412 A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS ch. 



Mababe river," said the old man. I looked at my 

 poor, hollow-sided, jaded cattle, and then again at 

 the distant smoke, and wondered whether they would 

 all be good for the journey. We now saw a great 

 many zebras about the flat, and I said to old Jacob 

 that I felt sure that there must be water nearer than 

 the river, or otherwise how could the presence of so 

 many zebras and the buffalo spoor be accounted for. 

 The old fellow said there were some pans just within 

 the edge of the mopani, close to us, but that as the 

 large vleys we had passed were dry, he did not think 

 it likely these little ones would still hold water. 

 However, we went to look, and five minutes later 

 found a long shallow vley full of water. I could 

 have hugged the dirty old man with dehght. What 

 a sight it was to see the poor thirsty oxen come 

 trotting down to the pan, as soon as they smelt the 

 longed-for water, and rush knee-deep into it ! What 

 a sudden relief the sight of that pool of muddy water 

 was, too, and what a weight of fear and anxiety it 

 lifted from our hearts ! Only an hour before it had 

 seemed that I was doomed to lose all my live stock 

 — nearly everything I possessed in the world — from 

 thirst ; and now the danger was past, and not a 

 single ox had given in. 



The following morning I sent the drivers back 

 with the cattle to bring the waggons down to the 

 vley. They arrived in the evening. 



In the course of my various hunting expeditions, 

 I have had several experiences of this kind whilst 

 travelling through the inhospitable deserts of South- 

 western Africa, and I will therefore give my experi- 

 ence as to the capabilities of oxen for standing thirst. 



It must be remembered that when I talk of travel- 

 ling through the " thirst," I mean trekking day and 



