re,
and we sat down on his ox-hide with him and one or two head men. It was
very curious to see this wily old savage shoving a handful of leaves
into his mouth, and giving his head a shake, and then making some shrewd
remark which went straight to the bottom of whatever question was in
hand. At length we bade Secocoeni good-bye, having promised to deliver
all his respectful messages to our chief, and, thoroughly wearied,
arrived at our own hut. Tired as we were, we thought it would be better
to start for the fort at once, rather than risk the fever for another
night. So we made up our minds to a long moonlight ride, and, saddling
up, got out of Secocoeni's town about 3.30 P.M., having looked our last
upon this beautiful fever-trap, which only wants water scenery to make
it absolutely perfect. Half-way up, we saw the poor horse we had left
sick the day before, lying dead, with dry foam all round his mouth,
and half his skin taken off by some passing Basutu. A couple of hundred
yards farther on we found another dying, left by the party who had
started before us. It was in truth a valley of the shadow of death.
Luckily our horses lasted us back to the fort, but one died there, and
the other two are dead since.

Beautiful as was the scene by day, in the light of the full moon it was
yet more surpassingly lovely. It was solemn, weird. Every valley became
a mysterious deep, and every hill, stone, and tree shone with that cold
pale lustre which the moon alone can throw. Silence reigned, the silence
of the dead, broken only once or twice by the wild whistling challenge
of one of Secocoeni's warriors as he came bounding down the rocks,
to see who we were that passed. The effect of the fires by the huts,
perched among the rocks at the entrance to the pass, was very strange
and beautiful, reminding one of the midnight fires of the Gnomes in the
fairy tales.

And so we rode on, hour after hour, through the night, till we well-nigh
fell asleep in our saddles, and at length, about two o'clock in the
morning, we reached the waggons to find the young Boers fast asleep
in our bed. We kicked them out, and, after swallowing some biscuits,
tumbled in ourselves for the few hours' rest which we so sadly needed.

On the following morning, Thursday, two of the party bade farewell to
our hosts at the fort and started on one of the quickest possible treks,
leaving our companion to proceed across country to the fort established
by President Bu