Major Flinders smiled, and replied:--"There's the cart, forty pounds; four mules, at, let me say, twelve pounds a head--that's as much as they were worth!--forty-eight pounds; harness and sundries another fifteen. I think a hundred will cover everything; so we sha'n't lose all our profits, Maurice. And now, _en avant_!" The travellers accomplished the descent of the mountain without further mishap, and found shelter that night at a solitary farm situated in the plain below. Here they remained for a couple of days, for the mules were regularly knocked up, and required a long rest before they were in a condition to travel the last stage--a distance of forty miles. Early on the morning of the second day they once more inspanned, and the team being freshened considerably by their twenty-four hours "play," they got over the ground in capital style, and reached Ralfontein an hour before sundown. CHAPTER NINE. RALFONTEIN--CAPTAIN JAMIESON AND HIS FAMILY--BUSINESS BEFORE PLEASURE!-- THE LAST EVENING AT THE FARM--A STARTLING PROPOSAL. Captain Jamieson's farm was situated in the midst of a fertile tract of country, bounded on the north and east by ranges of lofty mountains and hills; beyond which lay vast plains and dense forests, abounding with wild animals and members of the feathered tribes, of every size and description--from the huge elephant to the diminutive "zenik;" from the ostrich to the tiny "creeper." The house, stables, and farm buildings stood on the summit of an eminence, which rose somewhat abruptly at the junction of two narrow, but swift streams; they were built in the form of a quadrangle, and were admirably planned for defence. The pasturage in the immediate neighbourhood of the farm was remarkably rich, wood and water were plentiful, the climate was all that could be desired; yet this lovely district was but thinly populated, and the "Squire of Ralfontein" was practically "monarch of all he surveyed," there being no other settlement within five-and-thirty miles, and no town or village within double that distance. Donald Jamieson was--what our Yankee cousins would call--a "very remarkable man." He had just turned his sixtieth year, but was as hearty and active as a man of forty. The youngest son of a poor, but proud, Scotch laird, he had taken the "king's shilling" when a lad of eighteen, and after seeing much active service in all parts of the world, was awarded an ensign's commission in the "Cape Mounted Riflemen;" in which corps he remained until he obtained his troop, when he retired on half-pay, and took to farming. He was now considered one of the most successful farmers in South Africa, and was also noted for his knowledge of the country, his skill as a hunter, and the influence he had acquired over the natives. [Although a mounted corps, the junior subs, of the C.M.R. held the rank of _ensign_, not _cornet_.]