Then we struck out for the Granite Stream.
Before we reached the patch of Yellow-wood forest where I knew that the cart must travel very slowly because of the trees and the swampy nature of the ground, I pushed on ahead to reconnoitre, fearing lest there might be Basutos hidden in this cover.

Riding straight through it I went as far as the deserted wagon at a sharp canter, seeing nothing and no one.

Once indeed, towards the end of the wood where it was more dense, I thought that I heard a man cough and peered about me through the gloom, for here the rays of the sun, which was getting low in the heavens, scarcely penetrated.

As I could perceive no one I came to the conclusion that I must have been deceived by my fancy.

Or perhaps it was some baboon that coughed, though it was strange that a baboon should have come to such a low-lying spot where there was nothing for it to eat.
The place was eerie, so much so that I bethought me of tales of the ghosts whereby it was supposed to be haunted.