The next morning proved the groundlessness of the report. The Bushmen, we found, had fabricated the story as a means of prolonging my stay among them, in the anticipation of obtaining an occasional gorge from the spoils of the chase. The low cunning of this people is only equaled by their credulity. To them, no tales can be too ridiculous and absurd for belief. For instance, my Bushmen guides amused me by relating one evening that a tribe of black people had just taken up their abode a little in advance of us, “whose stomachs rested on their knees, and whose whole aspect was of the most unnatural and ferocious character.”
About noon on the same day we were again en route. Instead of feeling our way by the zigzag tracks made by rhinoceroses and other wild beasts, our guides now took us a straight cut across the country, which was densely wooded.
The “wait-a-bit” thorns were extremely harassing, tearing to ribbons our clothes, carosses, and even pack-saddle bags, made of strong ox-hide. Notwithstanding the wooded character of the country, it affords excellent pasturage; and the numerous old wells and pits found between Tunobis and the Ngami clearly indicate that these regions have, at no very remote period, been largely resorted to by some pastoral people.
I hoped to reach the Lake by the evening, but sunset found us still at a distance from the object of our enterprise. We encamped in a dense brake, near to which were several gigantic baobob[82]-trees, the first we had seen; the stems of some we judged to be from forty to sixty feet in circumference. Finding abundance of fuel, the wood was soon illuminated by numerous watch-fires, around which, besides my own party, were grouped many a merry and laughing savage, each with his shield planted as a guard behind him. Altogether, the scene was striking and picturesque.
The return of daylight found us again on the move. The morning being cool and pleasant, and our goal near, the whole party was in high spirits, and we proceeded cheerily on our road. I myself kept well ahead, in hope of obtaining the first glimpse of Ngami. The country hereabout was finely undulated, and in every distant vale with a defined border I thought I saw a lake. At last a blue line of great extent appeared in the distance, and I made sure it was the long-sought object; but I was still doomed to disappointment. It turned out to be merely a large hollow, in the rainy season filled with water, but now dry and covered by saline incrustations. Several valleys, separated from each other by ridges of sand, bearing a rank vegetation, were afterward crossed. On reaching the top of one of these ridges, the natives, who were in advance of our party, suddenly came to a halt, and, pointing straight before them, exclaimed, “Ngami! Ngami!” In an instant I was with the men. There, indeed, at no very great distance, lay spread before me an immense sheet of water, only bounded by the horizon—the object of my ambition for years, and for which I had abandoned home and friends, and risked my life.
The first sensation occasioned by this sight was very curious. Long as I had been prepared for that event, it now almost overwhelmed me. It was a mixture of pleasure and pain. My temples throbbed, and my heart beat so violently that I was obliged to dismount and lean against a tree for support until the excitement had subsided. The reader will no doubt think that thus giving way to my feelings was very childish; but “those who know that the first glimpse of some great object which we have read or dreamed of from earliest recollection is ever a moment of interest enjoyment, will forgive the transport.” I felt unfeignedly thankful for the unbounded goodness and gracious assistance which I had experienced from Providence throughout the whole of this prolonged and perilous journey. My trials had been many; but, my dearest aspirations being attained, the difficulties were all forgotten. And here I could not avoid passing my previous life in review. I had penetrated into deserts almost unknown to civilized man; had suffered the extremity of hunger and thirst, cold and heat; and had undergone desperate toil, sometimes nearly in solitude, and often without shelter during dreary nights in vast wildernesses haunted by beasts of prey. My companions were mostly savages. I was exposed to numerous perils by land and by water, and endured torments from wounds inflicted by wild animals. But I was mercifully preserved by the Creator through the manifold dangers that hovered round my path. To Him are due all homage, thanksgiving, and adoration.
After feasting my eyes for a while on the interesting scene before me, we descended from the higher ground toward the Lake, which we reached in about an hour and a half. But, though we breathed a fresher atmosphere, no perfumed or balmy scents, as might have been anticipated on the borders of a tropical lake, were wafted on the breeze.
Whether my expectations had been raised to too high a pitch, or that the grandeur of this inland sea and the luxuriance of the surrounding vegetation had been somewhat exaggerated by travelers, I must confess that, on a closer inspection, I felt rather disappointed. In saying this, I must admit having visited it at a season of the year little favorable to the display of its grandeur. But, if I am not mistaken, its discoverers, Messrs. Oswell, Livingstone, and Murray, saw it under no more auspicious circumstances. The eastern extremity, however, the only portion ever seen by the gentlemen in question, certainly possesses superior attractions to the western, or where I first struck upon the Ngami.
The Lake was now very low, and, at the point first seen by us, exceedingly shallow. The water, which had a very bitter and disagreeable taste, was only approachable in a few places, partly on account of the mud, and partly because of the thick coating of reeds and rushes that lined the shore, and which were a favorite resort of a great variety of water-fowl. Many species new to us were among them; but we had no time to spare for approaching the birds.
We twice bivouacked on the south border of Ngami before coming in sight of Lecholètébè’s residence, situated on the north bank of the River Zouga, and at a short distance from where its waters separate themselves from the Lake.