"I am convinced that it will be the best plan, so let us rouse up the
people at once. There is the roar of a lion at some distance, and we
have no fires to scare them off."

"The creaking of the waggon-wheels will be better than nothing," replied
the Major.

The Hottentots were roused, and the orders given to yoke: the poor
fellows were all sound asleep; for a Hottentot, when he hungers or
thirsts, seeks refuge from all his miseries in sleep. The oxen were
yoked, and they proceeded; but hardly had they gone a mile, when the
roar of three or four lions, close upon them, caused such alarm to the
horses and the oxen which were not yoked that they started off in a full
gallop in a northerly direction.

Alexander, the Major, and Omrah, who were the best mounted, immediately
set off in pursuit of them, desiring Swinton to proceed with the
caravan, and they would drive on the cattle and join him. They galloped
off as well as the horses could gallop, and perceived the stray horses
and oxen still at full speed, as if they were chased by the lions. They
followed in the direction, but it was now so dark that they were guided
only by the clatter of their hoofs and their shoes in the distance; and
after a chase of four or five miles they had lost all vestiges of them,
and pulled up their panting steeds.

"We may as well go back again," said Alexander; "the animals must have
made a circuit."

"I suppose so," said the Major; "but my horse trembles so, that I had
better dismount for a little while, that he may recover himself; indeed,
so had you too and Omrah, for the animals are completely worn-out."

"The clouds are rising again," said Alexander "I trust that we may not
be disappointed a second time."

"Yes, and there is lightning again in the horizon--may the Almighty help
us in our distress," exclaimed the Major.

The horses, exhausted from want of water, continued to pant so
fearfully, that it was nearly half an hour before they ventured to
mount, that they might return to the caravan. In the mean time the
heavens had become wholly obscured by the clouds, and there was every
prospect of a heavy shower; at last a few drops did fall.

"Thank God!" exclaimed Alexander, as he lifted his face up to the
heavens, to feel the drops as they fell. "Now let us return."

They mounted their horses and set off; but the stars were no longer
visible to guide them, and they proceeded on at a slow pace, uncertain
whether they were