Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1900-04-21
AFRICAN IORses ARE HARDY.
Possess Remarkable Endurance and
Power to Travel.

Possess Remarkable Endurance and
Power to Travel.
One of the very first things that strike
The wandercr III the great cxpanses Of
the southern hemisphere Is the strength
and endurance OF the horse. Though
70 look at they are the sorriest scrags
| ever let eyes on. yet they appear to
be possessed of a power of getting over
the ground that Is little short OF mir.
aculous and so astonishing in its per-
sistencc as to seem automatic. A very
striking instance came under my no.
Gee only a few days after landing In
Cape Town in 1868. was sitting one
Saturday afternoon on the stoOp Of
Parks Hotel. which occupied the cor
ner Of Adderley and Strand streets,
when dust.covered horseman stopped
and dismounted. His horse was taken
TO the stables and in the course of con-
.arsatlon In the bar learned that he
was member Of legislative assembly
for an up-country district. There was
10 railway communication with the in
terror In those days and he had ridden
in from his home at Colesberg in less
than six days, having started the pre-.
vious Monday.
Now Colesb&rg Ii more than 500 miles
from Cape Town aud the country is
very rough going. much Of 1t being sand
and other parts very mountainous. No
English.brcd horse, fed according
English methods, could have accom-
rlished such a ride as this. more espe
cially when we consider the tempera
ture Of the Cape Colony. went to
look Mt the animal on which the Journey
had been performed and found Il to be
q little roam schimmel barely fourteen
hands and apparently as fresh "a paint
Another very remarkable ride tat
came under my notice VIZ performed
by Boer who lived few miles from
Graytown, In Natal. His wife was
taken III and a particular medicine. NOT
10 be obtained In Graytown. was i'm.
perntlvc. So In the early hours Of the
night he started for Marltzburg. fift-
five miles distant, through an extreme
~ billy country and was back on his
farm In sixteen hours. The remark.
able thing In this ride was that thIs
Boer weighed over seventeen stone.
In my own experience many Instances
Of the wonderful staying powers Of AZ.
rican horses have occurred. To men.
ton one. in 1866. had been appointed
honorable secretary OF the first athletic
sports held In the Umboti country Of
Natal. They were to he held In Gray.
town on boxing day. which fell Oh a
| Monday. All preparations. ETC.. were
concluded early In December, when I
received an urgent request to 20 to the
Transvaal to look after n friend who
was lying very III In his wagon with
no attendants but couple of raw kaf.
frs. ] rode as hard as could and
found him among the kopjes Of the
Drakensberg. between Gutenberg and
Wakkerstrom. very bad with fever.
| which he had contracted somewhere In
the low country to the northwest.
tended him for some days until he was
clearly out Of danger and then suddenly
remembered that had to be In Gray
town on Monday morning. was then
sitting on the wagon box drinking my
morning coffee at O o'clock Saturda:
morning. Graytown was 90 miles
away. but was at my post there y
10 q. m. and In addition took q SECOND
prize both In running and jumping com.
petitlons.-African Life.