As, however, no reliance could possibly be placed on the accounts of the natives with regard to water, character of the country, and so forth, it was deemed advisable, before moving from our present encampment, to make a short exploratory excursion in order to see and judge for ourselves.
Mr. Galton, accompanied by a few of the men, therefore rode northward, in order to ascertain if the route we purposed taking was traversable with wagons. On the evening of the third day he returned, being assured of its practicability. He had met with several native villages, and, though his reception there had by no means been very flattering, we determined to proceed without a moment’s delay.
None of the Damaras whom we had brought with us from Barmen professed to know any thing of the country we were about to explore. The guide, however, whom we had procured a short distance south of Omanbondè, said that he was well acquainted with it, and volunteered to show us the way to the Ovambo provided his services should be rewarded with a cow-calf. Mr. Galton gladly agreed to his terms, but, unfortunately, as the event proved, paid him his wages in advance.
Early in the morning of the 12th of April we bade farewell to the inhospitable shores of Omanbondè. For a few hours we kept parallel with the Omuramba, when we struck into a more easterly course.
During the day we saw vast troops of camelopards, and just at nightfall I had the good fortune to kill a fine, full-grown male, which was an acceptable addition to our larder. Before the carcass had time to cool, twenty or thirty men were busy in tearing it to pieces. As usual on such occasions, the Damaras dispensed with sleep, and devoted the night entirely to the enjoyment of the banquet.
The next morning we witnessed a magnificent mirage. Lakes, forests, hills, &c., burst on the eye and disappeared in rapid succession.
Later in the day we were gratified by the sight of a large number of palm-trees. This harbinger of a better land was an agreeable surprise, bringing an involuntary smile of satisfaction to every face. We were astonished at the cheerful and refreshing effect a very slight improvement in the landscape had on our spirits. In the distance these palms seemed to us to form an extensive and compact wood, but on nearer approach we found the trees grew at long intervals from each other. They were very tall and graceful, each branch having the appearance of a beautiful fan, and, when gently waved by the wind, the effect produced was indescribably pleasing.
This species of palm is, I believe, new to science.[22] It produces fruit about the size of an apple, of a deep brown color, with a kernel as hard as a stone, and not unlike vegetable ivory. The fruit is said to have a bitter taste, but farther north (where, as will be presently seen, we found the tree very plentiful) it was very palatable. On account of the great height and straightness of the trunk, the fruit was very difficult of access. The story our guide told us previously to leaving Barmen about a tree, the fruit of which was obtainable only by means of “knob-kieries thrown up at it,” was now easily comprehended. But we experienced greater difficulty in realizing his other tales, such as the existence of a people who make trees their sole dwellings, while others were found without joints to their limbs, who nevertheless were able to indulge in the refined custom of feeding each other by means of their toes.
FAN-PALM.[23]