468 
THE BROKEN WHEEL. 
18, 19 Nov. 
encreasing for the last hour, became so heavy that we could not pro- 
ceed, we unyoked in an open plain, without shelter for ourselves, 
or water for the cattle. But as the night was wet, and the grass and 
bushes hanging with drops of rain, the oxen did not suffer much 
from thirst; and our own wants were supplied from the rocky 
hollows. 
19th. The inconvenience of our halting place caused every 
one to be desirous of departing, and at sun-rise we began to yoke 
the teams ; but it was not till half-past six that all the waggons were 
in motion. The day promised to be fair, and the expectation of 
reaching home this afternoon, inspired the party with a cheerful 
activity. But, as if to check their unusual haste and exercise them 
in patience, a virtue which no one knows better than a Hottentot, 
but which even he will sometimes forget, we had scarcely proceeded 
three miles, when the Captain's old rickety waggon got out of 
repair, and detained us three quarters of an hour before it could be 
put in a condition to bear moving. This being done, they started 
once more ; and, to make up for lost time, encreased their bustling 
heedlessness and doubled their haste ; a haste without an object. 
Hardly had the crazy vehicle been dragged on a quarter of a mile 
further, when again the shattered wheel refused to perform its func- 
tions. Another half hour was spent in cobbling and bungling ; 
patching and binding up with leathern thongs, and knocking the dis- 
eased part with stones, as though they expected that was to make it 
sound again. Still, as I stood by, amused at their awkwardness, I 
doubted whether the dying waggon would ever see its home again, 
till the Captain, with a determination which evinced his courage, 
resolved that the oxen should draw, whether the waggon would fol- 
low or not. And it was to the great joy of us all, that at last we 
beheld it tottering on before us, ever and anon giving a sudden drop 
as the wheel revolved ; which, to the chief's lady and family, who 
sat within, was a motion productive of as many involuntary nods 
of the head. 
We passed a spot, containing about an acre, remarkable from 
the circumstance of the grass, with which it was covered, being 
