Year: 1874

ness, without any movement, and
with all my wits about me, and that
inward feeling, which perhaps some
ofmy readers may have experienced,
of something being wrong, and a
tension Of all the powers of hearing
to discover what it is. I had not
long to wait; whiz came tiny al
row, striking the stone on which
my head had been resting, g,and where
my cap still was. It did not require
much thinking to know that a Bush
mans hand held the bow it had
:ome from. nor to determine that
the best thing for me 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
my hand.


The tremendous violence with
which these streams come down
from the hills during the heavy thun-
der-storms, wears deep passage
even in the hardest ground; and,
though there was only about an
inch of water, and it was not yard
broad, the banks were to the full
four feet high. Leaving my cap
where it was, I rolled over as quiet
ly as I could; but just as I was dis
appearing, another arrow came and
struck me in the thigh, the only
part not yet in safety. It took all
my self. control to continue my move
ments as before until stood crouch
ing at the bottom, "Why," the
reader may exclaim, "the pain of
such tiny arrow could not be so
very great!' No, neither is the
bite of snake in itself; yet of the
two the latter is the least to be dread
ed. It was poisoned with that
deadly skill for which the whole
tribe is famous; and, as I stood be-
low, I knew I had little chance of
seeing another sunrise.


However, with that self help that
men who lead a solitary life acquire,
I Instantly drew my hunting knife
ripped up the trousers, and with
steady hand cut out the arrowhead,
not sparing myself. I then took
my flask and pouredpowder into the
wound, and gently striking match,
set fire to it. That done, I took off
my belt, and using my full force;
strapped it little above, as tight
as it would go.


I do not think that in doing all
this I had any hope of saving my
life; there was only sort of feeling
that I was doing my duty. The
pain was not very great, and my
chief thought was for vengeance on
the malignant creature, that I
looked on as my murderer. fright
ly imagined he was not aware of his
success. No doubt he thought he
had missed me, and that I was still
lying asleep-in proof of which I
soon heard the whiz of another al
row striking above. Moving down
about yard, to where the over
hanging ferns would conceal me, I
quietly raised my head; the ground
was slightly rising, and I could see
around for some distance. There
was my horse unconsciously gra-
zing away, but the grass was too
long for me to see my enemy's
whereabouts. I, however, guessed
that he would try and get between
us; and SO I waited, watching and
grasping my rife.


Ten minutes passed in silence, and
then I fancied that the grass was
moving unnat1rally. In another
second, a hand and bow appeared;
I heard a little twang, and saw the
tiny messenger of death again pierce
the spot where I had been. T kept
myself from firing, though I covered
the place. Surely he would become
impatient, and give me a better op-
portunity. Another ten minutes,
and suddenly, in a different spot,
which commanded a better view of





my cap, little black head peered
over the grass. It was enough; I
fred, shrill shrek and a spasmod-
ic spring into the air told me that
| had nothing more to fear.


Getting out as quickly as posi-
bic, dragged myself-for the limb
was now much swollen, and becom-
ing more and more painflll-to my
saddle, where | carried in a little
bottle some eau de luce for snake
bites, and poured out a large dose.
After taking it, caught my horse,
saddled it. and picking up two of
the arrows, went to have a look at
the dead Bushmal. He was scarce
ly over four feet high. with arms SO
long and thin as to reach deformi-
ty, short and bow-kneed legs sup
porting a little round body-he had
evidently not been starving lately
and feat17ros so closely resemb1ino