A Hunter's Wanderings in Africa; being a narrative of nine years spent amongst the game of the far interior of South Africa ... With ... illustrations by ... E. Whymper, etc

Front matter

A HUNTER'S WANDERINGS IN AFRICA M A P OF ILLUSTRATING TKE TRAV£li,S CDF THE AU'" MOR, A NARROW ESCAPE; MASHUNA LAND, SEPTEMBER 17, 1S78. Trontispiece. Sec page :V HUNTERS WANDERINGS IN AFRICA BEING A NARRATIVE OF NINE YEARS SPENT AMONGST THE GAME OF THE FAR INTERIOR OF SOUTH AFRICA CONTAINING ACCOUNTS OF EXPLORATIONS BEYOND THE ZAMBESI, ON THE EIVER CHOBE, AND IN THE MATABELE AND MASHUNA COUNTRIES, WITH FULL NOTES UPON THE NATURAL HISTORY AND PRESENT DISTRIBUTION OF ALL THE LARGE MAMMALIA By FREDERICK COURTENEY SELOUS With 19 Full-Page Illustrations by J. Stuit, E. Whymper, aud Miss A. B. Selous. LONDON RICHARD BENTLEY & SON pu&Iisfjrrs in ©rttnatg to P?er JHajestg tije ©ueen Printed by R, & R. Clark, Edinburgh. £o £Hn JFrimos THE ELEPHANT -HUNTERS, MISSIONARIES, AND TRADERS IN THE FAR INTERIOR OF SOUTH AFRICA FROM WHOM I HAVE EVER MET WITH THE TRUEST KINDNESS AND THE MOST GENEROUS HOSPITALITY THIS WORK IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED BY TEE AUTHOR

Preface

. Since Baldwin's book upon African hunting appeared, now nearly twenty years ago, no work has been published which can be considered in any way as a guide for men who are about to visit the interior of South Africa in search of sport, and would wish to know the state of the country at the present day from a sportsman's point of view. This want I hope that the present volume may to some extent supply, for as during eight years I have led the life of a professional elephant - hunter, my pages are naturally chiefly devoted to the feræ naturae, amongst which I have been constantly living. Some of my conclusions with regard to lions, rhinoceroses, or other animal, may differ from those arrived at by other men equally competent to give an opinion ; but, at all events, they are the result of a long personal experience of the beasts themselves, and have not been influenced in any way by the often unreliable stories of " old hunters."

The seven plates of antelopes' heads form a complete series, representing every species, from the smallest to the largest, that is to be met with north of the Limpopo river up to 12° south latitude. They have all of them been most carefully drawn by Mr. J. Smit, to whom my best thanks are due, from actual specimens now in my possession, whicli

PREFACE.

. have been mounted by the well-known taxidermist Mr. Rowland Ward of Piccadilly, and are therefore faithful representations as regards markings and length of horn of the animals themselves. At the end of the book I have appended some game lists kept during my last two hunting expeditions. This has not been done out of any wish to show what a large bag I have made ; but as it has been copied from my game book, kept carefully from day to day, I think it will give any one intending to visit the interior of South Africa a better idea of the sort of sport and the different species of game he is likely to fall in with at the present day in different parts of the country, than any detailed description. Sometimes it certainly represents aU the game I was able to shoot, with an immense amount of hard work ; at others it does not record one-fourth part of what I might have killed had I wished to make a bag.

Some , people may consider it a dreadful record of slaughter, but it must be remembered by these, that I was often accompanied by a crowd of hungry savages, exclusive of the men in my employ, all of whom were entirely dependent upon me for their daily food, whilst in some of my expedi tions my rifle supplied me almost entirely with the means of obtaining from the natives corn, guides, porters, etc., which better -equipped parties would have paid for with calico, beads, or other merchandise. In some of my jour neys I have penetrated into regions hitherto unvisited by Europeans, and in such cases have always made rough sketch-maps, two of which have been published by the Royal Geographical Society. As these expeditions were, however, undertaken in search of elephants and not with any scientific objects, I do not claim any credit to myself for their results. Some portions of the present volume have already been

PREFACE.

