et off running away baboon fashion.

"It was the Bushman, then, that frightened them off; he is a clever
little fellow."

"And I am not sure that he has not saved our lives," replied Swinton;
"but he has been brought up among them, one may say, and knows their
habits well. If he had not hid himself below the rocks before he
imitated the leopard, it would have been of no use, for they would not
have been frightened, hearing the growl proceeding from him. I admire
the boy's presence of mind."

"I thought at one time that the baboons had an idea that Omrah was one
of them. What a snatch they made at him!"

"It would not have been the first time that these animals have carried
off a boy," said Swinton; "I saw one at Latakoo, who had lived two years
with the baboons, which had carried him off."

"How did they treat him?"

"Very well indeed; but they kept him a prisoner. When they found that
he would not eat the coarse food which they did, they brought him other
things; and they invariably allowed him to drink first at the pools."

"Well, that was homage to our superiority. Confound their quahs, I shall
not get them out of my head for a week. What terrible large tusks they
have!"

"Yes, their incisors are very strong. They often destroy the leopard
when they meet it in numbers; but if one happens to be away from the
herd, he has, of course, no chance with such an animal. Begum did not
appear at all willing to renew her connection."

"None of the monkey tribe, after they have lived with man, ever are;
indeed it is a question, if they had taken possession of her, whether
they would not have torn her to pieces immediately, or have worried her
to death some way or other."

"Well, at all events, Swinton, you have been rewarded for your kindness
to that poor little Bushman, and we have reaped the benefit of it,"
observed Alexander. "But here come some of the oxen; I hope we shall be
able to start early on Monday. The native Caffres say that the wagons
can not proceed much further."

"No, not further than to the banks of the Umtata River: but you will
then be not a great way from your destination. Daaka is the chief's
name, is it not?"

"Yes, that is his name; and if he is as supposed to be, he is my first
cousin. How strange it sounds to me, as I look around me in this savage
and wild country, that I should be within forty miles of a
blood-relation, who is an inhabitant of it!"

"Well, we shall soon know the truth;