Mr Welbourn had a good stock of ammunition, and with the supply we
brought it was considered that we had sufficient to enable us to
continue the journey northward into a region where elephants abounded.
The cattle were in good condition, and, provided we could escape the
tsetse and were not cut off by savage enemies, we might expect to obtain
full loads of tusks. Besides three Hottentot drivers and a dozen
Makololo, Mr Welbourn was accompanied by a white hunter, Hans Scarff,
who had joined him on his way from the coast. His appearance was not in
his favour, for a more sinister countenance I had seldom met with. He,
however, was said to be a bold hunter and a first-rate horseman, and his
assistance was therefore likely to prove useful.
The head man of the Makololoes, Toko, as he was called, was a fine,
tall, active fellow with an intelligent countenance, who, if not
handsome according to our notion, was good-looking for a black, and a
brave faithful fellow. Besides the oxen to drag the waggons, we had
eight fine horses, most of them well trained to encounter the elephant
and rhinoceros, or any other wild beasts of the forest.
Near our camp a stream of clear water fell into the river, and in the
evening Harry asked me to go down and bathe. Hans said he would join
us.
"Are there no crocodiles there?" I asked, and I told him of the numbers
I had seen in the river.
"No fear of the brutes there," answered Hans; "the water is too
shallow--"
"Or hippopotami," I put in.
"Still less likely," said Hans. "The monsters never come up such
streams as these."
We started off, and on reaching the stream separated from each other.
While looking out for a clear pool free from lilies, or other aquatic
plants, presently. Harry, who had gone up the stream, cried out--
"I've found a capital place. We can leap into deep water from the
bank."