XX A MISERABLE CHRISTMAS 445 



cathedral organ. As I have remarked elsewhere, I 

 think, in this book, there is no sound in nature 

 more grand, and at the same time more awe-inspir- 

 ing, than the roaring of several lions in unison, if 

 heard, be it understood, at close quarters. 



By the middle of November I again reached the 

 waggons, and a few days later, to our great joy, the long- 

 wished-for rain at length fell. It was not, however, 

 until the 4th of December that we were able to make 

 a start southwards with the waggons. As far as the 

 Botletlie river we got along easily enough, as, the 

 rain having fallen copiously, every vley was full of 

 water. Between that river, however, and Bamangwato, 

 we again very nearly lost all our oxen from thirst, 

 and, indeed, after trekking as far as they would 

 go without water, had to drive them to the river 

 Luali, on the road from Bamangwato to the Zambesi, 

 to obtain a supply of that essential element. At last, 

 however, after spending a very miserable Christmas 

 without food or water, we once more reached 

 Bamano-wato, where we met with true Kafirland 

 hospitality from our friends and countrymen, the 

 traders stationed at that distant outpost of civilisation. 



A few days later, as it was necessary that I should 

 hand over poor French's property to his executors 

 on the Diamond Fields, and make an affidavit con- 

 cerning his death, I made a start southwards, and 

 trekking down as far as Klerksdorp in the Transvaal 

 with my waggons, took the passenger waggon from 

 there to the Fields. The cold climate of these regions, 

 in comparison with the warmer air ot the interior, 

 brought out the fever that was ^still lurking in my 

 system, and I suffered first from a series of attacks 

 of ague, and latterly, when on the Fields, from a 

 sort of low fever very prevalent there, that reduced 



