XIX ENDURANCE OF OXEN 413 



night, only outspanning for very short periods and at 

 long intervals ; so that in the twenty-four hours the 

 bullocks are from eighteen to twenty hours in the 

 yoke. Wherever, too, in the interior of South Africa, 

 large tracts have to be traversed without water, the 

 soil is invariably for the most part fine, deep sand, 

 into which the waggon wheels sink over the felloes, 

 which in itself is terribly trying to the oxen, which, in 

 addition to what they suffer from the heat of the 

 tropical sun, are half choked by the clouds of burning 

 dust that rise from the heated sand. Under these 

 circumstances, good sturdy oxen, not too tat, but in 

 good hard-working order, will not pull a waggon 

 without water for more than three days and four 

 nights in the winter time, when the nights are long 

 and cold, and the days not intensely hot. In the 

 summer, when the days are long, and the air in these 

 desert wastes becomes heated to the temperature of a 

 furnace, whilst the nights are short and warm, bullocks 

 will not pull a loaded waggon for more than two days 

 and two nights. However, even after they have 

 become incapable of moving a waggon, they will still 

 walk, when unyoked, many miles farther to the water, 

 especially during the night. One often hears of oxen 

 trekking for from five days and nights to nine with- 

 out water. My experience of the capabilities of these 

 enduring animals is as I have stated above. The 

 oxen that stand thirst the best are the breed possessed 

 by the Bechuana tribes along the borders of the 

 desert, which are all legs and horns to look at. 



On June 3, whilst the drivers were away fetching 

 the waggons, I went with old Jacob to another pan 

 that he knew of at a distance of a few miles along the 

 edge of the mopani. In this pan, which was deep and 

 circular, we found a good supply of fairly clear water. 



