THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
 PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND 
 MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID 
 
TALES OF A NOMAD 
 
 OR 
 
 SPORT AND STRIFE 
 
ABERDEEN UNIVERSITY PRESS. 
 
TALES OF A NOMAD 
 
 SPORT AND STRIFE 
 
 CHARLES MONTAGUE 
 
 LONDON 
 LONGMANS, GREEN AND CO. 
 
 AND NEW YORK : 15 EAST i6th STREET 
 1894 
 
TO 
 
 RIDER HAGGARD, 
 
 THIS WORK 
 
 30 
 
 BY ITS AUTHOR, 
 
 IN TOKEN OF ESTEEM AND ALSO OF ADMIRATION 
 FOR HIS GENIUS. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 A FRIEND when conversing with the Author 
 made the following observations : "I am sick of 
 experiences of sport and adventure conveyed in 
 the form of transcript from diary why cannot 
 people give us the grain without the husk, and 
 thus avoid making us the victims of tedious 
 prolixity ? You have had the experience, why 
 don't you give us some of it in a condensed form ? 
 We don't want to know why the favourite horse 
 went lame on the near fore how you cured the 
 cook when he had a fit of colic what you did 
 when you were cooped up for a month by the 
 rains your adventures on the day you went out 
 shooting and didn't see anything to shoot at why 
 you didn't get your letters by the mail why the 
 groceries gave out -your manoeuvres for a month 
 when you were not in touch with the enemy and 
 the precise dates, places, and distances which are 
 of no interest to us. We want to know just the 
 pith of your experiences, and nothing more." 
 
 My friend's words echoed my own sentiments. 
 If a man has geographical facts to reveal like 
 
 M313049 
 
Vlii PREFACE. 
 
 Livingstone and Stanley had, then detail becomes 
 interesting ; but when a man has only personal 
 adventure to communicate, why the less of detail 
 the better. 
 
 Thus encouraged, the Author put certain ex- 
 periences into shape, in the hope that they might 
 interest sportsmen and travellers, and would ask 
 his readers to charitably overlook the faults of 
 style and diction. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I. A RIDE FOR DEAR LIFE, i 
 
 II. MY FIVE BUFFALOES,- - - 17 
 
 III. MY THREE SEA-COWS, - 41 
 
 IV. VARIOUS, - 65 
 V. FLAT GAME AND SMALL GAME, - - 84 
 
 VI. THE STORMING OF SECOCOENI'S, - 109 
 
 VII. THE SIEGE OF MARABASTADT, 134 
 
 VIII. A LUCKY KILL, - - 154 
 
 IX. MY BIG TUSKER, - 173 
 
 X. A TALE OF THREE ELEPHANTS, - 197 
 
TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 A RIDE FOR DEAR LIFE. 
 
 A FRONTIERSMAN'S YARN. 
 
 THROUGH plains covered with sparse thorn-bushes the 
 Olifants River wends its way. Here it is about fifty yards 
 wide, and is fringed with reeds on either bank. It is the 
 dry season, and the current, which at times would sweep 
 away men, horses, and waggons, has dwindled down till 
 at almost any point a lad of twelve could cross with ease 
 and safety. 
 
 The withered vegetation, the bushes devoid of leaf and 
 grey with thorns, display the effects of drought and of 
 nightly frosts ; but everywhere the broad-bladed twitch- 
 grass, perennially green, abounds in quantity sufficient 
 to keep cattle and horses in excellent condition through- 
 out the winter. 
 
 To the eastward the rugged, forbidding-looking ranges 
 of mountain which here constitute the frontier of 
 Matshila's-land, stand up in clear relief against the un- 
 clouded sky. Every crag, bush and rivulet are as dis- 
 tinct to the naked eye at four miles distance as they 
 
2 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 would be in Europe at one mile with the aid of field- 
 glasses. 
 
 It is evening, and troops of graceful roebuck are 
 cropping the shoots of herbage and lazily twitching 
 their tails, as with the dainty, stiff-kneed action peculiar 
 to antelope they stalk down to the river in Indian file 
 for their evening drink. The flocks of guinea-fowl are 
 beginning to crrrruck-cuck-cuck-crrrruck, and the bush 
 pheasant gives his discordant plaintive call as he prepares 
 to roost. 
 
 But why are the guinea-fowl suddenly silent, and why 
 do the pallahs, giving one spring sideways, stand rooted 
 with astonishment for five seconds, and then airily bound 
 away in alarm ? 
 
 Well they may, for since the hills first in order stood 
 no such sound has ever disturbed the solitudes through 
 which old Olifant flows as the pealing notes of the bugle 
 which now strike upon the ear. 
 
 There amongst the bushes are rows of white bell tents, 
 from which men are now issuing. They are clad in blue 
 shirts, cord breeches, field-boots., and soft broad-brimmed 
 felt hats, and have a hardy, tanned look. Each carries 
 a currycomb and danderbrush and has a nosebag slung 
 over his arm, and, albeit unshaven, they seem a service- 
 able body of men. 
 
 They fall in on the markers in section column by the 
 left at quarter distance. The roll is called, and then 
 they break off and go towards their horses, which are 
 picketed in ranks, and which display by their whinnying 
 that they know the hour for feeding as well as the men 
 do. 
 
 " Halt ! who comes there ? " shouts a sentry. Two 
 minutes later a couple of almost naked Basuto Caffres 
 
A RIDE FOE DEAR LIFE. 3 
 
 enter the camp, and are taken to the commandant's 
 marquee. As the sun sinks a strong guard is mounted, 
 and the sentries are all doubled ; for it is war time, and 
 no precaution is omitted. 
 
 The mess bugle sounds, and the men gather in groups 
 of eight for their meal. A strange crowd English, 
 Scotch, Irish, German and Afrikander, the last being 
 invaluable as a frontiersman for his good shooting and 
 horsemanship, and for his quick eye, knowledge of 
 country, and cool self-reliance. 
 
 Amongst them are all sorts and conditions of men 
 public schoolmen, university M.A.'s, and gentlemen 
 emigrants, mixed with farmers, traders, and gold-diggers; 
 but the utmost good feeling prevails, and many a jest 
 and yarn elicit repeated roars of laughter. It is as well 
 under these circumstances to be on good terms with the 
 quartermaster, for somehow or other after the nightly 
 issue of grog ration there is always a surplus in hand, 
 which, of course, it would be a sin to either throw away 
 or to present to the Government ; so taking my pipe and 
 my tin pannikin, I stroll off to pay my respects to that 
 worthy. 
 
 " I say, quartermaster, who were those two natives 
 who came in this evening? " 
 
 " Can't say they were friendly natives I fancy they 
 have been spying. I know the commandant is in touch 
 with a lot of friendly natives, who keep their eyes 
 skinned and bring him information. That issuer is a 
 wonderful man ; he always brings me a balance over of 
 just one quart of commissariat rum every night after 
 issuing ; excellent man, but I won't recommend him for 
 promotion, for he is so admirably suited to his present 
 position and to me. Let's play poker. Hullo, there's 
 
4 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 the commandant's orderly. What do you want ? All the 
 rum is finished; go to the issuer if you have any complaint." 
 
 "The commandant wants Trooper X , sir." 
 
 " I won't be long away, quartermaster ; keep my rum 
 for me." So saying, I left the tent, and reported myself 
 to the commandant. He was seated at a small table, 
 on which lay an open map. He was a man over six 
 feet in height and of splendid physique. His marked 
 features, resolute expression of countenance, quiet but 
 decided manner and resonant voice, betokened courage 
 and force of character. He was eminently a man to be 
 trusted in the hour of danger or disaster. He was not a 
 product of the school of discipline, but, like such men in 
 all new countries, he had been brought to the front by a 
 sort of process of natural selection, and owed his posi- 
 tion entirely to the personal qualities which he had often 
 displayed on critical occasions. Perhaps some may 
 recognise the portrait. 
 
 " Trooper X ." 
 
 " Yes, sir." 
 
 " Are you disposed to go on special service?" 
 
 " That is a curious question to ask me, sir. I arn ready 
 to go wherever you order me, or my duty leads me." 
 
 " Yes, but I think it is hardly fair to send any parti- 
 cular man on a service of especial danger without asking 
 him whether he is cheerfully prepared to incur the risks." 
 
 " I know, sir, that you would not wantonly expose 
 any man to unnecessary risk. The risk you hint at 
 must be in the course of duty, and, that being so, I am 
 quite prepared to undertake it cheerfully." 
 
 " Well spoken, my lad. Did you see two natives 
 come into the camp this evening ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
A RIDE FOR DEAR LIFE. 5 
 
 " They report to me that they have heard on good 
 authority that a very large troop of the enemy's cattle 
 are stowed away in the valley between the first and 
 second range of hills I mean between the range of hills 
 you see to the eastward and another range behind that 
 range and parallel to it. You will have to follow the 
 course of the river, which runs through a gap in the hills. 
 When you have passed the gap, turn to your right and 
 pass along the valley between this range and the next 
 range. See here on the map. The valley narrows at 
 this point; I am told it is not more than about 400 
 yards wide just there. There is a town on the slope of 
 the hills to the left, about half a mile beyond this neck, 
 so you will have to go very cautiously, but when you 
 have passed the town you are all safe. You go on about 
 three or four miles until you come to a little round hill 
 in the midst of the valley. 
 
 "I am told there is a small patch of bush on this little 
 hill. I want you to hide your horses in the bush, mount 
 the hill, and, keeping yourselves hidden, watch the valley 
 and ascertain if there are any troops of cattle where 
 they feed, and to bring me all the information you can. 
 I will give you an excellent man to accompany you. 
 You can start when the moon rises to-night. You will 
 reach the spot before daybreak. Remain hidden all day 
 and return to-morrow night. That is all you have to do. 
 You had better take fifty rounds of ball and two days' 
 rations with you. I will lend you my field-glasses. 
 
 Trooper G accompanies you. The adjutant in 
 
 person will inspect you and give any final instructions 
 and, by the way, is your horse a silent one? " 
 
 " Yes, excepting at stables, when he sometimes gives 
 a whinny at the sight of forage." 
 
6 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 " That is well. I have known a good man to come to 
 grief owing to an untimely neigh. Have you looked to 
 his shoes lately ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir ; he went to the farrier the day before 
 yesterday, but he is only shod on the fore." 
 
 "You want nothing better, even for the roughest 
 ground in this country. You may as well take this 
 pocket-compass. Now, are you sure you fully under- 
 stand my instructions? " 
 
 " Yes, sir." 
 
 "Ah, well. Good-night, and, mind you, no smoking 
 at night. I know you are a heavy smoker, but if you 
 reflect that striking a match may cost you your life, I 
 think you will be able to refrain." 
 
 " May I ask you to do something for me, sir, in case I 
 don't return ? " 
 
 " Certainly, certainly. What can I do for you ? " 
 
 " I should like to leave my father's address with you, 
 and to ask you to communicate with him in case it 
 should be necessary ; also to open all letters addressed 
 to me, read them, and then burn them." 
 
 " Quite so. I promise you faithfully I will do this, 
 but I hope there will be no necessity for such a proceed- 
 ing on my part. However, enter the address in my 
 memorandum book," and as he spoke he tossed me the 
 book. 
 
 Having made the entry, I saluted, turned about in 
 three motions, and left the tent. 
 
 The commandant was one of those men who had the 
 rare gift of maintaining discipline, not by the machinery 
 of organisation, but solely by his individual force of 
 character and personal influence. Wherever he took us 
 we had a sort of feeling that he knew what he was about, 
 
A RIDE FOR DEAR LIFE. / 
 
 and we all would have followed him unhesitatingly, 
 even though it appeared to be into the jaws of certain 
 death. 
 
 I have known him ride up to a body of men who were 
 under heavy fire, and who, being hardly pressed by an 
 enemy of superior force, were beginning to get unsteady. 
 The instant he appeared amongst them they became as 
 steady as rocks. 
 
 The great duke said of Bonaparte that his presence 
 on the field of battle was equal to a reinforcement of 
 20,000 men. It is hard to explain, but there are men 
 who exercise this influence over their fellows. 
 
 Irregular troops will not fight well unless they have 
 confidence in their leaders ; indeed, trust is to them 
 what discipline and organisation are to regular troops. 
 
 Our commandant knew every man by name who 
 served under him. There was no restraint in his manner, 
 for he would converse freely with any of us in a way 
 that is usually deemed to be destructive of all discipline. 
 Few men have this power of keeping in close touch with 
 their men, and yet not impairing their control. It is a 
 special gift. Those who possess it not had better abstain 
 from free contact with their subordinates. 
 
 As a tactician he was bold in conception and swift in 
 execution. Knowing the nature of his enemy thoroughly, 
 he also knew just how far he could take liberties with 
 them. He never put his foot farther out than he could 
 withdraw it again with safety. 
 
 At times he apparently violated all the accepted 
 canons of warfare. He would throw off his line of 
 communication and lead us into positions of apparently 
 great danger ; but he was as wise as he was bold, and no 
 contingency was unforeseen or unprovided against. As a 
 
8 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 rule his movements were so rapid that before the enemy 
 realised his intentions he had accomplished his object. 
 
 Self-reliant energy is characteristic of the Afrikander, 
 and the commandant was merely a typical specimen of 
 his race. For generations past they have in insignificant 
 numbers fought their way northward against savage 
 hordes and dangerous wild beasts, their only weapon 
 the rifle, their only book the Bible, and the constant 
 struggle has evolved a singularly bold and hardy 
 people. 
 
 As the moon rose Trooper G and myself paraded 
 
 for inspection. After being very narrowly overhauled 
 by the adjutant, who gave us a final injunction to be 
 
 careful, we set out on our journey. Trooper G led 
 
 the way. He was an Afrikander born of Irish parents. 
 He was a fine rider, a fine shot, as brave as a lion, and 
 withal, like most Irishmen, had a cheerful temperament 
 which never deserted him even at the moments of 
 gravest danger. 
 
