenders.* We walked round the ramparts, now 
 sentinelled by Piedmontese troops and by the national guard, and soon, 
 it is said, to be demolished. As a fortress, St. Elmo is formidable to 
 the town, but of little use against an enemy from without, at all events 
 if he approached by land, as it is completely commanded by the hill 
 on which the Camaldoli stands. 
 
 If we may trust the story told us by the officer who was in command 
 of the fortress, the gunners wished to bombard the town on Sunday, 
 and when their officers refused, they shut them up in a guard-room, 
 all but the commandant, who, as he informed us, pretended to be with 
 them in feeling in order to prevent their design. According to his 
 account, he, with the aid of a few soldiers, got a gun in such a 
 position as to command the mutineers, who, not being able to point the 
 guns themselves, at last desisted from their purpose, and went away 
 to their homes or elsewhere. So the officer in question retains his 
 command under the Dictator. When I told this story to an eminent 
 Garibaldian colonel, he said that he did not believe a word of it. The 
 story is, indeed, palpably inconsistent. Why should sixty gunners (for 
 that was their number) not be able to point a gun without their officers ? 
 and how could he get a gun to bear upon all the soldiers within the 
 fortress? Fancy a man, wearing epaulettes and a sword, telling such 
 a lie with unblushing face 
 
 Sept. 13 th . — The same party which had visited the prisons at Naples 
 
 * A long account of what we saw that day in the prisons was given in 
 a letter published in the Times early in October, by Lord Llanover, who 
 was one of the party. The facts there stated are, of course, strictly correct, 
 but I hesitate to accept some of the inferences drawn or implied. We must 
 lemember that the prison at the Prefecture of Police, far the foulest of all, 
 had been recently devoted to the purpose for which it was originally 
 intended, and we had no proof beyond the word of an employe of a few 
 days’ standing that it had ever been used for a prison at all. And in the 
 other cases our informants were all men who had just been appointed to 
 their offices by the new Government, who knew nothing of the former 
 system of their own knowledge, but were anxious to blacken the late 
 reign, and could not fail to see that each atrocious detail communicated a 
 thrill of sensation, rather agreeable than otherwise, to their auditors. We 
 have evidence enough, from more trustworthy sources, of the cruelties 
 practised by Ferdinand. But I do not think there is any proof that the 
 prison system at Naples under Francesco II. was at all worse than it was 
 in England under George the Third. 
 
MARINELLA, NAPLES. 
 
NAPLES AND GARIBALDI (i860). 
 
 289 
 
 went to that of Ischia in a despatch-boat, commanded by Captain 
 Marryat, a son of the novelist, and kindly placed at our disposal by 
 Admiral Mundy. On our landing we were assailed by a crowd of 
 natives offering donkeys and figs, three donkeys at least to each man, 
 and more figs than one could eat in a month, clamouring in all tones 
 from howls of exultation to whines of distress, till the poor stranger 
 became so bewildered that he did not know whether he was expected 
 to mount the figs and eat the donkeys, or vice versa. 
 
 The prison we were to see is in the Castle of Ischia, which Stanfield's 
 picture has made familiar to English eyes. Only as we saw it the sea 
 was rippling quietly about the base of the breakwater in the foreground, 
 not tumbling in wild billows over it. 
 
 Some difficulty was made about our admission ; but the combined 
 
 authority and eloquence of Lord LI and Mr. Edwin J , aided by 
 
 the fact that we had come in a ship of war, triumphed over all obstacles. 
 
 The prisons here were tenanted only by fleas. They were not 
 particularly dark or dirty, or in any way horrible. We asked in vain 
 for the torture-chamber and the thumb-screws, and on the whole could 
 not but feel disappointed at the result of our inquiry. We were shown 
 the room where Poerio was confined during some of his ten years of 
 durance. There were four rooms en suite so arranged that an inspector 
 could look on from a window in his chamber above, and see what was 
 doing in any of them. The wooden tressels on which the prisoners 
 slept, and some fragments of their clothing still remained. They had 
 the liberty of walking in a small walled courtyard. 
 
 The Ischian prisons were under the charge of the same keepers 
 as before, old soldiers chiefly, who were very much alarmed at our 
 visit and our questions, and as anxious to dissemble the rigours of the 
 former Government as the new keepers of the Neapolitan prisons had 
 been to exaggerate them. 
 
 Sept. 15 th . — I went by railway to Castellamare, and thence, with a 
 carriage, in an hour and a quarter to Sorrento. The Neapolitan 
 coachmen drive like Jehu the son of Nimshi. Even when one takes 
 them by the hour they scarcely abate their ordinary pace, which is very 
 different from the snail-like motion of a London or Paris cabman under 
 similar conditions. One of Dr. Johnson’s immortal truths was com- 
 municated to Mr. Boswell in these words : “ Sir, there is something 
 very exhilarating in the rapid motion of a post-chaise ; ” and I fancy that 
 the Neapolitan driver feels the pleasure so intensely that he cannot 
 
290 
 
 NAPLES AND GARIBALDI (i860). 
 
 lorego it for the sake of sparing his cattle or spinning out the time, even 
 when to him time is money. 
 
 The drive to Sorrento is one ot the most beautiful in the world. 
 The road at first follows the coast-line, winding into each cove and 
 rounding each headland, then strikes across the valley where Vico 
 is situated, crossing the gorge by a noble viaduct, doubles the next 
 promontory, and, by a gradual descent, comes to the comparatively 
 level plain of Sorrento. This plain is composed of a couche of tufa 
 perhaps three hundred feet deep at the base of the hills, and sloping 
 gently down to the water’s edge, where it breaks away in an abrupt 
 precipice, varying from one hundred to one hundred and fifty feet 
 in height. This tufa has been deposited in the hollows of the lime- 
 stone hills by some pre-historic volcano. It has been cut into deep 
 gorges by mountain torrents many years ago by slow degrees, for the 
 channel is not sensibly deeper than it was two thousand years since, as 
 may be seen by the substructions of Roman bridges, cellars, etc., still 
 apparent. The plain is of wonderful fertility, and, except where there 
 is a street, a house, or a lane sunk between high walls, it is like a con- 
 tinuous garden, “ a contiguity of shade,” fruit trees of all kinds, oranges, 
 lemons, figs, pomegranates, and trellised vines, where you may walk 
 under a roof of matted leaves and pendent clusters. On the amphitheatre 
 of hills which shelters the plain on east, south, and west, you see terrace 
 above terrace, partly artificial and partly the natural formation of the 
 white limestone rock, sprinkled with grey olives, relieved by the 
 brighter green of carob-tree, or fig, or vine, up to the foot of the steep 
 crag, or the verge of the native forest. 
 
 No wonder that the Romans were fond of such a place. The 
 beauty of Baiae must have been in great part artificial, even before 
 its neighbourhood was altered and spoiled by the eruptions of the 
 Solfatara and the Monte Nuovo, and now it presents a somewhat 
 bare hill-side cumbered with shapeless ruins. Baiae, too, must always 
 have been much hotter than Sorrento, for the former looks towards the 
 south-east, the latter due north.* When the poet said, “ Nullus in 
 
 * The modern Sorrentines maintain the superiority of their town to 
 Naples in amenity and healthiness. They have a couplet, the produce of a 
 native genius, which they quote with as much pride as if he had succeeded 
 in making it rhyme : — 
 
 “Napoli bella, Sorrento civile; 
 
 Chi venga ammalato a Sorrento si sana.” 
 
NAPLES AND GARIBALDI (i860). 
 
 291 
 
 orbe sinus Baiis praelucet amoenis,” he meant an especial stress to be 
 laid on “ amoenis,” and referred not to the natural beauty only, but to the 
 society and various artificial agi'emens of the place. If people ever read 
 Statius nowadays, they would find that even among the Romans there 
 were some who preferred Sorrento. Perhaps the eruption of Vesuvius 
 in ’79, which half-suffocated the people at Baiae, but so far as we 
 know did not affect Surrentum, may have contributed to establish the 
 latter in popular favour. Certain it is that the ground there was so 
 valuable they built villas below the cliff on foundations laid in the sea 
 itself. Large blocks of lava in a regular line may be seen below the 
 water from the Hotel della Sirena, and to reach the shore you descend 
 through galleries still covered with stucco, and showing traces of colour. 
 The face of the rock is filled with artificial niches and caves, evidently 
 belonging to Roman houses. On either side of the city is a deep 
 ravine, offering at every step the most lovely combinations of tufa rock 
 and ruins and luxuriant creepers. Round the city is a mediaeval wall 
 of great strength once, but now crumbling and ruinous. In the centre 
 is the Cathedral, an ancient church with an open atrium like that of 
 Salerno, but thoroughly modernized. Outside there are some columns 
 of costly marble fitted with capitals not originally belonging to them, 
 the spoils probably of one or more ancient temples. Near the 
 Cathedral is a remarkable loggia, open on two sides, like the Portico 
 of Orcagna, only on a smaller scale. The arches are round, and the 
 capitals are carved in the flat manner characteristic of Italian Gothic. 
 It is called the “ Settina dei cavalieri,” but I was not fortunate enough 
 to find any one who could give me an intelligible account of its 
 destination. 
 
 I rode in the afternoon of Saturday to the Deserto, a convent now 
 abandoned, and situated on the crest of a hill south-west of Sorrento, 
 commanding a view of the bay of Salerno as well as the bay of Naples. 
 The place was tenanted only by a peasant (a “ colon ” they call him, 
 still retaining the Latin word) and his family. The cells were fast 
 going to ruin, and so was the wall which had inclosed round the con- 
 vent an irregular space of perhaps a hundred acres. Though the wind 
 was “ proprio scirocco,” there was a delicious coolness about it as I 
 stood on the convent roof. My guide, a good-humoured and in his 
 way intelligent fellow, had been employed with others by the Count 
 of Syracuse to excavate an ancient cemetery close by, which, from his 
 mention of the gold ornaments and other relics found, I suppose may 
 
292 
 
 NAPLES AND GARIBALDI (i860). 
 
 have been the burying-place of Theorica, a Greek city, supposed to 
 have occupied the site of the neighbouring village of Torca. 
 
