perhaps the aspect of Umslopogaas and his fierce band whom, rather
irreverently, I named his twelve Apostles, had a share in inducing this
peaceful attitude.

So smooth was our progress and so well marked by water at certain
intervals, that at last I came to the conclusion that we must be
following some ancient road which at a forgotten period of history, had
run from south to north, or _vice versâ_. Or rather, to be honest, it
was the observant Hans who made this discovery from various indications
which had escaped my notice. I need not stop to detail them, but one
of these was that at certain places the water-holes on a high, rather
barren land had been dug out, and in one or more instances, lined with
stones after the fashion of an ancient well. Evidently we were following
an old trade route made, perhaps, in forgotten ages when Africa was more
civilised than it is now.

Passing over certain high, misty lands during the third week of our
trek, where frequently at this season of the year the sun never showed
itself before ten o'clock and disappeared at three or four in the
afternoon, and where twice we were held up for two whole days by dense
fog, we came across a queer nomadic people who seemed to live in movable
grass huts and to keep great herds of goats and long-tailed sheep.

These folk ran away from us at first, but when they found that we did
them no harm, became friendly and brought us offerings of milk, also of
a kind of slug or caterpillar which they seemed to eat. Hans, who was
a great master of different native dialects, discovered a tongue, or a
mixture of tongues, in which he could make himself understood to some of
them.