 "Mr. X , I'm thinking we may set to work and 
 
 do all our smoking and talking now while we can do it 
 with safety, for in the parts we are going to visit we 
 are not exactly popular, so let us light up now." 
 
 Thus we continued to smoke and converse in a low 
 tone until we reached the point in the hills through 
 which the river flowed. Dead silence was now to be 
 our rule. The frost had begun to fall, and it was some- 
 what cold work. 
 
 A long ride in a frosty night invariably makes one 
 feel sleepy. Any one much accustomed to riding ac- 
 quires the knack of sleeping in the saddle. It is a 
 dubious kind of rest though. Every now and then as 
 the head begins to nod and fall forward the sleeper is 
 
A RIDE FOR DEAR LIFE. 9 
 
 suddenly awakened. Besides this, one occasionally gets 
 a reminder by a thorny branch brushing across one's 
 face, or by the horse unwarily putting his foot into an 
 
 ant-bear hole. However, as G had taken upon 
 
 himself to do the piloting, I gathered as many winks of 
 sleep as was possible under the circumstances. 
 
 Eels are said to get accustomed to skinning, and men 
 certainly get inured to exposure and discomfort. Since 
 those days I have often, when travelling at night, com- 
 fortably seated in a first-class carriage of an express 
 train, obtained a feeling of satisfaction by recalling to 
 memory the discomforts incurred on a night patrol, 
 and I am by no means sure that the immunity from dis- 
 comforts which accompanies a high state of civilisation 
 may not in the long run sap the courage and energy of 
 European nations. My dozing was at last interrupted 
 by G 's voice : 
 
 " Here we are ; there is the valley to our right ; we 
 have been going for two hours ; that accords with in- 
 structions, doesn't it? It should bear southward of us 
 now ; take a look at the pocket-compass." 
 
 Jumping off my horse, I covered the compass with 
 my hat, while G struck a match under the hat. 
 
 " Yes, that's all right ; let us aim our course between 
 those two shoulders which descend from the hills on 
 either side. I think we had better skirt to the right as 
 much as possible, for the commandant said there was a 
 Basuto town on the slope of the range to the left hand." 
 
 In another half-hour we saw that the two ranges were 
 getting nearer to us, and that we were approaching the 
 neck of the valley. It was, however, difficult to exactly 
 estimate the true size and distance of natural features by 
 the light of the moon. 
 
IO TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 At last we reached the neck and hurried through it, 
 keeping as much to the right as possible, with the double 
 object of avoiding the proximity of the native town on 
 the left, and also of keeping well in the shadow of the 
 range of hills on the right. Ten minutes took us through 
 the pass. There was evidently no Basuto town in the 
 pass, for we saw no lights and heard no barking of dogs. 
 
 The valley now widened out again. Suddenly we 
 heard the barking of dogs apparently about half a mile 
 off on the left of the valley. 
 
 "Ah, there is the town," said G . "I hope the 
 
 dogs are not taking alarm." 
 
 " No, no. The nasty yapping brutes keep it up all 
 night long." 
 
 My horse's hoofs now ceased to sound as they struck 
 the earth, and I experienced a sensation as though he 
 were travelling over soft ground. An exclamation of 
 impatient annoyance broke from G . 
 
 " What is the matter? " I asked. 
 
 " Bad enough ; couldn't well be worse. We have got 
 on to newly-cultivated land. If they visit this land to 
 morrow morning they will be certain to see the hoof- 
 marks, and then we are done for. However, perhaps 
 they mayn't come over this ground to-morrow. In any 
 case we couldn't return to camp without having made 
 an attempt to carry out our orders, so all we can do is 
 to turn back and skirt this field in the hopes that they 
 may not be working here to-morrow." 
 
 We wheeled our horses round, and having regained 
 the veldt went off at a tangent to avoid the cultivated 
 ground. When we judged that we must be past it we 
 resumed our direct course; but the incident left an un- 
 pleasant impression on my mind, and my spirits were 
 
A RIDE FOR DEAR LIFE. 1 1 
 
 overshadowed by anxious presentiments of coming evil. 
 We proceeded for about two miles in this manner, when 
 we saw a small round hillock looming up in the middle 
 of the plain. In another ten minutes we reached it. 
 At the foot was a small clump of bushes which we 
 entered, and having off-saddled and affixed the nosebags, 
 we tied up the horses, and ascending to the top of the 
 hillock, wrapped ourselves in our overcoats and lay down 
 to sleep, with the butts of our rifles as pillows. Youth, 
 health, and nerves make a good nightcap, and in those 
 days I could sleep sounder under conditions like this 
 than I can now in a feather bed. 
 
 At break of day I was roused by G , who was 
 
 pulling my leg. Rubbing my eyes, I looked round me. 
 Before us was spread a wide valley covered with scat- 
 tered clumps of bush. From the slopes of the hills on 
 both sides of the valley columns of smoke arose from 
 Basuto villages. On examining them with the field- 
 glasses I could see that they were all strongly fortified 
 with schanses (or breastworks of stone), and behind them 
 were precipices, or rugged masses of rock, in which, doubt- 
 less, were numerous caves in which the inhabitants of the 
 villages took refuge whenever they were driven from their 
 villages byan enemy. Each village contained several score 
 of huts with round conical-shaped roofs, which projected 
 above the walls of the schanses which encircled them. 
 
 Far back behind us, and on the slope of the hill about 
 half a mile from the neck of the valley through which 
 we had passed on the previous evening, was a village of 
 about a hundred huts. From the hill just above the 
 neck itself was a cloud of smoke, showing that a picket 
 was posted there. We must have passed within 300 
 yards of them during the night. 
 
12 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 We could distinguish the patch of cultivated ground 
 we had unwittingly trespassed upon during our last 
 night's journey. 
 
 We munched our biscuits and took a pull at our 
 water-bottles by way of breakfast. 
 
 At about nine o'clock from the villages at the farther 
 end of the valley we saw four large troops of cattle 
 descend into the plain and spread themselves out to 
 feed. 
 
 In the four troops there must have been at least 1200 
 or 1500 head of cattle. 
 
 We discussed the situation, and speculated as to the 
 intentions of the commandant. 
 
 We conjectured that he must contemplate entering the 
 valley by night with a body of men, lying in wait till the 
 cattle came out to feed, capturing them all, leaving 
 another body of men lying perdu near the neck, with 
 orders to seize the hills on each side of the neck, and 
 thus secure a safe exit from the valley for the party who 
 seized the cattle. 
 
 All this seemed feasible enough, for the cattle were 
 feeding so far out upon the plain that we could have 
 galloped down from our hillock and have secured them 
 before they could have been driven back within the 
 shelter of the villages. There was, moreover, a gully 
 about a mile farther on, and nearer to the cattle, which 
 was capable of concealing almost any number of mounted 
 men. 
 
 As the sun rose higher the heat became more and 
 more oppressive, and we looked forward rather ruefully 
 to the prospect of lying stretched out upon our hillock 
 all day long. 
 
 About eleven A.M. Trooper G gave a whistle of 
 

 A RIDE FOR DEAR LIFE. 13 
 
 astonishment, and, touching me on the arm, pointed 
 back to the village near the entrance to the valley. 
 
 On looking with the glasses, I saw a party of about 
 a dozen women descending into the plain, carrying hoes 
 and implements for field-work. They were apparently 
 going straight down towards the cultivated land on 
 which we had trespassed during the night. 
 
 Said Trooper G : " If they find our spoor of last 
 
 night, we must gallop for it, for the whole of the people 
 will turn out and search the valley until they find us ". 
 
 We watched their progress with overwhelming anxiety. 
 They reached the cultivated ground and began walking 
 across it straight towards the spot we had traversed the 
 night before. 
 
 " By George ! it is all up," said G . " We might 
 
 as well start off now. I't will be a miracle if they don't 
 see the spoor. We'll wait a bit, though, to see whether 
 chance doesn't save us. No, no ; not a bit of good. 
 See, they are almost on the very spot. Look, they are 
 all running together to the very spot ; and now, by 
 George ! look again ; they have set off running to the 
 village as hard as they can go. Come on, there isn't a 
 moment to lose. Chuck on the saddles and let us be 
 off for a life and death gallop." 
 
 As he spoke we sprang to our feet and rushed down 
 the hillock to where our horses were picketed, threw on 
 the saddles and bridles (surely horses were never so 
 swiftly saddled before), and in less than a minute were 
 heading back for the entrance of the valley at a smart 
 hand gallop. 
 
 " Hold your horse together, Mr. X , there is no 
 
 saying what call we may not have to make upon the 
 nags." 
 
14 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 Rising slightly from the saddle to ease my horse, I 
 gave the brave beast a couple of pats on the side of the 
 neck, for I felt that he would not fail me at a pinch, and 
 would do all that was required of him. 
 
 " See ! " shouted G ; " look at those three columns 
 
 of smoke from the picket on the hill at the right of the 
 neck that is the alarm signal look at the people all 
 running along the side of the hill from that infernal 
 village. If they reach the neck before we do they will 
 form a line across it, and it will be a hundred to one if we 
 can get through them alive, so let out your horse a bit." 
 
 Notwithstanding the awful nature of our death-ride 
 notwithstanding the heavy stake depending upon it 
 I had a feeling almost of exultation, and could have 
 shouted aloud. My good horse, puffing and snorting as 
 he bore upon the bit, the thudding of his hoofs as he 
 sped along, the wind whistling past my ears, all tended 
 to raise my spirits. Men ride in earnest when the 
 hounds are running into a sinking fox ; but no men ever 
 rode more earnestly than we twain did for our dear lives 
 a strained sinew, a stumble, a girth failing, and I 
 should not have been here to-day to tell the tale. 
 
 The natives were racing down in hundreds to try and 
 reach the neck before we did, and it became a question 
 as to who would reach the neck first. 
 
 Nearer and yet nearer we were almost at the neck 
 from the hills on the right about sixty natives, the 
 advanced guard of those who were coming from the 
 village, were running down into the valley to block our 
 track. We saw that we must pass them within a very 
 few yards, and that it was merely a question of seconds 
 as to whether we got past them at all. We bent our 
 horses to the left, for they were almost in front of us now. 
 
A RIDE FOR DEAR LIFE. I 5 
 
 G shouted : " Now, Mr. X , let him out and 
 
 ride as hard as you can ". 
 
 I got hold of his head, and driving in the spurs rode 
 him on the bit as well, and we managed to dash past 
 them within sixty yards. As we did so they gave a yell, 
 and a volley rattled out from their rifles, the bullets 
 
 chirping and hissing all round us. I saw G flinch 
 
 and bend slightly over his saddle-bow, and I felt a 
 peculiar tingling sensation in my left arm. My horse, 
 too, gave a flounder. 
 
 " Hurrah ! " shouted G as we dashed along the 
 
 valley, and sped out at the farther end of the neck into 
 the plain. But my horse was going in a very cramped 
 
 way, and I had to shout to G to draw rein. I 
 
 pulled up, and on dismounting I found that he had 
 been shot through the thigh. At the same time the 
 trickling of something warm down my left arm and 
 hand revealed to me that I had been wounded also. 
 
 G galloped back and shouted : " The horse is 
 
 dead lame; leave him and jump behind me". I noticed 
 that his lips were very white. 
 
 With some difficulty I mounted the croup of his 
 horse, which carried us on at a reduced speed under 
 the double burden. 
 
 G only spoke once the whole time. "By George! 
 
 the only thing I regret is that I hadn't a chance of dis- 
 mounting and gruelling one of them." 
 
 I now felt terribly thirsty and faint from loss of blood, 
 so as we neared the river I asked G - to stop and let 
 me dismount for a drink. He handed me his water- 
 bottle, saying, " Please fill it I am afraid to dismount". 
 
 " Why, G , what is the matter? " 
 
 " Oh, I rather think I am shot through the stomach, 
 
1 6 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 but I think I can manage to get to camp if I don't dis- 
 mount." 
 
 I handed up the water-bottle, and the poor fellow took 
 a long drink. 
 
 In another couple of hours we were in camp again. 
 
 G insisted on reporting himself to the adjutant, 
 
 and having delivered his information was lifted from 
 the saddle by many friendly hands, and conveyed to 
 the hospital tent. A couple of days later on three 
 volleys were fired over the poor fellow's grave. 
 
 I was recompensed by the Government for the loss 
 of my horse. 
 
 That very night the commandant ordered a full 
 patrol. He knew that the cattle would all be removed 
 from that valley to some other spot. He made a 
 shrewd guess at their whereabouts, and succeeded in 
 raiding 600 head on the following morning, and shooting 
 more than thirty of the enemy in revenge for the death 
 
 of poor G , at the same time only having two of our 
 
 men slightly wounded. 
 
 I was in hospital for a fortnight, and rapidly recovered 
 from my wound. Since then I have followed the com- 
 mandant on many a dangerous path, but never till my 
 last day shall I forget that ride for dear life. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 MY FIVE BUFFALOES. 
 
 OUR hunting headquarters were at Jozanns Kraal, 
 situated at the foot of the western slope of the Libombo 
 range of mountains. 
 
 There we left our waggons and oxen and engaged our 
 carriers. In those days the natives did not understand 
 the use of money, and as many carriers could be obtained 
 as one wished for a payment of one cotton blanket each, 
 value four shillings. The condition was that they were 
 to work until we had completely loaded the waggons with 
 dry game hides, for in this manner we used to make our 
 sport pay its own expenses. 
 
 Now to load four buck-waggons, each drawn by 
 eighteen oxen, with as great a weight of hides as they 
 could carry, was no small undertaking, and we con- 
 sidered ourselves fortunate if we could effect this in two 
 months. It depended very much on our success in 
 quickly finding the great troops of buffaloes, breaking 
 them up into many small troops and then making our 
 bag. 
 