 “This campo santo,” said my guide, “ was two centuries (due secoli) 
 old ; before the world.” 
 
 “ Before the world ? ” I asked. “ How could that be ? ” 
 
 “ I mean,” he said, “ before this world ; in the time of another world, 
 which was destroyed by a deluge.” 
 
 “ And that,” I asked, “ was two secoli ago ? ” 
 
 “ Precisamente, eccelenza.” 
 
 “ And how many years are there in a secolo ? ” 
 
 “A hundred, or thereabouts.” 
 
 “Well,” said I, with the air of an inquirer thirsting for information, 
 “ what happened about the deluge ? ” 
 
 “The flood was sent, eccelenza, because the world was full of 
 bad people ; but there was a signore called Noe, who was good. 
 Dunque,” he proceeded, putting his finger alongside of his nose, as 
 their manner is when coming to the point of a story, “Jesus Christ, 
 made a great ship, and put Noe in it;” and so he went on with the 
 narrative. 
 
 I have given the man’s exact words. I tell the incident, as it seems 
 to me characteristic of the amount of education of an ordinary Neapolitan 
 of that class. There is no point in the story except this — that it is a 
 fact. 
 
 I have always noticed that genuine tradition has a tendency to 
 diminish the interval of time which has elapsed since the event of 
 which it preserves the memory. I remember asking a farmer, who 
 lived on the field of battle near Nordlingen, whether he had ever heard 
 of such a battle. “ Oh yes,” he said, “ he had often heard his father 
 speak of it, and his father, who had seen it, told him.” The remotest 
 event is always supposed to be “ in my grandfather’s time.” This is 
 characteristic of genuine tradition. Forgery, on the other hand, has a 
 tendency to magnify a nation’s antiquity, and may sometimes be 
 detected and distinguished by this mark. 
 
 Sept. 16 ill. — I learn that, last night, a commissary of police, accom- 
 panied by some gens d’armes, arrested the Archbishop of Sorrento and 
 carried him off to Naples. He had been the King’s tutor, and so, I 
 suppose, was suspected very naturally of favouring the Royal cause. 
 He is much respected, they say, by the people, and is a good man. 
 Surely it is a mistake for a Government which has just proclaimed 
 
NAPLES AND GARIBALDI (1S60). 
 
 293 
 
 liberty to tread in the steps of the old tyranny. What harm could an 
 aged priest do if left alone ? 
 
 Though the Palermitan monks, and Father Gavazzi, and a few 
 priests have declared loudly for Garibaldi, and though some have even 
 joined the Neapolitan volunteers, the great majority are evidently 
 for the King. The spirit of Garibaldi’s movement is thoroughly anti- 
 Papal. 
 
 Attempts are being made by the clergy to enlist the superstitious 
 feelings of the people in favour of the King. It was reported that, on 
 the day of the King’s departure, the Virgin of Santa Lucia wept tears of 
 blood. The church was crowded with persons who went to see next 
 day. My informant saw the streaks which the tears had left. Last 
 Sunday, too, I have heard vaguely that a friar preaching somewhere 
 appealed suddenly to an image in the church, and asked whose 
 emissary Garibaldi was, and the image answered distinctly “Satan’s.” 
 
 We shall see whether Saint Januarius's displeasure will be shown in 
 the non-liquefaction of the blood next Wednesday. And in that case, 
 will Garibaldi adopt the plan of the French general in command at 
 Naples, who threatened to shoot the officiating minister unless the 
 miracle were immediately performed ? 
 
 Sept. 17th . — In company with an English friend, I took a boat from 
 Sorrento to Gapri. A steady sirocco carried us in an hour and a half 
 to the entrance of the Blue Grotto, where a smaller boat from the little 
 port of Capri met us. In this we entered the low mouth of the cave 
 with some difficulty, as there was a swell rolling in. One has a natural 
 aversion to hackneyed sights which you are bound to see because 
 “ everybody ” sees them, and I went to this grotto prepared to find it 
 unworthy of its fame ; but I was compelled to admit the contrary. It 
 is like a scene of enchantment, or the dream of some Eastern tale-tellei 
 — a cave with a floor of liquid turquoise and a roof of frosted silver. 
 How is it that the same effect is not repeated in other instances : 
 There are caves enough in other shores. How is it that Capri alone is 
 favoured with two exhibiting this wonderful appearance, and why is 
 one a “ blue ” and the other a “ green ” grotto ? 
 
 The colour of the sea outside the cave was a mixture of dark purple 
 and indigo — such a colour as I have only seen when a strong wind wax 
 blowing ; and the sky was rather veiled than clouded — as is the case 
 generally during a sirocco. We remember the olvona nuvrou, “ the 
 wine-like sea ” of Homer, but it is not likely that the familiar epithet 
 
 21 
 
2Q4 
 
 NAPLES AND GARIBALDI (i860). 
 
 which is as frequently applied to the sea as “swift-footed” is to 
 /v hilles, should have been suggested by a rare and exceptional pheno- 
 menon. The phrase probably came down to Homer from earlier and 
 ruder poets, who would observe nature as the author of “Chevy Chase ” 
 observed it, but would not scrutinise it like Wordsworth. They saw 
 that gold was red, and woods were green, and that they needed no 
 other epithet even for variety’s sake. I believe that oivo i/r simply 
 meant coloured, like wine, as distinguished from the bright transparent 
 water of a fountain ( ay\aov ), and from the dark black water of a well 
 (fifXav). In this sense, the epithet is always applicable to the sea, 
 whether it be calm or troubled, whether it be blue, or green or purple. 
 
 We landed at Marina, a little village lining the beach at the only 
 point where there Is a beach. Elsewhere a wall of steep rock rises 
 abruptly from the sea. We rode on donkeys through the vineyards 
 and olive-grounds, to the little town of Capri, perched along a ridge, 
 and thence up to what are supposed to be the remains of one of 
 Tiberius’ villas. It was a festival at Capri, so we saw all the belles of 
 the island, plump brunettes, with dark eyes and hair, tight-laced black 
 bodices, and white muslin handkerchiefs thrown over their shoulders. 
 Capri is famous, we are told, for the industry and morality of its 
 inhabitants, which, we will hope, is the reason why so many of our 
 countrymen have chosen this island for the site of their hermitage. 
 
 Or does the gloomy spirit of Tiberius still dwell there as the 
 genius loci , attracting kindred spirits ? Lest this should offend any 
 one, let me hasten ts say that I do not consider the stories told by 
 Suetonius and even Tacitus as worthy of belief. Court scandal is the 
 most easily invented of all scandals, it is the most readily credited, and 
 the most difficult of disproof. The memoirs of hangers-on about a 
 Court are always to be received with suspicion, be they even written 
 by a Due de Saint Simon, or a Lord Hervey, much more when they are 
 written by some nameless lackey who has no honour to tarnish, and is 
 therefore quite irresponsible for his statements. Suetonius and Tacitus 
 probably derived their Court gossip from a similar source, for it is very 
 rarely that they give authority for their assertions. They onby reject a 
 story when it is palpably inconsistent with some other story they have 
 heard. When two memoir-writers had told the same tale, they accept 
 it and endorse it without a suspicion that both may be lying. The 
 medals which are supposed to confirm the worst charges against 
 Tiberius are found, to the disgrace of the ancient world) at many other 
 
NAPLES AND GARIBALDI (i860). 
 
 295 
 
 places besides Capri. The story told by Suetonius about Tiberius 
 throwing criminals down from a precipitous rock for his amusement, is 
 probably a fiction. But it is likely enough that the tremendous precipice 
 shown as the Salto di Tiberio (or Timperio, as the Capriotes call him) 
 may have been in Suetonius’ mind when he repeated or made the tale. 
 The peculiarity just alluded to in the Capriote dialect reminded me of a 
 cognate fact — that the modern Greeks express the sound of b by m and 
 p. For instance, they spell tobacco, “ tampakko.” 
 
 One bourgeois, a Corsican, has opened a little restaurant at the Salta, 
 di Tiberio. He has bad wine, worse water, and makes exorbitant 
 charges. I am sorry to say this of an old soldier decorated with the 
 St. Helena medal. He has put up an announcement at the Marina in 
 the following terms (I give it literatim et punduatini ) : 
 
 “Avis au Salto Tiberio onna ovver un restaurant de ce lo calon guii 
 de la vue du golfe de Salerno et Presto.” * 
 
 Apropos , I noticed at Pompeii a jocular recommendation of the Hotel 
 de Diomede, printed by the landlord, beginning, “Je ne suis pas ce 
 terrible Diomede qui faisait tant de peur aux Troyens et Caesar.” 
 The “et Caesar” is admirable. A name at which the world grew pale 
 is always good for surrounding a sentence. 
 
 Extract of a Letter, dated Naples, Sept. iZth. 
 
 Naples has passed from the government of the King to that of the 
 Dictator with more ease and with less disturbance of public order than 
 one could have anticipated. Business has not been suspended for a 
 single day, and, but for the noisy demonstrations of delight which 
 continued for three days after the entry of Garibaldi, a stranger might 
 have lived in Naples without knowing that there had been a change of 
 masters. The newspapers will have given you fully detailed accounts 
 of Garibaldi’s facile conquest, and of the tumultuous joy with which it 
 was hailed at Naples. 1 have been throughout an amused and interested 
 looker-on ; but I need not tell a tale with which you are already fami- 
 liar. I will merely mention summarily the successive events in order 
 to add a touch here and there from personal observation. Up to the 
 last moment there were some who believed that the King would not 
 abandon Naples without a struggle. On the afternoon of Wednesday, 
 
 * 1 he interpretation is this : — “ Avis : au Salto de Tiberio on a ouvcit un 
 restaurant. De ce local on jouit de la vue,” etc. 
 
2j6 
 
 NAPLES AND GARIBALDI (i860). 
 
