by stopping, as the longer they are on the journey, the more
they will be exhausted."

"I really am fearful for the horses, they suffer so much."

"At night we will wash their mouths with a sponge full of water; we can
spare so much for the poor creatures."

"In the deserts of Africa you have always one of three dangers to
encounter," said Swinton; "wild men, wild beasts, and want of water."

"And the last is the worst of the three," replied the Major. "We shall
have a moon to-night for a few hours."

"Yes, and if we had not, it would be of no consequence; the stars give
light enough, and we have little chance of wild beasts here. We now
want water; as soon as we get rid of that danger, we shall then have the
other to encounter."

The sun went down at last, the poor oxen toiled on with their tongues
hanging out of their mouths. At sunset, the relay oxen were yoked, and
they continued their course by the stars. The horses had been
refreshed, as Swinton had proposed; but they were too much exhausted to
be ridden, and our travellers, with their guns on their shoulders, and
the dogs loose, to give notice of any danger, now walked by the sides of
the waggons over the sandy ground. The stars shone out brilliantly, and
even the tired cattle felt relief, from the comparative coolness of the
night air. All was silent, except the creaking of the wheels of the
waggons, and the occasional sighs of the exhausted oxen, as they thus
passed through the desert.

"Well," observed the Major, after they had walked about an hour without
speaking, "I don't know what your thoughts may have been all this while,
but it has occurred to me, that a party of pleasure may be carried to
too great lengths; and I think that I have been very selfish, in
persuading Wilmot to undergo all that we have undergone and are likely
to undergo, merely because I wished to shoot a giraffe."

"I presume that I must plead guilty also," replied Swinton, "in having
assisted to induce him; but you know a naturalist is so ardent in his
pursuit that he thinks of nothing else."

"I do not think that you have either of you much to answer for," replied
Alexander; "I was just as anxious to go as you were; and as far as I am
concerned, have not the slightest wish to turn back again, till we have
executed our proposed plans. We none of us undertook this journey with
the expectation of meeting with no difficulties or no privations; and I
fully anticipate more th