Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1890-01-11
THE KARROO DESERT.
4 Boundless Brown Sea Silent, Hot, Sol
itary and Vast.

| Where Heat Rises Like Flame, With Moth
ing to Break the MOnOtony that Stretches
as Far as the Eye Can see-The Horrors Of
Thirst
We had already journeyed seven
days from Cape Town, and had now
reached the edge of the desert known
as the Karroo, says ii writer in the
London News The site is marked on
the map of South Africa as beginning
beyond this range of the great Swarte
| BLACK Mountains) The distance
across the desert to the point we
wished to reach was 100 miles, which
we decided to accomplish in three
days. AS we entered the desert it
spread before us on every side like a
| boundless brown sea, silent solitary
and vast AS the sun rose into the
sky the warmth became intense, and
when by midday we halted we could
see the heat rising from the scorched
plains in wavy columns like golden
! flames.
There was neither tree nor mount
ain in sight; nothing to break the
level monotony that stretched as far
as eye could see. We encamped for
the night in the midst Of this swelling
loneliness, and then perhaps for the
first time began to feel its power We
spent the last hour before shutdown in
cutting and gathering a quantity of
Karroo shrub, the only thing that
grows upon these plains, to iced
fire to protect us from the wolves and
jackals which scour the desert IN
packs.
Adolph and Wilhelm Nor itz, happy
Dutchmen were soon asleep; Mead ws
and | lay chatting for some time, then
relapsed into silence that surrounded
US broken only by the stir OF the
horses tied to the wagon pole Sud
denly there came into the dead silence
II long, sharp, piercing cry, answered
by another in the opposite direction,
equally distant; these were the cries OF
iackals. Then c,me the bark of
wolf, answered by chorus, and Mead
Ows suddenly rose into sitting posi-
ton. The brutes are comingn' he
exclaimed. Instantly hundred
Threats seemed to be Daying into the
darkness, drawing nearer and nearer,
until we could see, surrounding us like
a circle'of fire. the sclntillation of red
eyes. The scene was now become one
| of 81 mill saa1itXr-oll nj ni1t tho
dense darkness, lighted only, and in
manner made more perceptible, by the
rays of the glowing brushwoOd embers;
| in all directions about Us the glare OF
shining eyes, and now the brutes came
so near that we could hear the angry
snarls and the swapping of their jaws.
Meadows rose and threw fresh fuel
on the fire; the flame brought into view
the shaggy forms of the gray wolves,
the striped hyenas, behind them again,
the jackals The Moritz brothers were
up, and, together with ourselves,
| opened fire upon the animals, shooting
at the shining masses where they
| seemed thickest, answered by bowls
and cries of rage as our bullets tore
their way into the restless groups.
For an hour or more the animals
sllulked around; but as We kept our
brushwoOd fire in good condition, they
finally gave up what we feared was a
premeditated attack We set out be-
fore the sun was up, journeying still
deeper into the desert Our drive was
a dreary pull. Once we passed close
to where flock of vultures were feed
ing on some animal that had wandered
off the road to die. Our track was
lined with whitened bones. After the
midday "outspan'' our late afternoon
journey was enlivened by a singular
display of thieving boldness. We were
slowly ''trekking" along, when all at
once we heard 4 scuffiing kind OF
spring and scratching at the trailboard,
and, looking round, we caught the
| glimpse of the nose of Il jackal as it
disappeared from sight. The reason
was obvious Lashed against the back
of the wagon outside was sack OF
| dried salt fish, the Odor of which had
attracted the sharp-scented thieves, and
which the brutes were endeavOrin9 to
steal, and finally succeeded in doing 80
by biting off the lashings. Moritz would
not stop the horses, but whipped them
up afresh, saying: let them have it. "
George and |, however, used our re-
volvers leaving many OF them dead in
the road behind; but, having secured
the fish, they seemed satisfied, as we
could see them in the distance fighting
and tearing at each other over the
booty.
Our third and last days journey was
most trying one, during which we
fully realized what desert travelling
may become. We had exhausted
our last drop of water the night before,
and we awoke with a thirst that then
seemed unbearable; but before the day
was over we learned that our morning
thirst was but trilling affair. Every
thing was intensified on that day; the
sun seemed tiercer, the heat greater,
the desert drier, and the sky more
defiant In fact we seemed to be jour
neying deeper and deeper into a fur