eir ample prey.

Of course Von Bloom and his people did not sit up all night to listen to
this medley of noises. As soon as they perceived that the brutes were
not likely to come any more near the camp, they laid aside their
weapons, returned to their respective sleeping-places, and were all soon
buried in the sweet slumber that follows a day of healthy exercise.

CHAPTER XXII.

STALKING THE OUREBI.

Next morning the hyenas and jackals had disappeared from the scene, and,
to the surprise of all, not a particle of flesh was left upon the bones
of the elephant. There lay the huge skeleton picked clean, the bones
even polished white by the rough tongues of the hyenas. Nay, still
stranger to relate, two of the horses--these poor brutes had been long
since left to themselves,--had been pulled down during the night, and
their skeletons lay at a short distance from the camp as cleanly picked
as that of the elephant!

All this was evidence of the great number of ravenous creatures that
must have their home in that quarter,--evidence, too, that game animals
abounded, for where these are not numerous the beasts of prey cannot
exist. Indeed, from the quantity of tracks that were seen upon the
shores of the vley, it was evident that animals of various kinds had
drunk there during the night. There was the round solid hoof of the
quagga, and his near congener the dauw; and there was the neat hoofprint
of the gemsbok, and the larger track of the eland; and among these Von
Bloom did not fail to notice the spoor of the dreaded lion. Although
they had not heard his roaring that night, they had no doubt that there
were plenty of his kind in that part of the country. The presence of his
favourite prey,--the quaggas, the gemsboks, and the elands,--were sure
indications that the king of beasts was not far off.

Not much work was done that day. The heavy labour of curing the
biltongue, that had occupied them the whole of the preceding day, and
their disturbed rest, had rendered them all listless; and neither Von
Bloom nor the others had any inclination for work. So they moved around
the camp and did very little.

Swartboy took his elephant's feet from the oven, and cleaned them; and
also let down the biltongue and arranged it so as to be better exposed
to the sun. Von Bloom himself shot the three remaining horses, having
driven them to a good distance from the camp. He did this to put an end
to the suffering of the poor brutes