ills for some seconds.

"What was that?" exclaimed Alexander.

"Shout as loud as you can," cried the Major; "and turn your horses to
the wagons."

Alexander and Swinton joined the Major in the shout, and were soon
accompanied by the whole mass of Hottentots, shouting and yelling as
loud as they could.

"Silence, now," cried the Major; every one was hushed, and they listened
for a few seconds.

"It was only one, sir, and he is gone," said Bremen. "We may go on."

"Only one what?" inquired Alexander.

"An elephant, sir," replied the Hottentot; "it's well that he did not
charge you; he would have tumbled you down the precipice, horse and all.
There must be a herd here, and we had better stop as soon as we are down
the other side of the hill."

"I think so too," replied the Major.

"I shall not get that shriek out of my ears for a month," said
Alexander; "why, the roar of a lion can not be so bad."

"Wait till you hear it," replied Swinton.

They had now arrived at the bottom of the hill which they had been
passing, and by the light of the stars they selected a spot for their
encampment. Whether they were near to any Caffre kraals or not it was
impossible to say; but they heard no barking of dogs or lowing of oxen.
Having collected all the cattle, they formed a square of the four
wagons, and passed ropes from the one to the other; the horses and sheep
were driven within the square, and the oxen were, as usual, tied up to
the sides of the wagons.

It should here be observed, that the oxen were turned out to graze early
in the morning, yoked in the afternoon, and they traveled then as far as
they could after nightfall, to avoid the extreme heat of the day, the
continual visits of the Carries, and the risk of losing the cattle if
they were allowed to be loose and fed during the night.

On the night we have been referring to, a more than usual number of
fires were lighted, to keep off the elephants and other wild animals.
The hyenas and wolves were very numerous, and prowled the whole night in
hopes of getting hold of some of the sheep; but as yet there had not
been seen or heard a lion, although an occasional track had been
pointed out by the Hottentots.

When the Hottentots had finished their labor, our travelers had to wait
till the fires were lighted and a sheep killed before they could have
their suppers cooked by Mahomed. Begum, the baboon, had been released
from her confinement since their crossing the