hery tufts of
wild asparagus, sung merrily at our side, the soft air murmured through
the leaves of the silver trees, doves cooed around, and bright-winged
birds flashed like living gems from bough to bough. It was a Paradise.

The magic of the place combined with an overwhelming sense of dangers
left behind, and of the promised land reached at last, seemed to charm
us into silence. Sir Henry and Umbopa sat conversing in a mixture of
broken English and Kitchen Zulu in a low voice, but earnestly enough,
and I lay, with my eyes half shut, upon that fragrant bed of fern and
watched them.

Presently I missed Good, and I looked to see what had become of him.
Soon I observed him sitting by the bank of the stream, in which he had
been bathing. He had nothing on but his flannel shirt, and his natural
habits of extreme neatness having reasserted themselves, he was
actively employed in making a most elaborate toilet. He had washed his
gutta-percha collar, had thoroughly shaken out his trousers, coat and
waistcoat, and was now folding them up neatly till he was ready to put
them on, shaking his head sadly as he scanned the numerous rents and
tears in them, which naturally had resulted from our frightful journey.
Then he took his boots, scrubbed them with a handful of fern, and
finally rubbed them over with a piece of fat, which he had carefully
saved from the _inco_ meat, till they looked, comparatively speaking,
respectable. Having inspected them judiciously through his eye-glass,
he put the boots on and began a fresh operation. From a little bag that
he carried he produced a pocket-comb in which was fixed a tiny
looking-glass, and in this he surveyed himself. Apparently he was not
satisfied, for he proceeded to do his hair with great care. Then came a
pause whilst he again contemplated the effect; still it was not
satisfactory. He felt his chin, on which the accumulated scrub of a ten
days' beard was flourishing.

"Surely," thought I, "he is not going to try to shave." But so it was.
Taking the piece of fat with which he had greased his boots, Good
washed it thoroughly in the stream. Then diving again into the bag he
brought out a little pocket razor with a guard to it, such as are
bought by people who are afraid of cutting themselves, or by those
about to undertake a sea voyage. Then he rubbed his face and chin
vigorously with the fat and began. Evidently it proved a painful
process, for he groaned very much over it, and I w