about eleven o'clock in the
morning
And , a valley being obviously the place where one would most naturally expect to find water , it was toward the entrance to this one that we wended our way , with the steep slope of the mountain , shaggy with thickly growing timber , of strange forms and still stranger colours , on our right . As it happened , we were exceptionally fortunate in our exploration on this occasion , for we had not ridden more than six miles when , issuing from the northern slope of the mountain , the base of which we had been skirting , we discovered another rivulet , very similar in character to that near which we had left the wagon outspanned , and upon tasting the water we found it to be deliciously sweet and cool ; moreover , the stream was flowing northward , or precisely in the direction toward which we wished to travel . We followed the course of the stream for a distance of some four miles down the valley , and then , finding that it continued to flow northward , and showed a tendency to increase in volume , being fed by other small brooks flowing into it here and there , we turned our horses ' heads and cantered back to the wagon , very well satisfied with the result of our ride . Inspanning at dawn the next morning , we easily accomplished the trek from the headwaters of the stream we were leaving behind us to those of the stream which we intended to follow before the heat of the day had fairly set in , outspanning at length , about eleven o'clock in the morning , in a nicely wooded , shady valley , which gradually widened as we progressed , with the stream on our left and rising ground on both sides of us . Here we allowed the oxen to rest and graze for nearly three hours , resuming our journey about half-past two o'clock in the afternoon . As usual , Piet and I , on horseback and accompanied by the two dogs , preceded the wagon , the pace of the horses , even at a walk , being so much faster than that of the slower-moving oxen that we generally managed to find ourselves at least two or three miles ahead by the time that a suitable spot for the next outspan was reached . But upon this occasion I was desirous of exploring our route for some little distance ahead ; therefore , upon mounting , we put our horses into an easy canter , and soon left the wagon out of sight and hearing behind us .