XIX CATTLE DRIVEN TO MAHAKABI 317 



About ten o'clock it became Impossible to get 

 the waggons along at all, and we had to give up 

 the idea of reaching the pools of Mahakabi, from 

 which we were only about six miles distant, with 

 them, as we had hoped to have done. We there- 

 fore outspanned, and prepared to drive all our 

 cattle and horses to the water, let them have a 

 good drink and feed there, and return to fetch the 

 waggons in the afternoon. Collison was not very 

 well, so he and Sell remained with the waggons, 

 whilst Miller and I — both of us mounted — and all 

 our coloured boys, with the exception of the waggon- 

 drivers, accompanied Tinkarn and his people to 

 Mahakabi, taking all our cattle, horses, and dogs 

 with us. Tinkarn, I think, only left a couple of boys 

 to look after the five waggons belonging to his 

 people. I let him start first with all his people and 

 their troop of cattle. Miller and I following with 

 our own herd, driven by our own boys, about a 

 quarter of an hour or twenty minutes later. I rode 

 my own favourite shooting horse " Bob," and led 

 Collison's best nag '' Big Bles," his after-rider, a 

 Mangwato boy, named Dick, being mounted on his 

 second horse. I had had a cup of coffee when we 

 outspanned just before daylight, but had eaten 

 nothing since the previous evening, and had not 

 even tied a piece of "biltong'' on my saddle, when 

 leaving the waggons with the oxen, as I had hoped 

 to get back again before sundown, and was besides 

 too full of anxiety to think much about food just 

 then. 



Although the bullocks were unable to drag our 

 heavy waggons any farther through the deep sand, 

 they stepped out briskly enough along the road 

 when unencumbered, and evidently knew that they 

 were being taken to water. We were just approach- 

 ing the first of the two pools of Mahakabi, and could 

 see the cattle of our Mangwato friends standing 



