The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1852-11-13

be restored to them unscathed and M doubt
MIR liutton's solcitude proceeded from his
anxiety to keep his engage
ment.
lie called upon me that evening, to thank
me for my attention to his wishes. In tie
course of our conversation | casually remark
ed that Apollo must be good servant to have
inspired his master with such feeling of re-
gard for him.
81 ought to care for him." answered Mr.
Hutton, "since he saved my life"
This reply led, of course, to further ques-
tlonlng, and finally elected from the trader
the narrative which struck me as SO remark
able
"lpicked up Apollo about ten years ago
he said, "On the north bank of the Orange
River. lie was then a child, not more.
should say, than ten or twelve wears old
though YOU never can Judge accurately of the
ages of these natives found him all alone
and halt dead with fever, under little shell
ter OF boughs and grass, where his people had
left him when he was taken ILL., They almost
always desert their sick people and decripit
relations in that way. 1t is a shocking Gus
tom, and think it is about the worst part of
their character; for, in other respects must
say, they are not altogether 50 bad as some
travellers would make them ont to be- PIT
the little fellow in one of nv wagons, and
doscd him with quinne and other medicines
and IN a few days he was running about a>
well and lively as ever. He told me his name
was 1kuctke. or some other crack-iaw affair
with two or three cluckS in it. so that would
not attempt to pronounce it. So thinking il
best to give him CTriSfinn name. | called
him Apollo, in compliment to his good looks
He has remained with me ever since. and ha>
always shown himself attached to me in hi
own way He is a real savage still No one
but myself can control him; and he generally
obcvS my orders aS long as he can remember
them, which is seldom more than dav. But
| cannot make tcetoalrr or a man of peace
of him. although believe have set him a
talr example in both these lines He will
drink whenever he can Get the liquor: and
when he is excited by drink or provocation
he will fight Ike mad TIGER. Otherwise he
Is an honest. faithful fellow. and the best af
ter rider ever had An attcr-ridcr. You
know. is the nam" giycn to the lIottentot or
black boy who rides with YOU, and carrie,
Your spare gun an! ammunition, x sometime,
heads of the game, or assists you in any 9th
rr way"
knew what an atter-rilcr was, but wa,
curious to hear how Apollo had been able tC
render his master the great service spokcl
Of. 1t seemed that in the first instance he laG
owed his own life to Mr. Hutton's kindness.
"Probably he did" answered Hutton. al
though if had not found him he ni"ht hav,
recovered. Those Namaquas and IIottcntot:
have wonderfully tough constitutions it take,
a deal of sickness and starvation to kill them
But the other affair took place about tom
wears ago; and if YOU care to hear the story
| have no objection to repeat it, have tol,
it often, for the credit of my friend Apollo
Il was on my way to Dammara-lanl, Will
two wagons and about dozen people Tw,
of them were Mozambique blacks whom haD
brought with me from Cape Town. and th
remainder were IIottcntots and Naman,la
that | had picked up on the way Most OF
them rot at old Schmelcn's missionary sta
ton, on this side of the Orange River Tn
two negroes We're tolcrablv good servants
they had gained some knowledge of civilze
habits in Cape Town. The others could d
but little besides helping to drive the wagon
though sometimes they were of service il
following spoor-traceS of game, YOU know
They knew the country well, and by keeping
apretty sharp eye upon them | was able T.
make them useful. In tracking game, as
SAID, they sometimes rendered good service
but they were great cOwardS and thOupI
some of them could handle fire arms tolcrabl
well, could never get them to face dancer
Gus animal, such as a buffalo or a rhin0ceros
and least otall a lion, with anv steadincss.
shot two or three rhinoccroses with little SIN
port from any of them, except Apollo. VIII
always stood by me like trojan, though hi
teeth sometimes chattered. and his ewes be
came like saucers, as we approached the en-
emv.
"One afternoon" continued Hutton. :.
outspanned near pool, where many animal
OF different sorts came at night to drink. w
see their tracks all about the marcin. Tb
Namaquas knew the place well. and urre
me to encamp at a little distance off, savin
that the lions were al ia kwaad,' or very an
CRY, in that region and that if we reste
near the water we should be very likely t
lose some Of our oxen, and might perhaps b
ourselves attacked. For it is curious fac
that when lion has once tasted human fles
he seems to acquire peculiar relish for i,
and will leave all other game untouched if h
has chance of seizing upon man. l di
not wish to run any risk, so far as nv people
or my oxen either were concerned: and SC
after making them drink heartily, | drov
off TO a distance of sbout two miles, and out
spanned in a small valley, out of sight fror
the pool. We kindled large fire to kee
of any wild beasts that might be prowlinc a
hout, and then turned the oxen loose TO picl