322 EXPEDITION INTO [Chap. XXXVI. 



sleeping — he would never have woke again. But, 

 though smouldering fires were smoking in various 

 directions, every cabin was deserted; and having 

 visited each in succession, and diligently searched 

 every nook and corner, without being able to discover 

 a solitary human being, we turned for a moment to 

 contemplate the tragic scene before us. Nineteen 

 of our gallant oxen, swollen and disfigured with 

 many a wanton wound, were stretched in the wild 

 enclosure, from which arose the most sickening of 

 savage odours. Lean dogs, 



" Gorging and growling o'er carcass and limb," 



held their carnival over the dead, but were too busy 

 even to bark at our intrusion ; while torpid vultures, 

 distended to such a size that they could with 

 difficulty hop out of our way, were perched like 

 harpies upon the surrounding rocks. It was by 

 this time broad daylight, and a few of our oxen 

 being, to our great delight, perceived standing at 

 the foot of the hill, a party was immediately detached 

 to take possession of them, while we glanced over 

 the field of slaughter, to ascertain the extent of our 

 loss. Side by side at our feet, and swollen almost 

 to bursting, from the effects of a subtile poison, were 

 Holland and Olifant, the two sturdy wheelers of our 

 choice Naude span* which had never failed to 

 extricate us from every difficulty. Near them, and 

 weltering in a pool of blood, lay Lanceman and 

 England, the steadiest and staunchest of our leaders 

 * Ten oxen usually compose a span or team. 



