3o8 Men, Mines, and Animals in South Africa 



the bush fires, were all covered with the freshest 

 and the greenest o-rass. Almost all the trees were 

 iu leaf, some in flower, and the lights and shado^vs 

 on the hills, on the rocky kopjes, and on the plain 

 were of wonderful beauty and variety. We 

 reached the Lundi on the evening of the 22nd. 

 This stream we found greatly diminished in 

 volume, and its passage oflJ'ered no difficulty. The 

 dano-erous rocky drift of the AVanctse had been 

 much improved by the relno^'al of many boulders 

 from the bed of the livcr, and this obstacle to 

 travellers was traversed ^Wthout mishap at sundown 

 on the third day of the j ourney . From Fort Victoria 

 to the Wanetse some effort has been made to im- 

 prove the condition of the road. But a distance 

 of eighty miles exhausted the energies of the 

 Chartered Company's i^olice. iVfter the Wanetse 

 the road relapses into a shocking condition, and 

 stumps, rocks, deep ruts everyAvhere offer a pro- 

 fusion of danger and discomfort to the traveller. 

 Our progress was also impeded by a marked change 

 in the temperature. The heat became excessive ; 

 no rain had fallen south of the hills near theAVanetse 

 river, dust enveloped the carriages in stifling 

 clouds, and the myriads of flies almost amounted 

 to a plague. The poor mules and horses soon 

 showed the eflect of the change, but their sufter- 

 ings were added to by a total absence of young 

 grass on which to graze during the day, and by 

 the long distances they had often to tra^'el in the 

 great heat from water to water. Most of the spruits 

 were altogether dry. One of my horses succumbed 



