The presence of his favourite prey,--the quaggas, the gemsboks, and the elands,--were sure indications that the king of beasts was not far off.
Not much work was done that day.

The heavy labour of curing the biltongue, that had occupied them the whole of the preceding day, and their disturbed rest, had rendered them all listless; and neither Von Bloom nor the others had any inclination for work.

So they moved around the camp and did very little.
Swartboy took his elephant's feet from the oven, and cleaned them; and also let down the biltongue and arranged it so as to be better exposed to the sun.

Von Bloom himself shot the three remaining horses, having driven them to a good distance from the camp.

He did this to put an end to the suffering of the poor brutes,--for it was plain to every one that they could survive but a day or two longer; and to send a bullet through the heart of each was an act of mercy to them.
Out of all the live-stock of the field-cornet, the cow alone remained, and she was now tended with the greatest care.