56 ADVENTURES IN SOUTH AFRICA. 



The 17th ushered in a lovely morning, and the sky 

 was beautifully overcast with clouds. When I got 

 things dry I fniished stowing the wagon, an^ we then 

 trekked, holding on till the evening, when the axle-tree 

 which I had made burst, and the linch-pin giving way, 

 the wheel rolled off, leaving me once more a wreck. 

 While securing my few remaining horses, I remarked 

 that a handsome little bay horse, named " Hutton," 

 evinced symptoms of the distemper, but I did not bleed 

 him, as it seemed to be of no avail. Heavy rain con- 

 tinued falling throughout the night, and next morning 

 the ground where we had outspanned was a mass of 

 deep mud. At an early hour all hands were busy in 

 again unloading the broken wagon, and before night I 

 had finished another axle-tree and fixed it in its place. 

 The day throughout Avas dark and gloomy — heav\ 

 clouds hung low on the mountain of the eagles, re- 

 minding me of the mist I was wont to see in the dis- 

 tant country of the Gael, and our ears were repeatedly 

 saluted with the subdued voices of a troop of lions which 

 were moaning in concert around its base. In the even- 

 ing the horse called " Hutton" died, and scarcely had 

 night set in when his doleful coronach was wildly re- 

 echoed by the shrill voices of a score of jackals, which 

 the lions hearing soon came to their assistance, and 

 presently we heard them feasting on his remains. 



On the morning of the 19th we resumed our march, 

 and at a late hour on the evening of the 20th we reach- 

 ed the missionary station at Bakatla, where I was kind- 

 ly received by Dr. Livingstone and his amiable lady. 

 They had been anxious concerning my fate, and enter- 

 tained great apprehensions for my safety. Mrs. Living- 

 stone had seen my Hottentots as they passed through 

 Bakatla, wh.ere they remained only one day ; and that 