 September 5th, it was known that his troops had received orders to fall 
 back from Salerno, and it was supposed that they would occupy 
 La Cava and Nocera, and defend a pass which is so well calculated 
 for defence. But later in the day we heard that they were abandoning 
 all their positions in front of Naples, and were marching by wayofNola 
 to Capua. It was obvious that the King had given up the game for lost, 
 and that he himself must follow his troops and abandon his capital. 
 All that night there was an unusual stir about the Palace; every window 
 was lighted, and hurrying shadows flitted past within ; crowds waited 
 round the gates in the vain hope of seeing the departure of the Court, 
 their motive being, as I gathered, not loyalty, but curiosity. Carts 
 loaded with furniture passed out from time to time, the property, I 
 suppose, of Goldsticks, and Chamberlains, and Lords-in-waiting. “ The 
 rats are leaving,” said one of the crowd. A Council of Ministers was 
 held in the Palace, which did not separate (it is said) till three in the 
 morning. They were engaged in “redacting” the two proclamations 
 which appeared in the Gazette of next day, in the second of which, 
 countersigned by D. Martino, Garibaldi was called “ un ardito con- 
 dottiere.” At the breaking up of the Council, the King went on board 
 ship for Gaeta, the Ministers dispersed to their homes, except Liborio 
 Romano, who hastened to offer his services to the Dictator. The 
 conduct of this Romano is universally condemned. While Minister of 
 the King he was in correspondence with Garibaldi, and, instead of 
 defending the interests of the Crown, he did all in his power to thwart 
 them. He wrote, immediately after the retirement of the Sovereign, a 
 letter to Garibaldi, couched in the most fulsome and abject language. 
 A man must be morbo proditor to be proud of his treason, as Romano 
 seems to be. On Thursday, September 6th, I went to Salerno, saw 
 Garibaldi’s entry there, and returned with him to Naples. In some 
 respects his reception at Salerno was more striking than that at Naples. 
 The people at Salerno had been expecting him for some hours, and had 
 had time to make preparations ; the people of Naples were taken by sur- 
 prise, and the crowds that gathered hastily all along the line of his passage 
 through the city were evidently half-incredulous, and doubted whether 
 it were he or not. There were no flags on the houses. This was all 
 Garibaldi’s doing, who said he preferred a spontaneous welcome. The 
 square in front of the Foresteria, from a balcony of which he addressed 
 the people, was not a quarter full. The demonstrations, however, on 
 that and the two following nights were the. most noisy and tumultuous 
 
NAPLES AND GARIBALDI (1S60). 
 
 297 
 
 scenes that I have ever witnessed. As far as I could judge, the makers 
 of the noise, in very few instances, belonged to the lower classes. The 
 shriekers, the spouters, the torch-bearers, the wavers of flags, and the 
 brandishers of daggers, were persons from the well-fed, well-dressed 
 orders. The lazzaroni are, I believe, quite passive and indifferent ; the 
 priests and peasantry Royalist — but the priests are naturally timid, 
 and the peasantry only feel keenly on a question of cheap bread and 
 cheap fruit. A Masaniello must appeal to this sentiment to have success 
 either with peasants or lazzaroni. 
 
 The process by which a show of decency and order was given to 
 Garibaldi’s nomination as Dictator was curious. First half-a-dozen 
 individuals, with Romano among them, constituted themselves a Provi- 
 sional Government on the invitation of the Dictator of Sicily, and then, 
 by virtue of their authority as Provisional Government, they nominated 
 him Dictator of the Two Sicilies. His first acts gave satisfaction. He 
 chose his Ministers from the Moderate party — the party (that is) which 
 follows the inspirations of Cavour. And for a few days “ all was for 
 the best, under the best of all possible” dictatorships. But latterly, the 
 acts and words of the Dictator have given great alarm. In his pro- 
 clamation to the people of Palermo he spoke of the miserable men who 
 counselled immediate annexation, and declared that he would proclaim 
 Italian unity on the top of the Quirinal. Then, in an order of the day 
 apropos of the death of De Flotte, he alluded sarcastically to the 
 Government of Louis Napoleon. Finally, in a letter to one Brusco, he 
 contradicted a rumour that he had been reconciled to Cavour, and said 
 that he could never be friends with “ men who had humiliated the 
 national dignity and sold an Italian province” — which seemed even to 
 include Victor Emmanuel. People here are aghast at his imprudence. 
 They ask themselves, Is this a game which he is playing with the 
 secret connivance of the French Emperor, whose heart is with Italy, 
 though he is obliged, as the eldest son of the Church, to keep up a show 
 of opposition ? Or is the Emperor bribing Garibaldi’s counsellors to 
 urge him on a path that must lead to his ruin ? Is Victor Emmanuel 
 consulted, and, if so, does he approve ? 
 
 The telegraph is, of course, interrupted at Gaeta, and we only heard, 
 yesterday, of Victor Emmanuel’s entry into the Roman provinces. Is 
 this step taken in conjunction with Garibaldi, or is it intended to 
 anticipate and in a measure thwart him ? These questions may be 
 
298 
 
 NAPLES AND GARIBALDI (i860). 
 
 answered before you receive this letter. At present, every one seems 
 lost in uncertainty. I have spoken of the Moderate party, which 
 includes, I suppose, the vast majority of educated men above twenty- 
 five years old. The other party — the party of action — consists of 
 Bertani, Crespi, and, of course, Mazzini, and boys in general. The 
 latter party seems to have lost its head in the intoxication of success. 
 They talk of marching to Rome as one talks of taking a drive along the 
 Chiaia. Father Gavazzi * is the prophet of the party. His somewhat 
 commonplace declamation has had great success. He preaches every 
 alternate evening in the square of San Franceso di Paola. To hear 
 democracy lauded in the front of a Bourbon palace is a fact sufficiently 
 piquant to give a zest to the most ordinary oratory, just as the mildest 
 jest becomes irresistibly comical in church. 
 
 Several other decrees of the Dictator have given great dissatisfaction, 
 as, for instance, that appointing Alexander Dumas f Director of the 
 National Museum, and commissioning him to prepare a great work on 
 the antiquities of Naples and the neighbourhood. The Neapolitans are 
 justly indignant at having a vagabond foreigner, of abandoned character 
 and no knowledge of antiquities or of art, set over the heads of so 
 many persons infinitely his superiors 
 
 The Dictator’s weakness is said to be his submission to favourites. 
 Any one may lead him by the nose, if he takes hold the right way. 
 Bertani is, according to the “ Moderates,” his evil genius. Meanwhile, 
 with the growing discontent of the Moderates, we hear from time to 
 time of reactionary movements at Avellino, and other places. Forty 
 peasants were brought in yesterday, tied together with ropes — a sight 
 of ill omen for the new Government. On Saturday, the Archbishop of 
 Sorrento, the King’s tutor, was arrested, and brought to Naples. Last 
 night, there was a general alarm and anticipation of reactionary 
 
 * A mistake. I heard the Father once afterwards, and read other dis- 
 courses, printed from shorthand writers’ notes. He always counsels 
 moderation, and disbelieves in unity without monarchy. 
 
 f The pranks of this man, while dressed in his brief authority, were 
 incredible. I saw him one night parading Naples in fantastic costume, 
 attended by a score of men waving flags. At each station of the National 
 Guard they stopped, formed a ring round Dumas, and cheered. 
 
 He wrote to Admiral Mundy requesting arms and ammunition for his body- 
 guard, and when his letter was returned to him by way of answer, he applied 
 to the French Admiral, whose reply was as decided, and still less flattering. 
 
NAPLES AND GARIBALDI , (i860;. 
 
 299 
 
 movement among the lazzaroni in Naples itself. The national guard 
 was under arms all night, but nothing happened. My impression is, 
 that things are getting rapidly worse, both here and in Sicily, and that 
 Garibaldi will not be able much longer to govern the country. The 
 sooner the annexation takes place and a regular Government established, 
 the better for all parties. 
 
 Sept. 18 th . — I went with Mr. D to Sta. Maria Maggiore, at present 
 
 the head-quarters of the revolutionary army. Finding that we were 
 too late for the ten o’clock train, we engaged a large-wheeled single- 
 horse vehicle, something like the now extinct English taxed cart, and 
 in little more than two hours reached Sta. Maria. The road passes 
 through Aversa, and lies for the most part over a perfectly flat and 
 exuberantly fertile country, called par excellence Terra di Lavoro, for 
 every yard is under cultivation. On the way, we fell in with a party 
 of Neapolitan soldiers wearing their side-arms. They were making 
 their way across country to join the royal troops at Capua, or where 
 best they could. We had some difficulty in finding our way into Sta. 
 Maria, owing to the barricades which defended the entrance of the 
 principal streets. Happening to ask some question of a portly gentle- 
 man whom we saw in the street, he volunteered to show us over the 
 town, escorted us to the amphitheatre, and offered us the shelter of 
 his house, which he said was not magnificent, but entirely at our 
 disposal, such as it was. The last offer we declined for want of time, 
 but it was made in all sincerity. This is one instance of many within 
 my experience of the especial favour with which we English are 
 regarded at the present time by the Liberal party. Our new friend 
 gave us to understand that he was one of the principal legal function- 
 aries of the place, whether as judge or advocate we did not know, 
 and the frequent respectful greetings that he received attested the 
 truth of his pretension. He was an ardent Garibaldian, and anti- 
 Papal to the uttermost. As a boy, he had been educated by the 
 Jesuits at the Collegio Romano, but the oppression under which he 
 had suffered with his countrymen had completely effaced the lessons 
 of the fathers, and had inclined the tree in the opposite direction to 
 that in which the twig had been bent. He told us that Ferdinand, who 
 lived hard by at Caserta, regarded Sta. Maria with peculiar aversion, 
 and kept it under police regulations of extra strictness. He used to 
 say, “ Whenever I go through Sta. Maria, I tread on republican 
 stones.” The employment of Lamoriciere’s mercenaries by the Pope 
 
3co 
 
 NAPLES AND GARIBALDI (i860). 
 
 had alienated, as our friend said, the firmest of his Holiness’s friends. 
 Italy was now virtually a Protestant country. 
 
