"Why do you think so, Professor?"
"Did you notice the warm breezes this evening, and also last night at about the same time?"
"Why should the breezes from the ocean blow warm winds to us at this time of the year when it ought to be cold?"
"It is not at all likely that the breezes are any warmer than at other times of the year. Heat is merely a relative matter. We feel the difference of the wind temperatures principally for the reason that when the vast body of water in moving ocean streams is giving off its heat, it imparts it to the atmosphere and modifies it, so that as it sweeps over the land it is warmer than the natural temperature."
The following day, late in the afternoon, they caught the first glimpse of the sea, and it was welcomed. A camp was made for the night in the open, and with an early start next morning the explorers reached the last hill to the west of the cataract.
When they arrived home, which was not without considerable misgiving, owing to their long absence, they were overjoyed at finding everything at the house in perfect order, but their yaks were missing.
This was, at first, a sore grief to them, especially to George, who considered it to be a personal loss. Milk was a luxury, as well as a necessity, to him. The team was now all that remained of their herd.
"It is strange we did not see any of them on our journey."
It was a surprising thing to see their water wheel in motion, although they had taken considerable pains to push the wheel back so the blades would not be in contact with the water. It was found that the Cataract River was much swollen with the rains, so that the water had come into contact with the wheel.
As the team was now the sole reliance, so far as the herd was concerned, the Professor suggested that they should thereafter keep the team within the enclosure, so as to prevent their straying, as they might, in the absence of their fellows, try to escape.