. IX printed from time to time in the columns of The Field newspaper. As the articles in question recounted some of the most interesting of my hunting adventures experienced some years ago when elephants were still plentiful, I make no apology for again reproducing them. I have also incorporated in my work two papers read by me before the Zoological Society at their meetings on the 7th and 21st of June last, the first on the rhinoceroses, the second on the antelopes of Central South Africa ; and I have to acknowledge the courtesy of the members of the Council of the Society in allowing me to make use of the drawings illustrating these two papers in the present work. My thanks are also due to my sister, Miss A. B. Selous, for the time, trouble, and patience expended by her upon the ten illustrations representing the hunting-scenes which embellish my pages, all of which were drawn under my own super vision, and from my oral descriptions ; and also to Mr. Edward Wliymper for the careful and painstaking way in which he has diminished these drawings and reproduced them upon the wood.

In conclusion, I have only to add that in the following pages I have done my best to express myself in plain, intelligible English ; and if I have not succeeded in tins respect as well as I could wish, I trust that my short comings will be leniently judged when it is remembered that the last nine years of my life have been passed amongst savages, during which time I have not undergone the best training for a literary effort. THE AUTHOR. CONTENTS. PAET I.

Chapter I

Land at Algoa Bay — Diamond Fields — Trading Trip through Griqualand — The Chief Manchuran — Batlapin Village — Griqua Town — Bushman's Lair — Klas Lucas, the Koranna Chief — Bechuanas at Lange Berg — Appearance of Country — Return to Diamond Fields — Preparations for Second Expedition Pages 1-8 CHAPTEE II. Kuruman — Seventy-eight Elephants shot — Bechuana Chief, Montsua — Secheli — Bamangwato — Scenery — Hard-working Missionaries — First Giraffehunt — Lost in the Veldt — Great Sufferings — Cold — Hunger — Thirst — Ninety Hours' Fast — Loss of "Salted" Horse — Heartlessness of Natives — The Lost found — First Lion seen — Tati Gold Fields — Mashuna Diggings ........... 9-26

Chapter III

Massacre of a Tribe — Native Dress —Remarkable Scenery — Lobengula, King of the Matabele — Umziligazi — Slaughter of the "Headmen" — Battle of Zwang Indaba — Lions — Piet Jacobs — Terrible Adventure with a Lion — Mashunas — Elands — Start Hunting with " Cigar," the Hottentot 27-38 CHAPTER IY. Eland shot — My First Elephant — "Cigar's" Skill in hunting Elephants — Abundance of Game — Successful Bags — Drought— Rain — Hardship — Maiming Elephants — Stabbing from Trees — A Murder and Execution — " Bill " and the Crocodile 39-51 CONTENTS.

Chapter V

" Inxwala " Dance — Matabele War Dress — Black Rhinoceros — Bull Elephants — Linquasi Valley — Permanent Encampment — Hunting in the " Fly " — Profitable Shooting — Sketch of Country — Depopulation by Zulus — Varieties of Fauna— Sable Antelope— A " Skerm "—Extracts from Journal — A Grand Elephant-hunt — Narrow Escape of a Kafir . Pages 52-70

Chapter VI

Journal continued — A Rest — Fresh Honey — Start after Elephants — Two Bulls shot — Tramp for Water — A Supperless Night — A Fortnight's Hunting — Burying the Ivory — Rejoin Wood — Black Rhinoceros — A Bees' Nest — White Rhinoceros — Six Bull Elephants shot — A Kafir killed — Disastrous Elephant -hunt — Narrow Escape — Accident — Return to Waggons 71-100

Chapter VII

Bad Weather — Slow Travelling — Mr. and Lieut. Garden — Daka — Leave the Waggons — Elephant -hunt ; first of Season — A Bath of Blood — First Glimpse of Falls — Difficult Country — Magnificent Panorama — Grandeur of Victoria Falls of Zambesi — Herd of Buffalo — Banks of Zambesi — Double Lunar Rainbow — Pitfalls for Game .... 101-114

