30 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. 



scoundrels returned with a very lying and elaborate 

 story, saying they had followed my spoor to a pit 

 with a little water in it, where I had dismounted and 

 drunk, and from there to the road on the other side 

 of Shakani, along which I had ridden at a gallop 

 towards Bamangwato. With this intelligence they 

 came back to the waggons, relieving my friends of 

 all anxiety (except that they wondered what on earth 

 I wanted at Bamangwato), but kindly leaving me to 

 die of hunger and thirst, or find my way back to the 

 road as I best could. The fact is, they just ate up 

 the meat Mandy had given them, and then, returning 

 with their abominable lying story, got their payment 

 and were happy ! 



My poor horse, which had been worth £So only 

 three weeks previously, I thought no more about, 

 believing that if he had not died of thirst he must 

 have fallen a prey to lions or hyasnas ; but when I 

 reached Tati, a Mr. Elstob, a trader there, thought the 

 animal might have found his way back to Bamangwato, 

 and offered me _^io for the chance, which I accepted. 

 Several months later I heard this had actually 

 happened, but the raw hide thongs with which he had 

 been hobbled had so cut into his legs as greatly to 

 reduce his value. Thus terminated an adventure 

 which, had it not been for a sound constitution, 

 might have terminated me ; as it was, I was never a 

 bit the worse for my sufferings, except that during 

 the next two or three days I experienced a soreness in 

 the throat and a difficulty in swallowing ; but for all 

 that I should be very sorry to go nearly ninety hours 

 without food or water again, or to spend three winter 

 nights without fire or blanket on the bare ground. 



The day after I reached the waggons we inspanned, 

 and got to the Serule the following day, where 



