142 MEMORIES OF MY LIFE
like Kahichene. The smaller ones feared our weapons and the mystery attached to white men coming from afar, who might be in friendly relations with their dreaded enemies, so I was able to slip through their lawless country with comparative ease.
Ovannlx?nd(' 1)1-()V(-(] to be ()f 1)() inwortalwe. It was ntithit,g more thaii a long reach in a then dry river-bed, which would, however, assume a very different aspect after heavy rains. By the time we had arrived there, the tales concerning a different race called the Ovampo, who lived to the northwards beyond the Damaras, had become more and more consistent and exciting, and gave a fresh impetus to proceed. The Damara limit is marked on the map ; the axle of one of my wagons broke just before reaching it. Consequently I made a camp near a friendly Damara chief, and left the wagons, with Hans and the drivers, to be repaired in the way familiar to Boers, and started for Ovampo land with Andersson and three men on ride-oxen. I also took three laden pack-oxen and a few loose ones in reserve, to furnish food if needed.
A caravan travels every six months from Ovampo land to buy Damara cattle, stopping at the very place where we had been. Another caravan similarly travels along the Kaoko (see map) between Damara land and the sea. We met one of the former of these caravans a little after we had started, so we returned for a while to our old camp, and finally went back to Ovampo land with it. These Ovampo were under strict discipline, secret and very resolute. I could not do what I liked in their company, but had to depend on their plans. The will of their king