 The amphitheatre is still a magnificent ruin. The two walls which 
 formed the outermost corridors of the ellipse were unluckily built of 
 hewn stone, decorated witii marble columns at the entrance. These, 
 therefore, were pulled down to furnish materials for the palace at 
 Caserta, and probably also for earlier buildings. The brick and 
 rubble work remains nearly intact. The amphitheatre of Capua, when 
 entire, was, except the Coliseum, the largest of all. It served as a 
 model for that of Puteoli. The subterranean constructions are on the 
 same plan. The chambers and passages were lighted by a large longi- 
 tudinal opening along the major axis of the ellipse, and by square open- 
 ings all round. At the time of the exhibitions, of course, beams were 
 laid over them, and the whole area strewn with a thick covering of 
 sand. One may see the places where the beams rested. The vast 
 space underground did not serve merely, as we are told in the guide- 
 book, for prisons of criminals and dens of wild beasts, but it was 
 the residence of the gladiators. There are plenty of conduits, wells, 
 and drains for carrying off the rain water, so as to keep the place 
 always dry and habitable. The stone seats for spectators have shared 
 the fate of the outer walls, and been carried off. I observed, that in 
 some of the corridors arches of brickwork had been added subsequently 
 to the erection of the building, in order to strengthen the supports 
 of the cavea. 
 
 Returning to the town, we took leave of our volunteer cicerone, and 
 went to pay a visit to the General commanding in the absence of 
 Garibaldi, Hieper, or Eber, as his name is variously spelt. I had been 
 acquainted with him when discharging a more peaceful mission at 
 Constantinople some years ago. The palazzo to which we were directed 
 is a charming residence, with large lofty rooms painted somewhat in 
 the Pompeian style, and polished floors deliciously cool, with a garden 
 of lemon and orange-trees behind. 
 
 First came a ruddy-bearded aide-de-camp to ask our business. I 
 begged him to aver la bonta, etc., etc. 
 
 “ Sprechen Sie Deutsch, mein Herr?” he said. 
 
 I answered in the affirmative, and said that I supposed he was a 
 Hungarian, like the General. 
 
 No, he was “ Echt Deutsch aus dem grossherzogthum Baden.” 
 
 There were many Germans, he told us, in the army, even Bavarians 
 
NAPLES AND GARIBALDI (i860). 
 
 301 
 
 and Austrians, who looked forward to making “ ein Deutschland,” after 
 they had made Italia ima. Meanwhile they must, I should think, have 
 to exercise all their proverbial national patience, hearing, as they do, 
 perpetually repeated cries of “ Morte ai Tedeschi!” We found the 
 General suffering from a fever caught in the marshes of Cosenza, and 
 scarcely able to walk. However, the politeness of a true gentleman 
 never fails. He got up from the sofa, and gave us a kind welcome, 
 though he must have wished us at the head-quarters of Francesco II. 
 He gave us a written permission to visit the outposts, of which we 
 availed ourselves at once. 
 
 In the streets at intervals we found bodies of the Garibaldians with 
 piled arms, sitting or lying on heaps of straw strewn on the shady side ; 
 some sleeping, some smoking, some mending their clothes, some 
 cheapening figs (although, without cheapening, you get for a halfpenny 
 as many as one could eat in a day), all apparently in high spirits and 
 good health, more like “jolly beggars” than a regular army. A barri- 
 cade of boughs is placed across the brick arch of Roman work which 
 formed the gate of old Capua, and is on the road to the new — distant 
 about two miles. Half a mile beyond is the line of infantry sentries, 
 who stand at irregular intervals, from fifty to one hundred yards apart. 
 They take their work easily, leaning against a vine-clad poplar in any 
 attitude they may fancy. Provided they do their work, Garibaldi and 
 his officers do not seem to care how they do it. A martinet would be 
 sorely out of place here. A quarter of a mile farther in advance, four 
 poplar trees have been felled, and lie across the road. In front of them 
 is a sentry on horseback. We asked him if we could see the Neapolitan 
 outposts. “Oh yes,” he said; “come along with me, and I’ll show 
 you them. When we go forward, they always come out to look at 
 us.” When we had gone about a hundred yards, they did come out 
 accordingly, two on horseback and four on foot, about a quarter of 
 a mile off. Having satisfied our curiosity, we returned, in obedience 
 to the advice of the General, who had warned us not to go too far, 
 as they were in the habit of picking up stragglers. What earthly good 
 it would have done them to pick us up, I cannot conceive. If they had 
 taken a fancy to pick us off, it would not have been so pleasant. 
 
 Our expedition terminated without the shadow of an adventure, but 
 it was interesting as the only glimpse I had ever had of a state of war. 
 Evidently it is not in Garibaldi's army that one must look for “ pride, 
 pomp, ‘and circumstance.” 
 
302 
 
 NAPLES AND GARIBALDI (i860). 
 
 We returned by railway. As we passed the splendid Palace of 
 Caserta, we saw the great square in front filled with troops. They are 
 under the command of General Tiirr. At night, I am told, they sleep 
 inside and outside of the palace, as they best may. 
 
 This is the result of Ferdinand’s policy. His army is scattered, and 
 revolutionary soldiers occupy every corner of his favourite abode. It 
 is reported that he had no misgivings and no remorse, and that almost 
 his ;last words were that “ he died with the consciousness of having 
 done his duty.” He sowed the wind, and his son has reaped the 
 whirlwind. 
 
 Sept. iCjth . — I have just returned from San Gennaro, where I have 
 witnessed the far-famed miracle. I went about half-past eight, and 
 found the Cathedral partially filled, and a dense crowd in and about the 
 chapel of San Gennaro — a spacious octagon on the south side of the 
 nave. National guards were keeping the door. At a quarter before 
 nine a loud shout rose from the crowd within. It was a greeting to 
 the saint, whose image in silver gilt had just been placed on the altar. 
 The shout was renewed as the priest adjusted the mitre and cope 
 with which the image was clothed, and again, as an attendant lighted 
 candle after candle beside it. An aged priest, standing within the 
 altar rails, then raised aloft the vessel containing the sacred blood, and 
 at once a forest of waving arms rose above the crowd, and the building 
 rang with frenzied exclamations. Some other priests and assistants 
 now appeared in the organ loft ready to lead the Te Deum whenever 
 the -miracle should be achieved; meanwhile the old man continued to 
 hand round the vessel to let all the bystanders see that there was no 
 deception, that the blood was really solid. The vessel in question is a 
 kind of monstrance, round, with glass on each side, and two handles, 
 one above, one below. It is more like a carriage-lamp than anything 
 else I can think of. Inside, are two small phials containing an opaque 
 substance, the blood of the saint. In order to show that it was solid, 
 the priest turned the monstrance upside down, holding a lighted candle 
 behind it, and showed it round to the spectators just as a conjurer does 
 before commencing his performance. All this time the crowd kept 
 shrieking and screaming; the old women especially were frantic in their 
 cries and gestures, moaning, and sobbing, and stretching out hands in 
 nervous tension. Some men even were affected with this hysterical 
 passion, and wept and moaned like the women. The confusion of end- 
 lessly reiterated prayers, uttered in such tones that they resembled 
 
NAPLES AND GARIBALDI (1S60). 
 
 3 °3 
 
 imprecations, reminded me of the chorus of the priests of Baal in the 
 Elijah; only here the trebles preponderate over the basses. Men- 
 delssohn may have witnessed some such scene ; but, so far as I know, 
 the like is only to be seen at Naples, and in the Church of the Holy 
 Sepulchre at Jerusalem on Easter Sunday. For any other parallel one 
 must go among fetish-worshipping savages. 
 
 The priest then turned his back on the audience, and the agitation of the 
 crowd reached a point where it could no longer be expressed in articulate 
 cries, for nothing was heard but sobs and groans. A very few minutes 
 had elapsed, when the priest suddenly turned round and exhibited the 
 blood Liquid 1 A wild howl of exultation rose up ; flowers were thrown 
 towards the saint, and, strange to say, a number of birds let loose,* 
 which the spectators had brought with them for the purpose. Never 
 had the miracle been performed so soon. All were agreed on this ; 
 and eager discussions were going on in all parts of the church as to the 
 exact time it had taken. Was it three minutes or four, or four minutes 
 and a half ? The old women were wild with joy. It was clear that 
 San Gennaro was in the btot of tempers towards his dear clients, and 
 not at all displeased with them for turning out their king. Two of 
 Garibaldi’s red-shirted soldiers, who were making their way out of the 
 chapel, were the objects of tenderly affectionate demonstrations; old 
 women held up their hands to bless them, others patted them on the 
 back and smiled approvingly. As soon as the shout that greeted the 
 miracle had ceased, the men in the organ loft began the Te Deuvi, and 
 the spectators joined in fervent chorus. Above the din we heard the 
 guns of all the forts thundering out their joy. (There must be some 
 means of telegraphic communication with the forts, as very few minutes 
 elapsed before the cannon was heard.) By-and-by the sacred vessel 
 \ was carried to the high altar, and successive bodies of worshippers 
 were admitted within a railed space to kneel and kiss it, having first 
 assured themselves by means of the candle that the liquefaction had 
 taken place. Some of the crowd near us were very anxious that we 
 should do the like. “ Make way,” they said, “ for the English Signori. 
 Sergeant,” to the officer of the national guard who was keeping the wicket, 
 
 * This, I afterwards learned, is the custom at all the great festivals of the 
 Church, ar,d symbolises the soul’s joy when delivered from the sins and 
 sorrows of earth. It is a literal rendering of that passage in the Psalms, 
 “ My soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowler. The snare 
 is broken, and we are delivered.” 
 
304 
 
 NAPLES AND GARIBALDI (i860). 
 
 “ admit the English Signori.” But we declined the honour, and waited 
 till the priest — the same who had officiated in the chapel — brought it 
 round. As there was no candle placed behind it for our benefit, and as 
 the outer glass was dimmed with the kisses it had received, we were not 
 able to ascertain the fact of the liquefaction. But all who have seen 
 it before and after with the aid of the light, agree that the blood, if 
 blood it be, is certainly solid first and liquid afterwards. There is no 
 deception so far. But admitting that, I cannot but remember that I have 
 seen the Wizard of the North and Wiljalba Frikell do as much, and 
 more, with their enchantments. It is certain that the belief of the crowd 
 in the chapel was genuine and profound. This crowd consisted of 
 persons of all ranks, though the poorer classes preponderated. It 
 would scarcely have been prudent for Garibaldi, in presence of this 
 intense and deeply-seated superstition, to forbid the miracle, as the 
 limes hoped he would. An emeute might have been the consequence. 
 
