292 EXPEDITION INTO [Chap. XXXIII. 



thing around me was vague and conjectural, and 

 wore an aspect calculated to inspire despondency ; 

 yet my heart was light and my spirit buoyant; and 

 I no sooner became convinced that I was actually lost 

 in the heart of a howling wilderness, inhabited, if at 

 all, by barbarous and hostile tribes, than I felt myself 

 fully prepared to meet, the emergency. The setting 

 sun having given me the bearing of the table 

 mountains, considerably to the westward of south, 

 it was evident that, without being aware of it, I had 

 crossed the road, and ridden too far to the eastward. 

 In the hope of yet retrieving my error, I hurried 

 down the river as fast as possible, but, night closing 

 in, I was fain to prepare for a bivouac among the 

 bushes. The stars were completely concealed 

 behind a clouded sky, and repeated flashes of 

 lightning were accompanied by distant thunder. 

 Having completed all my preparations, I was lis- 

 tening, with breathless attention, for the cracking 

 of a w^hip, or the signal guns, which I knew would 

 be fired from the waggons, when, to my inex- 

 pressible delight, a joyous beacon-fire shone sud- 

 denly forth on the river. Upon consideration, I 

 felt puzzled to account for its appearance in a spot 

 which I had so recently passed, but, concluding 

 that the waggons had subsequently arrived there, 

 I laid the flattering unction to my soul, and groped 

 my way towards it. My disappointment and disgust 

 may better be imagined than described when, 

 flitting round the unfriendly blaze, I discovered a 

 gang of Bushmen, with their imp-like squaws, 



