226 LODGES IN THE WILDERNESS 



these horses are as wild as the oryx. They 

 have so far evaded capture by invariably 

 taking to the water when pursued, and seeking 

 refuge in the extensive island labyrinth. 

 Long may they continue to do so. 



The hour had now arrived for disbanding 

 my corps of guides. I think I may truthfully 

 say that we parted with genuine mutual 

 esteem. The carcase of one of the springbuck 

 had been dismembered and divided by lot 

 among the faithful six. Pay had been dis- 

 tributed; likewise tobacco. I delivered a 

 valedictory address. 



With evident reluctance these people 

 picked up their portions of meat and prepared 

 to depart. Fauna apparently desired to com- 

 municate with me privately; she stood apart 

 and gazed with appeal in her eyes. I went to 

 her; she asked in a low, nervous voice — speak- 

 ing in much-broken Dutch — if I would not 

 send her some of the medicine made from the 

 reptiles and insects which had been collected. 



At length I caught the drift of her meaning : 

 she thought I was about to prepare from these 

 ingredients some philtre that would bring back 

 vanished youth. Truly, the mind of man is 

 one when the crust of convention is pierced. 

 This poor old creature, like Ponce de Leon, 



