said he would; but we could not go the way I had proposed,
along the course of the Great Fish or Koanquip rivers. He knew them
both perfectly, so he affirmed; but neither route would be safe. We
must go still further eastward--into the Kalahari in fact--he told me."

"What is the Kalahari?" asked Frank.

"A vast sea of sand," said Lavie, "extending for more than four hundred
miles, from the borders of Namaqua-land to the country of the Bechuanas.
There is not, so far as I know, a single river, lake, or even fountain,
to be found in the whole region."

"What on earth are we to go there for?" cried Gilbert. "We should soon
die of hunger or thirst, or heat!"

"Well no, not that," said the surgeon. "A great part of the sand is
covered with dense scrub, which affords something like shade, and though
there is neither river nor pool, yet if you dig down a few feet you will
generally find a supply of water. Life may be sustained there; indeed,
tribes of Bushmen and Bechuanas are to be found in most parts of it.
But I should think it was the most miserable dwelling-place to be found
on the face of the earth."

"Well, then, why are we to go there?" repeated Nick, irritably.

"Omatoko says it will not be safe, for the present at all events, to
journey southward. It seems that the Dutch are expecting a new attempt
of our countrymen to seize the colony, and their fear and anger are so
greatly roused, that they would certainly imprison, and probably kill,
any Englishman who at the present juncture fell into their hands. I
really think he is likely to be right in what he says. When I left
England two months ago, there was a good deal of talk about taking
possession of the Cape Colony again."

"But granting that we must not venture south, why need we bury ourselves
in a sandy desert?" persisted Gilbert. "Omatoko proposes to take us
some distance into Kalahari, because his tribe is at present living
there. When they were driven by the Dutch from their own homes, they
retired some few miles into the desert and built a new village, where
they have been living ever since. He promises us a friendly welcome
from his tribe, and advises us to remain with them until we can learn
what is the precise state of things between the English and Dutch. If
no attack is made by our government, the hostile feeling will gradually
subside, and we may safely pursue our way as at first proposed. If an
attack _is_ made, and the colony again