Chapter VIII

Koodoo — Impala — Tenacity of Life — Waterbuck — A new Servant — The "Chobe" River — Pookoo Antelopes — Buffaloes — A wounded Cow — Elephant - shooting — Lions at night — Abundance of Buffalo — The " Pookoo Flats "—Mosquitoes and Tsetse Flies . . . 115-134

Chapter IX

Hippopotami — Lechwe Antelopes — Difficult Shooting — Elephants on the "Chobe" — A Plucky little Calf — A Canoe Ride — Makubas and their Island — Return to " Pookoo Flats" — Four hundred pounds of Ivory 135-145

Chapter X

Pookoo Antelope — Shooting Lechwe — Up the Chobe — Strange Experience with Elephant— Canoe Trip through Marsh Lands of Chobe— Buffalo- Island Inhabitants — Palm Wine — Situtunga Antelopes — " Umbaracarungwe " Island — Dense Thornbush 146-166 CONTENTS. XIII

CHAPTER XL

Adventure with Elephants— Return to Mainland — Two Elephant -hunts — Ten killed— Schinderhutte ; Tragic End— Two Buffalo Bulls— Encounter with a Lioness— Return to Tati, and England . . Pages 167-189

Chapter XII

Notes upon South African Rhinoceroses (read before the Zoological Society on June 7, 1881) 190-203

Chapter XIII

Notes upon South Central African Antelopes (read before the Zoological Society on June 21, 1881) 204-226

Part II. Chapter XIV

Land at Algoa Bay, 1876 — The Giraffe and its Habits — Giraffe - hunts — Amandebele Marauders — Adventure with Lion — Narrow Escape — Westbeech the Trader — High Standing of English and Scotch Traders and Hunters with Natives — Shortsightedness of British Government — Ruin of British Trade and Traders in South Central Africa — Enterprise stopped — Chase after Gemsbuck — Horse killed by Lions ; wound the Male ; found dead by Bushman soon after ..... 229-256

Chapter XV

The South African Lion — Variation of Type — Habitats — Appearance — Colour — Habits — Average Size — Unclean Feeders — Dangerous Antagonists — A sad Story — Lioness attacks Camp by night — Horse wounded — Ruthven shot — Lioness killed — Shoot magnificent Lion and two Lionesses 257-275

Chapter XVI

Start for the Zambesi — Death of Lieutenant Grandy — Fever — Scarcity of Elephants — Buffaloes — Anecdotes of — Disposition, Size of Horns, etc. — Spotted Bushbuck — Send Waggons to the Matabele Country — Prepare for Expedition across the Zambesi 276-286 CONTENTS.

Chapter XVII

Cross the Zambesi — Great Heat — Mwemba — Lioness shot — Lorenco Monteiro — Disturbance between Batongas and Shakundas — Leave Chaiza — Batonga Musician — Crocodile shot — Villages burnt by the Shakundas — Striped Eland shot — Hippopotami — Reach Nhaucoe — Joaquim Mendonca — Canyemba — Cruel Treatment of Slaves — Smallpox — Donkeys killed by Hyænas — Start for the Manica Country — Konze Antelope — Continuous Rains Pages 287-309

Chapter XVIII

Scarcity of Game and Provisions — Reach Sitanda's Kraal — Mosquitoes — Lukanga River — Lechwe Antelopes — Fever — Dismal Prospects — Arrival of Canyemba — Buy a Kafir — Start for the Zambesi — Reach Mendonca's Island — Start for the Matabele Country — Inyoga — Reach Inyati 310-324

Chapter XIX

Hunting Trip to Mashuna Country — Camp attacked by five' Lions — Shoot variety of Game — Accident to Goulden — Griqua Hunters — Many Elephants killed — Shoot Sable Antelope Bull — "Situngweesa," Mashuna "god," and Lobengula — Enchanted Reed — Tragic Death of Quabeet : torn in pieces by Elephant — Elephant - hunt — Charged by Infuriated Cow and knocked down — Horse wounded — Twenty -two Elephants bagged 325-345

