Year: 1873

beyond by deep perpendicular
gorge at the bottom Of which, so fan


down that could hardly distinguish


it, ran little burn. The setting sur


gave the peaks that rich purple hue


seldom seen away from heather; and


on the other side, as far as the eye
could reach, lay the thorn covered
flats and hills of Natal.


Under the rock was large cave.
where I determined to sleep. 1t had
in olden times been a regular resort
of the. Bushmen, but few came near
it now; but on going in | found some
calabashes and the ashes of a newly
made fire, which could have been
only left by them. There were other
marks Oh the walls, though evidently
of great antiquity; rude sketches and
drawings of horses, cattle, bows and
arrows. and even of a Bash1nan rid
ing. 1t is most curious that race
so low down III the scale of humanity
that their language contains but a
few words made up Of unprohounce-
able clicks, and who, with the ex-
ception Of the use of fire, in their
mode of life differ but little from the
ape, should have learned to do this.
1t may be that it is remnant Of an
old sign-language, or the last relic of
some former civilization. 1t was a
full moon and after admiring the
wonderful lights and shadows thrown
by it on the broken ground | turned
III and slept till near daylight.


AS soon as | could see | started to
hunt. Much to my annoyance at the
time, though | had afterwards cause
to be thankful that my horse was
spared such a gallop as riding down
an eland entails, | could find nothing
and could tell by the spoors that no
herd had been about for some days.
1t was nearly noon before | became
convinced of this; and. teDpted by
the shade of line of tree-ferns cd o.
ing a little brook whose bubble
sounded refreshingIy amid the great
heat, | took my saddle off, knee-halt-
cred Prince and lay down. Ofcourse
| soon dozed off. but became awake
again i'll about a couple Of hours: |
say "became awake" because it was
not the atural rOusing up Of 4 per-
who has been asleep, but a sudden
return to consciousness. without any
movement and with all my wits
about me, and that inward feeling
which perhaps some of my readers
may have experienced of something
being wrong and q tension Of all the
powers Of hearing to discover what
it is. | had not long to wait: wLiz
came a tiny arrow. striking the stone
on which my head had been resting.
and where my cap still was. 1t did
not require much thinking to know
that a Bushman's 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 al
most reach the edge with my hand.


The tremendous violence with
which these streams come down from
the hills during the heavy thunder
storms, wears deep passage even
in the hardest ground, and though
there was only about an inch of wa
ter and it was not yard broad the
banks were to the full four feet high.
Leaving my cap where it was | rolled
over as quietly as | 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 self-control to continue my
movements as before until | stood
crouching at the bottom. "Why,"
the reader may eXclaim, 1.-THE pain
Of such tiny arrow could not be
very great" No, neither is the bite
of a snake in itself, yet of the two the
latter is the least to be dreaded. 1t
was, of course, poisoned with that
deadly skill for which the whole tribe
is famous; and as ] stood below /
knew | had little chance of seeing
another sunrise.


However. with that self help that
men who lead a solitary life acquire,
| instantly drew my hunting knife,
ripped up the trousers and with
steady hand cut out the arrowhead,
not sparing myself | then took my
flask and poured powder into the