*” 
XIX THE STRICKEN CARAVAN 209 
ing one slides and slips about in the slush in a most 
uncomfortable manner. Innocent-looking dongas, 
where half an hour previously not one drop of 
water was to be seen, become roaring torrents from 
bank to bank in an incredibly short time; while for 
many hours or even a few days the rivers become 
absolutely impassable in this land of no bridges. 
On this account it is the custom of the wise traveller 
in these parts always to cross a river before camping, 
for otherwise a flood may come down and detain 
him and his caravan on the wrong side of the 
stream for perhaps a week. Of course when the 
rain ceases, the floods as quickly subside, the 
rivers and dongas dry up, and the country once 
more resumes its normal sun-cracked appearance. 
On leaving my tent one morning when work was 
at a standstill owing to the rain, I noticed a great 
herd of zebra about a couple of miles away on the 
north side of the railway. Now, it had long been 
my ambition to capture one of these animals alive ; 
so | said to myself, ‘Here is my chance!”- The 
men could do nothing owing to the rain, and the 
ground was very boggy, so I thought that if we 
could surround the herd judiciously and chase the 
zebra up and down from point to point through the 
heavy ground, some of them would soon get ex- 
hausted and we should then be able tocatch them. | 
selected for the hunt a dozen fleet-footed Indians who 
P 
