In order to take out the charm from him, the
Bakatla on the following day made a huge bonfire over the carcass, which
was declared to be that of the largest lion they had ever seen. Besides
crunching the bone into splinters, he left eleven teeth wounds on the
upper part of my arm. It was a long time in healing.
The exact position of Lake Ngami had, for half a century at least, been
correctly pointed out by the natives, who had visited it when rains were
more copious in the desert than in more recent times, and many attempts
had been made to reach it by passing through the desert in the direction
indicated; but it was found impossible, even for Griquas, who, having
some Bushman blood in them, may be supposed more capable of enduring
thirst than Europeans. It was clear, then, that our only chance of
success was by going round, instead of through, the desert.
On July 4, 1849, we went forward on horseback toward what we supposed to
be the lake, and again and again did we seem to see it; but at last we
came to the veritable water of the Zouga, and found it to be a river
running to the northeast.
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