 The time question was therefore an indefinite one, but 
 what Amaswazi Caffre reckoned by time ? Time was a 
 disagreeable factor ; it was too logical, too exact for his 
 mind, and he took no more account of moons than we 
 do of days. Besides this, hunting and devouring beef 
 
 were in themselves pleasures second only in exquisite 
 
 (17) 2 
 
1 8 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 intensity to the joys of murdering and plundering one's 
 fellow-men when on the war-path. 
 
 Accordingly there was no lack of recruits. We might 
 indeed have remained at Jozanns and have hunted the 
 eland, roan antelope, sassaby, quagga, and wildebeeste. 
 The country was fairly open ; there was no tetse fly, and 
 we could have used our horses ; but the royal game, the 
 buffaloes, were down in the fly country to the northward 
 between Jozanns and the port by which the Imbeloose 
 River flows through the Libombo Range, and, both for 
 their value and the superior sport afforded by them, the 
 buffaloes became the chief object of our expedition. 
 
 A burly Yorkshireman, John C by name, was the 
 
 chief of our expedition. He was tall, broad-shouldered, 
 yellow-bearded and blue-eyed, and was without excep- 
 tion the finest shot and keenest hunter I have ever come 
 across. His splendid physique and great powers of en- 
 durance enabled him to cover more ground in a day 
 than I have ever seen any other man able to cover, and 
 as for his shooting all I can say is that at 400 yards' 
 range he was as sure to hit his game well forward as 
 most men who consider themselves no mean performers 
 with the rifle are at 130 yards. Above all, he was a 
 merry, warm-hearted companion and an unselfish sports- 
 man. 
 
 He possessed no such things as nerves, at least, if 
 he had them, it was impossible to shake them, and his 
 bullet fired at a charging animal was as certain to find 
 a correct billet, as though the animal had been running 
 away from him instead of at him. But modesty was one 
 of his characteristics, and when relating some perilous 
 adventure he would say, " Lord, it quite gave me a 
 shock, governor ! " But I have my grave doubts whether 
 

 MY FIVE BUFFALOES. IQ 
 
 honest John ever realised the meaning conveyed to men 
 of feebler organisation by the word " shock". 
 
 Having engaged all our carriers we left our waggons 
 and oxen in charge of the Chief of Jozanns, and march- 
 ing down into the fly country pitched our camp at a 
 small rivulet named the Gumban, about half a day's 
 journey from Jozanns. Our plan of operations was this 
 to send native hunters in all directions to visit the 
 various drinking places, find the large troops of buffaloes 
 and break them up. There was one troop in particular, 
 the natives called it " umpehlu 'tuli " or " the dust 
 raiser". It consisted of several thousand buffaloes. 
 
 During the winter season the buffaloes got broken up 
 by the parties of hunters, but in the summer they used 
 to reassemble and form immense troops. It was our 
 especial desire to discover and scatter the umpehlu, for 
 it meant certain sport to us as soon as they were broken. 
 
 Gumban was our central camp, from which we made 
 excursions in all directions for two or three days at a 
 time, returning thither for stores and ammunition. For 
 the first week we had little or no sport, only getting an 
 odd bull here and there, and shooting occasional quagga, 
 waterbuck, and koodoo. Indeed, I became rather de- 
 spondent, and began to imagine that the royal game must 
 have left the country. Day after day when our hunters 
 came in we eagerly questioned them, always receiving 
 the same reply : " Plenty of old spoor, they are some- 
 where in the country, and if the Fates are propitious we 
 shall find them at last ". 
 
 A Offre has the firmest faith in luck ; in other words, 
 that good or ill fortune is controlled by the Fates. If 
 he is fortunate he puts it down at once to the Fates being 
 in a good humour if the opposite, to the Fates having 
 
2O TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 their backs up. There is simply hardly any limit to his 
 credulity on this point. At last we found the buffaloes 
 and began to kill freely every day, and our spirits rose 
 accordingly. 
 
 One day John C and myself left the Gumban camp, 
 
 intending to hunt separately and in different directions, 
 but we agreed to rendezvous in the evening at a certain 
 spot where there was water. 
 
 My luck was nothing to boast of. I shot a koodoo 
 and at about three in the afternoon when I had turned 
 and was directing my course to the rendezvous I killed 
 a bull buffalo. 
 
 I reached the spot about an hour before sundown, and 
 
 feeling somewhat tired, I determined to await C 
 
 and to spend the time in collecting firewood and arrang- 
 ing the camp so that we might have a comfortable night 
 of it. 
 
 I was startled by hearing a double shot about a mile 
 off, and not long afterwards my eyes were gladdened by 
 seeing John's burly form coming up at speed. 
 
 " What did you fire at, John ? " 
 
 " I found a troop and killed, but there is a cow that 
 has gone into a horrible place ; she is very hard hit, and 
 as vicious as she can be, the dog went in to her, but she 
 chased him about until he got tired and came out to me 
 again. I don't care to go in after her alone ; but if you 
 will come, governor, I think we might manage it mind 
 you, it is a horrible place, with not a tree in it that would 
 save a mouse, but I think the pair of us can tackle her 
 with safety. It is only about ten minutes' walk from 
 here, and we can just do it nicely, so what do you say? 
 Ah, I see you have killed two, that is well." 
 
 " I am ready, so let us be off at once." 
 
MY FIVE BUFFALOES. 21 
 
 Taking my double twelve rifle I set off with C at 
 
 a smart walk. We reached the place ; it was a nasty 
 looking thicket of thorns, here and there comparatively 
 open, so that one could see a buffalo at thirty or forty 
 yards distance, but in other parts terribly thick, and it 
 was in one of these thick places that she had taken 
 refuge. 
 
 " She is in there," said C , pointing to a particularly 
 
 nasty spot. The remark caused me to suddenly remem- 
 ber that for some time past I had intended to make a 
 will, but had from certain considerations neglected to do 
 
 so. " Loose the dog again," said C to one of the 
 
 Caffres. " Hi in, Sancho, good dog, sa-sa-sssa!" 
 
 Loyal Sancho, obedient to the command, went in at 
 once, and soon gave tongue. 
 
 A portentous grunting, blowing and crashing of the 
 bush showed that the cow buffalo was on her legs, and 
 that Sancho was having a lively time of it. We cautiously 
 advanced into the bush. At last I noticed a kind of 
 path or avenue in the bush. It had been evidently made 
 by the game. About forty yards farther on along this 
 game path was a small tree with a trunk about a foot 
 in diameter, not sufficient indeed to protect a man from 
 a buffalo, but it was sufficient to enable a man to make 
 one dodge behind it if charged. It would, however, only 
 be available for one man. 
 
 I said : " Look, C , at that small tree. I will get 
 
 forward and perhaps from that spot I shall be able to see 
 her. You had better remain here, and if she charges me 
 you can see the whole performance and can cover me 
 with your rifle." 
 
 Having arranged this matter, I went forward and took 
 up my station behind the tree. I could see the bush 
 
22 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 swaying and shaking as the buffalo made furious rushes 
 at Sancho, but I could not make out her form. 
 
 Sancho was a tactician. His mode of dealing with a 
 buffalo was to irritate it by barking, and when it charged, 
 he would dodge round it and bite it in the hocks as it 
 rushed past ; the buffalo would spin round and charge 
 him again, on which the performance was repeated. 
 
 At last I saw Sancho's form flitting about in the 
 underwood, and the next moment I got a glimpse of 
 the buffalo as it pursued him. I fired instantly. 
 
 The buffalo halted and wheeling round in my direc- 
 tion raised her head threateningly, and gazed fixedly at 
 me. 
 
 Now a buffalo facing you with its head upraised is a 
 most difficult shot. Very little of the forehead is 
 exposed. If you fire a trifle high you risk the chance 
 of your bullet glancing off its horns. Under such cir- 
 cumstances, it is wiser to give the chest shot ; but in this 
 case it was impossible, for her chest was covered by a 
 dense mass of underbush and thorns. The temptation 
 was too great. I levelled again, and tried to shoot her 
 through the brain, but failed to do it. The instant I 
 fired she gave a wrathful grunt and came at me, crashing 
 through the bush as though it were mere grass. 
 
 Sancho did his best at her heels to divert her attention, 
 but having seen me she was not to be denied. 
 
 C was forty yards behind me, and I was in a 
 
 dead line between him and the buffalo, so that he could 
 not fire without danger of killing me. It was a ticklish 
 situation. I at once realised that if I stood behind the 
 tree, it would be no protection to me, for the buffalo 
 would be brought up dead by the tree and would then 
 in a moment rush round it and gore me. 
 
MY FIVE BUFFALOES. 2% 
 
 I did the best and the only thing under the circum- 
 stances. I stood in the open about four or five feet to 
 the left of the tree and awaited the buffalo. On she 
 came, grunting every inch of the road. As she neared 
 me and was within three yards, she lowered her head 
 for a toss, and simultaneously I sprang to the right 
 behind the tree, and she thundered past me. 
 
 She wheeled round instantly to charge me again, but 
 
 at that moment, as she wheeled, C 's rifle rang out, 
 
 and she fell stone, dead with a broken neck. 
 
 " My stars, governor ! I am very sorry for firing in 
 your direction, but it was the only thing to be done,'* 
 
 shouted C . My nerve now gave way and I found 
 
 myself trembling like an aspen leaf, so much so that it 
 was with difficulty I succeeded in filling my pipe. 
 
 It is indeed strange how a man manages to bear up 
 during excitement or great danger, but gives way after 
 the danger is over. The necessity for action seems to 
 brace the nerves for the time being; but when that 
 necessity has passed away there is a corresponding re- 
 laxation, generally in ratio proportionate to the late 
 degree of tension. 
 
 Leaving some of our people to skin the buffalo we 
 returned to our small camp, where we found fires lighted, 
 the kettle boiling and grass cut for our bedding. One 
 of our native hunters, named Inyati, had come in, 
 reporting that he had followed the spoor of a very large 
 troop of buffaloes to a point within two miles of our pre- 
 sent camp, but had to abandon it, as it was getting late. 
 He had come in this direction on the look-out for water, 
 to encamp for the night, and seeing the smoke of our 
 fires had made his way hither. On questioning him, he 
 told us that the spoor trended in the direction of the 
 
24 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 Libombo Range, which was only about five miles from us 
 as the crow flies, so we had good hopes of sport for the 
 morrow. 
 
 Inyati was a curious character. He had a great 
 amount of conceit and also of quiet humour. He de- 
 lighted in boasting of his performances, and, to tell the 
 truth, for a native he was a smart hunter ; but caution 
 was one of his characteristics. He generally went about 
 accompanied by a boy. When he shot anything, with 
 the aid of the boy he skinned it, hoisted the hide up into 
 the fork of a tree, and returned to the main camp to call 
 carriers to convey the hide to camp. 
 
 One night when he was holding forth as usual, and 
 informing the whole camp that they were mere boys 
 compared with himself, the lad who accompanied him 
 on his excursions let out an incident of the day's hunting 
 which ran as follows : Inyati and the boy were seated 
 under a bush resting during the heat of the day, when 
 the boy saw a large black-maned lion walking past at 
 about sixty yards off. He pointed it out to Inyati, 
 saying, "There is your chance ". Now, Inyati, I suppose, 
 not having sufficient confidence in his own marksman- 
 ship, and reflecting that there were no trees handy at 
 that precise spot, deemed discretion to be the better 
 part of valour, and did not fire at the lion, but contented 
 himself with abusing the boy for having dared to direct 
 his attention to a fact which was already patent to him, 
 viz., the presence of the lion. On the boy relating 
 this anecdote there was a shout of laughter, and all the 
 Caffres began twitting Inyati about the lion. 
 
 However, Inyati was quite equal to the occasion, and 
 indignantly repelled the insinuation that he in any way 
 was discomfited by the king of beasts. "Was it for me 
 

 MY FIVE BUFFALOES. 2$ 
 
 to obey the suggestions of an infant like that ? " he cried 
 " a mere boy ! I had already perceived the lion and 
 was waiting for a favourable opportunity to shoot him 
 dead, when this boy spoke and irritated me beyond 
 endurance. I am inspired to do great actions by the 
 Fates, and am constantly under their tutelage ; but were 
 I once to obey the suggestions of a boy like this, the 
 Fates, would refuse to have anything further to do with 
 me. I obey that boy ! not likely indeed." 
 
 However, Inyati's caution was exceeded by that of 
 another Caffre I once knew. I was hunting on the Usutu 
 at the time and had observed the spoor of a large bull 
 hippopotamus in the dense belt of reeds which fringed 
 that river. Thinking it very probable that the hippo 
 would sleep in the reeds during the heat of the day, I 
 instructed this Caffre to take a large bored gun and 
 search for the hippo. I was engaged in hunting buffaloes 
 at the time and could not spare time to seek for the 
 hippo. 
 
 The Caffre came into camp the same evening and 
 laying down his gun squatted before me in a despondent 
 attitude. 
 
 "Well what luck ? " I asked. 
 
 " Bad, 'nkos, very bad." 
 
 " Did you find the spoor of the hippo ? " 
 
 " Yes, 'nkos ; I found it, and followed it up and up 
 and up until I came upon him fast asleep in the reeds. 
 He had turned round, and had lain down with his face 
 in the direction he had come from." 
 
 I must here observe that a hippo as a rule returns to 
 the river by the very same path he came by from the 
 river. 
 
 " Well, and what did you do ? " 
 
26 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 " I knelt down and took good aim between his eyes 
 and was pressing the trigger, when the idea entered my 
 mind : ' Supposing the gun should miss fire, or suppos- 
 ing I should fail to kill him dead on the spot, he would 
 rush straight along the path towards me, and seeing me 
 in his way would bite me in half. So I went cautiously 
 backwards, crept round him, approached him from 
 behind and fired at his tail." 
 
