limb
ached with the strains which they had undergone.

The next morning at daybreak the caravan started. The hunters' report
of the state of the roads was fairly borne out, and although some
difficulties were met with it was unnecessary to unyoke the oxen,
although of course many boulders had to be cleared away to allow them to
pass. On emerging at the upper end of the defile they found they were
in a valley which opened out to a great width, and rose in gradual
slopes at its head to the crest of the hills. As the only egress at the
lower end was by the defile, it was clear that the whole rainfall must
make its way by this exit, which fully accounted for the tremendous
torrent they had witnessed.

Two days' travelling brought them to the foot of the slopes on the other
side of the range of hills, and they were soon engaged in carrying on a
considerable trade with the natives there.

For another three months they travelled slowly through the country, by
the end of which time they had disposed of all their goods, and the
waggons were filled to the tilts with skins and bales of ostrich
feathers.

They now turned their faces to the south. After journeying for a
fortnight they perceived one day, far across the country, the white
tilts of another caravan. The three whites at once started at full
gallop, eager to hear news of what had taken place in the colony during
their absence. As they neared the caravan two white men rode out to
meet them; both were known to Mr Harvey, and hearty greetings were
exchanged.

The new-comers were halting for the day, and Mr Harvey and the boys
were soon seated in tents, with three bottles of beer in front of them,
a luxury which they heartily enjoyed, having been a any months without
tasting it.

"And now what is the news in the colony?" Mr Harvey asked, after
having replied to their questions as to the state of trade, and the
route which they had followed, as the new-comers would of course take
another line, so as not to pass over the same ground.

"Things don't look well," they answered; "the Boers are growing so
insolent that there is no getting on with them. Several English have
been shot down in various places, without the smallest cause. They
openly declare their intention of recovering their independence. The
English stores are for the most part tabooed, and things altogether look
very threatening. There is a mere handful of British troops in the
Transvaal, and onl