XX. 



BONDONI. 



WE followed many depressions, in which might 

 be lions, until about three o'clock in the 

 afternoon. Then we climbed the gently-rising 

 long slope that culminated, far above the plains, 

 in the peak of a hill called Bondoni. From a 

 distance it was steep and well denned ; but, like 

 most of these larger kopjes, its actual ascent, up 

 to the last few hundred feet, was so gradual that 

 we hardly knew we were climbing. At the sum- 

 mit we found our men and the bullock cart. 

 There also stood an oblong blockhouse of stone, 

 the walls two feet thick and ten feet high. It 

 was entered only by a blind angle passage, and 

 was strong enough, apparently, to resist small 

 artillery. This structure was simply an ostrich 

 corral, and bitter experience had shown the 

 massive construction absolutely necessary as 



