114 RECAPTURE OF RUNAWAY CATTLE. Chap. VIII. 



the cattle, while I looked after the patients. The tall grass 

 made the oxen uneasy, and the appearance one night of a 

 hyasna set them galloping away into the forest to the east of 

 us. The Bakwain lad went after them, as is common with 

 I he members of his tribe in such cases. They dash through 

 bush and brake for miles, till they think the panic is a little 

 subsided. They then whistle to the cattle in the same manner 

 as when milking cows. Having calmed them, they remain as 

 a guard till the morning, and generally return with their shins 

 well pealed by the thorns. The lad lost sight of our oxen in 

 their rush through the flat trackless forest. He remained on 

 their trail the whole of the next day, found them late in the 

 afternoon, had been obliged to stand by them all night, and 

 brought them back on Sunday morning. It was wonderful 

 how he managed without a compass, and in such a country, to 

 find his way home, and to keep forty oxen together. 



The Bechuanas will remain on the sick-list as long as they 

 feel weak, and I began to be anxious that they should try to 

 get forward. By making beds in the waggons for our worst 

 cases, we managed to move slowly on. The want of power in 

 the man who guided the front oxen, or, as he was called, the 

 " leader," caused us to be entangled with trees, both standing 

 and fallen, and the labour of cutting them down was more 

 severe than ordinary ; but notwithstanding an immense 

 amount of work, my health continued good. We wished to 

 avoid the tsetse of our former route, and the necessity of 

 making a new path much increased our toil. In lat. 18° we 

 were rewarded by a luxury we had not enjoyed the year 

 before. Our eyes were greeted by large patches of vines, a 

 sight S" unexpected that I stood some time gazing at the 

 clu^ >f grapes, with no more thought of plucking them than 



if I ha^ )eheld them in a dream. The elephants are fond of 

 plant, root, and fruit alike ; but the fruit is not well flavoured, 

 on account of the great astringency of the seeds, which in 

 shape and size are like split peas. 



I here found an insect, about an inch and a quarter long, 

 as thick as a crow-quill, and covered with black hair, which 

 puts its head into a little hole in the ground, and quivers its 

 tail rapidly. The ants, attracted by the movement, approach 

 to look at it, and are snapped up the moment they get within 



