about
nine o'clock in the evening
Half an hour later they had mounted and were on their way , travelling slowly till they came upon the road , and then at a fast pace . Jack rode the spare horse , the other natives rode the ponies in turn , those on foot keeping up without difficulty by laying a hand on the saddles . Sometimes they trotted for two or three miles , and then went at a walk for half an hour , and stopped altogether for four hours in the heat of the day , for they were now getting on to low land , being only some three hundred feet above the sea . They reached Lorenzo Marques at about nine o'clock in the evening , and failing to find beds , for the town was full of emigrants from the Transvaal , they camped in the open . In the morning they sold the two ponies , and were fortunate in finding a steamer lying there that would start the next day . Being very unwilling to part with their horses they arranged for deck passages for them , taking their own risk of injury to them in case of rough weather setting in . Every berth was already engaged , but this mattered little to them , as they could sleep upon the planks as well as on the ground .