nearly midnight
Long steaks of tender gemsbok he cut and grilled on the wood ashes of the tiny fire , treating in a like manner the juicy udders after he had squeezed out most of the milk . The water he would not touch , but his appetite seemed unappeasable ; steak after steak disappeared and still he carved and cooked , smoking between whiles , and singing some never - ending song of all the fine wives he would buy , and what he would do to certain priests , if he got his `` little gun '' safe to his own country . His cheery presence , and the reliance I placed in him cheered me enormously , and I realized that I , too , was hungry . And so we ate , and smoked , and slept , till nearly midnight ; and then , keeping the Southern Cross low down on the horizon on our right , we once more entered the dunes . The horse that Inyati had referred to was obviously dying , and a merciful bullet put an end to the poor brute 's sufferings . The others trudged wearily after us , making but slow progress , but doing better than I had conceived possible of animals that had not eaten or drank for thirty-six hours . But morning found them dead beat ; they stood stock still as the sun rose , and neither coaxing nor flogging could get the poor brutes a step farther .