A Record "Trek." 311 



j^roblematical. The Tuli river Avas now a vast 

 expanse of burning sand, over which the breeze 

 came nj)on you as if from the mouth of a furnace. 

 Little threads and tiny pools of water might here 

 and there with difficulty be detected. Fort Tuli 

 itself and the suiTOunding settlement appeared in 

 exactly the same condition as when I left it two 

 months before. No new huts had been erected, 

 no alterations or improvements made. No one 

 stays at Fort Tuli who can help it ; everybody 

 passes on northwards. The strong force of 

 Bechuanaland Border Police, under Sir F. Car- 

 rington and his officers, who made the f)lace 

 rather lively three months before, had retired to 

 Macloutsie, in their own territory. Some 200 

 men of the Chartered Company's |)olice are now 

 here, but it would be difficult to determine what 

 useful occupation they are engaged in. ]\Iajor 

 Giles brought his ox waggon into Tuli in the early 

 morning of the 6th November. He had accom- 

 plished a still more remarkable "best on record " 

 in the way of a trek than mine had been with 

 mules ; for with oxen he had covered the distance 

 in exactly seven days, or, in other words, had 

 travelled at the rate of twenty-nine miles a day. 

 So well were the oxen looking, so little exhausted 

 by their work, that I sold the whole span of 

 eighteen on the day of their arrival at Tuli for 8/. 

 a head. I write about these treks, for trekking is 

 a subject of great interest in South Africa, much 

 rivalry and emulation exists among trekkers, and 

 rapid journeys are announced, described, disputed. 