 Of course he might as well have whistled at the hippo 
 as have fired at its tail in the hope of killing it. It 
 rushed off to the river, and may be there to-day for all 
 I know to the contrary. This was an instance of Caffre 
 caution, but I have known them to do exceedingly bold 
 things. A Caffre lad of about sixteen came to our 
 camp on one occasion, and begged to be allowed to hunt 
 for us. I was rather loth to accept his aid, but as he 
 was almost tearful in his anxiety to be allowed to carry 
 a gun, I lent him the only gun left in camp, viz., a 
 single-barrelled smooth No. 10 bore. He was delighted, 
 and went away with a small boy who accompanied him. 
 He managed to kill a bufTalo somehow just at sundown, 
 and there being no time to skin it before dark, he 
 encamped beside the carcase. He lit a fire and lay 
 down to sleep. During the night, he was awakened by 
 the boy pulling at his arm. On sitting up he saw by 
 the dim light of the fire that two lions were feeding on 
 the carcase, which was within ten yards of the fire. He 
 quietly made up the fire and compelled the boy, who 
 was quaking with fear, to hold up a lighted torch, so that 
 he could see the fore and back sight of his gun, and 
 sitting down to take a steady shot put a ball through 
 the head of the male lion, killing him stone dead. The 
 lioness gave a roar and sprang away from the carcase, 
 
MY FIVE BUFFALOES. 2/ 
 
 but seeing that her mate remained there, in about ten 
 minutes she returned again, on which the young fellow- 
 shot her in a similar manner. 
 
 The persistent roaring of the lions from a certain 
 quarter seemed to indicate that the troop of buffaloes 
 whose spoor Inyati had been following that day could 
 not be very far distant, for the lions invariably follow 
 troops of buffaloes in the hope of picking up stragglers 
 from the main body. We were in capital spirits, for we 
 anticipated a good day's sport on the morrow. 
 
 Certainly the buffaloes are a splendid game, and both 
 from the sport they afford and the danger involved in 
 the pursuit of them ought to satisfy a very glutton with 
 the rifle. I was unfortunate enough on my first hunting 
 expedition to be present at the death of a fellow sports- 
 man named W . 
 
 We were encamped at the Insulutan not a full day's 
 march from Siandas. We got at a troop of buffaloes and 
 fired, with the result of wounding three of them. They 
 were unable to keep up with the remainder of the herd 
 and took refuge in a thicket of no very great extent. 
 We surrounded this thicket with the object of preventing 
 the escape of the buffaloes in the event of their attempt- 
 ing to break away. W was armed with an excellent 
 
 double No. 10 bore rifle, and was standing near a tree that 
 would have afforded him ample protection from a charge. 
 About fifty yards from him was a Caffre hunter named 
 Somajuba. Some one got a glimpse of one of the 
 wounded buffaloes, and fired at it, wounding it again. It 
 rushed away to another spot, not very far from the edge 
 
 of the thicket, at the place where W was standing. It 
 
 perceived him and at once charged out. The suddenness 
 of the attack must have unnerved W , for he ran from 
 
28 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 the tree that would have afforded him shelter, and made 
 for a small thorn-tree. Before he could reach it, the 
 buffalo was upon him, and the nature of the wounds 
 
 showed that W must have turned round facing it, 
 
 when it tossed him into the tree, where he hung suspended- 
 The fierce brute then turned round and looked about 
 for another adversary. A certain native waggon-driver 
 named Indaman, who was carrying a gun, ran up and 
 took a shot, but being a bad marksman struck it too high 
 up on the shoulder. It instantly charged him, and was 
 on the point of tossing him when Somajuba fired and 
 rolled it over. 
 
 We lifted poor W from the bush and laid him 
 
 on the ground, but he never spoke again. The injuries 
 inflicted by the one toss were fearful, and it was impos- 
 sible that he could survive. 
 
 The event cast a gloom over our party, and we buried 
 him in silence and despondency under a large tree. It 
 startled me at the time, and made me somewhat careful ; 
 but the feeling wore off, and I am sorry to say I did 
 many rash things, until I, too, had a misfortune, but was 
 enabled to escape with my life. It was as follows : 
 
 We were encamped at Fatihulu on the bank of the 
 Usutu River. I had been unwell for two or three days 
 and had been confined to the camp. One evening I 
 thought I would take a stroll along the bank of the river 
 to shoot meat for the camp. As the hunters had been 
 firing all round the camp, I had no idea of meeting 
 buffaloes, and only took a single-barrelled small-bore rifle 
 with me. I went out accompanied by two of my 
 Caffres, Langa and Pandela respectively by name. I 
 also took one dog. 
 
 We proceeded along the bank until we reached a 
 
MY FIVE BUFFALOES. 29 
 
 thicket of thorns. While passing through this, Langa 
 suddenly pointed with his assegai. At first I could see 
 nothing, but after peering for half a minute I managed 
 to make out the form of a buffalo about sixty yards off. 
 I stalked up, and when I got within about forty yards 
 I thought I could distinguish his outline sufficiently 
 well to take a shot at his shoulder. I fired, and he 
 rushed off with a broken shoulder, and the dog raced 
 after him. I followed up until I heard the dog baying 
 him in a nasty thick place. Impunity having made me 
 over-confident, I rushed in, just in time to meet the 
 buffalo coming out at me. There was no time to settle 
 the rifle into my shoulder, so I fired a snap shot which 
 must have glanced off the dense mass of horn upon his 
 forehead, for he continued his charge. I sprang to one 
 side. It must have been a record standing jump side- 
 ways. I am not much of a jumper, but it is astounding 
 what an amount of latent agility is educed by the rush 
 of a buffalo. He made a pass at me with his horns, and 
 I positively felt the wind of the stroke he gave, but his 
 impetus carried him past me, and he dashed on. 
 
 The dog brought him to bay again in a place which 
 was, if anything, worse than before. I went in again, 
 and again he came out at me, but this time through a 
 bush so dense that I could not see him until he was 
 close upon me. I had no time to fire, and made a dash 
 to the right along a small path made by game. On this 
 occasion he was too cunning to rush past me, and 
 swerved round to follow me. He was close to me, and 
 in another second I must have been gored, when fortune 
 favoured me. There was a small tree with branches 
 growing at an angle outwards from the very root. 
 Under this tree I dived and lay flat, keeping my body 
 
JO TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 as close to the roots as I could. He could not get at 
 me, for the width of his horns was too great to allow 
 him to get his head well under the stout branches which 
 sprang from the root, nor could he get near enough to 
 trample me with his hoofs ; but he did the next best 
 thing, he battered my back and shoulders with his 
 nose. I tried to seize him by the tongue and in so 
 doing cut my hand against his teeth. Every time I 
 tried to draw breath he gave me another thump between 
 the shoulders, knocking all the wind out of me. I heard 
 a sort of roaring sound in my ears as if I were taking a 
 long dive, and a mist seemed to cloud my vision. I 
 remember distinctly that I felt no pain, and only thought 
 to myself, " Well, here is an end of me ". I then became 
 insensible. 
 
 When I came to again, Langa and Pandela were prop- 
 ping me up and pouring water over my head, and blood 
 was oozing from my lips. 
 
 It appears that when I lay perfectly still, the buffalo 
 walked away a few yards and halted. He then returned, 
 as though [meditating further mischief, and began paw- 
 ing the ground and arching his back preparatory to lying 
 down. I suppose his idea was to lie down in order that 
 he might turn his head on one side, insert one horn 
 under the tree and extract me like a periwinkle. I was 
 however saved by the courage and readiness of Pandela, 
 who seeing that if the buffalo succeeded in carrying out 
 his intention, it would be all up with me, rushed up, 
 hurled his assegai at the buffalo and then fled. 
 
 The buffalo left me and went in pursuit of Pandela. 
 There was a sapling with a projecting bough. Pandela 
 being an active fellow swung himself up by the bough. 
 The buffalo dashed against the trunk, knocking off a 
 
MY FIVE BUFFALOES. 31 
 
 great piece of the bark, and went on at full speed through 
 the bush. For this I afterwards presented Pandela with 
 a cotton blanket, so no one can say I place too high a 
 valuation upon myself, but he was highly gratified at 
 this mark of esteem. 
 
 When I came thoroughly to myself again, I proposed 
 to follow the buffalo, but the Cafifres protested, saying 
 that the buffalo was bewitched, and that no one would 
 ever succeed in killing it. However, I insisted on going 
 after it, but had to give way, for they cunningly pre- 
 tended that they were unable to carry on the spoor any 
 farther. 
 
 On the day following this incident my back was black 
 and blue, and I could hardly manage to turn from one 
 side to the other without assistance. Since then I have 
 always treated the buffalo with respect, but have no wish 
 to renew close acquaintance with him. 
 
 I will conclude this long digression on the buffalo and 
 his ways by briefly recounting how a certain Caffre 
 hunter of my friend C 's met his end. 
 
 He was named Umbande, and was a good shot and 
 experienced hunter. 
 
 He was hunting one day, and had a small boy in his 
 train. He found the spoor of a troop of buffaloes and 
 followed it until he came in sight of them. Telling the 
 boy to sit down while he did a stalk, he went forward 
 and got a shot, wounding a buffalo, which separated from 
 the others and entered a thicket. 
 
 Umbande was a careful hunter, and was armed with a 
 very good double No. 14 bore gun. He entered the 
 thicket, and the remainder of the story must be told by 
 the boy. 
 
 His account is as follows : " I heard one shot and 
 
32 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 then heard the buffalo grunting. I waited for some 
 time for Umbande, but he never returned, so I followed 
 up on the spoor. I found him lying on his face quite 
 dead, near him was a tree and round the tree were his 
 footmarks and the footmarks of the buffalo. The left 
 barrel of his gun was undischarged as it had missed fire." 
 
 Umbande' had evidently approached the buffalo and 
 had fired. It had charged him. He had run to the 
 tree for protection, and had succeeded in dodging it for 
 a little, but had at last been caught, tossed and then 
 trampled. The body was disembowelled and was 
 trampled almost out of all human semblance, and the 
 powder-horn had been split to pieces. But enough of 
 digression. We lay down to sleep in good time, so that 
 we might be up early on the morrow. 
 
 At about eight A.M. on the following morning we were 
 all ready. The dogs were coupled up, and we started 
 in a direction which we guessed would enable us to cut 
 the spoor of the troup Inyati had followed the previous 
 day. In about half an hour's time we came upon their 
 tracks, and at once followed them. The tracks were of 
 the previous evening, but in about half an hour more we 
 came to where they had lain down to sleep during the 
 night. By all appearances there must have been several 
 hundred buffaloes. Farther on we had a little trouble, for 
 they seemed to have divided into two troops. We held 
 a short consultation, and it was agreed that we were to 
 
 separate; that C was to follow the spoor that trended 
 
 to the left, and that I was to take the spoor to the right. 
 
 My spoor led straight towards the Libombo Moun- 
 tains, which were now not a mile distant. I had not 
 separated from C a quarter of an hour when I sud- 
 denly came in sight of the buffaloes. 
 
MY FIVE BUFFALOES. 33 
 
 There was a sort of gully on the slope of the moun- 
 tain. It was shaped almost like a triangle, or like the 
 letter V inverted, that is to say with its apex upwards. 
 This gully was clothed with bush. In the plain, close 
 to the base of the gully, were a fine troop of perhaps 
 200 buffaloes. Some of them were feeding and some 
 lying down. 
 
 On the mountain side above the apex of the gully 
 was a second troop, and considerably higher on the 
 mountain was a third troop. 
 
 I now regretted that C had parted from me, and 
 
 sent back a runner in hopes that he might catch a view 
 of him and recall him. I waited for quite twenty 
 
 minutes, and as C did not come up I deemed it 
 
 advisable to go on and do a stalk, as at any moment the 
 buffaloes might take it into their heads to move. 
 
 They were very fairly stalkable, and I managed to 
 get within eighty yards without much trouble. There 
 was a very good bull standing up and slightly raking 
 away from me, at a distance of about a hundred yards. 
 I covered him carefully, intending my bullet to enter just 
 before the last rib on his right side and travel forward 
 to his left shoulder, but I suppose I must have made a 
 mess of it, for though he was hard hit he went off at 
 once, and pounded along as though he had only re- 
 ceived a flea bite. The whole troop sprang to their 
 legs and rushed off, making a great rumbling and stir- 
 ring up a cloud of dust. They swept round to the 
 right with a view of gaining the open plain, and I got 
 a nice left barrel at a big cow that was galloping last. 
 The ball told on her hide, and she immediately lifted 
 her foreleg, whereby I knew her shoulder was broken. 
 She at once swerved off and left the troop, but as I was 
 
 
34 TALES OF A NOMADf 
 
 anxious to do something more with the troop I did not 
 follow her. I was secretly disappointed at not having 
 bagged a right and left. I ran as hard as I could at a 
 tangent, reloading as I ran, and, pulling up, gave them 
 two more barrels at a range of something over 200 
 yards. The second ball told with a smart slap. I 
 slipped the two dogs, and followed up myself at full 
 speed. 
 
 One of my dogs was an excellent creature. He 
 would bring almost anything to bay, and at the same 
 time had the sense to keep himself out of danger. He 
 would bite anybody excepting me. I bought him from a 
 Caffre for a cotton blanket and a yard of calico, and 
 therefore n?med him " Four-and-sixpence ". 
 
 I soon heard the dogs giving tongue, and on getting 
 to the spot found that they had a bull at bay in a small 
 clump of wild dates down in a hollow. 
 
 On seeing me arrive on the scene, Four-and-six went 
 in with a dash and irritated him, on which he made a 
 short charge out of the dates and I dropped him. 
 Four-and-six danced round him and did a general 
 worry. The first bullet had struck him on the croup 
 and had travelled forward. 
 
