midday
We 've a clear twenty-four hours before we rejoin our regiment . '' Mile after mile the patrol rode , but not the faintest trace of von Gobendorff 's line of flight was to be seen . Whether he was alive or dead was a mystery yet unsolved . Towards midday they arrived at a kraal situated in a vast semi-circular expanse of open ground bounded on three sides by scarps of the Karewenda Hills . The greatest caution was now necessary , the task of the patrol , failing von Gobendorff 's capture , being to find out whether the lower slopes of the hill were held in force or only lightly so . If possible there was to be an avoidance of an exchange of shots with hostile outposts , but in any case the Rhodesians were to withdraw at the first sign of opposition . The headman of the kraal , like most of his kind , was very communicative .