 “ Paris vaut bien une messe,” said Henri Quatre. Garibaldi may 
 say, “ Naples vaut bien un miracle.” 
 
 Some days ago I was expressing to a Neapolitan my wish to see 
 the liquefaction. “ Do not mention it,” he said ; “it fills me with 
 shame. I cannot doubt that this is the general feeling of most educated 
 men, but it is not universal, for among the weepers and the kissers 
 to-day I saw several who, from their dress and bearing, certainly ought 
 to belong to that class. One young priest, of rather attractive counte- 
 nance, came out of the chapel, his eyes red and his cheeks swollen with 
 weeping, but most of his order seemed impassive, and did not attempt 
 even to counterfeit devotion. The venerable old man in rose-coloured 
 robes, who officiated, showed no feeling whatever. Probably perfect 
 self-possession, with a little manual dexterity, is the quality most 
 requisite in the officiating minister.”* 
 
 Sept. 19. — This evening our dinner was enlivened by animated 
 accounts of a battle which had taken place in the morning, and at 
 which half a dozen of the guests of the hotel had had the luck to be 
 present. They had to tell of hairbreadth escapes, exemplary coolness 
 under first fire, the cowardice of the Garibaldian troops, and their own 
 courage. England had nearly lost an eminent barrister and an eminent 
 artist by a grape-shot, which carried away part of their carriage. A 
 
 * The secret is known only to the priests of San Gennaro and Mr. R. 
 Monckton Milnes, who tells me that he has not merely witnessed, but once 
 performed the miracle. 
 
NAPLES AND GARIBALDI (i860). 305 
 
 third had arrested the flight of a regiment with his umbrella, a fourth 
 had parried a cannon-ball with his walking-stick. 
 
 The real facts, as far as I have been able to gather them by subse- 
 quent inquiries, are these : General Idieper and Colonel Roskow, com- 
 manding the centre and left, had orders to make a feigned attack 
 upon Capua, while Garibaldi and Tiirr were to cross the Volturno 
 a few miles up the river, and cut off a body of the enemy occupying 
 a plain on the other bank. Roskow, however, mistaking his instruc- 
 tions, attempted a real attack. As soon as he advanced into an open 
 space in front of the gate of Capua, and within reach of the artillery, 
 having no artillery himself, his men were cut down by the fire from the 
 bastions, and refused to advance. As soon as a body of royal cavalry 
 showed itself they fled precipitately, the officers being the first to set 
 the example. Such was the panic that they rushed through Sta. Maria, 
 and did not stop till they had passed the town, and saw at last that 
 there was no man pursuing. One of my informants saw with his own 
 eyes two of Garibaldi’s officers crouching under a haystack to strip off 
 their red shirts, lest they should be recognised. A more disgraceful 
 panic was never seen. The good folks of Sta. Maria, that republican 
 city, made haste to take all the tricolor flags from their windows. 
 Even that which floated from the windows of the house which was 
 General Hieper’s head-quarters disappeared. The national guards 
 stripped off their uniforms, and all was prepared for the return of His 
 Majesty. Had the royal army had a leader, they might have marched 
 to Naples unopposed. Meanwhile Idieper had nothing to do, and did 
 it. Tiir and Garibaldi, on the right wing, found their road barred 
 by a fire of artillery which they could not face, and finally retreated to 
 Caserta. The number of killed and wounded in the revolutionary 
 army amounts, according to the best-informed statements, to about 
 one hundred and fifty. The varying accounts of this engagement 
 illustrate the propensity of Italians in general, and Neapolitans in 
 particular, to invention and credulity combined. The Lamfio , for in- 
 stance, a Garibaldian organ, had the audacity to affirm that the royalist 
 losses amounted to eight thousand in killed and wounded, whereas 
 they could not, by the nature of the case, have exceeded twenty or 
 thirty. But invention is not confined to the Neapolitans. On the 
 authority of one of Garibaldi's generals, it was asserted that the 
 possession of Chaiazzo was the object which the General had in view 
 m making his attack, and that that object had been attained. Military 
 
3=6 
 
 NAPLES AND GARIBALDI (i860). 
 
 men not connected with either party affirmed that it would be im- 
 possible to hold Chaiazzo, being a position quite isolated on the other 
 side of the river, and that no one would have thought of making such 
 an attempt. Up to the day I left Naples, September 22nd, it was a 
 matter of doubt whether it had really been taken or not. The last 
 news I heard before leaving was that it had been retaken by the royal 
 troops ; but it was doubted whether this, too, was not an invention 
 to cover the other lie, and account for the fact that it was in the 
 possession of the Garibaldians no longer. 
 
 One lives at Naples in an atmosphere charged with falsehood, and 
 it is impossible to get a breath of native truth. From the evidence of 
 independent witnesses, it is certain that the Garibaldians met with a 
 severe check, the moral effect of which has been very great, and more 
 than counterbalances the manifestation of San Gennaro’s favour in the 
 morning. 
 
 Sept. 20 th . — Hearing that it was probable the battle would be renewed 
 this morning, I went, in company with Colonel B— — - (who had seen 
 the engagement of the previous day), an English officer, and another 
 friend, to Sta. Maria, whence, finding all tranquil, we proceeded to St. 
 Angelo, a village about three miles off, above which is a hill command- 
 ing a wide view of the scene of war. Leaving our carriage at the 
 village, we climbed through oak coppice to the sharp edge of the hill. 
 In ascending, we had a good bird’s-eye view of the plain of Capua, and 
 of some 2,500 cavalry occupying it. From the ridge we looked over 
 the winding Volturnus, on the farther bank of which is another plain, 
 divided by a low range of hills from that of Capua, and also occupied 
 by the royal troops. There were two regiments of cavalry and three or 
 four of infantry ; double sentries, at short intervals, lining the bank of 
 the river. We were so near that we heard the words of command, 
 and, occasionally, one man calling to another. As we were some time 
 examining them with our glasses, we at last attracted their attention, 
 and a little knot of men gathered on the bank and fired about twenty 
 shots at us, without hitting or coming near us. A tremendous thunder- 
 storm, which had been threatening for some time and at last broke, 
 was much more effectual in dislodging us from our position. We crept 
 behind an overhanging rock, hoping that the rain would cease. From 
 our lair, looking south, we had a prospect of bare, peaked hills, with 
 castles on the top, and agreed, that it we had been transported there 
 iu sleep, we should, on waking, have thougtn ourselves in Rhine- land. 
 
NAPLES AND GARIBALDI (i860). 
 
 3°7 
 
 But close round us were growing shrubs that never clothe the bleak 
 northern hills — dwarf ilex, and myrtle, and the judas tree. As we 
 descended we were caught in a still more violent shower, and took 
 refuge in the crater of an extinct lime-kiln, where we found a dozen or 
 more peasants and Garibaldini already housed. One was a captain of 
 artillery, who gave us rum and tobacco, and in the course of half an 
 hour communicated, unasked, the story of his life. He told us of his 
 innamorata, showed us her picture and handwriting, and said that he 
 had joined Garibaldi that he might have an opportunity of doing some 
 heroic deed, and might say on his return to the lady of his love (here 
 he threw open his arms), “Ecco-mi! son degno di te !” 
 
 Sept. 21 st . — On going out after breakfast, instead of being assailed by 
 half-a-dozen cabmen shouting in my ears, cracking their whips in my 
 eyes, and driving across my path, the wheels just missing my toes, I 
 found the stand deserted. It was the same at another stand. There 
 was not a cab to be had. On inquiry I found that the Government had 
 pressed such carriages, public and private, as they could lay hold off, 
 and sent them to Santa Maria for the conveyance of wounded men. 
 The other cabmen had made off directly, and hid themselves and their 
 horses. Everybody inferred that a great battle was expected, so I 
 immediately walked off to the railway station, where I arrived just as 
 the train was starting. (At these times a ticket is a needless formality 
 — quite an unnecessary expense. You are never asked for your ticket, 
 nor expected to pay anything except a small gratuity to the official who 
 gets you a seat. It is an ill wind that blows nobody good. Even a 
 time of war has its advantages.) When I reached Santa Maria, I found 
 that I had again come on a false alarm. The carriages had been im- 
 pressed to bring back to Caserta those who had been wounded on the 
 previous Wednesday — such of them, that is, as were capable of removal. 
 I went to see those who remained in one of the hospitals at Santa 
 Maria. The wards were tolerably clean and airy, and the wants of the 
 poor sufferers seemed as well attended to as circumstances permitted ; 
 but it was a sad sight. In one case the ball had entered the eye and 
 gone out in the neck — a terrible wound ; but the surgeon said he had 
 hopes of saving the man’s life. In another case the ball had carried 
 away part of the lower jaw and all the teeth. The saddest case of all 
 was that of a poor child of ten years old who, with his father, was 
 driving a cart on the day of the battle. They were compelled to come 
 into the field to help in moving the wounded. While so engaged, a 
 
;o8 
 
 NAPLES AND GARIBALDI (i860). 
 
 grape-shot killed the father and carried off the son’s leg. Amputation 
 had been performed, and he was, they said, “ doing well.” Doing well ! 
 When I saw him he seemed to be asleep. It was piteous to see his 
 sad, pale face, rosy with health but two days ago, now showing sorrow 
 and suffering even in sleep. No one had been to see him or inquire 
 after him. Poor child ! I suppose, then, he has no mother, and is an 
 orphan indeed. What a sorrowful beginning of life for him ! Perhaps 
 he was the eldest of the family, proud of having in charge his mother- 
 less brothers and sisters, and being able to work for them. Think of 
 those little ones, in their cottage, waiting and wondering why father 
 and brother do not come home at sunset. How war scatters its 
 miseries, farther and wider than its grape-shot, over the quiet happy 
 fields ! 
 
