t a lion has killed one of the oxen, and he may
destroy several others if we don't stop his career," answered Hendricks,
rapidly reloading.

He now led the way to where the oxen had been lying down, while the
Hottentots secured the three which had come into camp. None of the
other oxen were to be seen, except one, which lay motionless on the
ground, with its neck broken. In their eagerness to overtake them, the
men, in spite of the darkness, would have set off in pursuit, had not
Hendricks called them back.

"It would be useless in the dark, and you would run a great risk of
being caught by the lion," he observed. "You must wait till morning,
when we will go in search of them; and we may, perchance, find water at
the same time, as they will probably head towards it, if they escape
from the lion."

This was the most severe disaster which had yet occurred to the
travellers; for in that wild district it would be impossible to replace
the oxen, should they not be found.

The men, on being summoned, returned to the camp, but none of them were
inclined again to go to sleep, for all were suffering greatly from
thirst, and at any moment another lion might pay them a visit.

Morning at length dawned. The body of the ox killed by the lion was
discovered about a hundred yards from the camp, a part of the
hind-quarters only eaten, the brute having evidently been frightened
away by the shot Hendricks fired, though whether it was wounded or not
it was impossible to say.

Although they had gone supperless to bed, so parched were their throats
that they were unable to take any breakfast. The horses had been
secured to the waggon, or they to a certainty would have gone off with
the oxen. Most of them, however, were too much knocked up to exert
themselves. To recover the cattle was of the first importance.
Hendricks therefore found it necessary to alter his plan. The rest of
the party undertaking to go on foot in search of water, he selected the
only two horses fit for travelling, and rode away with one of the
Hottentots to look for the missing cattle, while Crawford and Umgolo, as
had been arranged, proceeded in a north-easterly direction. It had been
decided, as soon as the oxen were recovered, should they be able to
travel, that the waggon was to continue on due north, that they might
have no difficulty in again finding it.

The morning was fresh, almost cold, and the air pure; so that had not
Denis and Percy, who, a