132 MEMORIES OF MY LIFE
team could be selected to draw the cart, when it was laden with articles of barter to buy oxen, and two if not three skilled drivers and other necessary men ; also two horses which were not expected to live long, and did not, and a few dogs. The gear of the missionary and the young missionary himself were also taken on board. We started from Cape Town in the second week of August 1850.
On arriving at Walfish Bay, we found ourselves faced by as desolate and sandy a shore as even Africa can show, which is saying a great deal. There was a small empty wooden hut on the beach, very useful as a storehouse; a few natives appeared, and one consented to act as a messenger to the mission station twenty miles off, in return for a stick of tobacco and a biscuit. This is No. i on the map (Schepmansdorf). We landed the things as best we could from the schooner, which was anchored onethird of a mile from the shore. The animals had to swim, the rest of the cargo was taken in many instalments by the dinghey. The missionary, Mr. Bam, and his then guest and helper Mr. Stewardson, a former cattle-trader, made their appearance the next night, riding on oxen, which is a usual mode of travel in these parts.
In the meantime we had visited the wateringplace "Sand Fontein," three miles off, of which we had heard, and which is marked by a dot on the map. It was at that time a puddle of nasty water, but gave a sufficient quantity of it for the mules and horses. A cask of good drinking water was brought ashore for ourselves and placed in the storehouse.
It was agreed that all my possessions should be
