the new sunlight. I must have felt like Linnaeus when for
the first time he saw a field of gorse in bloom.

With a glad and hopeful heart I followed the trail in its zigzag course
down the steep mountain-side, which was vocal with the chanting call of
myriads of partridges. Covey after covey flushed around me; the whole
country, far and near, seemed to be alive with them. Before the end of
that trip I got to hate and dread partridges more than any living
thing, but that morning I loved them.

Now arose another difficulty: the bottom of the Kaap Valley, towards
the centre, was a labyrinth of dongas, and the trail, hitherto so
definite, split up into innumerable strands. These crossed and
re-crossed each other bewilderingly, like the fibers of an unraveled
rope. The dongas were both wide and deep; in many instances they were
quite impassable. Occasionally I would find myself on the tip of a
promontory, the sides of which were precipices perhaps several yards
high. These were footed in jungle, which sometimes was quite
impenetrable. However, like Theseus, I eventually managed; to win
through, although no kind Ariadne came to my assistance. But I had
hopelessly lost the trail.

It was dusk when I reached the foothills of the Swaziland mountains.
Far off, as I approached, I could see the twinkling lights at the
kraals on the high ledges. I camped at the foot of a very high, naked
peak of granite, which was almost sheer on the side facing me. This
peak turned out to be densely populated by, baboons. At intervals, all
night long, pandemonium reigned among these brutes. Occasionally a
general fight seemed to take place; then stones would come crashing
down the face of the precipice, sometimes falling in dangerous
proximity to the camp. Once or twice the wrath of the community was
apparently directed against one individual, who would be hunted round
and round the upper zone of the peak. When caught this (presumable)
delinquent's yells of anguish would peal shrilly above the hoarse
chorus of his pursuers' angry voices.

Next morning I struck eastward along the base of the foothills,
searching for the trail. The country was intersected by many pathways,
but none of these showed signs of a wagon having passed. It seemed,
moreover, inconceivable that a vehicle could have ascended such a
lofty, steep mountain range as the one which towered on my right. I
noticed some cattle grazing on a high ledge, so I wended thither. Here
I f