CH. VII] A WET JOURNEY 151 



sun shelters under the scattering thorn-bushes. The 

 horses were fed, were given half a pail of water apiece, 

 and were turned loose to graze with the oxen ; this was 

 the last time the oxen would feed freely, unless there 

 was rain ; and this was to be our longest halt. We had 

 an excellent breakfast, like oin* supper the night before, 

 and then slept as well as we could. 



Noon came, and soon afterward we again started. 

 The country grew hilly and brushy. It was too dry 

 for much game, but we saw a small herd of giraffe, 

 which are independent of water. Now riding our 

 horses, now leading them, we travelled until nearly 

 sunset, when we halted at the foot of a steep divide, 

 beyond which our course lay across slopes that gradually 

 fell to the stream for which we were heading. Here 

 the porters had all the food and water they wished, and 

 so did the horses ; and, each with a double span of oxen, 

 the waggons were dri\en up the slope, the weary cattle 

 straining hard in the yokes. 



Black clouds had risen and thickened in the west, 

 boding rain. Three-fourths of our journey wjis over, 

 and it was safe to start the safari and then leave it to 

 come on by itself, while the ox-waggons followed later. 

 At nine, before the moon struggled above the hill-crests 

 to our left, we were off. Soon we passed the waggons, 

 j drawn up abreast, a lantern high on a pole, while the 

 j tired oxen lay in their yokes, attached to the trek tow. 

 1 An hour afterward we left the safari behind, and rode 

 ahead, with only our saises and gun-bearers. Gusts of 

 * rain blew in our faces, and gradually settled into a 

 , steady, gentle downpour. Our horses began to slip in 

 j the greasy soil ; we knew the rain would refresh the 

 cattle, but would make the going harder. 



At one we halted, in the rain, for a couple of hours' 