Chapter XX

Hunting Trip to Mashuna Country continued — An Eland Bull — Hanyane River — Elephants — Hippopotami trapped in Pool — Game-nets — Notes on " Fly "-bites— Bush Pigs— Sable Antelope Bull— Rhinoceros— Hunting in the Machabi Hills— Rhinoceros Cow— Elands— Male Sable Antelope pursued and attacked by Wild Dog— Nineteen Elephants shot— Oribi Antelope and its Distribution — Standard - winged Nightjar — Poor " Bill " killed by Crocodile— Rhinoceros and Little Calf— Shoot Lioness at Viljoen's Camp— Christmas with Rev. W. Elliott . . 346-364

Chapter XXI

Visit the Transvaal — Start again for the Interior — Leave Bamangwato Mahakabe Pan — Eland - shooting — Reach the Botletlie River — Scarcity of Water — Lion shot — Giraffes — Gemsbuck-hunting — Starving Bushmen — Gemsbuck shot— Leave the Botletlie— Reach Sode-Garra— Start for the Mababe— No Water — Sufferings of the Oxen — Abandon the Waggons — Reach the Mababe Plain — Water at last — Endurance of Oxen Troop of Hyænas— Sport with Lions — Arrival of Collison and French Sad Death of Matthew Clarkson ...... 365-386 CONTENTS. XV

Chapter XXII

Start Northwards — Elephants and Buffalo shot — Antelope found dead — Long Palaver with Mamele — Relics of a Mission Party — Shoot Lioness — Reach Site of Linyanti — Prayers for Good Luck — Find Skeleton of Kafir devoured by Lion — Buffaloes and Hippopotamus shot — Visit to the Grave of a Great Warrior — Vain Attempt to propitiate his Ghost — Seven Elephants killed, one wounded — French follows the wounded one with two Kafirs — His long Absence — Unsuccessful Attempt to follow him — Return of one of the Kafirs — His sad Story — French dead of Thirst — Impossibility of finding the Body — Attacks of Fever — Journey on foot to the Chobe — Four Lions drink by our Camp — Their terrific Roaring — Return to the Transvaal — Ague and Fever — Recovery — Last Start for the Far Interior .... Pages 387-405

Chapter XXIII

Hippopotamus Paths — Rhinoceros — Bad Rifle — Waterbucks — Difficult Country — Sable Antelope — Native Villages — Bargaining — Lo Magondi — Native Weaving — Trip with Lo Magondi — The Lory — Pool of Hippos — Sea-Cow shooting — Matabele Superstition — Beaconsfield Cataracts — Shooting Buffalo— Lion at night 406-423

Chapter XXIV

Ancient track of Hippopotami — Starving Hippos to death — Elephant-hunt— Mountainous Country — Buffaloes — Rhinoceros — Paddling a dead Hippo — Ssasty Accident — Lionesses ...... 424-443 List of Game shot during the Tear 1879 444 List of Game shot during the Year 1880 446 List of Game shot between the 1st of January 1877 and the 31st of December 1880 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE A Narrow Escape ...... Frontispiece. Map 1 Eland Bull ....... Plate I. 8 Gemsbuck ....... „ 8 Eland Bull ....... „ 8 Koodoo Bull ....... Plate II. 26 Koodoo Bull ....... ,, 26 Horns of Situtunga Antelope ... „ 26 Situtunga Antelope ..... „ 26 Sable Antelope ...... Plate III. 38 Sable Antelope ...... „ 38 Sable Antelope ...... „ 38 Koan Antelope ...... „ 38 Roan Antelope ...... „ 38 Roan Antelope ...... „ 38 Impala Antelope ......

