Page:Lake Ngami.djvu/14

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vi
PREFACE.

He lays claim to no more credit than may attach to an earnest desire to make himself useful and to further the cause of science.

It is more than probable that his career as an explorer and pioneer to civilization and commerce is terminated; still he would fain hope that his humble exertions may not be without their fruits.

When he first arrived in Africa, he generally traveled on foot throughout the whole of the day, regardless of heat, and almost scorning the idea of riding on horseback, or using any other mode of conveyance; indeed, he was wont to vie with the natives in endurance; but now, owing to the severe hardships he has undergone, his constitution is undermined, and the foundation of a malady has been laid that it is feared he will carry with him to the day of his death; yet such is the perverseness of human nature that, did circumstances permit, he would return to this life of trial and privation.