taking these calmly, along with the good things; and at last
the Limpopo was once more reached.

The reader of this, who knows how easily a person may have his tea in
London and his breakfast the next morning in Scotland--400 miles--may be
surprised to hear that to get over such a distance in South Africa with
a heavy waggon and an ox-team takes over a month; and a driver and
foreloper would consider that they had done well if they had achieved so
much.

For hurrying means losing ground. The oxen must be kept well-fed with
good pasture, and not overworked, or in a few hours sores will be
produced by the harsh yokes that will take a month to cure, if they ever
heal at all.

But the country was grand, and the weather exceptionally lovely, as they
made their way southward, crossing the Limpopo without accident, in
spite of the crocodiles, Dinny managing to get a place on the top of the
waggon-tilt just before they started to ford the stream.

"Why, what are you doing there, Dinny?" cried Dick, who was the first to
see him.

"Shure, Masther Dick, dear, I was feared for these valuable skins that
lie stretched out here, for I says to meself, `Dinny,' I says, `if the
masther was to have thim skins slip off into the dirthy river, he'd
never forgive himself.'"

So amidst a good deal of laughter Dinny crossed over the crocodile river
on the top of the tilt; while, as much alarmed as he, the dogs, taught
by experience, kept close behind the aftermost oxen's heels, swimming
with the protection of the waggon-wheels on either side.

Mr Rogers proposed that they should go back by way of the district
where there were some curious caves, saying that it would be a pity to
be within reach and not to see them. So with the intent of making a
halt near them, the General announcing his intention of finding the
place, though he had never been there before, the return journey was
continued.

This return journey was, as maybe supposed, one of months, but it was
not uneventful. The constant demands of the larder rendered hunting
necessary almost every day; and in these hunting expeditions beautiful
skins, and horns of great size and peculiarity, were obtained. Every
day, too, added to the collection of gorgeously-plumaged birds and
bright beetles; several times over, too, they were able to add a goodly
bundle of ostrich plumes to the store.

It may sound strange, but over this even Dinny felt aggrieved, coming to
Dick coolly enou