A BUSY DAY. 227 



and I soon had numerous volunteers for that pur- 

 pose. 



The 5th October was a busy day for me. The 

 first hard job was to re-lash the broken stock of the 

 gumtickler with raw hide, which, though a long and 

 troublesome affair, turned out a complete success. 

 Then followed the casting of bullets, loading of car- 

 tridges, cleaning of guns, &c. After this a fresh 

 supply of provisions and barter goods had to be ap- 

 plied for, selected from the general stores, and packed 

 in neat and portable loads. All the guns, too, were 

 thoroughly cleaned. In these preparations Moloka and 

 Chinsoro gave me great assistance ; and as Reid was 

 quartermaster to the Expedition, he had much to do 

 for me also. I finished the day's work as the sun set 

 by mending my hunting clothes, which were now 

 little more than a bundle of tattered rags. A delight- 

 ful bath preceded dinner, and many a yarn was spun 

 over a jolly fire ere I turned in for the night. 



Wakened before daylight the next morning by the 

 crowing of the cocks, and a few minutes sufficing 

 to complete my toilet, I found that myself and these 

 ever early birds were the only living things in camp 

 that were not sound asleep. The Makololos, save 

 Moloka, lay as usual round their fires. Chinsoro and 

 Sinjeery were extended beside a fire of their own. 

 Mr. Young, Reid, and Stacy were snoring a match in a 

 hut erected for their private use, and Moloka lay still 

 asleep by the fire at the foot of my grassy couch. A 

 large herd of hippopotami disported themselves in 

 the river close by, their ugly grunts, with the distant 

 sound of drums in some native village, the snoring of 



q2 



