about ten o'clock
Everybody , with one solitary exception , declared that it was a most risky thing to do ; but the solitary exception , in the shape of an old Boer farmer named Van Zyl , applauded their pluck , and declared that they were far more likely to succeed by learning the lesson of the wild for themselves , and depending upon their own courage and adaptiveness , than if they set out under the guidance of another , and remained more or less in leading strings throughout the journey . `` What I would advise , '' he said , `` is that you should look out for a good ` nigger ' ; he will be far more helpful to you than any white man , and will be content to be a good servant to you -- if you are careful to keep him in his proper place -- instead of trying to be your master . '' This sounded like good , sensible advice , coming as it did from a man who had been born , brought up , and had spent a long life on the borderline separating civilisation from savagedom , and it finally confirmed them in the determination , to which they had already practically come , to do without a white guide . According to Mitchell , their route from Bulawayo lay generally in a north-easterly direction , and accordingly , after transacting all their business , making every possible preparation for the long journey before them , and writing their final letters home , announcing the fact that they were about to plunge into the wilderness , and that , therefore , no further news must be expected of them for an indefinite period , they set out about ten o'clock on a certain glorious morning , boldly striking straight out across the veldt , and directing their course by compass . Their wagon was already fully loaded , the load consisting of several air-tight cases of ammunition , six barrels of flour , a cask of sugar , a bag of coffee , a chest of tea , a small keg of brandy -- to be used only in cases of the utmost emergency -- a case containing pickles , condiments , preserves , salt , and other articles of a similar character , to be regarded as luxuries and used accordingly ; their own personal belongings including clothes and firearms , a small tent made of waterproof material for sleeping in , two net hammocks with portable supports , a full set of cooking utensils , four sacks of mealie meal , and , finally , two large boxes of beads of various kinds , a quantity of brass wire , and a case of cheap mechanical and other toys , small mirrors , etcetera which Grosvenor had had the foresight to bring out from England with him , the last three items being destined to be employed in bartering with the natives . All this constituted quite as heavy a load as it was at all desirable to put upon the wagon , although the full team of twenty oxen made light of it , especially as it was now the dry season , and the ground was firm and hard for travelling . As for Dick and Grosvenor , they travelled on horseback , changing their steeds at every outspan , in order to accustom the animals to them , and gradually to get them into good , hard condition by working them to a certain extent every day .