 There was one man in hospital the bones of whose hand had been 
 splintered by a bullet. He looked as vivacious as if nothing had 
 happened to him. He was a Venetian, had escaped to Piedmont, 
 entered the service there, was disgusted for not having the medal for 
 the war of ’59, and so deserted to join Garibaldi and fight for the 
 liberation of his native town. He said that his only regret was, that he 
 had not had a chance of killing one of the enemy before he was 
 wounded himself, and of washing his hands in his blood. And he said 
 the terrible words, “ Lavar mi le mani nel suo sangue,” with the 
 sweetest of smiles, as when a gourmet speaks of some favourite dainty. 
 While I was there, Colonel da Porta, a Sicilian commanding his 
 battalion, came in, and filled the man with delight by announcing his 
 nomination' as sottotenente (ensign). 
 
 The field ambulance of this strange army is under the direction of a 
 Piedmontese lady, the Contessa della T., who attracted great attention 
 in Naples (which, without being uncharitable, one may suppose was 
 not displeasing to her) by the singularity of her manners, language, and 
 costume. She was dressed in a white braided hussar tunic, trousers, 
 and boots outside, with spurs, and a Spanish hat with plumes, and a 
 sword which clanked as she walked in an alarming way. She was 
 attended by three or four Calabrians, dressed like the conventional 
 brigands of the stage, who served as her body-guard. She talked in all 
 languages, and somewhat took off the grace of her charitable deeds by 
 blowing a trumpet so loudly before her.* 
 
 * When a lady chooses to dress and behave like a man, she forfeits the 
 immunities of her sex, and it is no longer ungallant to criticise her actions. 
 
NAPLES AND GARIBALDI (i860). 
 
 309 
 
 In returning, we visited the palace of Caserta. No one was permitted 
 to enter the gardens without an order, which we had some difficulty in 
 procuring. I was referred from one general to another, all royally 
 lodged in the palace ; at last General Medici was good enough to let us 
 pass through his apartments on the ground floor. 
 
 The arrangement of the gardens resembles that of the gardens at 
 La Granja in Spain, only on a much larger scale. An aqueduct con- 
 veys a copious stream of water to the side of a steep ilex-clothed hill 
 about two miles off, at the back of the palace. Thence it descends 
 first in a natural waterfall over rough rocks, and afterwards in small 
 cascades alternating with still pools to the plain. From the foot of the 
 waterfall to the palace the distance is 3,100 yards. Avenues of ilex 
 and other trees bound the terraces on either side, and there is an abun- 
 dance of statues, gods, men, dolphins, monsters, and grottoes. At the 
 foot of the waterfall are two groups in marble, representing on one 
 side Diana and her nymphs, on the other, Actaeon torn by his hounds, 
 all reflected in the dark deep water. The rocks about are clothed with 
 acacia, oleander, and aloe. In the largest pool was a shoal of old carp 
 and one stately swan, which, accustomed to be fed by royal hands, came 
 sailing up to ask for biscuit of the intruders. From the highest terrace 
 is a beautiful and singular view. You look over the palace and the 
 densely wooded level plain in which it lies, like a dark green sea, 
 beyond the rim of which rise the highlands of Capri, and the Punta di 
 Sorrento. 
 
 The palace itself is more than two hundred yards square,* if my rough 
 measurement be right, and is divided into four courts, with an open 
 arcade occupying the ground floor from gate to gate. A broad staircase, 
 lined with costly marbles, leads to a great octagon hall occupying the 
 centre of the pile, with four windows at the angles looking each into a 
 separate court. The octagon is supported by pillars of African marble 
 taken from the temple of Serapis at Puzzuoli. All the palaces I have 
 ever seen yield in magnificence to this ; Versailles is ?nesquin in com- 
 parison. What would Ferdinand have said had he lived to see it 
 occupied by a rabble of revolutionary troops, lighting camp fires in the 
 centre of his courts, cooking, playing cards, smoking, and singing 
 
 * Vanvitelli, the architect, published a description of the palace in 1756 
 from which it appears that the outer sides measure respectively 920 and 
 720 Neapolitan palms. A copy of this rare work is found — as, indeed, what 
 rare book is not ? — in the library at Keir. 
 
 22 
 
3io 
 
 NAPLES AND GARIBALDI (i860). 
 
 Garibaldi’s hymn? I can easily conceive that the generals who are 
 enjoying royal luxuries, and exercising among them more than royal 
 power, are not anxious for the arrival of Victor Emmanuel, who would 
 relegate them to some less sumptuous abode, and to some inferior 
 position. 
 
 When I reached the railway-station, I found a train of empty trucks 
 and cattle waggons just starting. A number of the red-shirted gentry 
 demanded that a carriage should be attached to it for their use. The 
 station-master declared he had none, whereupon they threatened, 
 hustled, and collared him, and finally carried him off to the palace, 
 to answer to some one for his contumacy. This is one instance 
 among many of the insolence which has made the liberators more 
 unpopular at Naples than ever were its former masters. The train 
 started without waiting for the issue of the dispute. I got upon a 
 truck with a number of common soldiers (Garibaldians), whose behaviour 
 presented a very favourable contrast to that of their officers. One 
 provided me with an inverted basket to sit upon, another compelled 
 me to accept a cigar (very bad, it is true, but the best he had), a 
 third insisted upon my taking a cartridge as a keepsake. One of 
 them had been an artist, he told me, and had abandoned his easel 
 at Milan to carry a musket in Calabria. 
 
 Never, surely, was there such a motley army as this. It contains 
 men of all ranks, and of all characters ; there are men of high bir h 
 and gentle breeding, there are also outcasts and vagabonds ; there 
 are generous and chivalrous enthusiasts, there are also charlatans 
 and impostors, and unhappily it is not always the former who fill the 
 highest places. 
 
 I have seldom seen any earthly object arrayed in such glory as 
 was Vesuvius in the splendour of that calm evening. Through vistas 
 of vine-clad poplars we saw the cone all ruddy purple, every furrow 
 in the outer shell of the mountain distinctly marked with blue 
 shadows, which deepened towards its base into the richest ultramarine. 
 The more recent lava streams were (like the cone) of a bright 
 purple, and looked, to my fancy, like piles of grapes poured out, 
 waiting for the wine press that should extract from them the famous 
 Vesuvian product — Lacryma Christi. 
 
 The name Lacryma Christi, by the way, which shocks English 
 ears, at least when translated, is an instance of the familiarity, and, 
 as it seems to us. irreverence with which Italians treat sacred persons 
 
NAPLES AND GARIBALDI (iS6oj. 
 
 3 11 
 
 and things. I remember to have read a lecture of Dr. Newman’s, 
 in which he maintained the thesis, that the profane and blasphemous 
 oaths habitually used by the people of Italy, proved that the objects 
 of devotion were always present to their minds in whatever aspect, 
 and that the state of mind of an Italian was far preferable to the 
 apathy and indifference of the lower orders in England. To this 
 one might reply on behalf of our countrymen, that their favourite 
 ' expletive, by the same reasoning, proves the thought of eternal 
 salvation to be always present to their minds. Again Dr. Newman’s 
 proposition would lead to the further inference that a man is 
 religious at heart in proportion to the profanity of his language, 
 11 which is absurd,” as Euclid says. Again, many of the Italian oaths 
 are obscene. Dr. Newman would find it difficult to twist this fact 
 into an argument for their purity of mind. In some, too, which he 
 who has once heard would gladly forget, profanity and obscenity are 
 combined to form a result which outrages every good feeling. 
 Remembering these, one can only think of Dr. Newman’s argument 
 with disgust, as something more than disingenuous. 
 
 All men of education in Southern Italy disclaim any sympathy 
 with the religion of the lower orders, which is mere paganism disguised 
 under new names, and consists in the worship of a number of local 
 deities. The Madonna of one shrine is — in the popular imagination, 
 for it is not definite enough to be called a creed — quite a different 
 person from the Madonna of another. 
 
 The friar who tends the little chapel at the entrance of the Grotto 
 of Puzzuoli begged one day of a passing stranger “ for the Madonna.” 
 “La Reina degli Angeli e ricca abbastanza,” said the stranger. “Ah ! 
 bah ! ” said the friar, “ non a mica la Reina degli Angeli ! e la ftovera 
 Madonna della Grotta che le manca anche per pagare l'olio” (she 
 has not enough to pay for the oil to light the lamps of the tunnel). 
 
 A friend among many good stories told me one, ben trovato , if 
 not vero, which illustrates the primitive simplicity of their faith. A 
 woman at Naples, praying the Madonna to come and heal her son, 
 took care to give her address — “ Vieni, Maria, vieni, numero tredici, 
 vicolo della Scrofa, terzo piano, seconda porta a man destra.” 
 
 Nowhere, probably, in the world is the separation so great between 
 the well-to-do classes and the poor as it is in South Italy, They are 
 quite distinct in religion, thought, and feeling. Between the highest 
 and the lowest there is, indeed, outwardly a familiarity of manner which, 
 
3i2 
 
 NAPLES AND GARIBALDI (i860). 
 
 at first sight, would point to an opposite conclusion. We see none of 
 the hauteur on the one side, or the servility on the other, which is so 
 common in England ; but the familiarity is only superficial and ap- 
 parent. There is a deep unfathomed gulf fixed between those who 
 have something and those who have nothing to lose. A householder 
 or shopkeeper at Naples speaks of the lazzaroni as a Hindoo living 
 beside a jungle might speak of the tigers. So there is probably no 
 country in the world where the opinion of the middle and upper classes 
 s so fallacious a test of the popular opinion. The newspaper con- 
 troversies and the theatre-riots of Naples only indicate the division of 
 opinion in the middle and upper ranks — some holding with Victor 
 Emmanuel, some with Mazzini, some with Cavour, some with Garibaldi 
 — but they tell us nothing of the sentiments of the masses. The mob 
 of the towns, the priests and the peasantry, are probably more inclined, 
 by this time, to the old than to the new Government. If you asked a 
 cotitadino his opinion early in September, the answer was always to 
 the same effect : “ Re Vittorio, Re Giuseppe, Re Francesco,” it is all 
 one provided he gives us “ da mangiare a buon mercato.” And when 
 they find that prices are enhanced instead of lowered, under the new 
 reign, they will be sure to throw the blame on the Government. I do 
 not doubt that if universal suffrage were honestly applied to test the 
 opinion of Southern Italy, a large majority would be found for 
 Francesco II., at least in the Abruzzi and the provinces adjacent to the 
 capital. Cavour threw a slur on his master’s cause, and made a flaw 
 in his claim, by resting it on a successful repetition of that French 
 juggling imposture, which is as discreditable to statesmen as the 
 miracle of San Gennaro is to priests. The intelligence of a country 
 should rule it and determine its destinies ; and if all the intelligence be 
 as in South Italy, centred in one class, that class should alone be 
 called upon to give its suffrage. 
 
