soon came
up with them; when a discharge of rifles left three Bushmen on the
ground and put all the rest to flight. The cattle, which were much
frightened, were with some difficulty turned and driven back towards the
encampment. In the mean time the disappointed Bushmen had turned upon
those near, and were letting fly their arrows from the bushes in which
they were concealed; and continued thus to assail them till the party
arrived at the open plain. One of the Hottentots was wounded by an
arrow in the neck; but that was the only accident which occurred to any
of the party, and this was not known to our travellers until after their
arrival at the encampment, when it was almost daybreak; and then, tired
with the fatigues of the night, all were glad to obtain a few hours'
rest.

When they rose the next morning, Swanevelt informed them that nine of
the oxen were so wounded with the poisoned arrows of the Bushmen, that
they could not live; and also, that Piets the Hottentot had been badly
wounded in the neck with one of the arrows. Swinton immediately ordered
the man to be brought to him, as he was well aware of the fatal effects
of a wound from a Bushman's arrow.

It appeared that Piets had pulled the arrow out of his neck, but that
some pieces of the barb had remained in the wound, and that these his
companions had been extracting with their knives, and the wound was very
much inflamed in consequence. Swinton immediately cut out as much of
the affected part as he could, applied ammonia to the wound, and gave
him laudanum to mitigate the pain, which was very acute; but the poor
fellow lay groaning during the whole of the day.

They now examined the wounded oxen, which were already so swollen with
the poison that there are no hopes of saving them, and they were
immediately put out of their pain. Several others were found slightly
hurt, but not so as to lose all hopes of their recovery; but this
unfortunate circumstance prevented them from continuing their journey
for two days; as the whole of the oxen had been much harassed and cut by
the Bushmen, although not wounded by poisoned arrows. During this
delay, the poor Hottentot became hourly worse; his head and throat were
much swollen, and he said that he felt the poison working within him.

After many hours of suffering, during which swellings appeared in
various parts of his body, the poor fellow breathed his last; and the
next day being Sunday, they remained as