 This was not the first bull I fired at. I fancy he had 
 left the troop at once and had entered the bush which 
 skirted the mountain. 
 
 C now came up having heard the reports of my 
 
 rifle. I told him about the wounded cow that had 
 separated, and he accompanied me to go and look for 
 her. 
 
 We returned to the place where she had left the herd, 
 and began to spoor her up. There was a free blood 
 spoor, and I was in hopes that she would be unable 
 
MY FI VE B UFF ALOES. 3 5 
 
 to reach any dense thicket. However, the blood became 
 more and more scanty, and as the ground was rocky 
 shale, it was difficult work following her. As we were 
 in a hurry to get at the other troops of buffaloes, we 
 agreed to give up the slow work of spooring, and to 
 make a free cast forward in the hopes of stirring her. 
 
 The ground was a small hog-backed ridge, with bushes 
 
 sparsely scattered over it. C agreed to go along the 
 
 top, and I went along the left slope, about half-way 
 from the crest to the hollow. We were about 200 
 yards apart. We went steadily forward, keeping our 
 eyes open, and had been advancing for about three 
 
 minutes when I heard the report of C 's rifle, and 
 
 casting my eyes to the right in his direction saw her 
 coming down the slope almost straight towards me, 
 sending the shale stone flying in all directions as she 
 rattled along. She was running in a lopsided way, the 
 blood was oozing from her mouth, and she carried her 
 head in the peculiar manner a buffalo does when it is 
 vicious ; z>., straight out in front of her, something like 
 a pointer drawing on a covey of birds. My gun-bearer, 
 a brave lad of about fifteen named Moyen, called out to 
 me in Caffre, " Take care, sir ". I was in hopes that she 
 might not perceive us and might gallop past about 
 twenty yards ahead, thereby giving a nice broadside 
 shot, but unluckily she observed us, and at once swerved 
 and came full steam at us. I knelt down, covered her 
 chest carefully, and dropped her stone dead when she 
 was within about fifteen yards of me. 
 
 I had now bagged two buffaloes, but neither of them 
 had been clean killed, and I regretted the loss of the first 
 bull I fired at. My feelings might be described as being 
 a compound of excitement, gratification and annoyance. 
 
36 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 Leaving two Caffres to skin her, we returned to the spot 
 at which I had first fired at the troop. There were the 
 other two troops on the mountain side. We now agreed 
 to send Caffres up the mountain to drive the lower troop 
 
 down the gully. It was agreed that C and I were 
 
 to remain at the base of the gully. We were to enter 
 
 the bush, C was to keep nearer to the right-hand 
 
 corner, and I was to look after anything that attempted 
 to break away from the left-hand corner. Having posted 
 ourselves, we awaited events. After some half-hour 
 spent in dead silence, Moyen suddenly stooped down 
 and put his ear to the ground, and then jumping up 
 again exclaimed, " They are coming our way". 
 
 At last I heard a faint rumbling sound which seemed 
 to be towards our left front, and shortly afterwards 
 Moyen said, " This way, sir ; they are going to break to 
 the left ". We ran to the left as hard as we could, but 
 Moyen suddenly pulled up and seizing me by the arm 
 pointed up the gully to our right hand. At about sixty 
 yards off I could just distinguish, through the sticks of 
 the covert, the back of a buffalo. He was standing 
 stock still, apparently listening. The only part of him 
 that was not obscured by intervening bush was a portion 
 of his back, so I took a steady shot at his liver, thinking 
 that if I was a trifle too high I should break his back. 
 As I fired he fell, and I heard him giving his death call. 
 Running up to within forty yards of the spot, I saw 
 he was done for, for he lay on his flank and was banging 
 the ground with his horns. 
 
 The breech of my rifle was still open, for I was reload- 
 ing the right barrel when Moyen again grasped me and 
 pointed. 
 
 A large cow was coming from the left. She had 
 
MY FIVE BUFFALOES. 37 
 
 evidently been attracted by the death call of the bull. 
 When she reached him she began routing at him with 
 her horns as he lay on the ground. I hastily inserted a 
 cartridge and gave her a heavy shot behind the shoulder, 
 which did not drop her though, for she went on as hard 
 as she could to the right, making a great rattle in the 
 bush as she did so. The smoke hung a bit, and I could 
 not get in a second barrel. I ran after her and shortly 
 
 afterwards heard C 's rifle speak twice. On getting 
 
 to the spot I found he had finished her off. He had 
 heard my firing and had run to the left in hopes of 
 getting a shot, and thus met her. 
 
 I will here observe in parenthesis, that where there is 
 much shooting going on, the greatest danger of all 
 consists in the risk of coming unwarily upon some 
 buffalo that has been wounded by another hunter. In 
 following your own wounded buffalo you are on the qui 
 vive and can exercise due caution ; but no skill or know- 
 ledge of hunting can protect you from the risk of being, 
 when carelessly strolling along, with your rifle perhaps 
 under your arm at half cock, suddenly charged by a brute 
 that has been wounded by somebody else. More than 
 once this has occurred to me. We now sent our hunters 
 up the hill again to drive down the other troop which was 
 high up the hill side ; but this drive was a failure. I 
 suppose they had heard the sound of the firing, and for 
 that reason objected to coming down the gully. They 
 galloped along the face of the mountain and sidled 
 down into the plain far away to our right. 
 
 My friend C , the prince of hunters, had been 
 
 singularly unfortunate. I had bagged four buffaloes and 
 he had got no sport excepting in assisting me to finish 
 off a couple of my wounded ones, but he was a capital 
 
38 TALES OF A NOMAD, 
 
 good fellow, and knew how to take bad as well as good 
 luck. As a rule he bagged about five head to every two 
 head that I managed to bag. It only shows how luck 
 varies on particular days. 
 
 However, as we saw this last troop escaping untouched, 
 a light expression of impatience broke from his lips ; 
 " Bless the brutes, I wish they would all drop down dead". 
 When our men returned to the plain, they reported that 
 they had, when on the hillside, seen two troops of 
 buffaloes about a couple of miles behind us on the plain, 
 so we set off at once in that direction. 
 
 We cut the spoor of one troop and began to follow it 
 up, but had not proceeded far when we saw human foot- 
 marks. As it was evident that another hunter was 
 before us on the spoor we saw it was no use and gave it 
 up. 
 
 We proceeded in the direction of the remaining troop, 
 found their spoor and followed until we sighted them 
 scattered about on a small conical hill which was very 
 slightly raised above the level of the plain. They were 
 on the feed. 
 
 It was a nasty place for a stalk. There was hardly 
 any cover, and the grass had been lately burned off, so 
 that as we crawled forward, the stubs of grass ran into 
 the palms of our hands and our knees. I experienced 
 particular inconvenience from this, as I always hunted 
 without trousers, so after crawling for about 100 yards 
 
 in this fashion, I touched C and said, "You go on, 
 
 I have had enough of it," and sat down to watch the 
 result. 
 
 C stalked on and had got within about 170 yards 
 
 when a bull that was feeding on the slope raised its 
 head and spotted him. C remained perfectly still 
 
MY FIVE BUFFALOES. 39 
 
 in the hopes that he would resume his feed, but it was of 
 no use, for he gave the alarm, and the whole troop 
 thundered away over the little hill. 
 
 However, fortune seemed determined to favour me 
 to-day. 
 
 Moyen, who had an eye like a hawk, said, " Run, sir, as 
 hard as you can to the left front, round the shoulder of 
 the hill they will turn up the wind ". So we set off 
 as hard as we could, Moyen carrying my rifle. 
 
 Just as we came round the edge of the hill, there, sure 
 enough, was the troop thundering along, they were taking 
 a sort of diagonal course away from us and yet round us. 
 They were almost out of shot already, being a good 250 
 yards away. My heavy double rifle was only sighted up 
 to 200, but as it was the last shot of the evening, I thought 
 I would try my luck. There was a particularly fine fat 
 bull pounding along last of all the troop, so I took a very 
 full sight and giving him plenty of room ahead, fired. 
 
 I did not hear the bullet tell, but Moyen shouted in 
 ecstasy, " He has got it." I was doubtful, but we went 
 up to the spot and spoored on for a couple of hundred 
 yards, just over the next rise, and, to my joy, there he 
 lay panting with a ball through his liver. He was a 
 fine fellow, short in the head, thick in the neck and with 
 a body like a barrel. I gave him the coup de grace, and 
 Moyen shouted, "Five buffaloes in one day, and all as fine 
 as you could wish to see. The moment I get home I 
 shall present a fowl to the Fates. How lovely it would 
 have been had they only been Basutos ! " This was the 
 only occasion on which I succeeded in killing five buf- 
 faloes in a day, and I still recall the feat to my mind 
 with pleasure. 
 
 We reached our little camp at dark. 
 
40 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 The next day we hunted back to the main camp at 
 Gumban, killing on the way. Gumban presented a 
 lively appearance our tent was formed by a large wag- 
 gon sail stretched over a ridge pole. Quantities of beef 
 and marrow bones were hanging on all the bushes and a 
 couple of score of hides were pegged out to dry in the sun. 
 
 Old Mr. T , our cook and factotum, welcomed us 
 
 with : " I'm glad you've had good luck. I'm main glad 
 to see you come back, for I'm always dreading that some 
 day or other you will get more than you bargained for 
 out of these here buffaloes. Here is Umtyityizelwa just 
 arrived in a nice condition. They carried him in a 
 blanket slung on a pole. He will live, but he won't be 
 able to get about for another two or three months." 
 
 "Why, what's the matter with him?" 
 
 " Oh, nothing particular only a buffalo been dancing 
 on top of him. Luckily it was too sick to do for him 
 completely, and dropped dead beside him. Catch me 
 going after buffaloes never I'd sooner be a Chinese 
 Mandarian (sic). And you calls it sport pretty sport 
 indeed, a getting mashed up like a potato well, well ! 
 some people has curious ideas of what is enjoyable ; I 
 suppose it is in the nature of them give me a quiet pipe, 
 a glass of something warm, and a rubber. There is one 
 comfort, any way, buffaloes doesn't send you in bills 
 when they kills you same as doctors does, and funeral 
 expenses aren't a heavy item in this part of the country." 1 
 
 1 On 6th August the thoughts of the author persistently reverted to his 
 
 friend John C , whom he had not seen for fifteen years. He sat down 
 
 at once and wrote this chapter, and read it to a person who was present. 
 On the following morning, yth August, he received a copy of the Natal 
 
 Witness, date of issue loth July, in which was the announcement of C 's 
 
 death by a fall from his horse. This may have been a conicidence, but 
 it also suggests more than a coincidence. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 MY THREE SEA-COWS. 
 
 " N'KOS, there are many seacows at the Umlumazi River 
 it is four days' march from here, but if a man went 
 swiftly and carried nothing he could do it in three days." 
 
 Thus spoke Mataffayen, one of my Caffres who had 
 accompanied me from Natal, as we sat round the camp 
 fire conversing on things in general. He was an old 
 elephant hunter, and had lost the forefinger of his right 
 hand by the bursting of an overcharged gun, but he 
 managed to shoot by using the middle finger of his 
 right hand as the trigger finger, and, indeed, could use a 
 waggon-whip just as well as though his hand were 
 uninjured. 
 
 After shooting for some time at any particular spot, 
 however good the sport, I used to have a desire to 
 change my hunting ground for a few days, and thus 
 vary the monotony. 
 
 " What other game are there, Mataffayen ? " I asked 
 in reply. 
 
 " There are a great many koodoo, so I am told, sir, 
 and we should be on the edge of the giraffe country. 
 Buffaloes there are also, though they are not so numerous 
 as they are here," replied Mataffayen. 
 
 Accordingly I made up my mind to leave my belong- 
 ings at Gumban, and to make an expedition with eight 
 Caffres to the river Umlumazi, intending only to stay 
 
42 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 long enough to bag a sea-cow or two and a giraffe and 
 then return. 
 
 The next day I spent in loading a sufficient quantity 
 of cartridges, and in packing stores for our journey, and 
 on the morning after we started off. It was not my 
 desire to shoot buffaloes en route as we should be unable 
 to utilise the hides, not having enough men to enable us 
 to spare any carriers for the purpose of conveying the 
 hides to Gumban. 
 
 But on what occasion does one ever go out with a 
 desire to see no game, without at the same time falling 
 in with the very game one wishes to avoid ? 
 
 Let any one travel through a game country without a 
 rifle, or let him run out of cartridges, or let him travel 
 on Sunday with his mind made up to fire at nothing, 
 and he will be sure to tumble across troops of game that 
 will hardly take the trouble to trot out of his way. 
 
 So it was with us ; we had not left Gumban half an 
 hour before we came across the fresh spoor of about 
 200 buffaloes. I did not diverge from the path to 
 follow them, but at noon we suddenly came upon a 
 group of five old bulls in a hollow. They were right in 
 front of us, about 100 yards off. They gazed in wonder- 
 ment for a few seconds, and then went ofT at the 
 heavy lumbering gallop peculiar to buffaloes. It was 
 almost too much for flesh and blood to stand. I aimed 
 at them, saying to myself, " How warm I could make it 
 for you if I wanted to ! " and then lowered my rifle with 
 a sigh of annoyance and relief that I had avoided the 
 temptation to commit unwarrantable slaughter. 
 
 Towards evening I relieved my feelings by shooting a 
 pallah, for we required some meat for the Caffres and for 
 my two dogs. The next day was a very long hard one. 
 
