94 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. 



every instant ; but we went on and on, scraping at 

 the bottom of one after another without success, till 

 at last we had got so far away that I determined to 

 go to bed hungry when we did find some rather than 

 tramp back again to the elephant. 



Having been walking incessantly since the first 

 dawn of day, and having had a most severe chase 

 after the one last killed, I was excessively fatigued, 

 and nothing would have induced me to stir a yard 

 firther but thirst — not even the prospect of a good 

 dinner, although, with the exception of the merest 

 mouthtul of grilleci meat early in the morning before 

 starting, I had eaten nothing since the preceding 

 evening. However, water one must have : hunger 

 only comes on in pangs, and can be tolerated, but 

 thirst tortures one without cessation until relieved. 

 In this manner I fancy we must have groped our 

 way along for an hour and a half or more, and were 

 beginning to despair, when, just where the river 

 narrowed and ran in between two high hills, we per- 

 ceived in the gloom of the overhanging cliff the out- 

 lines of some native huts. On going up to them 

 (crossing an old corn-field on the way), we found 

 they had been long deserted. They must have been 

 occupied by natives from the Zambesi, who had 

 returned to their own country (probably from fear 

 of the Matabele) after cutting their corn. This dis- 

 covery put new hope into our hearts, as we felt sure 

 there must be water near at hand ; andi> in fact, after 

 walking a short distance and climbing over a few 

 large boulders in the bed of the river, we discovered 

 a pool under an immense rock, and soon relieved our 

 thirst. On either side of us the hills rose precipi- 

 tously, and though it was a brilliant starry night, but 

 little light reached the bottom of this ravine, which 



