1 84 Men, Mines, and Animals in South Africa. 



turning to Tnli Avith three empty waggons. A 

 bargain was at lens-th struck. He was to turn 

 l3ack and go with me for three months to the 

 sold districts, and his waofo-ons and oxen were to 

 be left at n. spot hard b}^ our camp, where there 

 was good veldt, in charge of his " boys " till his 

 return. I went to bed delighted with the arrange- 

 ment, feeling sure that I would be guided to un- 

 told treasure. The morning In^ought disappoint- 

 ment. The Boer ostrich hunter had been unable 

 to persuade his " boys " to remain in charge of his 

 property, which naturally he could not abandon. 

 He had therefore determined to proceed to Fort 

 Tuli. I oualit to have bouo'ht his wao-o-ons and 

 oxen right out, but this idea did not occur to me 

 till the following day, when it was too late to give 

 eifect to it. Possibly the man was a humlnig ; 

 possibly he knows the position of King Solomon's 

 mines. On the 3rd we only trekked ten miles : 

 both on this and on the preceding morning an ox 

 had been unable to rise and had been abandoned. 

 At the Lundi, two oxen had, while grazing, fallen 

 into deep spruits and broken their necks. Oiu^ 

 troop of oxen had fallen belo^v 100. We still 

 passed through an excellent land, in which 

 jMyberg and Lee, both high authorities, declared 

 tliey would wish to possess farms. Another horse, 

 of course one of the best, " Bless " by name, was 

 taken ill this e^-ening. He lived for two days, and 

 we thought we should save him. On Tuesday, the 

 4th August, we reached Fern Spruit, a lovely spot, 

 ^rhere the veldt was very good for oxen, and 



