152 AFRICAN GAME TRAILS 



as the thirty oxen threw their weight into the yokes by which 

 they were attached to the long trek tow. The horses were 

 fed. We had tea, with bread and cold meat and a most 

 delicious meal it was and then lay dozing or talking be- 

 side the bush-fires. At half-past eight, the moon having 

 risen, we were off again. The safari was still in high spirits, 

 and started with the usual chanting and drumming. 



We pushed steadily onward across the plain, the dust 

 rising in clouds under the spectral moonlight. Sometimes 

 we rode, sometimes we walked to ease our horses. The 

 Southern Cross was directly ahead, not far above the hori- 

 zon. Higher and higher rose the moon, and brighter grew 

 the flood of her light. At intervals the barking call of zebras 

 was heard on either hand. It was after midnight when 

 we again halted. The porters were tired, and did not sing 

 as they came up; the air was cool, almost nipping, and 

 they at once huddled down in their blankets, some of them 

 building fires. We, the white men, after seeing our horses 

 staked out, each lay down in his overcoat or jacket and 

 slicker, with his head on his saddle, and his rifle beside 

 him, and had a little over two hours' sleep. At three we 

 were off again, the shivering porters making no sound as 

 they started; but once under way the more irrepressible 

 spirits speedily began a kind of intermittent chant, and 

 most of the rest by degrees joined in the occasional grunt 

 or hum that served as chorus. 



For four hours we travelled steadily, first through the 

 moonlight, and then through the reddening dawn. Jackals 

 shrieked, and the plains plover wailed and scolded as they 

 circled round us. When the sun was well up, we halted; 

 the desolate flats stretched far and wide on every side and 



