ss
through this country, as I shall add greatly to my collections, I have
no doubt; but it must not be expected that we shall fare as well as we
have done in this; it will be the dry season, and we may be in want of
water occasionally."

"I am equally desirous of going through that country, where I hope to
shoot a giraffe,--that is my great ambition," replied Wilmot; "therefore
we may consider that we are all agreed, and the affair is settled; but
the question is, how shall we proceed back? We must return to Hinza's
territory and send back the Caffres. Shall we return to Butterworth?"

"I think that must depend upon circumstances, and we can talk it over as
we go along: the first point to ascertain is, the best passage over the
mountains; and it appears to me that we shall be diverging much too far
to the eastward if we return to Butterworth; but the Caffres will soon
give us the necessary information."

"I wonder if the quarrel between Hinza and Voosani has been made up,"
said Alexander; "for we must pass through the Tambookie tribe if we
cross the mountains, and if there is war between them we may meet with
difficulty."

"We shall hear as soon as we have crossed the Bashee river," replied
Swinton; "and then we must decide accordingly. All that can be settled
now is, that to-morrow we start on our return, and that we will cross
the mountains, if we possibly can."

"Yes, that is decided," replied Alexander.

"Well, then, as soon as you have finished your elephant-steak, Wilmot,
we will get out a bottle of wine, drink the first half of it to
congratulate you upon the success of your mission, and the other half
shall be poured out in bumpers to a happy return."

CHAPTER XVII.

THE RETURN.

The delight of the Hottentots at the announcement of the return of the
expedition was not to be concealed; and now that they knew that they
were retreating from the danger, as they were further removed they
became proportionately brave. We must not include all the Hottentots in
this observation, as Bremen, Swanevelt, and one or two more, were really
brave men; but we do refer to the principal portion of them, with Big
Adam at their head, who now flourished and vapored about, as if he could
by himself kill and eat the whole army of the dreaded Quetoo.

As it was the intention of our travelers to pass over the Mambookei
chain of mountains, into the Bushman and Koranna territory, they did not
return the same route by w