MY THREE SEA-COWS. 43 
 
 I fancy we must have covered forty-five miles, for we 
 were going from sunrise to sunset, only stopping to rest 
 for a quarter of an hour during the heat of the day. We 
 saw nothing but pallahs and zebras, for the country was 
 rather dry, and most of the game had moved away 
 nearer to the Libombo range of hills. The journey was 
 a very tiring one, for we followed a native path only 
 about a foot in width, and at every slight incline the 
 rain-water had channelled the path until its cross section 
 was shaped like the segment of a circle, so that in 
 walking one's ankles were bent inwards and the heels 
 outwards. Any one who had travelled along a native 
 path will have experienced this inconvenience. 
 
 In the evening we arrived at some kraals and camped 
 for the night. I doubt whether any European had ever 
 before camped at these kraals. Our fires were sur- 
 rounded by inquisitive groups of natives, who examined 
 guns, blankets and all our impedimenta, giving vent all 
 the time to expressions of astonishment at the wisdom 
 of the white men who could do all things. The girls 
 were never tired of examining my watch, which I firmly 
 believe they either thought to be a creature endued with 
 life, or that motion had been imparted to it by exercise 
 of magical powers with which they freely credited us. 
 
 The head man of the village came and sat down in 
 silence for some time, and then, having exchanged 
 salutations, broke out into a string of compliments : 
 " The sun shines very brightly to day. How honoured 
 is my village ! Wow, but I have seen wonderful sights 
 methinks I have seen Umswaz ! " Now Umswaz was 
 their great chief from whom the nation derived their 
 designation of Amaswasi or people of Umswaz. 
 
 I questioned the old gentleman concerning the pros- 
 
44 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 pects of sport at the Umlumazi, the distance to it, and 
 so forth ; but he was totally ignorant of anything more 
 than a day's journey from his own village, and replied to 
 all my queries by saying, " I do not know, we never 
 go there". 
 
 These people seemed to live a quiet, uneventful, isolated 
 existence. The most exciting factor in their lives seemed 
 to be the possibility of being invaded at any moment by 
 the Ngwani section of the Amaswazi. 
 
 The Ngwani people are the military tribe of Amaswazi ; 
 they live in the healthier belt of country just out of, 
 and higher up than, the thorns. They are the king's 
 own people, though he is suzerain over a large extent of 
 country. From time to time he sends his Ngwani 
 Cafifres to invade his vassals dwelling in the thorns, just 
 to remind them that he is still in existence and is able 
 to exercise all the de facto powers of a ruler. Some 
 pretext is always found for invading his vassals. Some- 
 times it is that his cattle have fallen sick if so, it is 
 attributed to spells cast upon them by the natives 
 dwelling in the thorns, and it becomes necessary to 
 invade them and take away their cattle. Or if the king 
 has indigestion it is immediately put down to his having 
 been bewitched by somebody living in the thorns, and 
 accordingly they must be murdered. If any of the 
 royal family die, then a number of the unfortunate 
 thorn people must be killed, in order to produce the 
 amount of genuine weeping which is considered an 
 adequate and respectable accompaniment to a royal 
 funeral. 
 
 Hence the wits of the thorn dwellers are continually 
 exercised to find means of dodging the king's people, 
 and the king's people on the other hand are always 
 
MY THREE SEA-COWS. 45 
 
 cogitating on the best way of taking the thorn dwellers 
 unawares. I am speaking of the times when Ludonga 
 was king. Of course now, since European influence is 
 extending in the country, it may be very different. 
 
 All Caffres have the most unbounded faith in the 
 innyanga (or moon man). He generally combines the 
 practice of medicine with divination. He usually arrays 
 himself in a grotesque costume and adorns himself with 
 bunches of feathers, bits of wood, bones, and various 
 medicinal roots, until he looks like a peripatetic Christmas- 
 tree. All this affects the imagination of his patients or 
 of those who wish to consult him on mysteries. 
 
 Innyangas are not invariably hypocrites. Many of 
 them are as strongly imbued with belief in their own 
 powers as the dupes who consult them, and I will not 
 go so far as to deny that some of them may not possess 
 clairvoyant faculties, for I have heard of remarkable 
 things done by them. In some instances even Europeans, 
 while pooh-poohing their claims to powers of divination, 
 have consulted them with successful results. 
 
 I do not attempt to explain this, or to put it down ta 
 coincidence, chance or genuine clairvoyance. All I 
 know is that such instances of successful consultation 
 have occurred. 
 
 The usual mode of procedure is as follows. We will 
 assume that a Caffre has lost a black and white cow 
 and wishes to recover it. He goes -off to consult the 
 innyanga. The innyanga puts a series of questions 
 to him, which the Caffre replies to by a stereotyped 
 expression. Now if the innyanga happens to be near 
 the mark, the tone of voice in which his client replies 
 betrays that he has made a good shot. It is like the 
 children's game of hot and cold. 
 
46 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 On the supposititious case given above, the questions 
 and replies will run something as follows. 
 " My friend has come to consult me ? " 
 " Yes " (rather warmly). 
 "My friend is ill?" 
 "Yes" (coldly). 
 
 " There is sickness in my friend's private family ? " 
 " Yes " (coldly). 
 
 " My friend has lost something? " 
 "Yes" (warmly). 
 "My friend has lost goods?" 
 "Yes" (coldly). 
 " He has lost cattle ? " 
 "Yes" (warmly). 
 " It is a black cow ? " 
 "Yes" (rather coldly). 
 " It is a red cow ? " 
 "Yes" (coldly). 
 "It is a white cow?" 
 "Yes" (warmly). 
 " It is a black and white cow ? " 
 "Yes" (very warmly). 
 "It ran away yesterday ? " 
 " Yes " (very warmly). 
 " My friend bred the cow ? " 
 "Yes" (coldly). 
 " He bought the cow ? " 
 " Yes " (warmly). 
 " He bought it a year ago ? " 
 " Yes " (coldly). 
 " He bought it a month ago ? " 
 " Yes " (very warmly). 
 4t He bought it from a place in the north ? " 
 
MY THREE SEA-COWS. 47 
 
 "Yes" (coldly). 
 
 " From a place in the south ? " 
 
 " Yes " (very warmly). 
 
 " He bought it from so and so's district ? " (naming it). 
 
 " Yes " (coldly). 
 
 " He bought it from another district?" (naming it). 
 
 " Yes " (very warmly). 
 
 " He bought it from so and so's kraal ? " (naming it). 
 
 "Yes" (coldly). 
 
 " He bought it from another kraal ? " (naming it). 
 
 " Yes, yes, yes " (very warmly). 
 
 The innyanga now appears to be plunged in thought 
 perhaps he does a divination to clarify his ideas 
 finally he addresses his client as follows : 
 
 " My friend bought a black and white cow from so 
 and so's kraal (naming it). If my friend goes to that 
 kraal he will find the cow, for it has run back there ; and 
 now I will trouble my friend to hand over my fees." 
 
 The client thinks at once, " Heavens, what a wonderful 
 man he is how did he know that I had bought a black and 
 white cow from so and so's kraal and that it has run back 
 there? " he pays his fees cheerfully and goes off in search of 
 the cow, probably finding it at the place indicated, and the 
 next day the country rings with the fame of the innyanga. 
 
 The innyanga has a keen knowledge of human nature 
 and utilises it. One successful case obliterates the mem- 
 ory of many unsuccessful ones. 
 
 When he fails in a divination he tells his client either 
 that he does not know how to inquire of him properly 
 or that the Amahlosi (Fates) are not propitious. This 
 excuse always goes down. The foregoing mode of 
 divination is employed in all sorts of cases, loss of goods 
 or cattle, causes of sickness, etc., etc. 
 
48 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 I once had a Cafifre who was a very good shot. I 
 suppose his nerve became affected or his liver got out 
 of order, for he took to missing or wounding everything 
 he fired at. He was convinced that he was bewitched, 
 and went off to consult an innyanga, who told him that 
 there was a certain old bull buffalo with three white 
 hairs in his tail. He must go on hunting in a certain 
 district until he met this buffalo, and having killed it, 
 he must extract the three white hairs from his tail and 
 burn them, on which the spell would be broken and his 
 skill with the rifle would return. Now the innyanga 
 reasoned cunningly in this case. Every old bull buffalo 
 has white hairs in his tail. When my hunter had begun 
 to kill a sufficient number of buffaloes to secure an old 
 bull, it would mean that his nervous system had re- 
 covered its tone and the probabilities were that he 
 would go on shooting as well as he formerly did. 
 
 My hunter was thoroughly convinced of the sound- 
 ness of the advice, and hunted patiently until he got 
 an old bull with the requisite number of white hairs in 
 his tail. His shooting powers returned to him, and he 
 paid the innyanga's fee and ever after extolled him as 
 an infallible clairvoyant. 
 
 The innyanga plays a great part in Caffre life, and most 
 acts of barbarity perpetrated amongst Caffres have their 
 origin in his divinations. Few persons are supposed to 
 die a natural death. It is generally put down to the machi- 
 nations of wizards. Recourse is had to the innyanga. As 
 a rule, the persons who inquire of him already have their 
 suspicions, and by the method I have just illustrated the 
 innyanga is naturally led to point out as guilty the very 
 person or persons against whom there is already an a 
 priori suspicion in the minds of the inquirers. 
 
MY THREE SEA-COWS. 49 
 
 The death of any leading member of the royal family 
 is almost always followed by an appeal to the innyanga, 
 and the result is that a number of innocent persons are 
 massacred. I have often attempted without success 
 to shake the belief of Caffres in witchcraft and the 
 efficacy of divination. 
 
 A conversation I once had with Segetwayo, a leading 
 chief in Western Zululand, has indelibly impressed itself 
 on my memory. I called on him as I was returning 
 to Natal, and the conversation ran as follows : 
 
 " How are you, head-man, friend ? " 
 
 " Oh just so-so but I am terribly troubled by the 
 witches. I have had a pain in my stomach, and two of 
 my children have been ill." 
 
 " Well, why don't you do something to prevent it ? " 
 
 " So I do. No one can tax me with neglect of duty 
 in that respect. I have been killing witches right and 
 left, but the more of them I kill off the more there seem 
 to be ; " and he gave a great sigh. 
 
 " Now, Segetwayo, listen to me. In the Zulu country 
 you are always killing witches. In the queen's territory 
 we do not kill on that score. Witches therefore ought 
 to be more plentiful in the queen's territory than in 
 Zululand, and therefore the death rate from witchcraft 
 should be greater in the queen's territory. But it is 
 well known that it is not so, for our country is just as 
 healthy as Zululand. This must prove to you that 
 your ideas as to the mortality arising from witchcraft 
 are erroneous." 
 
 " Ah, that is all very fine ; but the witches are afraid 
 of the queen, and do not practise their arts in Natal as 
 they do in Zululand." 
 
 I could get nothing more out of him. As I was 
 
 4 
 
5<D TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 leaving, he recalled me and made a complaint, to wit : 
 " Two of my wives ran away into Natal. I sent four fat 
 oxen to the Border agent, with a request that he would 
 be good enough to return my wives. He declined to do 
 so, saying that having taken refuge under the British 
 flag, my wives were now British subjects, and it was 
 not in his power to return them to me. I consider this 
 to be very discourteous. Had any of his wives run 
 away from him and come to me, I would have returned 
 them at once, without waiting for him to send me his 
 compliments and a present of cattle." 
 
 It is a hopeless task to attempt to overcome Caffre 
 prejudices. 
 
 The next morning, just as we were preparing to resume 
 our journey, the head- man of the village came and sat 
 down before me. He stated that he wished to consult 
 me on a matter that was very near his heart, and hoped 
 that I should not be offended. 
 
 I naturally thought that it must be very important, 
 and begged him to make me his confidant. After much 
 circumlocution, he very diffidently asked me to give him 
 three charges of gunpowder. I granted his request 
 readily, and by the expression of his face he seemed 
 sorry that he had not asked me for more while he was 
 about it. 
 
 Caffres are inveterate beggars. They are just like 
 children, and ask you to give them anything they take 
 a fancy to. 
 
 We travelled all that day, and on the next day began 
 to get into the koodoo country. Two troops of koodoo 
 cows and young bulls crossed our path, but as none of 
 them carried good heads I would not fire. Towards 
 the evening as we were approaching our camping ground, 
 
MY THREE SEA-COWS. 51 
 
 three large koodoo bulls broke out of a bush, and 
 cantered across a piece of open ground. I fired the 
 first barrel, dropping one dead as I thought, and with 
 the second barrel hit another heavily. He galloped on 
 for about fifty yards, pulled up short, turned round to 
 look at us, began rocking and staggering, and then fell 
 on his flank quite dead. My attention was taken up by 
 him, and I did not reload as rapidly as I should have 
 done. Moyen shouted out, " The other one is getting 
 up." I turned round and saw him struggling to regain 
 his legs, but before I could reload, he managed to rise 
 and gallop off into the bush. 
 
 I can only account for it by my bullet having grazed 
 his spinal cord (probably somewhere about the neck), 
 thus temporarily paralysing or stunning him. 
 
 The koodoo which I killed had a fine head. I would 
 say to all hunters : " Be suspicious of the animal that 
 collapses suddenly to the shot and afterwards begins to 
 struggle ; but have no fears about the animal that runs 
 hard on receiving the shot, and after going a certain dis- 
 tance pulls up and sinks, for he will never rise again ". 
 
 On the fourth day we began to approach the 
 Umlumazi River. We saw several spoors of black 
 rhinoceros, also spoor of a troop of eland. About three 
 in the afternoon we reached the river and set to work at 
 once to make our camp. I was very anxious to explore 
 the river, so after having seen to the camping, I started 
 up stream, at the same time instructing Mataffayen to 
 go down stream and examine spoor. I ordered him not 
 to disturb hippopotami, and not to fire a shot at all 
 within a mile of the river banks, but merely to gather 
 information and return to camp. 
 
