ty arose. Wambe's soldiers insisted upon
accompanying us, and what is more, did all they could to urge us
forward, as they were naturally anxious to get to the chief's place
before evening. But we, on the other hand, had excellent reasons for not
arriving till night was closing in, since we relied upon the gloom to
cover our advance upon the koppie which commanded the town. Finally,
they became so importunate that we were obliged to refuse flatly to
move faster, alleging as a reason that the girl was tired. They did
not accept this excuse in good part, and at one time I thought that we
should have come to blows, for there is no love lost between Butianas
and Matukus. At last, however, either from motives of policy, or because
they were so evidently outnumbered, they gave in and suffered us to
go our own pace. I earnestly wished that they would have added to the
obligation by going theirs, but this they declined absolutely to do. On
the contrary, they accompanied us every foot of the way, keeping up a
running fire of allusions to the 'Thing that bites' that jarred upon my
nerves and discomposed my temper.

"About half-past four in the afternoon we came to a neck or ridge of
stony ground, whence we could see Wambe's town plainly lying some six or
seven miles away, and three thousand feet beneath us. The town is built
in a valley, with the exception of Wambe's own kraal, that is situated
at the mouth of some caves upon the slope of the opposing mountains,
over which I hoped to see our impi's spears flashing in the morrow's
light. Even from where we stood, it was easy to see how strongly the
place was fortified with schanses and stone walls, and how difficult
of approach. Indeed, unless taken by surprise, it seemed to me quite
impregnable to a force operating without cannon, and even cannon would
not make much impression on rocks and stony koppies filled with caves.

"Then came the descent of the pass, and an arduous business it was, for
the path--if it may be called a path--is almost entirely composed of
huge water-worn boulders, from the one to the other of which we must
jump like so many grasshoppers. It took us two hours to climb down,
and, travelling through that burning sun, when at last we did reach the
bottom, I for one was nearly played out. Shortly afterwards, just as
it was growing dark, we came to the first line of fortifications, which
consisted of a triple stone wall pierced by a gateway, so narrow that
a man