It was in such a spot on the Komati River, a couple 

 of hundred yards from the bank, that on one occasion 

 I settled down to make up lost ground in the matter 

 of sleep, and with Mungo knee-haltered in good grass 

 and Jock beside me, I lay flat on my back with hat 

 covering my eyes and was soon comfortably asleep. 



The sleep had lasted a couple of hours when I began 

 to dream that it was raining and woke up in the belief 

 that a hail storm following the rain was just break- 

 ing over me. I started up to find all just as it had been, 

 and the sunlight beyond the big tree so glaring as to 

 make the eyes ache. Through half-closed lids I saw 

 Mungo lying down asleep and made out Jock standing 

 some yards away quietly watching me. 



With a yawn and stretch I lay back again ; sleep 

 was over but a good lazy rest was welcome : it had been 

 earned, and, most comforting of all, there was nothing 

 else to be done. In the doze that followed I was sur- 

 prised to feel quite distinctly something like a drop 

 of rain strike my leg, and then another on my hat. 



" Hang it all, it is raining," I said, sitting up again 

 and quite wide awake this time. There was Jock 

 still looking at me, but only for the moment of moving, 

 it appears ; for, a minute later he looked up into 

 the tree above me with ears cocked, head on one side, 

 and tail held lazily on the horizontal and moving 

 slowly from time to time. 



It was his look of interested amusement. 



A couple of leaves fluttered down, and then the 

 half-eaten pip of a ' wooden orange ' struck me in 

 the face as I lay back again to see what was going on 



359 



