regain the road near Hebron, thinking thus to traverse the chief part of Gassibone’s territory from east-north-east to west-south-west. There was, however, no proper road in the direction in which I wanted to go, and the bushes not only obstructed our view, but were interspersed with large clumps of prickly acacias. I had no alternative but to acknowledge that my little scheme was frustrated, and to make my way to the Vaal as rapidly as I could.
On our way we saw a good many pairs of the fawn-coloured lesser bustards, and some duykerbocks and steinbocks; the duykerbocks were grazing quietly, the steinbocks only visible when startled from the bushes. There were traces of hartebeests, and of the larger gnus, probably the striped gnu (Catoblepas taurina, Gorgon), which led us to hope that the animals themselves might not be far off; but we were hardly in the mood either to be very keen upon the game, or to appreciate the beauty of the forest scenery as we otherwise should, because we were undergoing the imconvenience of a total want of water.
We came upon a Batlapin settlement, and, according to the advice of some of the residents who entered into conversation with us, we were to follow a certain footpath, which would lead us to a plain, whence we could make our way without difficulty. During the twenty minutes we rested, we noticed the women making a new hedge of thorns to protect their goats, and the men sprinkling some damp earth
