“Well， I passed into the kraal， and went up to the principalhut. In front of the hut was something with an old sheep-skinkaross thrown over it. I stooped down and drew off the rug， andthen shrank back amazed， for under it was the body of a youngwoman recently dead. For a moment I thought of turning back，but my curiosity overcame me； so going past the dead woman，I went down on my hands and knees and crept into the hut. Itwas so dark that I could not see anything， though I could smella great deal， so I lit a match. It was a ‘tandstickor’ match， andburnt slowly and dimly， and as the light gradually increased Imade out what I took to be a family of people， men， women，and children， fast asleep. Presently it burnt up brightly， and Isaw that they too， five of them altogether， were quite dead. Onewas a baby. I dropped the match in a hurry， and was makingmy way from the hut as quick as I could go， when I caughtsight of two bright eyes staring out of a corner. Thinking it wasa wild cat， or some such animal， I redoubled my haste， whensuddenly a voice near the eyes began first to mutter， and thento send up a succession of awful yells.
“Hastily I lit another match， and perceived that the eyesbelonged to an old woman， wrapped up in a greasy leathergarment. Taking her by the arm， I dragged her out， for shecould not， or would not， come by herself， and the stench wasoverpowering me. Such a sight as she was—a bag of bones，covered over with black， shrivelled parchment. The only whitething about her was her wool， and she seemed to be prettywell dead except for her eyes and her voice. She thought thatI was a devil come to take her， and that is why she yelled so.
Well， I got her down to the waggon， and gave her a ‘tot’ ofCape smoke， and then， as soon as it was ready， poured abouta pint of beef-tea down her throat， made from the flesh of ablue vilderbeeste I had killed the day before， and after that shebrightened up wonderfully. She could talk Zulu—indeed， itturned out that she had run away from Zululand in T’Chaka’stime—and she told me that all the people whom I had seen haddied of fever. When they had died the other inhabitants of thekraal had taken the cattle and gone away， leaving the poor oldwoman， who was helpless from age and infirmity， to perishof starvation or disease， as the case might be. She had beensitting there for three days among the bodies when I found her.
I took her on to the next kraal， and gave the headman a blanketto look after her， promising him another if I found her wellwhen I came back. I remember that he was much astonished atmy parting with two blankets for the sake of such a worthlessold creature. ‘Why did I not leave her in the bush？’ he asked.
Those people carry the doctrine of the survival of the fittest toits extreme， you see.
“It was the night after I had got rid of the old woman thatI made my first acquaintance with my friend yonder，” and henodded towards the skull that seemed to be grinning down atus in the shadow of the wide mantelshelf. “I had trekked fromdawn till eleven o’clock—a long trek—but I wanted to get on，and had turned the oxen out to graze， sending the voorlooperto look after them， my intention being to inspan again aboutsix o’clock， and trek with the moon till ten. Then I got intothe waggon and had a good sleep till half-past two or so in theafternoon， when I rose and cooked some meat， and had mydinner， washing it down with a pannikin of black coffee—for itwas difficult to get preserved milk in those days. Just as I hadfinished， and the driver， a man called Tom， was washing up thethings， in comes the young scoundrel of a voorlooper drivingone ox before him.
“‘Where are the other oxen？’ I asked.
“‘Koos！’ he said， ‘Koos！ the other oxen have gone away. Iturned my back for a minute， and when I looked round againthey were all gone except Kaptein， here， who was rubbing hisback against a tree.’
“‘You mean that you have been asleep， and let them stray， youvillain. I will rub your back against a stick，’ I answered， feelingvery angry， for it was not a pleasant prospect to be stuck up inthat fever trap for a week or so while we were hunting for theoxen. ‘Off you go， and you too， Tom， and mind you don’t comeback till you have found them. They have trekked back alongthe Middelburg Road， and are a dozen miles off by now， I’ll bebound. Now， no words； go both of you.’
“Tom， the driver， swore， and caught the lad a hearty kick，which he richly deserved， and then， having tied old Kapteinup to the disselboom with a reim， they took their assegais andsticks， and started. I would have gone too， only I knew thatsomebody must look after the waggon， and I did not like toleave either of the boys with it at night. I was in a very badtemper， indeed， although I was pretty well used to these sortof occurrences， and soothed myself by taking a rifle and goingto kill something. For a couple of hours I poked about withoutseeing anything that I could get a shot at， but at last， just as Iwas again within seventy yards of the waggon， I put up an oldImpala ram from behind a mimosa thorn. He ran straight forthe waggon， and it was not till he was passing within a fewfeet of it that I could get a decent shot at him. Then I pulled，and caught him half-way down the spine. Over he went， deadas a door-nail， and a pretty shot it was， though I ought not tosay it. This little incident put me into rather a better humour，especially as the buck had rolled right against the after-partof the waggon， so I had only to gut him， fix a reim round hislegs， and haul him up. By the time I had done this the sun wasdown， and the full moon was up， and a beautiful moon it was.
And then there came that wonderful hush which sometimesfalls over the African bush in the early hours of the night.