about
nine o'clock in the morning
He had had the foresight to provide two pairs in case of accident , which was fortunate , for now each rider was independent of the other . Acting upon the advice of their friend Van Zyl , they confined themselves strictly to short treks , averaging about five miles each , and three treks per day , for the first four days , in order to keep the oxen in good condition as long as possible . Those first four days of their march were quite uneventful , the going was good , the grass still rich and abundant , water plentiful , and there was just enough game to keep the party well supplied with meat , while the animals worked well and improved in condition rather than otherwise , especially the horses , which proved to be even more promising than their owners had hoped for when they purchased them . It was on the morning of the fifth day that the party encountered what might be spoken of as their first exciting incident , and it occurred , or rather began , as they were nearing the end of their first trek , about nine o'clock in the morning . Dick and Grosvenor , mounted as usual , with the half-dozen dogs that constituted their pack quartering the ground ahead of them , were nearly a mile ahead of the wagon , looking out for a suitable spot for the first outspan , when a sudden clamour on the part of the dogs , who had just disappeared over a low rise in the ground , caused the two riders to put spurs to their horses , in order to see what was the cause of the outcry . A short gallop sufficed to carry them to the crest of the ridge , when they beheld the dogs baying and snarling round a fine , well-set-up native `` boy '' , who , armed with assagais and knobkerrie , constituted one of a party of some thirty in number who appeared to be guarding a herd of about three hundred grazing cattle , while about half a mile farther on was a native village of some fifty Kafir huts of the usual beehived shape , built in the midst of a number of mealie fields occupying an area of , roughly , about half a square mile , situated near the banks of a small stream . Dick Maitland , who had early developed a rather remarkable aptitude for picking up the language of the natives , at once cantered forward , and , calling off the dogs , demanded to know the name of the village , and where would be the best place at which to outspan .