A THIEF OF THE NIGHT. 309 



" That's a point on which I haven't fully made up my mind, and I'll be glad to 

 hear your views. Will it be prudent for me to turn the train over to the charge, 

 say of Pongo, while you, I and the boys push for the western coast to take ship to 

 Loango ? " 



This was the first time Mr. Godkin had given an intimation of the plan he had 

 in mind, though it had been suspected by his friends. 



" As near as I can judge," replied the Texan, " we're about a thousand miles 

 from the Atlantic." 



" It is not as far as that say, some seven or eight hundred miles." 



* Then what is the distance to Port Natal ? " 



" Nearly twice as far." 



" I hardly thought it stood that way," remarked Jack, as if musing with himself. 



"You had a proposition in your mind : let me hear it." 



" I was about sayin' that if there wasn't much difference 'atween the roads to 

 the Atlantic and the Indian Ocean, why not all go back together to Port Natal, see 

 the animals safe on board ship, and then take Pongo and Diedrick, if you thought 

 best, with us, and sail from Port Natal for Loango ? " 



" I am inclined to think we will do that even as it is the only objection is the 

 great time it will consume. We could strike the highlands of Great Namaqua 

 Land, and reach the coast long before the train would arrive at Natal." 



" Why not continue to the westward with the train itself, and ship our animals 

 from an Atlantic port ? " 



H I would like to do so, but there are grave objections. In the first place, my 

 knowledge of Great Namaqua Land is to the effect that it is very rough and moun- 

 tainous, especially that portion directly west of us. The great Orange River receives 

 one of its chief tributaries from the mountainous region of Upper Great Namaqua 

 Land; the country abounds with wild men, and, I am afraid, many parts are impas- 

 sable for wagon trains." 



" It can't be worse than the portion of the Transvaal through which we worked 

 our way. We hadn't got fairly into Petermaritzburg when we were among the 

 Drakenberg Mountains. We met little else till we struck Bechuana Land, and 

 we've found plenty of them here." 



" It is true we have had a rough time of it, though we got through with good 

 fortune, but the country, bad as it is, is more favorable for traveling than that to the 

 westward. There is another objection, almost equally serious," added the director. 



What's that ? " 



" No matter what point we might strike on the Atlantic coast, it would not be 

 half so advantageous as Port Natal. I have shipped animals as have others 

 from there many times. Plenty of vessels are always at the place, and no difficulty 

 will be encountered in sending off our curiosities. But it is all the other way on 

 the western shore. I know of no ports between Cape Town and Benguela, or 

 Angol, where we can count upon obtaining ship, though it might be that a sraaJl 

 party could secure passage northward." 



