268 MATABELE LAND. 



— letters were brought to them on board from Frank 

 Oates, which had only just reached the country, 

 giving a full account of all his plans, and of his 

 wanderings up to the end of the October previous. 

 The two friends reached Durban on the 15th of 

 March, and at once commenced preparations for 

 proceeding up country to meet the returning tra- 

 veller. Mr. Selous, who had met Frank Oates at 

 Tamasanka, as mentioned in the previous chapter, 

 had now come down from the interior, and reported 

 having seen him early in December, then on his 

 way to the Zambesi and in perfect health. There 

 was indeed just at this time, as it happened, a report 

 at Pietermaritzburg that the traveller had died of 

 fever in the interior, but — as subsequently proved 

 by a comparison of dates — this report had certainly 

 no foundation in the actual fact, and was found on 

 inquiry at the time to be unsupported by any reliable 

 evidence. The preparations already in progress for 

 a speedy start into the interior, to meet him on his 

 way back, were therefore still proceeded with, and 

 waggons, oxen, and all the necessary outfit got 

 ready for the purpose. 



Another week and William Oates and his friend 

 would have started on their way northwards, when 

 — on the 1 st of April, a fortnight only after their 

 arrival — authentic intelligence reached them of Frank 

 Oates's death in the interior. The object of the 

 journey was now of course completely changed, 

 and, to enable William Oates to return at once to 

 England and there offer to his bereaved mother 



