1 8 MATABELE LAND. 
The present idea is for us all to go together to the 
TatI, a river marked in the recent maps, where gold 
is being found. From here I may go on to Mosi- 
likatze's Town, the residence of the King of the 
Matabele, in the north-east, and thence be able to 
get on to the Zambesi and Victoria Falls, though I 
hardly hope it now, on account of the lateness of 
the season. 
•* The country we have passed through so far 
may be divided into two distinct regions — the high 
veldt and the bush veldt. The former I described 
in my last letter. At Pretoria we entered the 
second, and are still in it. The former is high 
land, covered with grass, and with scarcely a bush 
on it. The country since then has been covered 
with bush, and contains many fine rivers. The 
Crocodile (or Limpopo) is a really beautiful river, 
its banks covered with fine trees. The ' bush,' as 
it is called, consists for the most part of smallish 
trees, most of which are thorny, with park-like glades 
here and there. In other places there is a great 
deal of thorny bush, through which you can hardly 
force your way. The great want here is water, the 
smaller streams being now dry, and in travelling it 
is often necessary to go many miles before reach- 
ing water. Still, the road is so well known that 
one can calculate almost to a certainty where and 
when to get water, and make a push when neces- 
sary, taking one's time both before and after it. 
Water for our own use can be carried easily in our 
casks, and it is for the animals we have to travel 