Plate IV. 70 Impala Antelope ...... „ 70 Springbuck ....... ,, 70 Springbuck ....... 70 Blesbuck ....... ,, 70 Horns ot Gray Rhebuck 70 Horns of Red Rhebuck ... . „ 70 Bushbuck ....... , 70 Spotted Bushbuck ...... ,, 70 Blue Wildebeest ...... 70 Waterbuck Plate Y. 100 Pookoo Antelope ...... , LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. XVII PAGE Pookoo Antelope Plate V. 100 Reedbuck ....... , 100 Reedbuck ....... „ 100 Lechwe Antelope ...... „ 100 Lechwe Antelope ...... „ 100 Duiker Antelope Plate VI. 134 Duiker Antelope ...... , 134 Oribi Antelope ...... „ 134 Klipspringer Antelope ..... „ 134 Duiker Antelope ...... ,, 134 Steinbuck ....... „ 134 Steinbuck ....... ,, 134 Steinbuck ....... „ 134 Grysbuck ....... 134 Tsessebe Antelope . . . . . Plate VII. 166 Tsessebe Antelope ..... „ 166 Lichtenstein's Hartebeest . . . . „ 166 Lichtenstein's Hartebeest .... „ 166 Hartebeest ....... „ 166 Hartebeest ....... „ 166 Old 4-Bore Dutch Elephant Gun . . . .166 Knocked up.

Waiting for the Cool of Night to get back to the Water . . . . . .182 Horns of Rhinoceros Bicornis . . . . .203 Cobus Vardoni ........ 226 Close Quarters . . . . . . . . 244 Encounter with Lions . . . . . . .271 Adventure with a Buffalo . . . . . .280 Bushbucks from the River Chobe ..... 285 Horns of Buffalo Bull . . . . . .286 Horns of Buffalo Cow ....... 286 Skull and Horns of the Konze Antelope . . . 309 Following a wounded Buffalo in thick Bush . . 320 Horns of White Rhinoceros ...... 345 Sable Antelope pursued by Wild Dog . . • .356 An unexpected Meeting with two Lions . . . 382 Hippopotami at Home . . . . . . .437 Single 10-Bore Rifle ....... PAET I

Chapter I

Land at Algoa Bay — Diamond Fields — Trading trip through Griqualand — The Chief Manchuran — Batlapin Village — Griqua Town — Bushman's Lair — Klas Lucas, the Koranna Chief — Bechuanas at Lange Berg — Appearance of Country — Return to Diamond Fields — Preparations for Second Expedition. On the 4th of September 1871, I set foot for the first time upon the sandy shores of Algoa Bay, with £400 in my pocket, and the weight of only nineteen years upon my shoulders. Having carefully read all the works that had been written on sport and travel in South Africa, I had long ago determined to make my way to the interior of that country as soon as ever circumstances would enable me to do so ; for the free-and-easy gipsy sort of life described by Gordon Cumming, Baldwin, and other authors, had quite captivated my imagination, and done much to determine me to adopt the life of ever-varying scenes and constant excitement, which I have never since regretted, and for which an inborn love of all branches of Natural History, and that desire so common amongst our countrymen of penetrating to regions where no one else has been, in some degree fitted me.

As I knew no one in Port Elizabeth who might have given me advice, I determined first of all to make my way to the Diamond Fields, from which place I rightly judged it would be easier to make a final start for the interior than from the coast. Accordingly, as I had too much baggage to allow me to travel by Cobb and Co.'s coach, which was then running, I looked out for a waggon bound for the New El B Dorado, which there was little difficulty in finding, and after striking a bargain with a young transport rider ' named Reuben Thomas, who undertook to convey me and my 300 lbs. of baggage to the Diamond Fields for the sum of £8, I finally left Port Elizabeth two days later on, September 6th. The journey between the coast and the Diamond Fields is so uninteresting that I will not weary my readers with any account of it, as I wish to devote my pages to narratives of my experiences in those parts of the far interior at present but very imperfectly or not at all known to the general public.

