A SECOND VICTIM. 35 



for this reason, that, as we should soon have to 

 traverse a long extent of heavily wooded country, 

 this skin, when carefully and tautly stretched over my 

 waggon tilt, would form a perfect protection against 

 the canvas being chafed by boughs and limbs that 

 possibly might rub along it. The labour of severing 

 the flesh from the bone was going on rapidly, and 

 several loads had been despatched to the camp, 

 when my eye was attracted by one of the Bakali- 

 hari signalling to me, as if he desired my assistance. 

 Master Totty expressed an opinion that he would 

 not be surprised if the nigger had struck the spoor 

 of a lion, while his fellow tribesmen thought it more 

 probable that he had come across some fresh evi- 

 dences of gemsbok ; so, as I wished to kill one of 

 the latter, we crossed over the veldt to learn further 

 particulars. However, we were all, to a certain 

 extent, sold, for the Bakalihari had nothing to show 

 us but fresh spoor of Burchell's zebras. At this 

 disappointment I was about to express annoyance, 

 when I observed a certain amount of earnestness 

 manifested among my people that denoted some- 

 thing unusual in the tracks they had been examin- 

 ing. This postponed, if it did not suppress, my 

 wrath. After a deal of chattering, and several 

 differences of opinion being urged, the man who 

 called us up expressed a wish for me to follow 

 him. I did not desire to kill any more petsi, I 

 explained to the Hottentot, but he said it was 



