med
of ourselves, Harry every now and then giving way to a burst of
laughter.

In the open country, where little shelter is to be found, lions are not
often to be met with, and as they can be seen long before they approach,
no danger is to be apprehended from them. One of the men who had
remained behind followed, bringing one of the bullfrogs which he had
captured in the pool. The body, which we measured, was nine inches in
length, by five and a half wide; and the hind legs, from toe to toe,
eighteen inches. On being cut open a young bird which it had lately
swallowed was found in its inside.

I, having completely recovered the use of my foot, arranged with Harry
that we should make another expedition together in search of game. We
agreed that Jan should accompany us, and just as we were starting Hans
offered to go. We would rather have dispensed with his company, as he
was not a favourite with either of us. Mr Welbourn, my uncle, Toko,
and two or three Makololoes were to set off in another direction. They
charged us not to go beyond a _vlei_ or pool, which we had heard of from
the Makololoes, about twelve miles to the northward.

This, however, gave us a very wide scope, and we fully expected to come
back with plenty of game of some sort.

We went on for some distance without meeting with any live creatures,
though we crossed the spoor of numerous elands, buffaloes, giraffes, and
occasionally of elephants. Neither Hans nor Jan knew more of the
country than we did, but Harry said that he had brought a compass, so
that we should have no difficulty in finding our way, even should clouds
gather in the sky or night overtake us. When, however, he came to
search for the instrument in his pocket, it was not to be found.

"Never mind," he observed, "as the sky is bright, the sun will guide us
by day, and the stars by night, even if we are kept out, and there is no
reason why we should be if we turn back again in good time."

On we went, therefore, intending on arriving at the _vlei_, to wait
until some animals should come to drink, which they were sure to do,
unless there were other water-holes in the neighbourhood.

We had brought very little food, expecting to be able to supply
ourselves with meat and fruits. From the appearance of the country we
had no doubt that we should meet with melons, even though we might not
come across water before we arrived at the _vlei_.

We had, according to our calculation, go