rought the waggons to the Bay. Most of them were men of
colossal stature. They sat apart, smoking their huge pipes in silent
complacency and comfort, amused a little at the scenes going on around
them, but apparently disinclined to trouble themselves about anything in
particular.

Supper produced a lull in the general hum of conversation, but when
pipes were lit the storm revived and continued far into the night. At
last symptoms of weariness appeared, and people began to make
arrangements for going to rest.

These arrangements were as varied as the characters of the emigrants.

Charlie Considine and Hans Marais, now become inseparable comrades,
cleared and levelled the ground under a mimosa-bush, and, spreading
their kaross thereon, lay down to sleep. George Dally, being an
adaptable man, looked at the old campaigners for a few minutes, and then
imitated their example. Little Jerry Goldboy, being naturally a nervous
creature, and having his imagination filled with snakes, scorpions,
tarantulas, etcetera, would fain have slept in one of the waggons above
the baggage--as did many of the women and children--if he had not been
laughed out of his desire by Dally, and induced to spread his couch
manfully on the bare ground.

It must not be supposed, however, that Jerry, although timid, was
cowardly. On the contrary, he was bold as a lion. He could not control
his sensitively-strung nervous system, but instead of running away, like
the coward, he was prone to rush furiously at whatever startled him, and
grapple with it.

Some families pitched their tents, others, deeming curtains a needless
luxury in such magnificent weather, contented themselves with the
shelter of the bushes.

Meanwhile the Hottentot attendants replenished the fires, while the
boers unslung their huge guns and placed them so as to be handy; for,
although elephants and lions were not nearly so numerous as they once
had been in that particular locality, there was still sufficient
possibility of their presence, as well as of other nocturnal wanderers
in the African wilds, to render such precaution necessary. The whole
scene was most romantic, especially in the eyes of those who thus
bivouacked for the first time in the wilderness. To them the great
waggons; the gigantic Cape-oxen--which appeared to have been created
expressly to match the waggons as well as to carry their own ponderous
horns; the wild-looking Hottentots and Bushmen; the big phl