Page 8 - Adventures in Africa

together we had met with no water to quench our own
thirst or that of our weary beasts. M y uncle was
engaged in the adventurous and not unprofitable

occupation of trading with the natives in the interior
of Africa, He had come down south some months

before to dispose of the produce of his industry at Gra­
ham's Town, where I had joined him, having been sent
for from England. After purchasing a fresh supply of

goods, arms, powder, and shot, and giving a thorough
repair to his waggons, he had again set off northward

for the neighbourhood of lake Ngami, where he was
to meet his partner, Mr. Welbourn, who had with him
his son Harry, with whom I had been at school, and

who was about my own age. W e had, beyond the
borders of the colony, been attacked by a party of
savages, instigated by the Boers, two or three of

whom indeed led them. They had deprived us of our
cattle and men, We having escaped with a small

portion only of our goods, two of our horses, a single
ox and our one faithful Bechuana. To get away
from our enemies we had taken a route not unusually

followed across the Kalahari desert. W e were aware
of the dangers and difficulties to be encountered, but

the road was much shorter than round either to the
east or w e st; and though we knew that wild animals
abounded, including elephants, rhinoceroses, lions,

leopards, and hyaenas, yet we believed that we should
be able to contend with them, and that we should not

be impeded by human savages. D ay after day we
trudged forward. The only water we could obtain
was by digging into certain depressions in the ground

which our guide pointed out, when, having scraped