exist somewhere in the far interior of the great Dark
Continent, and the approximate situation of which they had gleaned from
their friend Mitchell, the Natal sugar planter.

Breakfast was soon over; and while Jantje and 'Nkuku were away,
rounding-up the cattle and driving them in, preparatory to inspanning,
Dick and Grosvenor opened a case and proceeded to reward munificently
the gang of Makolo labourers who had helped them in the acquisition of
the rubies, with a generous distribution of beads, brass wire, empty
tobacco tins, lengths of coloured print, and toys, finally dismissing
them happy in the possession of what, to these simple savages, was
wealth beyond anything that they had ever ventured to dream of. Then,
the cattle being inspanned, the little party headed away inland, in a
north-westerly direction, striking a small stream by which they
outspanned, three hours later. On that day week they struck a river of
some importance flowing through an exceedingly fertile country abounding
in game, and the upward course of this river they followed for the next
eight days, although it led them somewhat out of their way; for they
found, upon scouting in the direction which they wished to pursue, that
their direct course would soon carry them into an arid, waterless
district, infested, moreover, by tsetse fly, to enter which would
infallibly result in a serious loss of cattle. And the preservation of
their cattle was now, or very soon would be, a matter of vital
importance to them.

At length the two leaders of the expedition, industriously scouting
daily toward the direction in which they wished to travel, found that
they had reached a point where it would be safe for them to leave the
river and strike away toward the west and north-west, and they
immediately did so, the country in that direction being free from fly,
and consisting of wide-rolling plateaux, rising one beyond another,
somewhat like broad, shallow steps, with a solitary, lofty hill rising
in the extreme distance. This district was well watered by a number of
tiny rivulets, and was clothed with rich young grass thickly dotted with
clumps of mimosa, palmetto, and other tropical growth, amid which game
of various kinds could be seen moving, including a small herd of
giraffes.

This was much too good an opportunity to be missed. The friends
therefore, after taking careful note of the spot where the immense
animals were feeding, returned to the wagon an