Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1873-07-10

that left my farm to ascend the Draa-.
kensburg mountain for the purpose OIL
finding, if possible, an eland, specie
6f, antelope, to reple2ish my larler for
Che coming OhIistmas. I was ct the
time living alone in o glen formed by
two spurs Of the mountefn; with but |
few neighbors, and no town within so
miles, but as my Kaffrs hadsbecome
that Christmas time meant unlimited
eating, I wished, by providing game,
to save an OK. had only five or six
mifes to go; and was we'll mounted, 50
I did not hurry, but, leading my horse
up the steep pass, reached the place |
where intended to sleep inst O. the
sun was setting. seasss
The scene around, though quite.dif-
fereht from our ideass OF what II. .shpnld
be in December, was very beautiful
There was no snow; no leatless trees
with their delicate tracery set off by
the glistening hoar frost, nor dark
green frs bending under their white
load but still there was enough to
keep me standing, forgetful of fire.
wood, and all had to do for my com.
fort during the night.
was on narrow ledge of rock, sep
arated from the network of hills be-
yond by deep, hperpendiculsr gorge,
st the bottom Of vhlSh, so far down
that I5co'ald hardly Distinguish il, ran
a'little burn. ! Thepetting sun gave the
peaks that rich purple hue seldom seen
away from heather and on tho eyuther
Iside - FIR as the eye could lreach. ny
the thOrn-cOv1reu fats and hills of
Natal.
Under-the rock was a. large cave,
where had determined to sleep. It
had in 0lden times, ,becnsa&1eRularg1e-
sort of the Bushmesl, :5ut few came
nesr it now; indeed, Ihad mot known
they came at an, bnt, on on going fn. /
found some calabashes and the ashes
of a newly made fire, which could have
only been left by them. There were
other marks on the walls, though evi-
IDENTIFY Of great antiquity ; rude sketch
es and drawings of horses, cattle, bows
and arrows, and even of Bushman
| riding. It is most curious that race
so low down in the scale of humanity
that their language only contains a few
words made up of unpronounceable
clicks, and who, with the exception of
the use of fire, in their mode of life
differed but little from the ape, should
have learned to do this. 1t may be
that it is remnant of an old sign Ian
guage, or the remnant of some former
civilization. 1t was full moon, and
after ;admiring the wonderful lights
and shadows thrown by'it on the broken
ground, turned in aud slept till near
daylight.
As soon as / could see I started to
hunt. Much to my annoyance at the
time, though had afterwards cause to
be thankful that my horse was spared
such a ga,lop rs riding down TN Gland
entails, | could find nothing, and
could tell by the spoors that no herd
had been about for soma lays.4 It was
nearly noon before I became conviriced
Of this ; and, tempted by the shade of
line of tree ferns edging little brook
| whose bubble sounded rcfreshingly
amid the great heat, I took NV
saddle, of, knee-halteredy Prince.
and lay. down. OF course, I soon
dozed OF, but became awake
again III about couple of hours
say " became awake" because it was
not the natural ArousiDg mp of a person
who has been asleep. but a sudden re-
turn to consciousness, without any
movement. and With all ny Wits about
me, and that inward feeling which per-
haps some of my readers may fave ex
perlenced, of something being wrong,
and tension of all the powers of hear
ing to discover what it is. had not
long to wait; wliz come tiny arrow,
striking the stone on which my head
had been resting, and where my cap
still was. It did not require much
thinking to know that a Bushtuan's 8
hand held the bow it had come from,
nor to determine that the safest thing
to DO was to roll quietly into the bed
OF the little brook below me. Luckily
THIS would afford good shelter, and I
could almost reach the edge with nv
hand.
The tremendous violence with which
these streams come down from the
hills during the heavy thunder storms.
wears a deep passage even in the hard
est ground; and though there was oniva
about. au inch, Of vater, ana It Va, n"t
q yard broad, tho banks were full four
feet deep Leaving my cap whcrc it
was, ! rolled over as quietly as I
could but just as was disappearing,
another arrow came and struck me in
the thigh, the only part not yet in
safety. 1t took all my seh-contr6fS 70
continue ny moyemants as before un.
til stood crQtlching ut tina bottom.
"why,' the reader may exclaim, 'the
pain OF such tiny arrow could not be
very great No, neither is the bite
OF snake itself, yet of the two the