340 THE GREAT THIRST LAND. 



After having my coffee I started. Three Massaras 

 were my companions ; they were all small active fellows, 

 one being old, the others young. We crossed the open 

 velt, and entered a wood. Here we discovered plenty 

 of spoor, which was not fresh enough to encourage 

 pursuit. Pushing on again, we traversed another plain, 

 and again our path led into timber land. Soon we 

 found the trail of giraffe, a wondrous track, and more like 

 the tread of a man in a loose-fitting slipper, which 

 had a coarse, deep seam up the middle. After follow- 

 ing this for an hour, we crossed the spoor of zebra ; for 

 this animal has taken the place of the quagga and 

 BurchelTs zebra, which occupies the plains farther to 

 the south. For a quarter of an hour the Massaras 

 displayed their skill and perseverance as trackers. Not 

 at a walk did they follow the game, but at a run, so 

 swift that they kept Ruby at a good round trot, and so 

 unerring that not for a moment did they appear at fault. 

 This led us from one cover to another, from open land 

 to where the underbrush became so thick that fifty yards 

 could not be seen ahead. Here they stopped, picked 

 up a few twigs and broken leaves, cautioned me to 

 remain silent where I was, while they stole away in 

 the most mysterious manner. 



Wonderful fellows are these bushmen they rival 

 the snake in its subtlety, the eagle in its power of sight. 

 Where are they now ?, I might well ask ; for, as far as 

 evidence of human creatures being in my vicinity goes, 

 I might as well have been at the North Pole, or in the 

 centre of the sand-bound Sahara. 



At length one, in a moment afterwards the others, 

 returned to me ; their appearance was as unexpected as 

 if they had been shot up from the bosom of the earth, 



