"Our column stretches a good half-mile along the road, and, from points where the whole of it is visible, from a little distance it looks like an enormous serpent dragging itself slowly over the ground. After a march of two or three hours there is a halt, and the guide endeavors to find a place near a pool of water or under the shade of trees. He plants his flag in the ground and blows a long blast upon a horn. The signal is understood, and a sort of cheer goes along the entire line. The porters stack their loads, and lie down on the ground for a quarter of an hour or so, and some of them take the opportunity to devour a few mouthfuls of food. In a little while the horn sounds again, and the march is resumed. We usually embrace the opportunity to complete the breakfast for which we had only a slight appetite at the early start. "The march continues till noon, or a little later, and then we stop to make our camp, and get ready to pass the night as comfortably as we can. Sometimes we have a long halt at mid-day, and march in the afternoon. Our movements depend considerably upon the character of the country where we are travelling, and the distance from one watering-place to another. Where we halt early the men generally build their own huts, when they can find the materials; but if the march is late they pass the night in a village, or in the _krall_, or public lodging-yard. They consider it a hardship to sleep in the open air, and will not do so if they can avoid it. [Illustration: AN AFRICAN FERRY.] "We have all the varieties of country you can imagine, and perhaps two or three more. We have level plains and rough hills, dense forests and wide stretches of open ground, thickets of thorn-bushes and patches of the softest grass, rough rocks and smooth sand, rivers of varying size and dry channels, where not a drop of water can be seen, and broad areas which are beautiful plains in the dry season and trackless bogs in the period of heavy rains. Happily for us, the country is so well travelled that its peculiarities are known and the worst places can be avoided. What we should suffer if we were engaged in an exploration, and had no guide to show us the way, I shudder to contemplate. [Illustration: CROSSING A PLAIN.]