 Leaving the two dogs tied up in camp, I strolled off 
 
52 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 with Moyen, who carried my heavy double rifle. He 
 was a mere lad of about fifteen, with a big head and 
 lanky limbs. He was attired in a little piece of string 
 round his waist, two little skins about the size of your 
 hand, and a smile voila tout! He carried an assegai 
 and a small axe. He was born in the thorn country, 
 but his parents were of the warlike Ngwani tribe, and 
 the lad inherited all the gallantry which has enabled his 
 tribe to make their war shields respected far and wide 
 throughout the country. He was a very keen sports- 
 man, and of a very affectionate disposition. He ran 
 away from home to follow me. He was a very cheerful 
 lad, but the saying goes, " There is a skeleton in every 
 closet ". One day I saw Moyen brooding, and asked him 
 what was the matter. He answered me as follows : " I 
 am sorrowful because I have never yet killed anybody, 
 but I hope to do so as soon as I am big enough to go on 
 the warpath. Do you think I look big enough, sir? " 
 
 He behaved on one occasion uncommonly well when 
 I was all but killed by a lioness, and I promoted him 
 to be my gun-bearer, a thing of which he was exces- 
 sively proud. 
 
 We observed spoor of sea-cows everywhere ; but as 
 these creatures travel about a good deal at night, it was 
 difficult from the mere observation of spoor to judge of 
 their whereabouts during the daytime. I came to 
 where buffaloes had drunk that morning, and twice saw 
 water-buck, but did not fire as I wished to avoid alarming 
 the sea-cows. 
 
 The river was a rocky one, and could be crossed at 
 almost any point where there were rapids. When I say 
 it might be crossed, I mean that one could get over by 
 wading waist deep ; but the crocodiles were so numerous 
 
MY THREE SEA-COWS. 53 
 
 that no man in his senses would attempt such a thing. 
 I have never seen crocodiles so numerous, and I suspect 
 that the river takes its name from that fact. Umlumazi 
 is from the root luma, to bite. By free translation one 
 might call it the biting river. 
 
 Here and there it formed deep pools of considerable 
 length, and about a hundred yards in width. 
 
 While skirting the bank of one of these pools we 
 came to a sea-cow path. Moyen examined it, and 
 announced that a sea-cow had quite recently entered the 
 pool, as the sand at the spot where he had slid into the 
 water was still wet from the effect of the splash caused 
 by his entering the water. 
 
 We ensconced ourselves on the bank and watched for 
 some time. At last Moyen touched me and pointed. 
 On casting a glance in the direction indicated I saw the 
 head of a sea-bull rise out of the pool. The nostrils, eyes, 
 and ears appeared first, and then he rose until the crown 
 of his head was quite a foot above the surface of the 
 water. He was directly facing us, and was apparently 
 gazing at us. The points of his two huge under tusks 
 were visible, and I longed to own them. Taking him 
 between the eyes, I fired. The bull gave a smart slap 
 as it struck him and he sunk instantly, but whether I 
 had killed him or not I cannot say. I think not, for 
 the next morning I sent a man to examine the pool, 
 but he returned saying that he could not see the body 
 floating in the pool. 
 
 It is one thing to hit a sea-cow, and quite another 
 thing to kill him. Indeed, I consider him to be the 
 toughest animal in creation. He did not show any more, 
 and had probably gone under the other bank, where he 
 could protrude his nostrils and breathe with safety. 
 
54 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 As all prospect of sport seemed to be over, I walked 
 along the bank until I came to a place where it shelved 
 down to the water's edge with a gradual slope. I sat 
 down on a block of stone to watch. 
 
 Soon I saw an object on the surface of the water, 
 somewhat resembling a piece of dead timber drifting 
 along ; but it had this peculiarity, it drifted against the 
 current. On looking more narrowly I perceived the 
 nostrils, the eyes and the serrated back of a large croco- 
 dile. Two more crocodiles were coming down stream 
 in a similar way. 
 
 When they had reached a point opposite to me, they 
 remained still, evidently observing me carefully. 
 
 It gives one a sort of uneasiness being watched by 
 these uncanny saurians, so I stood up, but they did not 
 move. I was quite close to the water's edge, and, being 
 in a vacant mood, I tapped the brink of the water with 
 the toe of my boot. They instantly disappeared, but in 
 another minute or so reappeared. This suggested to 
 my mind that their sense of hearing must be uncom- 
 monly acute. So I again cautiously placed the sole of 
 my boot upon the water, taking care to make no splash 
 as I did so. They instantly disappeared, nor did they 
 reappear until I had withdrawn my boot from the water. 
 I am convinced that they were watching me, in hopes 
 that I should swim across the river, and also that they 
 distinctly heard what to me was inaudible, viz., the sound 
 of my shoe touching the water. Resuming my seat on 
 the stone I watched for another half-hour, but seeing 
 nothing of the sea-cows began to think of returning home. 
 
 Glancing over my right shoulder I saw a curious sight. 
 In the bush not ten yards from me was a bush-buck 
 apparently petrified by astonishment. He was standing 
 
MY THREE SEA-COWS. 55 
 
 stock still, with his head raised, and was staring hard at 
 me. He had come down to drink, and was taking the 
 measure of the first European he had ever seen in his 
 life. I slowly took up my rifle and raised it inch by inch 
 to my left shoulder until I covered him. He never moved 
 during this operation. I shot him. 
 
 The bush-buck is a handsome little antelope, about 
 the size of a <roedeer, and has bayonet-shaped horns. 
 He has a reputation for being dangerous, and there are 
 many instances of dogs and hunters having been killed 
 by a wounded bush-buck. We now retraced our steps to 
 camp. On the way I heard the sound of Mataffayen's 
 gun. He always put in a fistfull of powder, so that 
 you could hear the report a couple of miles off. I was 
 very much annoyed at his disobedience of orders, and 
 on arriving in camp gave him a sample of true British 
 rhetoric, but became mollified on hearing his explana- 
 tion. 
 
 He wished to cross the river at a point where the 
 water was not more than two feet deep. At this spot 
 there were two or three small islands of reeds in the 
 river, and it was his intention to wade from island to 
 island and thus gain the farther bank. He had reached 
 the first island, and was just about to cross the channel 
 of water which separated it from the next island when a 
 crocodile ejected a quantity of water from its mouth at 
 him, and then made a dash to seize him, on which he 
 fired at it. 
 
 This may or may not have been true. The Caffres 
 who accompanied him vouched for it, and stood exami- 
 nation satisfactorily. I have often been told that the 
 crocodile waits until its prey stoops down its head to 
 drink, and then ejects a lot of water into the animal's 
 
56 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 face in order to daze it, while at the same moment he 
 seizes it by the head. I am bound to say, though, that 
 an instance of this never came under my personal obser- 
 vation. Mataffayen never deceived me, and I am not 
 unphilosophical enough to deny the possibility of an 
 occurrence on the ground that I did not see it myself. 
 
 Mataffayen had seen plenty of spoor, but had not come 
 across any sea-cows. 
 
 The next morning I sent off Caffres at dawn of day 
 both up and down stream to gather information, remain- 
 ing in camp myself to await news. 
 
 About ten o'clock two Caffres returned from up stream, 
 reporting that about six miles higher up, the river 
 narrowed considerably, and that they had marked down 
 two sea-cows (a cow and large calf) in a pool not more 
 than forty yards in width. 
 
 I set off at once, taking the dogs with me, as on my 
 return journey I intended to make a small detour and 
 hunt back to camp. 
 
 We reached the spot, but no sea-cows were visible in the 
 pool. The river could be crossed here with safety both 
 above and below the pool, so I sent Caffres across with 
 instructions to proddle under the banks with poles, 
 and thus drive out the sea-cows if they were skulking. 
 The sea-cows were soon afoot. There were two of them. 
 A cow and a young bull nearly as big as herself. He 
 was evidently her son. The water was very clear, and I 
 could see them swimming along under the surface. 
 They would not show heads, but kept swimming about 
 up and down the pool, and we raced along the banks 
 beside them to prevent their getting under the banks for 
 shelter and air. I think they must have swum for fully 
 five minutes before they were compelled to rise for 
 
MY THREE SEA-COWS. 57 
 
 breath. The old cow rose first, showing her muzzle 
 only. I gave her both barrels, on which she dived and 
 came up again with a plunge, showing head and shoulders, 
 but unfortunately I was not reloaded, or I could have 
 finished her off then and there. 
 
 They then managed somehow or other to disappear, 
 nor could our utmost efforts with poles succeed in dis- 
 lodging them from their place of refuge under the 
 farther bank. The water was deepest there, and it was 
 evidently there that they had hidden themselves. 
 
 I then ordered the reeds upon the farther bank to be 
 set on fire. This had the effect of stirring them at once. 
 The fire seemed to have terrified them, for they were a 
 long time before they came up to breathe, and when 
 they did so, they came up simultaneously, both showing 
 full heads. 
 
 I gave them a quick right and left. The cow doubled 
 up instantly and sank ; but the young bull began 
 floundering about like a fresh run salmon on a fly, and 
 then dived again, and I lost sight of him for a few 
 moments. Presently I heard a cry from one of my 
 Cafifres whom I had stationed at the head of the pool, 
 " This way, sir ; he is coming out ". 
 
 I raced along the bank to the head of the pool, and 
 sure enough there he was making his way up the rapid, 
 which was not more than two feet deep at this point. 
 He got over the ground with amazing agility for such a 
 ponderous animal, and though he was in the water and 
 had to gallop over rocks, and I was on a firm, dry bank 
 I had to run hard to get abreast of him. He galloped 
 along, sending the spray flying in all directions. I gave 
 him both barrels behind the shoulder, at which he pulled 
 up, and then did an acrobatic performance which I 
 
58 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 should have deemed impossible for a creature of his 
 build and weight He went head over heels, and rolled 
 over and over with such swiftness that when I had 
 reloaded I could hardly cover him surely enough to 
 give the coup de grace in the way it should be given. 
 Just as I was pressing the trigger, his struggles ceased, 
 and he fell dead. His capers reminded one somewhat of 
 a rabbit which has been half stunned by a single grain 
 of shot somewhere about the head. The large cow was 
 stone dead. 
 
 I left MatafTayen to superintend the skinning and the 
 extraction of the teeth. The hide of the sea-cow is very 
 valuable for sjamboks. It is peeled off him in long strips 
 about a foot wide, running from neck to croup, and the 
 bacon is peeled off with the hide, that is to say adhering 
 to it. Afterwards the bacon is separated from the hide, 
 and the hide is then cut into strips and pegged out to dry. 
 
 The hide is very thick and firm along the upper 
 portion of his body, so much so that a soft lead ball 
 propelled by two and a half drachms of powder from a 
 Snider-Enfield rifle will not penetrate, but on the legs 
 and belly it is not much thicker than that of an elephant. 
 
 I left the river and made a detoiir on my way back to 
 camp. The dogs were running loose. Four-and-six 
 went into a thicket and found an old buffalo bull, but 
 was at once fiercely charged. He came out with his 
 back arched and his tail clapped between his legs, from 
 which I inferred that the buffalo had been both uncivil 
 and exceptionally active in his attentions. The buffalo 
 broke away on the other side of the thicket, and I did 
 not get a shot. 
 
 As I neared the camp, I came across two elands going 
 down to drink, and making a careful stalk got within 
 
MY THREE SEA-COWS. 59 
 
 eighty yards, and bagged the pair of them. Neither 
 carried particularly good heads, but we required some 
 beef in camp. 
 
 On the second night after the killing of the two sea- 
 cows an unfortunate occurrence happened. My dogs ran 
 loose in camp, as it never occurred to me that they could 
 come to any harm. One of them went down to the river 
 bank at night to drink. I am glad to say it was not 
 Four-and-six. We heard a loud howl, and as the dog did 
 not return, the Caffres went down with torches, and re- 
 turned reporting that the dog had been taken by a 
 crocodile. I tied up Four-and-six, which seemed to 
 annoy the poor fellow, for he considered it his privilege 
 to run loose and rush out at night-time barking furiously 
 at anything unusual. However, I pacified him by having 
 him tied up close to me. 
 
 On the fourth day, having been unsuccessful in dis- 
 covering any more sea-cows, I determined to go down to 
 the junction of the Umlumazi with the Inkomokazi 
 River. When we had travelled about three hours down 
 stream, the river got very much wider, and there were 
 large sand banks here and there above the surface. On 
 one of these I counted no less than eighteen crocodiles 
 basking in the sun. 
 
 A little farther on we came to some little falls. The 
 river here ran amongst boulders of granite rock. Moyen 
 suddenly pulled me down and pointed excitedly, saying, 
 " There is a sea-bullsuch a big one ! " At first I looked 
 at the water, and seeing nothing turned my eyes to the 
 rocks, but still failed to observe anything, until Moyen 
 showed me what looked for all the world like a rock, 
 but on careful inspection turned out to be a great sea- 
 bull fast asleep. 
 
60 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 He was on an island of sand and rocks about midway 
 across the river. By careful wading amongst rocks, I 
 saw that I could get within about forty yards of him ; 
 but the river was treacherous. After a short consulta- 
 tion, we agreed to try. Moyen went first, assegai in 
 hand, both to probe the depth of the water, and also to 
 be ready to repel the assaults of crocodiles. I handed 
 my rifle to a Caffre, and taking a pole in one hand and 
 an assegai in the other waded after Moyen. In some 
 places where the water rushed between rocks it nearly 
 carried us off our legs. The stones were also slippery, 
 and twice I went a cropper, getting wet through, but 
 each time was pulled upon my legs again by a Caffre. 
 Anything more infernal than stalking in a swift and 
 rocky stream can hardly be imagined. 
 
 There was a big boulder which it was my intention to 
 reach if I could. I also took care to keep it as much 
 as possible between ourselves and the sea-bull. We 
 had nearly reached the boulder when we met with an 
 obstruction which nearly spoiled our sport. The channel 
 of water on this side of the boulder was only about eight 
 feet in width, but it was quite four feet in depth, and the 
 water ran so swiftly that I feared I should be carried away. 
 