After a very slow journey of nearly two months, we at last, early on the morning of the 28th of October, reached our destination. As we had only travelled at night, allowing the bullocks to rest during the heat of the day, I had been able to do a good deal of shooting in a small way, and in return for an immense amount of hard walking, had managed to bag one bushbuck ram, one duiker, one springbuck, one klipspringer, and eight gray and red rhebucks, all of which I had carried on my own shoulders to the waggons. On the evening of the day on which I reached the Diamond Fields, a great misfortune befell me, for a small double breech-loading rifle by Reilly, with which I had been shooting along the road, was stolen from the waggon, and no endeavours to trace it were of any avail. My armoury was now reduced to a double ten muzzle-loading rifle by Vaughan, a very inferior weapon, as it threw its bullets across one another, and a little double gun that shot well with both shot and bullet.

On the market next morning I bought a horse for £8, and rode over to Pniel. Here I met a fellow-passenger, Mr. Arthur Laing, who had left the ship at Cape Town and gone up to the Fields direct by passenger cart. He told me that he was tired of digging, and was thinking of making a trading trip through Griqualand, and down the Orange river, taking with him as guide and interpreter a man named Crossley, who knew the country and the people, and 1 In the Cape Colony, carriers who convey goods from one part of the country to another are called "transport riders." MANCHURAN. 3 who, indeed, had been private secretary to Adam Kok, the Griqua chief, and once held a very good position, from which a passionate devotion to the flowing bowl had dragged him down step by step, till he now did not own so much as the shoes he stood in.

He was, however, in his sober moments, which, when within ten miles of a canteen, were both short and infrequent, an intelligent and well-informed man. My friend was very anxious that I should join him, and as I had found that the commencement of winter, viz. April or May, was the best season to start for the far interior, I soon made up my mind to do so, thinking the trip would just about occupy the intervening time. Our arrangements were soon made, and on October 31st we loaded up a small wooden-axled waggon which we had bought for £80, and managed to make a start that same evening. We at first followed the course of the Vaal river, and on the evening of November 2d, were outspanned upon its banks, when a Kafir chief rode up, accompanied by about twenty followers. He proved to be Manchuran, one of the most influential chiefs among the Batlapins ; but for all this, after we had given him and his brother a good dinner, he was not above begging for sugar, tea, coffee, or anything else he could think of.

A Kafir will seldom miss a thing for want of asking for it. Early on the next morning we reached a large Batlapin village, where we found the houses very clean, nice, and comfortable. They are divided into two compartments, whilst outside there is a sort of verandah, and round the front of the house a yard very neatly enclosed, and plastered with cow dung. Inside, these houses are large and roomy, being at least eight feet high, and most of them having a recess in the wall with shelves for pots, etc. At this village we tried our 'prentice hands at trading. It was very tedious work, as the natives wanted to look at everything, and talked a great deal about every article they inspected before buying anything. Greatly to my surprise, they paid for what they bought in hard cash. The following day we left the banks of the Vaal river, and trekked through a country covered with wait-a-bit thorn-bushes towards Campbell's dorp, an old mission station ; on the way I saw two hartebeests, but could not get a shot at them.

Campbell's-dorp had evidently known better days, for there were many deserted gardens and ruined cottages about the place ; still, although most of the people seemed a lazy, poverty-stricken lot, some of the better class of Griquas were living in houses quite as comfortable as those of the lower class of Trans vaal Boers. On November 9 th we trekked, and reached Griqua Town the following day. This place, like Campbell's-dorp, must have seen better days, but was now almost deserted. During the subsequent five weeks we trekked about from one Griqua farm to another all over the country, buying sheep, goats, oxen, and ostrich feathers, but finding no game except a few springbucks and steinbucks. On the 21st of December we found ourselves on the banks of the Orange river, at a place called Sea-cow's-bath, where dwelt a very decent old Kafir, Hendrick Kieviet by name.

