CHAPTER XXVI. 



WILD DOGS HONEY-BIRDS. 



AT three p.m. we inspanned. The former cronies 

 refused to travel together any further ; so, supplying 

 both with tobacco, beltong, and a " wee drappie," I 

 bade good-bye to each, the one bending his steps due 

 east to the Transvaal, the other south to Moroquin, 

 where I know Jim Parkins took care of him. I say 

 know, for a finer specimen of a man or a kinder- 

 hearted one than the said Jim does not exist. 



All that night and the next day it was treck, 

 treck, treck. Fortunately, the cattle were in such 

 good condition, or else we must have stuck, for the 

 belts of sand that we traversed were fearfully heavy 

 so much so that sometimes for a mile or more the 

 felloes of the wheels were completely hidden by it, 

 and breathing halts in consequence had frequently 

 to be called. But I had the fortune to have Cigar 

 for a superintendent, one of the very best drivers in 

 South Africa, and yet he comparatively seldom used 

 the whip. 



The following morning, when walking ahead on 



