midday
For the present , at any rate until after he had seen this embassy , Dingaan wished to stand well with the Boers . Therefore it was obvious that he would never make an irreparable quarrel with them by treacherously putting us to death as we trekked through his country . Being sure of this , we went on our way with light hearts , thanking Heaven for the mercies which had been shown to us . It was on the third day of our trek , when we were drawing near to the Tugela , that we met the Boer embassy , off-saddled by a little stream where we proposed to outspan to rest the oxen while we ate our midday meal . They were sleeping in the heat of the day and saw nothing of us till we were right on to them , when , catching sight of our Zulu advance guard , they sprang up and ran for their rifles . Then the wagons emerged from the bush , and they stared astonished , wondering who could be trekking in that country . We called to them in Dutch not to be afraid and in another minute we were among them .