A MISERABLE WHITSUNDAY. 249 
for the loss of one or two of the latter; then the 
driver gave me over rheims, straps, and whip, and 
asked for their wages. I told them I should not 
pay them a halfpenny more than they had already 
got, and I was only vexed that I had let them have 
anything before it was due, at which they appeared 
quite satisfied. They then wished good-bye to 
Matakit and Inyous, and started off. The two latter 
remained with me, speechless, and all but crying, 
telling me that w r e should inevitably be lost the first 
day, and the Masaras and Makubas would assuredly 
kill us. Finding the fix I was in—just two months 
from the house, in the middle of a bush, of which I 
was perfectly ignorant, and having the vivid remem¬ 
brance of that desperate thirst-land, which must be 
still worse now (this and a little later on being the 
driest season) — I resolved, after a stubborn conflict 
with my pride, to follow the runaways, to enquire 
the cause of their grievances, and offer any redress 
in my power. Acting on this good impulse, I told 
Matakit, who started with a heavy heart to do my 
bidding, to bring the horses. They were nowhere 
to be found. It instantly rushed to my mind that 
the blackguards, five in number, had taken them, 
and I told Inyous to go with me at once to try and 
find the spoor ; and knowing the cunning of the 
wretches, and that they would drive them a long 
way wide of the path, we dispersed ourselves (as an 
Irishman would say), and at last Inyous hit off the 
spoor of both men and horses. We followed a long 
