d not possibly
extricate itself.

I left the natives to take possession, and rode on endeavouring to avoid
the pit-falls, of which I had little doubt there were many on my way. I
had, of course, to go much slower than I should otherwise have done.
Though two or three times I nearly got caught, I safely reached the
camp. Stopping merely to take some refreshment, I again set off with
the oxen, to bring in the produce of our chase. We found that it was
necessary to be quick about it, lest the natives should find that we had
killed the elephants and appropriate the tusks. They, however, had
hitherto been so busily employed in chasing the giraffes that they had
not discovered the elephants. We took possession of the tusks, and as
much of the meat as our party could consume.

Mr Welbourn had been almost as successful, having killed two fine
elephants and a couple of deer. Next day we continued our journey
northward. In passing over the plain, while Harry and I were riding on
ahead, we caught sight of an animal occasionally rising out of the
ground and then disappearing.

"That must be a beast caught in a trap or pit-full," said Harry; "let's
go and see what it is."

On reaching the spot we found that he was right in his conjectures. He
told me that the animal was a quagga, which somewhat resembles a
well-shaped ass. In vain the quagga tried to get out by the most
desperate efforts. Sometimes its fore feet almost touched the top of
the bank, but again and again it fell back.

"I should like to take possession of the animal," said Harry, "it
doesn't appear to be at all injured, and if we could manage to break it
in, it would make a capital riding horse. If you'll watch the pit, I'll
go and get some of the men to come with ropes."

To this I agreed, and he soon returned with Toko and two other men,
bringing not only ropes, but a large sack and a saddle.

"What are you going to do with those things?" I asked.

"You shall see," he replied. "It was Toko's idea."

The quagga looked very much astonished at seeing itself surrounded by
human beings, and as before, it endeavoured to escape from the pit.

As it did so, Toko, who had fastened the sack to a loop at the end of a
long stick, drew it over the quagga's head, so as to prevent its biting,
which it would have done had it been able to see.

A halter was fixed round its mouth, and ropes were passed under its
body, by which it was drawn out. As soon as it