crossing fourteen of its little tributaries, besides three of the Tati, the whole of which after heavy rain are sure to be full of water. The district about the Rhamakoban is noted amongst elephant-hunters for its great abundance of game; giraffes, zebras, grey pallahs, harrisbocks, gnus, hyænas, and bustards are frequently to be seen, lions, ostriches, and rhinoceroses being by no means rare. We were making our way forward with the best speed we could, because Bradshaw, who was in charge during Westbeech’s absence, had announced that his stock of corn, meal, tea, sugar, and salt was running short, and that it was necessary that we should reach the next settlement to procure fresh supplies.
After crossing eight of its right-hand tributaries we kept along the valley of the Rhamakoban until we turned into another valley, which led us under the highlands back again to the bank of the Tati. On our way I noticed some more of the remarkable rocks, and gave to one of them the name of “the tablets,” and to another that of “the white boundary stone,” close to which our road was joined by the road leading to the central Matabele-land. All this time we were passing a number of mapani-trees, constituting almost a forest, occasionally broken by extensive glades.
At the place where we again came upon the Tati, we saw on the slope of two low hills several buildings in the European style; only two of these, however, were occupied, one by Pit Jacobs, the elephant-hunter, the other by a Scotch ivory-trader named Brown. A few years back there had been no lack of life in the place; gold-diggers had congregated from all parts of the world in search of the
