KALAHARI DESERT

Hokitika Guardian, 29 September 1928, Page 7

KALAHARI DESERT

FIRST WHITE MEN TO CROSS

ENGLISHMAN FOUND IN THE DESERT. GHANZI, Western Edge of tin Kalahari Desert, July 2. The Imperial Government expedi tion, comprising six white men, inative guide, and a wire-haired ter rier, reached here to-day. We havi crossed the worst desert in Africa. It is a route from east to west o’ 500 miles, shunned by all other desert travellers because of its lack o water. We are the first white men tt accomplish this journey, and our tw< Morris commercial trucks have blazec a new trail in Africa. We expected to cross this desert in five days; if has taken us twelve. It was glorious for our tired eye* to sight these three white huts on the edge of the desert, the Union Jack hanging limply from a flagstaff in the blazing .sunshine. A magistrate. his wife, a sergeant of policeand four native constables rule ovei this territory of over 200 square miles.

REAL OUTPOST OF EMPIRE. •i- * . Ghanzi is a real outpost of Empire. It has provided us with water am petrol, of which we were in desperatneed. Food they could not spare, for their own supply consisted of a few tins of baked beans, We bought intc this outpost half of a bueje, which wi had shot, Tt provided a great feast The magistrate’s wife almost criec with delight when we presented he, with a tinned fig pudding from »• friend on the other side of the desert.

A few hours (before reaching Ghanz we had come across a lonely mud anc grass house around which swarmec bushmen and a few cows.

A white man named Morris, dressed in the meticulous style of a Victoran gentleman, came out of this hut to meet us. His long grey lock fell across a Dickensian type of collar, but -his cravat was tied \yit)i ciyepinc' 1 the excitement.. that four . applalrjanee must have caused him was hidden behind a courteous and restrained greeting. , . - - . j , He was ready enough to give is direction as to our route, but curbed our curiosity regarding himself. We did, however, discover . that he had onqe been a school master, and that he spent of his time scribbling notes to add to a pile of manuscript hidden away in the hut. He possessed a son and daughter The daughter, a girl of 16, poked hei head out of the hut at our approach, and then hurriedly hid herself. During our conversation curiosity compelled her to peep from the doorway, but once'any eyes; were turned in . her direction she fled into the hut.

The soi}, we gathered, was living like a native in a hut. He was almost naked, and went hunting with the ’bushmen, He was as adept wit! bow and arrow as any native, and could follow a spoor for miles. Hi' father regretted, that all, attempts tc clothe him had failed.

We camped within a mile of thi‘ hut. In the evening a fiendish din, shrieks, the : clapping of hands,, and the sound of a tom tom. drew us towards the hut. We found the old man, divested of a good many of his •qlothes, his son, and a number ol naked bushmen. indulging in a wild dance round a fire.

One immortant discovery of this expedition is that the desert is not entirely a desert. For the first 30t miles we travelled through scrub and sand. An occasional tree was found tortured and twisted in its growth as though existence in desert was continual agony. The only living creatures were white ants, packs of wolves, and wild dogs.

It was all the more extraordinary to ■■'Aw from these plains of desolation to grassy lands which told ol water beneath the surface. “This should make one of the finest ranching countries in the world,” said Captain Clifford, after a whole day spent traversing this area. “If is l better land than any to be found in Rhodesia, which claims to be a great cattle country.”

There is no doubt that if wells are made this part of the desert should see great herds of cattle roaming the long grass in the future. The fact that the land is at an altitude of 4IKm also makes it a zone where the white man can live.

Tt was in this area, too, that w-e fjound Bushmen and game prolific. Those were the hunting grounds- of the native, and we found their pits in the ground everywhere. On our first day in the grasslands we saw a herd of giraffe, their long necks turned towards our motor-lorries. Later, we passed a herd of zebra. Ihon some 60 wildebeest galloping madly across the plains. At night, when we camped,. tlie roars of lions wore beard, it was not a pleasant sound.

At a time when we were approaching the grasslands our petrol supply was running short. We seriously debated abandoning one truck, draining the .petrol from it, and pushing on to Chanzi. There were days when we could not travel more than two miles an hour owing to the heavy sand.

Time became precious. V e began to travel day and night, and our progress was better at night owin ,r to the cold air. For thro,, (Tvs not one of the expedition slept.. Neithei did time permit of more than one meal a day. The water we drank was

tainted with petrol. Each of the six men became irritable. We soon discovered each other's vices. There came an evening when our guide, Hendrike, leaned over and shouted excitedly: “Camels have been here!” Camels meant that a party of police and some cargo had entered the desert at. this spot. We were thirty miles from Ghanzi. Then Hendriks saw a shrub, with a piece of paper fluttering from one of the twigs. It was obviously an indication of some kind. “They have buried something here!” said Hendriks. In a few moments we were all digging frenziedly, and two drums of petrol were revealed. We were saved. They were part of a dump provided by the Shell Company which had been carried by fhe police on cameb to this point and buried some days previously. Moreover, within a few minutes of finding this petrol we also found our first supply of water since we entered linon the journey. It was hidden in a cleft of rocks. The next day, refreshed, we set out on the few remaining miles to Ghan'/A, and we laughed and shouted to each other as the three white huts came into view.