FRANK OA TES'S BE A TH. 265 



panion sinking. Frank Oates tried to speak, but in 

 so low a whisper that the other unhappily failed to 

 catch his meaning, and a few minutes afterwards — 

 about a quarter of an hour after sunset — the brave 

 spirit sank peacefully to rest. 



At this point in the journey it so happened that 

 the ground was very hard and stony, and, even had 

 it been otherwise, there was no spade or other im- 

 plement at either of the waggons with which a grave 

 could have been made ; so, hearing that Piet Jacobs, 

 the Dutchman, was near at hand, having been at a 

 neighbouring kraal that morning buying corn, Dr. 

 Bradshaw sent to him for assistance. Several others 

 of the party were by this time ill with fever, and the 

 man who took this message — John Mackenna — was 

 so reduced that he was scarcely able to sit the horse 

 he rode upon. 



Jacobs, in reply, sent a message requesting the 

 party to come on to a point where the ground was 

 less stony, and promising that he would meantime 

 find a place suitable for the grave. With this 

 suggestion Dr. Bradshaw willingly complied, and, 

 travelling in the night, met Jacobs early the follow- 

 ing morning about an hour's journey at the other 

 side of the kraal. Here the Dutchman, who was 

 familiar with the country, had by this time found a 

 spot well suited for the purpose. This was a dis- 

 used game-trap, some eight feet in depth, at no great 

 distance from the waggon-road so often traversed 

 by the deceased, and placed by the side of a small 

 stream or river flowing south. And here, in the 



