266 



NEW LAND. 



crossed the bed of the stream I called the dogs, and caught a 

 glimpse of them enough to see that they were on the right track. 

 I therefore went confidently on, hoping that the dogs would soon 

 get full scent of the animals and make straight for them. I 

 reached the plateau unnoticed, and saw that the oxen were still 

 making front towards the direction where they had last seen me. 



' There was not a vestige of cover, so I thought I might just 

 as well go straight on, and I had come to well within a hundred 

 yards of the animals, when they suddenly became aware of me. 

 Everything now followed so rapidly that I had hardly time to 



NORTH 



realize what was going on, and I need hardly say that it all went 

 a great deal more quickly than it takes to tell. 



' As aforesaid, the animals suddenly became aware of me, and 

 at the same moment wheeled right round and headed straight for 

 me at full gallop. So close on each other were their horns that 

 they seemed to form a single, unbroken, white line. The animals 

 sunk their heads till they almost touched the ground, the steam 

 stood out from their nostrils, and they snorted, blew, and puffed 

 like a steam-engine trying to set a too heavy tr(ain in motion. 



' A glance backward at once told me that there was no question 



