as certainly
a great devil there. His grandfather and father had seen it, and he
himself had heard it roaring when he had gone there as a boy to hunt.
He would explain no further, and went to bed.

Next morning, close to Sikitola's kraal, I bade the farmers good-bye,
after telling them that there would be a store in my wagon for three
weeks at Umvelos' if they wanted supplies. We then struck more to the
north towards our destination. As soon as they had gone I had out my
map and searched it for the name old Coetzee had mentioned. It was a
very bad map, for there had been no surveying east of the Berg, and
most of the names were mere guesses. But I found the word 'Rooirand'
marking an eastern continuation of the northern wall, and probably set
down from some hunter's report. I had better explain here the chief
features of the country, for they bulk largely in my story. The Berg
runs north and south, and from it run the chief streams which water the
plain. They are, beginning from the south, the Olifants, the Groot
Letaba, the Letsitela, the Klein Letaba, and the Klein Labongo, on
which stands Blaauwildebeestefontein. But the greatest river of the
plain, into which the others ultimately flow, is the Groot Labongo,
which appears full-born from some subterranean source close to the
place called Umvelos'. North from Blaauwildebeestefontein the Berg
runs for some twenty miles, and then makes a sharp turn eastward,
becoming, according to my map, the Rooirand.

I pored over these details, and was particularly curious about the
Great Labongo. It seemed to me unlikely that a spring in the bush
could produce so great a river, and I decided that its source must lie
in the mountains to the north. As well as I could guess, the Rooirand,
the nearest part of the Berg, was about thirty miles distant. Old
Coetzee had said that there was a devil in the place, but I thought
that if it were explored the first thing found would be a fine stream
of water.

We got to Umvelos' after midday, and outspanned for our three weeks'
work. I set the Dutchmen to unload and clear the ground for
foundations, while I went off to Sikitola to ask for labourers. I got
a dozen lusty blacks, and soon we had a business-like encampment, and
the work went on merrily. It was rough architecture and rougher
masonry. All we aimed at was a two-roomed shop with a kind of outhouse
for stores. I was architect, and watched the marking out of the
founda