Missionary Travels and Researches in South AfricaLivingstone, David
Religion
Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa
Livingstone, David
Missions -- South Africa; South Africa -- Description and travel
We made so many attempts to get over the Sanshureh, both to the west and
east of the wagon, in the hope of reaching some of the Makololo on the
Chobe, that my Bushmen friends became quite tired of the work. By means
of presents I got them to remain some days; but at last they slipped
away by night, and I was fain to take one of the strongest of my still
weak companions and cross the river in a pontoon, the gift of Captains
Codrington and Webb. We each carried some provisions and a blanket, and
penetrated about twenty miles to the westward, in the hope of striking
the Chobe. It was much nearer to us in a northerly direction, but this
we did not then know. The plain, over which we splashed the whole of
the first day, was covered with water ankle deep, and thick grass which
reached above the knees. In the evening we came to an immense wall
of reeds, six or eight feet high, without any opening admitting of a
passage. When we tried to enter, the water always became so deep that we
were fain to desist. We concluded that we had come to the banks of the
river we were in search of, so we directed our course to some trees
which appeared in the south, in order to get a bed and a view of the
adjacent locality. Having shot a leche, and made a glorious fire, we
got a good cup of tea and had a comfortable night. While collecting
wood that evening, I found a bird's nest consisting of live leaves sewn
together with threads of the spider's web. Nothing could exceed the
airiness of this pretty contrivance; the threads had been pushed through
small punctures and thickened to resemble a knot. I unfortunately
lost it. This was the second nest I had seen resembling that of the
tailor-bird of India.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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