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the spot where we had been diving half an hour before. 
I was glad to lie down, as we had plenty of food now, my 
feet being much swollen and very painful. My veldt shoes 
were worn out, and Kemp had been trying to make them 
up again with a piece of raw hide, which, of course, would 
not keep soft, and I found it impossible to get into a pair 
of ordinary boots, as they were far too tight, and were 
unbearable in the hot sun upon the rocks and sand ; so I 
had to make shift with some sandals cut out of a piece of 
buffalo hide, and fastened to the feet with thin strips of 
skin like the Caffres, and which are fairly comfortable 
when they have taken the shape of the foot. We white 
men have been much troubled the last few days with some 
nasty festers on our hands, caused by the prick of a thorn 
or the slightest abrasion of the skin, and which obstinately 
refuse to heal, owing, I suppose, to the poverty of the 
blood from want of proper food and stimulants, as up till 
the present time we had not suffered from anything of the 
kind. Fortunately E. has been free from them. The old 
hippopotamus proved to have a fine set of tusks, which 
the Caffres, with a good deal of labour, hacked out of the 
jaws with our little axe. E. contrived to make herself a 
pair of gaiters out of some koodoo skin, as a protection 
against the thorns, and as she had a pair of strong gloves 
I hope she will not get the fester I spoke of. She had to 
cut off part of the cuffs of her jacket yesterday to patch 
my unfortunate pants with, which, with my coat, are on 
their last legs. 
August 22nd, The Caffres very busy drying the hippo 
meat, by cutting it up into strips and hanging it on the 
bushes in the sun till it became almost as hard as a board; 
and partly because they like this meat extremely, and 
partly that I have told them we must push on, and not 
spend more time than can be helped in looking for game, 
they appear willing to carry on a supply with them. In 
