On the 15th of March we reached Rehoboth, where, as already said, there is a missionary station pertaining to the Rhenish Society. Here I had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of the Rev. Messrs. Kleinschmidt and Vollmer. They resided in substantial clay houses thatched with reeds. The church, in the erection of which Mr. Kleinschmidt had taken a very active part, is a handsome and roomy structure, capable of holding several hundred people. From the disproportionate breadth of the building, however, the roof could not sustain its own weight, and some time previously to my visit the greater part had fallen down. Divine service, nevertheless, continued to be performed in that portion of the building which remained uninjured.
At this period the station was in a most flourishing condition. But, alas! circumstances have since changed, and it is now a question whether the mission can continue to exist. Should it be abandoned, ten years of unremitted labor and exertion will be entirely lost, and I sadly fear it will break the heart of its founder—the worthy and venerable Kleinschmidt.
Rehoboth is well supplied with good and clear water from a fountain hard by. There is also a copious warm spring flowing from a limestone rock; but the water is looked upon as unwholesome, and only made use of for cattle, washing of clothes, and the seasoning of timber.
The warm spring in question is situated on rising ground, and consequently affords facilities for irrigation, though, unfortunately, the soil is scanty and unfavorable for gardening. The missionaries and a few natives have by perseverance succeeded in fertilizing patches of ground which are tolerably productive. Indeed, I have known a fig-tree—certainly not above five or six feet in height—in Mr. Kleinschmidt’s garden to produce a dish of fruit every day for a space of more than three months. The garden vegetables which thrive best are pumpkins, calabashes, watermelons, &c. The wild gourd, or melon, is also found in great abundance about Rehoboth. When ripe, this fruit is collected by the natives, dried, and stored away for seasons of scarcity.
CHAPTER XXIV.
Return to Eikhams.—Ugly Fall.—Splendid Landscape.—Jonker’s Delinquencies.—How to manage the Natives.—The Ondara.—It kills a Man.—How his Comrade revenges him.—Medical Properties of the Ondara.—The Cockatrice.—The Cobra di Capella.—The Puff-adder.—The Spitting Snake.—The Black Snake.—Few Deaths caused by Snakes.—Antidotes for Snake-bites.—Return to Rehoboth.
Leaving Hans in charge of the men and cattle, I posted back to Eikhams, a distance of about sixty miles, in the hope of recovering our debt from Jonker; but he had not yet returned. By this time, however, I received positive information that he and his people were engaged in a cattle-lifting foray. To enable me to acquire full details of their proceedings, I set off for Barmen, the head-quarter for information as respects Damara-land. Here fugitives arrived daily, bringing tidings of plunder and bloodshed. I felt grieved and angry at Jonker’s outrageous behavior. Only a year before he had most solemnly promised Mr. Galton never again to molest the Damaras.
Hearing that Kachamaha, the most powerful chief in the country since the death of Kahichenè, resided not far from Barmen, and that he had been a severe sufferer by the depredations of the Namaquas, I determined to visit him, with a view of ascertaining the extent of his own and his countrymen’s losses.
I found Kachamaha’s kraal on the steep banks of a periodical stream, one of the largest tributaries of the Swakop. The situation was most picturesque. The wonderful luxuriance of the vegetation, and extreme beauty of the landscape at this season, the thousands of cattle crowding the verdant slopes, the purling stream, which made a music strange to these regions—