"I certainly say not. Let him pass, by all means; and I only hope he
will take no notice of us. I must give you the advice which an old
Namaqua chief gave me. He said--'Whenever you see a lion moving in the
middle of the day, you may be certain that he is in great want of food
and very angry. Never attack one then, for they are very dangerous and
most desperate,' If, therefore, Major, you wish a very serious affair,
and one or two lives lost you will attack that animal. But you must
expect that what I say will happen."

"Indeed, my dear Swinton, I neither wish to lose my own life, nor to
risk those of others, and therefore we will remain here till his majesty
has had time to get out of our way; and I hope he may soon find a
dinner."

By this time the caravan had come up with them, and they then proceeded.
The face of the country became even more sterile, and at last not an
animal of any description was to be seen. As there was nothing for the
oxen to feed upon they continued their route during the whole of the
day, and at night they halted and secured the cattle to the wagons. Wood
for fires they were not able to procure, and therefore they made one
half of the Hottentots watch during the night with their muskets to
scare off wild beasts. But, as Swinton observed, there was little chance
of their being disturbed by lions or other animals, as they were so
distant from water, and there was no game near them upon which the wild
beasts prey; and so it proved, for during the whole night they did not
even hear the cry of a hyena or a jackal.

At the first gleaming of light the oxen were again yoked, with the
hopes of their being able to gain the Val River by night. The relay oxen
were now put to, to relieve those which appeared to suffer most. At noon
the heat was dreadful, and the horses, which could not support the want
of water as the oxen could, were greatly distressed. They continued for
about two hours more, and then perceived a few low trees. Begum, who had
been kept without water, that she might exert herself to find it,
started off as fast as she could, followed by Omrah. After running to
the trees, they altered their course to the eastward, toward some ragged
rocks. The caravan arrived at the trees, which they found were growing
on the banks of the river Alexandria, which they knew they should pass;
but not a drop of water was to be discovered; even the pools were quite
dry. As they searched about, all of a su