The waggon, under the guidance of Mokoum and the two
Bochjesmen, had only arrived an hour when they were ready to load it.
This waggon, rather a primitive vehicle, was mounted on four massive
wheels, each couple being about twenty feet apart; it was a regular
American "car" in length. This clumsy machine, with its creaking
axles projecting a good foot beyond the wheels, was drawn by six tame
buffaloes, two and two, who were extremely sensitive to the long goad
carried by their driver. It required nothing less than such beasts
as these to move the vehicle when heavily laden, for in spite of the
adroitness of the "leader," it stuck in the mire more than once. The
crew of the "Queen and Czar" now proceeded to load the waggon so as to
balance it well every where. The dexterity of sailors is proverbial,
and the lading of the vehicle was like play to the brave men. They laid
the larger pieces of the boat on the strongest part of the waggon,
immediately over the axles of the wheels, so that the cases, chests,
barrels, and the lighter and more fragile packages easily found room
between them. As to the travellers themselves, a four miles' walk was
nothing to them. By three o'clock the loading was finished, and Colonel
Everest gave the signal for starting. He and his companions, with
William Emery as guide, took the lead, while the bushman, the crew,
and the drivers of the waggon followed more slowly. They performed the
journey without fatigue, for the slopes that led to the upper course
of the Orange made their road easy, by making it longer, and this was
a happy thing for the heavily-laden waggon, as it would thus reach its
goal more surely, if more slowly.
[Illustration: All these Objects were deposited on the Beach.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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