188 EXPEDITION INTO [Chap. XXII, 



pretty little stream, upon the further bank of which 

 we halted. A party of savages joined us, having 

 feasted heartily upon the gnoo killed yesterday ; 

 and as we did not require their services, we sent them 

 to eat up the rhinoceros, with injunctions to return 

 in the evening. The banks of the Ooli are precipi- 

 tous, and clothed with extensive mimosa groves, 

 abounding with wild buffaloes, pallahs, and guinea- 

 fowl.*^ We made a large bag of the latter, and 

 obtained a supply of ostrich eggs. In order to 

 drive the elephants into the plain, preparatory to 

 hunting them the next day, we set fire to the grass, 

 and moved the camp to a more secure position, 

 where the savages, who had returned, assisted in 

 fortifying our stockade against the lions. 



At daybreak the following morning, we crossed 

 an extensive valley which skirts the mountain range, 

 passing the ruins of several stone kraals, which in 

 former times served to confine the cattle of numerous 

 Bechuana tribes then living in peaceful possession 

 of the country. These crumbling memorials now 

 afford evidence of the extent to which this lovely 

 spot was populated before the devastating wars of 

 Moselekatze laid it waste, and indicate also a refine- 

 ment in the art of building that I had not met with 

 before. Our guides eagerly plucked several plants 

 of tobacco that grew wild about the enclosures, dry- 

 ing them for the manufacture of snuff. Soon after- 

 wards we entered a gorge of the mountains, and be- 

 gan to ascend. The ravages of elephants were here 



* Numida Meleagris, 



