182 KLOOF AND KARROO. 



of hope, and yet at that moment he was an angel, 

 of the earth, earthy, 'tis true, yet an angel that held 

 before us sure hope of rescue from our valley of 

 despair ; for despair, black and utter now, lay upon 

 the faces of my followers, and in the eyes of my 

 oxen. Remember, we had tasted no water to speak 

 of for close on three days, and had had, besides, a 

 frightfully trying trek. 



" We lay panting and grilling for an hour or more, 

 and then I told my men that water in any quantity 

 lay at the mountain top, and that we must, at all 

 hazards, get the oxen up to it. .By dint of severe 

 thrashing with the after-ox sjambok, we at last got 

 the oxen on to their legs all but two, which could 

 not be made to rise and then, leaving the waggon, 

 but taking three or four buckets, we moved upwards. 

 Only a mile of ascent, or a little more, lay before 

 us ; but so feeble were the oxen, that we had the 

 greatest difficulty to drive them to the top, even 

 without the encumbering waggon. At last we 

 reached the krantz, and after a hundred yards 

 walk upon its flat top, we came almost suddenly 

 upon a most wonderful, and to us, most soul-thrilling 

 sight. Dense bush of mimosa, thorn, spekboom, 

 euphorbia, Hottentot cherry, and other shrubs grew 

 around, here and there relieved by wide patches 

 of open space. The oxen, getting the breeze and 

 scenting water, suddenly began to display a most 

 extraordinary freshness ; up went their heads, their 

 dull eyes brightened, and they trotted forward to 

 where the brush apparently grew thickest. 



" For a time they found no opening, but after 

 following the circling wall of bush, at length a broad 

 avenue was disclosed an avenue doubtless worn 



