After crossing the river by two deep drifts, a few hundred yards apart, the diverging roads re-united at a deserted military post, destroyed by the enemy, and we commenced the ascent of the Koonap Hill, a long winding steep road, strewed, like the pass of the previous day, with the bones and carcasses of horses and bullocks, victims, not of savages, but of civilized cruelty; in our own case, one after another, twenty-one oxen were left dying or perfectly exhausted on the hill-side, and it was with the greatest difficulty that the remainder, weakened by long scarcity of pasture, were goaded to the top, though each waggon was drawn up by a double span, or team, driven by four or five screaming swearing Totties, who, besides their terrific whips, every cut of which left a long bare bleeding streak, used a heavy "jambok" of rhinoceros hide, six feet long, and as thick as a man's wrist at the handle, and at every stand-still, when these failed, bent the unfortunate animals' tails till they broke, biting them savagely. The extensive range of country seen from this hill increased in beauty as we ascended the road which ran along the edge of the ravine, fringed with majestic euphorbias; in the distance deep blue mountains, and plains of red sand, then wavy bush-covered hills, and in the valley below us the winding river, and our rear guard, with their long line of waggons slowly advancing. It was not till the afternoon that the last waggon reached the top of the ascent. No longer shaded by high wooded banks, we found the sun oppressively hot as we trekked along through endless clumps of dusty spek-boom, or elephant tree. In the evening we had a magnificent sunset view of the Amatolas; and just as night set in came to a halt (after a march of about two and twenty miles) at Lieuw Fontein (lion's spring), close to a small military post standing alone in a desolate country, and garrisoned by some Hottentot Levies, under an officer of the line, who must have had a lively time of it, as no one dare go beyond the gates, except with a strong mounted escort. Orders were issued to march at eight next morning, a most gentlemanly hour, as all agreed, and the more cordially as the distance to be performed was only six miles, to the Kat River, to pasture the oxen, which now absolutely required rest and food. They were turned out to graze under the protection of a subaltern's guard, while we hastened to purify ourselves in the rocky stream, protected by an armed party on the willow banks; for some dozen Kaffirs in red blankets were seen on a low hill about a mile off, their attention apparently divided equally between the herds and the bathers.