The next day I started early to look for rhebuck amongst the hills bordering the river, but never saw a living thing. One might almost as well look for game in Hyde Park as in Griqualand. The weather was now intensely hot ; every day the thermometer rose to over 100° in the shade ; and at about midnight, with the moon shining gloriously, it still marked 91°. Christmas Day. — Made a wonderful pudding of meal and eggs, flavoured with chocolate ; we also made a sauce of meal, milk, honey, and chocolate. Both pudding and sauce turned out a glorious success, and considering the paucity of materials at our disposal, I think we had reason to be proud of it. We invited old Hendrick to dinner, and he was enchanted with the pudding, declaring he had never tasted anything like it, and, judging from the amount he stowed away, evidently thinking he never would again.

January 1st found us still trekking westwards along the northern bank of the Orange river. This day we met two Griqua waggons returning from Damaraland, where they had a bushman's lair. 5 been on an embassy from Waterboer to the Damara king, in reference to allowing the Griquas to settle in his country. They had, however, been unsuccessful in their negotiations. January 4th. — Whilst poking about along the river, looking for guinea fowls, I came upon a Bushman's lair amongst the trees by the water's edge. A few boughs woven together and forming a sort of canopy was all they had in the way of a habitation ; the only weapons they possessed were rude-looking bows and neatly-made poisoned arrows, some about two and a half feet in length, fashioned from reeds, whilst others were only a foot long.

Their language seemed even fuller of clicks and clucks than the Koranna, and altogether to a casual observer they appeared to be very few steps removed from the brute creation. The following day three more Bushmen came to the waggon begging for tobacco ; they were taller and better looking than those I had first seen. January 6th. — Reached Klas Lucas's town, a Koranna chief living (in the dry season) at a ford of the Orange river called Olivenhout's drift. While there a hut was struck by lightning, and of the seven Korannas within, two were killed. Here we turned back, and travelling on the same road by which we had come, reached Keis again on the 19th of the month. From Keis we trekked north to Lange Berg for two days through very heavy sand, and without a drop of water, till we reached the farm of Anthony Potgieter, a coloured man from the Cape Colony.

Our cattle, sheep, and goats were terribly thirsty, and it was a sight to see how they all rushed into the water. Old Anthony Potgieter turned out to be a very good old fellow, sending us down lots of milk and some bread, which latter was a great treat, for, having been unable to obtain either corn or maize from the wretched Kor ranas, we had tasted nothing but mutton for twenty-three days. I sa--; here a herd of about thirty hartebeests, but as they were on the side of a hill, and the ground beneath them was perfectly open, I could not manage to get a shot at them. Janitary 27th. — Left Anthony Potgieter's hospitable hut with regret, and trekked northwards amongst the Lange Berg Kafirs, reaching Michonya's kraal in the evening. This old fellow was stingy, even for a Bechuana, which is saying a good deal.

These people, however, seemed indus trious, as at every kraal they had many acres of ground under cultivation, and they make a great many karosses, which they sew with great neatness. They seem, too, to take kindly to the outward signs of civilisation, and all who can afford it wear European clothing ; but they are the stingiest, most begging, grasping, and altogether disagreeable set of people that it is possible to imagine. Although possessing large herds of cows and goats, they will not give a stranger a drop of milk until he pays for it ; but, on the other hand, they expect him to give them coffee, tobacco, and, indeed, everything in his waggon, gratis. February 5th. — Reached Kobetsi's town, where we found an Englishman named Funnell had established a store, and from him we were enabled to buy in a stock of meal and other of the almost necessaries of life, which we had so long been without.

From this place we could see the Kuruman downs, the mission station being about fifty miles due east. The country about here was then in fine order, for, as rain had just fallen, everything looked green. The whole landscape was thickly wooded, and the grass very luxuriant. Altogether, it was a glorious change after the desert country along the Orange river to which we had been lately accus tomed. The great drawback was, that there was no game whatever, not even springbucks, the Kafirs having hunted everything into the far interior, so that now there is more game within five miles of Cape Town than here where we were, more than six hundred miles up country. We now turned south again, and on the evening of February fall once more reached Potgieter 's farm. The two following days I spent in search of hartebeest, but though I worked hard, I saw none.