was not destined to have many nights or days like my
first.
The next day (June 29th) we set off at about 6.30 a.m.,
the pools all round being covered with a thin coating
of ice. Until 11 o’clock we followed a track strewn with
enormous stones which knocked the waggons about to
such a degree that every moment I expected to see them
go to pieces; but they stood it in a wonderful way, and
I began to see what African waggons are capable of. To
right and left extended an immense plain covered with
a yellowish grass, dotted here and there with stones, and
patches of thorny heather—the South African veldt.
In the morning we caught sight of some “ steinboksj’
little gazelles hardly bigger than a dog, but so wild that
it is impossible to get within four or five hundred yards
of them. At 11 o’clock I came to a farm, Mismifontein,
where we stopped; we outspanned so that the beasts
might feed and drink. The farm, like so many in this
part of South Africa, consists of a mud hut of two rooms,
and was occupied by a Dutch farmer and his family of
nine children. No .sign of cultivation : a few cows and
a dozen fowls and ducks were all the stock that I could
see. It is hard to realize what these people live upon. But
there was one comfort about the place. For the first time
since we left Vryburg I found a well of clear water—a
real luxury, as we had had nothing to drink but muddy
stuff for four days. About three o’clock in the afternoon,
just as I was preparing to start again, a regular shower
of locusts descended, covering the plain as far as one
could see, their white wings shining in the sun so as to
give the effect of a fall of snow. At the distance of
about a mile from the farm I reached a kind of swamp
of wet clay. I crossed this morass on my horse, which
sunk up to its knees, to try and find a firm spot where
the waggons might pass, but without success. There was
no choice; I had the two teams attached to the heavier
waggon, and we drove on as hard as we could. The
12
almost crossed the bog when one of the oxen yoked tc
the pole fell. His head sank in the mud, leaving but his
eyes visible, and it was only with the greatest trouble that
we ept his head up that he should not be suffocated.
en the drivers, by means of yells, oaths, and blows,
succeeded in freeing the waggon; but all this took a long
time and night was fast coming on. The waggon in
which I rode had not yet crossed, and I returned with
the oxen to fetch it. When it started, it was still light
but m these latitudes there is no dusk, and by the time we
got to the swamp it was already night. Major, my head
man, called out to the leader to go right ahead and
then turn to the right. The leader understood to the
left, and .took the team into the middle of the bog, into
which the waggon sank four feet or so. The united
efforts of all the thirty-four oxen could not disengage
it. My beasts were exhausted, and the men done up.
t was no use thinking of getting out without unloading
the cargo, so I decided then, not being able to do anything
else, to remain there till the next morning. But I was
ying of hunger, and all the provisions that had been
broached were in waggon No. 2. By the light of a
lantern I got down from my waggon; I had hardly put
my foot to what I trusted was earth, when I sank up to
my knees in muck. ^ I remounted my waggon, and stayed
here caged-up all night. Next morning we had to unload
the waggon, and so got it free.
A few evenings after this I perceived a strong light
on the horizon—the plain was on fire behind us, and the
wind was blowing the conflagration in our direction.
Luckily the breeze was slight; I saddled my horse and
S? rl 7 lth r r eT ° f the men to ascertain the importance
of the fire. If I found it near us, the only thing to do
would be to set light ourselves to the herbage in front
of us, and walk behind the fire that we had started. On
our way we perceived two other fires, one to our right and