ox, and
when any other of the hungry lions approached him, he would rush at
them, and pursue them for some paces with a horrible growl, which made
not only the poor oxen, but the men also, to shudder as they heard it.

In this manner was the night passed away, every one with his gun in his
hand, expecting an immediate attack; but the morning at last dawned, to
the great relief of them all. The lions had disappeared, and they walked
out to where the old lion had made his meal, and found that he had
devoured nearly the whole of the ox; and such was the enormous strength
of his jaws, that the rib-bones were all demolished, and the bones of
the legs, which are known as the marrow-bones, were broken as if by a
hammer.

"I really," observed the Major, "have more respect for a lion, the more
I become intimate with his feline majesty."

"Well, but he is off," observed Swinton, "and I think we had better be
off too."

CHAPTER XVIII.

The oxen were yoked, and the caravan proceeded at slow pace to gain the
wished-for river. As our travelers walked their horses--for the poor
animals had been without food or water for twenty-four hours, and all
idea of chasing the various herds of animals which were to be seen in
their path was abandoned for the present--Swinton remarked, "We are not
far from the track of the Mantatees, when they made their irruption upon
the Caffres about eighteen months back."

"I was intending to ask you for some information on that point, Swinton.
There has been more than one irruption into the country from the natives
to the northward. Mr. Fairburn gave me a very fair idea of the history
of the Cape colony, but we were both too much engaged after our arrival
in Cape Town for me to obtain further information."

"I will, you may be assured, tell you all I know," replied Swinton; "but
you must not expect to find in me a Mr. Fairburn. I may as well remark,
that Africa appears to be a country not able to afford support to a
dense population, like Europe; and the chief cause of this is the great
want of water, occasionally rendered more trying by droughts of four or
five years' continuance."

"I grant that such is the case at present," observed the Major; "but you
well know that it is not that there is not a sufficient quantity of
rain, which falls generally once a year, but because the water which
falls is carried off so quickly. Rivers become torrents, and in a few
weeks pour all their water into