ess--were made.
Then our two friends emerged from the narrow, kennel-like and withal
leaky structure which had sheltered them the night through.

Except those who were to constitute the patrol, scarcely anybody was
astir in the camp of the Kaffrarian Rangers that dark, rainy morning.
All who could were enjoying a comfortable sleep warmly rolled up in
their blankets, as men who are uncertain of their next night's rest will
do--and the prospect looked cheerless enough as the dawn lightened. A
faint streak in the eastern sky was slowly widening, but elsewhere not a
break in the clouds, and the continual drip, drip, of the rain, mingled
with the subdued tones of the men's voices, as they adjusted bit and
stirrup and strapped their supplies in blanket and holster. Three days'
rations were issued, and with plenty of ammunition, and in high spirits
the prevailing wetness notwithstanding, the men were ready to set forth.

"This won't last. By ten o'clock there won't be a cloud in the sky,"
said the commander of the corps, a grizzled veteran, elected to that
post by the unanimous vote of his men. In keeping with his habitual and
untiring energy, which caused his followers often to wonder when he ever
did sleep, he had been up and astir long before any of them. And now he
bade them good-bye, and, the patrol having mounted, they filed out of
camp, the rain running in streams down the men's waterproofs.

More than three weeks have elapsed since the sacking of Kreli's
principal kraal, and during this time reinforcements, both of colonial
levies and Imperial troops, have been pouring into the Transkei.
Several conflicts of greater or less importance have taken place, and
the Gcaleka country has been effectually cleared, its warlike
inhabitants having either betaken themselves to the dense forest country
along the coast, or fled for refuge across the Bashi to their more
peaceful neighbours, the Bomvanas, who dare not refuse them shelter,
even if desirous to do so. On the whole, the progress of the war has
been anything but satisfactory. A number of the Gcalekas have been
killed, certainly, but the tribe is unsubdued. The Great Chief, Kreli,
is still at large, as are also his sons and principal councillors; and
although the land has been swept, yet its refugee inhabitants are only
awaiting the departure of the colonial forces to swarm back into their
old locations. Meanwhile, a large force is kept in the field, at heavy
expe