 Sept. 22. — The last news I heard before leaving Naples was that 
 Garibaldi’s “moderate” Ministry had resigned in a body, and that a 
 set of Red Republicans had succeeded them. People are beginning to 
 fear that in his heart the General wishes for a republic, and that he 
 will play Victor Emmanuel false. After the use he made of the King’s 
 name, which has indeed been a tower of strength to him, this would be 
 an act of perfidy without parallel in history. The confidence felt in 
 Garibaldi has, however, been so much shaken, that it is looked upon 
 as a possible contingency. It is reported, that to an aide-de-camp 
 
NAPLES AND GARIBALDI (i860). 
 
 3 T 3 
 
 whom the King sent to him two days ago, he said, “Tell your master 
 that if a republic should be necessary, I will do my best to make him 
 Dictator.” Thisi doubt of Garibaldi’s intentions was evidently felt by 
 the Ministry, who a few days ago insisted upon taking the oath o* 
 allegiance to Victor Emmanuel. The Dictator did not take it, probably 
 on the plea that he was already his subject In three weeks I have 
 seen the extinction of a popularity that seemed boundless. The people 
 who were wild with delight at the arrival of Garibaldi would now be 
 equally delighted to get rid of him. The reasons for this change are 
 obvious. His refusal to declare at once the annexation of Southern 
 Italy to Northern has alienated the moderate party, and generated 
 suspicion of his intentions which his violent language on several oc- 
 casions has tended to confirm. In his proclamation to the Palermitans, 
 he said that he would proclaim Italian unity from the top of the 
 Quirinal only — thus menacing even France. In an order of the day 
 lamenting the death of one of his officers, he praised him for being a 
 true democrat ; in a letter to one Brusco, published in the official 
 journal, he proclaimed his irrenconcilable hostility to the men who 
 had humiliated the national dignity and sold an Italian province. All 
 this has created a feeling that he is dragging Naples on, not towards a 
 peaceful union with the rest of Italy, but towards an abyss of anarchy 
 and war. Again, many of the decrees issued by him far outstep the 
 limits of a confessedly temporary and transitional power. He declares 
 the royal property to be national property — he banishes the Jesuits and 
 confiscates their goods — he does the like to the most eminent prelates 
 — he abolishes State lotteries — he forbids the payment of gamorra — 
 he concedes the right of fishing in the ports — all which may be useful 
 measures, but not necessary to be done at once (unless the banishment 
 of the prelates be regarded as a measure of security). These and a 
 number of other measures might be left to the consideration - of the 
 regular Government. His nomination of Alexander Dumas to be 
 director of the national museum, offended all men of education. The 
 offence was increased by the summary dismissal, without compensation, 
 of all the employes of the museum, and by a paper issued by the 
 new director full of insolence and arrogance, in which he told the 
 Neapolitans that want of education had degraded them to the level of 
 brutes, and that he was about to raise them by showing them all that 
 was great in politics and beautiful in art. If this offended the upper 
 classes, the seizing of the carriages yesterday was a measure which 
 
NAPLES AND GARIBALDI (i860). 
 
 J T 4 
 
 has still more deeply offended the lower — not the owners and drivers 
 alone, but others who see that their rights of property may be any day 
 similarly invaded. Add to these causes of complaint the bullying and 
 insolent demeanour of many of Garibaldi’s officers, and the natural 
 reaction and discouragement which could not but follow such a fever 
 cf excitement, and we shall see enough to account for the decline of 
 his popularity. “ I'll make you a bet,” said a Neapolitan to me, “ that 
 1. is power will not last as long as Masaniello’s.” “ Que venga il Re 
 Vittorio Emmanuele e venga subito con venti mila soldati per cacciarci 
 da Napoli questa canaglia ! ” was the fervid exclamation of another who 
 had made himself hoarse with shouting ‘‘Viva Garibaldi” on the 
 7;h of September. 
 
 Garibaldi’s character was thus summed up by a friend of mine, at 
 Turin : “ He is a brave soldier, but a great fool,” using the phrases (I 
 suppose) in the sense of “ un grand fou.” I thought it harsh at the 
 time, but my Neapolitan friends, chiefly belonging to the “ moderate ” 
 party, were agreed in thinking it not so far from the truth. He was 
 of course the chief topic of conversation during my stay at Naples. I 
 give, in as few words as I can, the residuum of much talk. 
 
 As a soldier, he is of undaunted courage and a master of the 
 “ dodges ” (passez-moi le mot) which are required in guerilla war, 
 but he has no conception of a general’s duties in the field; he is 
 ignorant of the very rudiments of tactics, and incapable of organisation 
 on a large scale. He is kind and gentle in his manners, and reluctant 
 to hurt any one’s feelings, while he is reckless of their lives. His 
 bravery and gentleness, his generosity and disinterestedness, secure 
 him the personal affection of all around him, and that constitutes his 
 great merit as a commander. He pushes his love of simplicity to a point 
 bordering on affectation, and is almost ostentatious in his dislike of pomp. 
 He is illogical, prejudiced, and obstinate to a degree never before 
 combined. He thinks cavalry useless, and has a profound contempt for 
 cannon. He is perfectly certain that he has only to appear before the 
 walls of Rome, and the French will leave it, taking with them the Holy 
 Father. “What if they don’t?” it was urged. “ Oh, but they will!” 
 was the answer, in the tone of a man who admits no further discussion. 
 He thinks that the walls of Mantua and Verona will fall, like those of 
 Jericho, at a shout. He is very easily imposed on, and believes in all 
 those who are about him. Familiarity breeds respect, and no proof will 
 convince him of the dishonesty of any one whom he has once trusted. 
 
NAPLES AND GARIBALDI (i860). 
 
 3i3 
 
 lie has not the moral courage to say “ No ” to a request of any of these 
 favourites. His ignorance is such that the smallest show of knowledge 
 completely imposes upon him. He thinks Crespia a statesman, and 
 Dumas a scholar. However, in forming an estimate of him, as of other 
 extraordinary characters in history, we ought to be on our guard 
 against the tendency natural to men to reduce eminence to the ordinary 
 level by discovering a number of small failings. And when all abate- 
 ments are made, there remain the great facts. His achievements are to 
 be accounted for. 
 
 He alone had gauged correctly the real weakness of the Neapolitan 
 power, and the strength of his own seemingly feeble means, and he 
 had the courage to test practically the truth of his conclusions. His 
 life-long devotion to one great idea, and his strength of will, have made 
 him “ a king of men,” and distinguish him from the crowd, who are 
 always, on their own showing, victims to “circumstances over which 
 they have no control.” 
 
 1 left Naples for Civita Vecchia on the afternoon of this day. On 
 board the steamer I met General Bosco. He was prevented by 
 illness from following the army to Capua, and was in Naples when 
 Garibaldi arrived. The latter has required or advised him to leave 
 the country for a while ; he is therefore going to Paris. He says 
 that all the arrangements for the equipment and feeding of the 
 Neapolitan troops are very good ; that, in general, the material o der of 
 the army is excellent, but that the late King ruined its morale by intro- 
 ducing a system of promotion which has neither the advantages of the 
 Austrian nor of the French system. The officers are not, as in the 
 Austrian army, taken from the upper classes in society, and who 
 therefore command the respect of the soldiers, and have, or ought to 
 have, a nice sense of personal honour ; neither are they, as in the French 
 army, chosen in great measure from among the bravest and most 
 intelligent men in the ranks ; but they are men without either social 
 rank or individual merit. As far as I could understand promotion is 
 made by seniority, and is excessively slow. There were some men, he 
 said, still lieutenants at fifty. Most of these old officers are married 
 men and very poor, having little or nothing but their pay to live on ; so 
 that their interest and anxieties are with their families and not with 
 the regiment, and thus ces peres dc fa77iille are capable of any treason 
 cr baseness if only they can avoid exposing lives so valuable at home. 
 In the higher grades, of course, exceptions are made. General Bosco’s 
 
316 
 
 NAPLES AND GARIBALDI (i860). 
 
 own case is an instance. lie was only a major at the accession of the 
 present King — if I may still call Francesco II. “ the present King.” 
 
 Between the police-office, the custom-house, and the railway station, 
 a traveller’s patience is sorely tried at Civita Vecchia, as might be 
 expected, seeing that there is in prescribing formalities a most elaborate 
 system, and in executing them no system at all. One who knows 
 Rome well tells me that utter confusion reigns in all the departments of 
 administration, from the highest to the lowest. In their normal state 
 the Government offices are like what they were in England, in the days 
 when Samuel Pepys was at the Admiralty; just now they are in the 
 condition which the said offices must have been in after the news of 
 William’s landing at Torbay had reached the metropolis. In the best 
 of times every official pilfers quietly, in proportion to his rank ; now 
 there is a general scramble. 
 
 I was eager to see Rome in this supreme crisis of its fortunes. I find 
 that the crisis is like that of a fever, through which the patient passes 
 in unconsciousness. It is said that there is a committee, or committees 
 somewhere, in communication with the revolutionists at Genoa and 
 Naples ; but no one seems to know or care anything about it. At 
 Naples, in the last days of Francesco, the committees kept issuing, 
 three or four times a day, bulletins of news and inflammatory placards ; 
 here I see nothing of the kind. People in the cafes talk about the 
 movements of the Piedmontese without fear or restraint ; but also, as 
 it seems to me, without interest or sympathy. I see “ Viva Garibaldi!” 
 “Viva Vittorio Emmanuele!” scribbled on the walls; but these in- 
 scriptions are apparently of old date, and the police have not taken 
 the trouble to efface them — perhaps the most effectual way of neutra- 
 lising their effect, just as the Irish denunciations of English tyranny 
 are perpetually contradicted by the fact that they are allowed to be 
 expressed. I see no groups, as at Naples, gathered round some one 
 who has the latest news to tell. We are in complete ignorance as to 
 what is going on at Ancona or Capua. We do not even know for 
 certain where the nearest outposts of the Piedmontese army lie. All 
 communications are interrupted, and the latest intelligence is conveyed 
 in private letters from Turin or Paris. If, however, the people here 
 were not indifferent, we should surely hear a great deal of false news 
 and reports, originating in excited imaginations. 
 
