CH. vn] A WET JOURNEY 151 
sun shelters under the scattering thorn-bushes. The 
horses were fed, were given half a pail of water apiece, 
and were turned loose to graze with the oxen; this was 
the last time the oxen would feed freely, unless there 
was rain ; and this was to be our longest halt. W e had 
an excellent breakfast, like our supper the night before, 
and then slept as well as we could. 
Noon came, and soon afterward we again started. 
The country grew hilly and brushy. It was too dry 
for much game, but we saw a small herd of giraffe, 
which are independent of water. Now riding our 
horses, now leading them, we travelled until nearly 
sunset, when we halted at the foot of a steep divide, 
beyond which our course lay across slopes that gradually 
fell to the stream for which we were heading. Here 
the porters had all the food and water they wished, and 
so did the horses ; and, each with a double span of oxen, 
the waggons were driven up the slope, the weary cattle 
straining hard in the yokes. 
Black clouds had risen and thickened in the west, 
boding rain. Three-fourths of our journey was over, 
and it was safe to start the safari and then leave it to 
come on by itself, while the ox-waggons followed later. 
At nine, before the moon struggled above the hill-crests 
to our left, we were off. Soon we passed the waggons, 
drawn up abreast, a lantern high on a pole, while the 
tired oxen lay in their yokes, attached to the trek tow. 
An hour afterward we left the safari behind, and rode 
ahead, with only our saises and gun-bearers. Gusts of 
rain blew in our faces, and gradually settled into a 
steady, gentle downpour. Our horses began to slip in 
the greasy soil; we knew the rain would refresh the 
cattle, but would make the going harder. 
At one we halted, in the rain, for a couple of hours’ 