 The Giornale di Roma — the only paper allowed to be printed — gives 
 us news from Shanghai, and a discussion as to whether the Matilda of 
 
NAPLES AND GARIBALDI (i860). 
 
 3i7 
 
 Dante was an Italian Princess or a German Saint, but contains not a 
 word of news respecting the invading army. It was so with the 
 Government organ at Naples in the last days of Francesco. Meanwhile, 
 every one believes that the days of the Pope’s reign, as a temporal 
 sovereign, are numbered. The denouement is certain, in whatever way 
 it may be brought about. We who look on are like the reader of a 
 novel who has peeped at the last page and seen that it ends happily, 
 so that he goes through the book with diminished interest, but with 
 some curiosity nevertheless to see by what ingenious process the author 
 will extricate his characters from their embarrassment. The conduct of 
 the plot is no doubt all settled between the great collaborateurs at 
 Turin and Paris. The Romans, in the meantime, are not at all sorry to 
 let other people play their game, and give effect to their wishes, without 
 being involved in the risk and worry of an insurrection : 
 
 “ If fate will have me king, why fate may crown me 
 Without my stir.” 
 
 When a man can lie at his ease while other people climb the tree to 
 shake the ripe fruit down to the ground, within his reach, who can 
 wonder at his acquiescence in so comfortable an arrangement ? 
 
 The Holy Father, it is said, remains at the Vatican, freed from most of 
 the cares of government ; eating heartily and sleeping soundly, cheerfully 
 preparing himself for the scaffold or the stake, thus enjoying by antici- 
 pation all the glories of martyrdom, together with a comfortable 
 assurance that he will not be called upon to endure the pain thereof. 
 
 An ardent Protestant asked the English clergyman the other day, 
 “What arrangements he had made in the event of the fall of the 
 Papacy?” expecting, I suppose, that he would put on his surplice and 
 bands, and, followed by his clerk, proceed to read himself in at St. 
 Peter’s according to the form prescribed in the Book of Common 
 Prayer. 
 
 There is a very general idea prevalent, both among the foes and the 
 friends of the Pope, that the destruction of his temporal will entail the 
 ruin of his spiritual power. Among Protestants the wish is father to 
 the thought, and the impatient interpreters of prophecy find no warrant 
 in their texts for breaking the fall of Antichrist halfway down. 
 
 Among devout Romanists the notion arises from their attachment 
 to the tradition of their Church, which holds the two powers to be 
 inseparable, and which clutches at the substantial patrimony of St. 
 
3iS 
 
 NAPLES AND GARIBALDI (i860). 
 
 Tetcr with as much tenacity as his metaphorical keys. In reality, 
 I doubt whether ardent anti-Romanists are wise in advocating the 
 abolition of the temperal power. The notorious scandals of the Papal 
 administration tend to throw a slur upon his spiritual pretensions. If 
 a man know not how to rule his own household, how shall he rule the 
 Church of Christ ? How can the worst of temporal sovereigns be the 
 best of spiritual fathers ? I believe that his position as spiritual 
 sovereign would be strengthened by the abolition of the temporal 
 power. It is a reform as urgently needed as the reforms which were 
 brought about within the Roman Church after Luther's secession. From 
 those reforms the Church derived new strength and a fresh lease of 
 existence. That lease is now run out, and can only be renewed on 
 condition of parting with the temporal power. The world is not yet 
 ripe for the destruction of the spiritual domination, and till then the 
 powers of Napoleon, and Victor Emmanuel, and Garibaldi all united 
 will not prevail against it. Not martyr flames nor trenchant swords 
 shall do away that ancient institution. 
 
 Sept. 23. — The gardens of the French Academy on the Pincian, open 
 to the public this (Sunday) afternoon, are planted in a manner rather 
 unusual nowadays. Narrow walks intersect each other at right 
 angles, bordered on each side by tall hedges of box overtopped by ilex 
 and bay (here meriting its name of lanrus nobilis ), with generally at 
 each angle a cypress or pine. Such a garden, delightfully cool and 
 pleasant beneath this Italian sun, would be damp, and chill, and 
 mouldy in England. Nevertheless the lieges of Elizabeth used to love 
 “ pleached alleys,” and I could fancy that Shakespeare planted for 
 himself some such "trim pleasaunce” at New Place. I wonder if there 
 was more sunshine in England in those days. In Spenser and Shake- 
 speare it is almost always sunshine — a notable storm now and then, 
 but sunshine as a rule. Is there any truth in the fancy of all old 
 people that the weather used to be warmer and finer when they were 
 young? Or is it that Nature has kindly provided for men, whether 
 poets or not, that only the sunny hours of life shall make a lasting 
 impression on the memory, like the dial that says, " Horas non numero 
 nisi serenas? ” 
 
 In sight of the stone bench where I am sitting are a group of children, 
 from twelve to fifteen years old, playing with a heartiness which we 
 are accustomed to think a special characteristic of English children. It 
 is a sunny hour for them. Their game is called Ladri e Sbirri. The 
 
NAPLES AND GARIBALDI (i860). 
 
 3*9 
 
 first thing they do is to stand round in a ring. Each holds out three 
 fingers. The biggest boy counts, beginning from his left hand, three, 
 six, nine, etc., up to twenty-one, after which he goes on counting each 
 boy as one till he gets to thirty-one, and number thirty-one is the Capo 
 Sbirro. This elaborate device is to prevent cheating in the choice of 
 a leader. 
 
 The Capo Ladro is chosen in the same way. The head spy and 
 the head robber then choose their men alternately. The Sbirri tie a 
 handkerchief for distinction round the left arm, and start in chase of 
 the robbers. Some of the stone seats are supposed, “by making 
 believe very much,” to be caves, where they are secure. If the robbers 
 succeed in escaping all to the same cave, they win the game. It was 
 curious to observe how, even in the ardour of the game, the slow, 
 trainant , distinct enunciation of the Romans was preserved. A strange 
 contrast to the confused gibberish of the Neapolitans. 
 
 Sept. 25. — The Pope had ordered solemn prayers for three days — a 
 triduo is the name still in use, adopted like so many others from Pagan 
 Rome — to be offered for the success of his arms. These were repeated 
 for three successive evenings at vesper time, in one of the chapels 
 of St. Peter’s. Swiss guards lined each side of the chapel, and the 
 Holy Father himself, in scarlet cope, knelt in front of the altar, and 
 once during the ceremony offered incense. The persons present — five 
 or six hundred in number — joined in the chanting with great apparent 
 fervour, but before the service was over a large part had scurried off, 
 and taken their place in a double line leading to the door, by which his 
 Holiness was to pass on the way to the Vatican. The Pope looked 
 placid and benignant as ever, and showed no trace of care or trouble 
 in face or figure. People dropped on their knees to receive his 
 benediction. An Englishman, whose Protestantism has been intensified 
 by residence in Rome, to whom I spoke of the effective performance 
 I had just witnessed, said, "Yes, they are consummate actors, but 
 I have long felt that the play has lost its attractiveness by too much 
 repetition, and now it is more dreary to me than ever, for I know that 
 there is no money to renew the dresses and decorations, or to pay the 
 wages of the scene-shifters and candle-snuffers.” 
 
 Early in October I returned by way of Marseilles and Paris. All the 
 Frenchmen I talked with on the steamer and in the railway carriage 
 showed great irritation against Italians in general, and Garibaldi in 
 particular. They were very sore about Castelfidardo, and the fate of 
 
320 
 
 NAPLES AND GARIBALDI (i860). 
 
 Pope’s French volunteers, who had fought like lions “ nn contre cent’’ 
 and before succumbing to numbers had annihilated a whole regiment 
 of Piedmontese. If their opinion could be taken as an index of the 
 general feeling of France, the Emperor would be taking a popular course 
 if he were to restore the status quo in Italy by force of arms, leaving 
 only Lombardy to Piedmont, as a compensation for Savoy and Nice. 
 It was agreed that the position of Austria in Venice was intolerable.” 
 “ Que faire ? ” My suggestion that Austria should sell it was ridiculed 
 as “ une idee vraiment A?iglaise" * they not seeming to remember that 
 the great Napoleon netted a good round sum by a similar transaction 
 with regard to Louisiana. 
 
 These same Frenchmen showed, I am sorry to say, no good will 
 towards England. They spoke out their sentiments with that complete 
 disregard of a stranger’s feelings which distinguishes them from all 
 other nations, and makes them essentially the rudest nation in Europe. 
 They told me that every one knew the great ultimate purpose of the 
 Emperor’s policy was the humiliation of England ; that in less than ten 
 years he would take Gibraltar from us, and give it to Spain, he would 
 take the Ionian Islands and give them to Greece, thus making allies for 
 himself everywhere at our expense ; that he would seize Egypt, and 
 cut us off from India, etc., etc. 
 
 A countryman whom I met at Paris had been the object of similar 
 polite attentions in crossing France. One of his fellow-travellers, 
 rejoicing in the prospect of a speedy war, rubbed his hands and said 
 with a cheerful smile, “ Oui, Monsieur, nous vous mangerons les 
 entrailles.” 
 
 The French say, and by constantly affirming it have half persuaded 
 themselves that they are stronger than we, and would, in the event of a 
 war, be certainly victorious, but beneath their boasting lurks a feeling of 
 distrustful fear, w'hich will give them pause, and make them reflect that 
 they may find a cheaper and safer way of gratifying their national vanity 
 by continuing to brag of what they will do than by trying to do it. 
 
 * Now (December i860), this very plan is recommended by several 
 journals in France, as the only solution of the difficulty. 
 

 
 
 
 
 - .•