 Moyen, however, took my pole, and finding a sure 
 footing for it in some crevice in the stones, waded across, 
 propping himself by the pole, and mounted the boulder. 
 He then threw back the pole to me. I managed to fix 
 it amongst the stones and began to cross, but when 
 midway the footing was so slippery that, like the chief 
 of the apostles, I began to be afraid. 
 
 (By the way, this is almost the only thing I resembled 
 him in, unless it was also that we had a mutual taste 
 for fishing.) 
 
MY THREE SEA-COWS. 6 1 
 
 However, Moyen stretched out the handle of his 
 assegai, and by grasping it I managed to steady myself 
 sufficiently to get across without mishap. 
 
 The next CafTre brought over my rifle. I now climbed 
 upon the boulder, and lying on my face peered over. 
 Yes, there he was fast asleep and almost broadside on. 
 Distance is deceiving. From the shore he appeared 
 to be not more than forty yards from our boulder, but 
 he was at least fifty-five yards off. This seems near 
 enough for anything ; but it is necessary to remember 
 that a sea-cow must be shot exactly in the right spot to 
 an inch, and it is difficult to make fine shooting with 
 large bore rifles and heavy charges of powder. 
 
 There was no necessity for hurry, so I waited to 
 allow my nerves to regain their steadiness, and then sat 
 down to take a shot at him. 
 
 I shot him between the eye and the ear, killing him 
 stone dead. 
 
 He was an immense brute, and must have weighed 
 half as much again as the cow I had previously killed. 
 
 But now came the question : How were we to get at 
 him ? I knew it was hopeless to attempt to secure the 
 hide, but I wanted the two large curved tusks in the 
 under jaw. 
 
 We returned to our own shore, and held a council. 
 Moyen and another Caffre agreed to make a raft and 
 launch it higher up stream and drift down upon the 
 island where the sea-cow lay dead. They averred that 
 they could guide the raft with poles, and had no fears of 
 the crocodiles if I would lend them my single-barrelled ex- 
 press and a dozen rounds of ball. They said the croco- 
 diles were not very bold during the heat of the day, and 
 that they could frighten them by occasionally firing a shot. 
 
62 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 In about an hour's time they made a very creditable 
 raft, by lashing the trunks of saplings together with bark 
 thongs. 
 
 They launched it and were soon in mid-stream, bearing 
 down upon the island. At intervals they fired shots and 
 kept up a perpetual hallooing to intimidate the crocodiles. 
 They reached the island, cut out the tusks, and again 
 launching their raft drifted down stream and arrived 
 at our bank of the river at a point some distance lower 
 down. 
 
 It was too late now to return to our camp, so we had 
 to choose a convenient spot for resting the night. I had 
 given up all intentions of going on to the crocodile 
 river for giraffe ; and having got as many sea-cows as I 
 wanted, I made up my mind to return to Gumban 
 without delay. 
 
 At the spot where we camped down there was a broad 
 belt of reeds between us and the river, through which 
 the Caffres cut a path in order to go and draw water. 
 
 We were very much bothered by the hyaenas. I had 
 shot a water-buck for the Caffres, and as there was no 
 shooting going on in this district, I suppose the hyaenas 
 got rather hungry. They were at any rate very bold. 
 One of them entered the camp and ran away with the 
 hide of the water-buck. 
 
 I had brought some strychnine with me as a protec- 
 tion against this pest of hyaenas, and my Caffres begged 
 me to use it, or else we should be kept awake all night 
 by the brutes. 
 
 So I took a piece of meat, and rubbing strychnine on 
 it threw it on the ground about twenty yards from the 
 camp. We soon heard a hyaena making most ghastly 
 noises, and then he seemed to have gone down to the 
 
MY THREE SEA-COWS. 63 
 
 river, for we heard his cries from that direction. An 
 animal poisoned by strychnine invariably goes to water. 
 
 I wanted a hyaena skin for foreslock (i.e., point of whip- 
 lash), so taking torches we went down to the reeds. 
 Four-and-six rushed in and began barking furiously. 
 We made our way to the place, and on holding up the 
 torches saw a large hyaena lying on its flank, but still 
 alive. I borrowed an assegai from a CafTre, and drove it 
 into him. He turned his head and gave a snap at the 
 shaft, crushing it into splinters, and the dents of his teeth 
 were visible upon the iron spike of the blade which fits 
 into the socket of the shaft. The hyaena has an almost 
 incredible power of jaw, and will crack the largest bones 
 without hardly an effort. 
 
 The hyaenas follow the lions and finish the carcase 
 the moment the lions have had enough. Sometimes, 
 however, the hyaenas are rather too eager, and annoy the 
 lions by approaching and stealing bits of meat while the 
 lions are still at their feed. 
 
 I have been told that the lion rids himself of the 
 nuisance in the following way. He throws a piece of 
 meat aside. When the lion is looking the other way 
 the hyaena dodges in and rushes off with the meat. 
 Presently the lion throws another piece of meat, this 
 time a little nearer The hyaena takes that also. At 
 last the lion throws a piece very near indeed. The 
 hyaena, having become reckless, makes a dash at this 
 also, but the lion wheels round and lays him low with a 
 pat of his paw and a growl of annoyance. 
 
 I remember at the Usutu on one occasion hearing 
 at night time the cries of a hyaena in pain, mingled 
 with an occasional short growl from a lion. This went 
 on for about twenty minutes before it ceased. 
 
64 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 Next morning we saw the spoor of the lions, and there 
 lay the carcase of a hyaena bitten across the neck, and 
 marked by the claws of the lions. They had evidently 
 caught it, and had played with it for some time before 
 killing it. I suppose this was done in revenge for the 
 annoyance they sustained from the hyaenas. 
 
 The following day I reached my camp, and packing 
 up started on my return journey to Gumban. I left two 
 Caffres to take care of the sea-cow hides, promising to 
 send back carriers from Gumban to bring the hides as 
 soon as they were dry enough. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 VARIOUS. 
 
 ON the ensuing morning I started on the return journey 
 to Gumban. 
 
 If ever one happens to be especially in need of meat 
 the game seems to avoid one. I relied upon shooting 
 enough for our consumption en route, but found that the 
 natives had been burning the grass all over the country 
 through which we had to pass, and in consequence that 
 the game had been entirely driven away. 
 
 We went for two days without anything to eat. On 
 the evening of the second day, I devoured a whole pot 
 of jam which our factotum had thoughtfully inserted 
 amongst the stores when I left Gumban. I remember it 
 was black currant, a jam which I detest, for when I was a 
 boy it was cunningly used as a vehicle for the conceal- 
 ment of nauseous medicines periodically administered to 
 me. On the morning of the third day I shot a blue wilde- 
 beeste. It was a great fluke. He was standing broad- 
 side on at what I estimated to be a range of 450 yards. 
 He had already seen us, so that to stalk him was 
 impracticable. I aimed for his shoulder, but struck him 
 on the root of the neck, breaking the spine and killing 
 him on the spot. 
 
 The blue wildebeeste are very wary, and the Cafifres 
 have a saying that every wildebeeste has a maggot in 
 his brain, which warns him of the approach of danger. 
 
 (65) 5 ^ 
 
66 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 I have never opened the skull of one to verify this, but 
 T have seen what is almost as extraordinary, viz., in the 
 forelock of an eland bull a small green snake which 
 sometimes takes up its residence there. 
 
 On our arrival at Gumban we found they had been hav- 
 ing good sport, but that some of the troops of buffaloes, 
 worried by the continuous shooting, had crossed over the 
 Libombo Range and had gone down to Amatongaland. 
 
 Up to date I had killed twenty-eight buffaloes, and 
 made up my mind to hunt at Gumban until I had killed 
 forty. The first night of our arrival at Gumban was an 
 exceedingly enjoyable one, and we sat up until past 
 midnight recounting mutual experiences since we had 
 parted. The hour of sundown in a hunting camp is 
 always pleasant, for then it is that the hunters return 
 one by one, and laying aside their rifles gather round the 
 fire to relate the events of the day. Nor are such 
 gatherings devoid of the comic element. 
 
 I remember once having in our party a young and 
 very inexperienced Englishman, who invariably returned 
 without a kill, but who by his own account must have 
 done a terrific amount of wounding. Nearly everything 
 he fired at was very hard hit, but somehow or other 
 always managed to get away. He used to bring home 
 blades of grass with spots of blood upon them as 
 vouchers for the correctness of his aim. He fired from 
 the right shoulder, and as his left eye was the strongest 
 of the two, I fear he never could become a rifleman. 
 He was moreover a most dangerous adversary towards 
 humans with his rifle. One day I determined to show 
 him some sport, and asked him to accompany me, to 
 which he gladly consented. I observed that he handled 
 his rifle in a peculiar way. He would carry it at full 
 
VARIOUS. 67 
 
 cock, and while playing with the locks would wave the 
 muzzle around at the company generally. 
 
 At last I remonstrated : " Look here, old fellow, I 
 don't particularly wish to see down the barrels of your 
 rifle, so if you would kindly refrain from carrying it 
 aimed at my brains, I should be much obliged". He 
 apologised, blushed, and timidly directed the muzzle at 
 the pit of my stomach. 
 
 " No, no ; carry it at the slope, so that the muzzle is 
 always in the air, and don't you think you had better let 
 the hammers down to half cock ? " 
 
 He essayed to do this, but in his confusion placed the 
 thumb on the right hammer and the finger on the left 
 trigger, and let it off, at the same time dropping the 
 weapon and gazing at me with a sort of expression as 
 though to say, " Dear me, how very extraordinary ! " 
 I know it is wrong to be angry with one's brother 
 without a cause ; but really this was very trying, and my 
 oratory was equal to the occasion. 
 
 He would speak when silence was required. If there 
 was a hole anywhere he was sure to tumble into it, and 
 the way in which he trod upon dry sticks and cracked 
 them would have annoyed a saint. I began to think 
 that if we had any dangerous work to do, he would be 
 an encumbrance rather than an aid, so I put on the 
 steam and travelled at a great rate in the hopes of tiring 
 him out. Notwithstanding my remonstrances he would 
 keep on drinking too much water, and soon began to 
 feel the effects. At last he said, " When are you going 
 to halt for luncheon ? " 
 
 " Not until we have done some killing," I replied. 
 
 " Well then, I think I shall work my way slowly back 
 to camp, for I am feeling hungry and tired." 
 
68 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 I gave him his share of luncheon and saw him depart 
 with a feeling of relief, for really nothing is so depres- 
 sing as to have a companion who is incapable of taking 
 care of himself, and for whose safety you are in a 
 measure responsible while he is with you. 
 
 One evening he came into camp with an air of 
 triumph. Handing over his rifle to be cleaned, he 
 stalked up to the fire with both arms akimbo, as though 
 to say, " Now let nobody talk. By George, I have done 
 something to day " ! 
 
 "What sport?" I inquired. 
 
 "Oh, an impala." 
 
 " Well done at last ! At what range ? " 
 
 " Three hundred yards." 
 
 " How did you manage it ? Tell us all about it. Your 
 rifle is only sighted for 200. What elevation did you 
 give? " 
 
 " Oh, I required no elevation. / was standing on an 
 ant-hill." 
 
 On another occasion he came in announcing that he had 
 fired at two lions without tails and had nearly killed them 
 both ; but on making inquiry from one of the natives who 
 accompanied him we found that they were hyaenas. 
 
 Mataffayen accompanied me one day to show me 
 where he had left the spoor of some buffaloes on the 
 previous evening. We followed the tracks for a long 
 distance, and the spoor freshened rapidly. At last it 
 entered a long, narrow thicket in which we judged that 
 they would stand for the day. We agreed that Mataf- 
 fayen should follow on the spoor and enter the thicket, 
 and that I should post myself outside, keeping about 
 300 yards ahead of Mataffayen, as the buffaloes would 
 be nearly sure to break out and try to run up the wind. 
 
VARIOUS. 69 
 
 I went ahead and posted myself, when I heard the 
 report of Mataffayen's gun, and then a fierce roaring of 
 lions. Mataffayen was hallooing out in Caffre : " No, 
 you don't ! Get back, you brutes ! Ah, would you ! " 
 
 I ran up as hard as I could, but as I ran the roaring 
 suddenly ceased, and Moyen pointed back to the other 
 end of the covert. There were two lions going away as 
 hard as they could. 
 
 On getting nip to MatafTayen, I found him trembling 
 with excitement. It appears that while following the 
 traces of the buffaloes he observed a lion and lioness 
 recumbent under the bush. The male lion was lying on 
 his flank, with the back of his head turned towards 
 Mataffayen, who aimed between his ears with the idea 
 of shooting him through the brain ; but his gun being, as 
 usual, overcharged, threw the bullet too high, and thus 
 perhaps grazed the lion and irritated him. The lions 
 sprang up, and wheeling round charged up to within a 
 few feet of Mataffayen, but, being checked by his de- 
 termined attitude, stopped and contented themselves 
 with roaring at him. His position was rendered more 
 critical by the conduct of the other natives, who bolted, 
 leaving Mataffayen to face the lions. I asked him why 
 he did not shoot the male lion through the head with 
 his second barrel ; and he replied that there being two of 
 them, if he had killed one, the other would have sprung 
 upon him and killed him. 
 
 I remember, in connection with the subject of lions, a 
 most melancholy incident, which I did not witness my- 
 self, but which was related to me upon the best authority. 
 I may not give the details with absolute correctness, for 
 the story was told me many years ago by those who 
 were present on the occasion. 
 
70 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 John E a bold and experienced hunter, had com- 
 pleted a successful season amongst the great game in this 
 part of Amaswaziland. He was returning to his waggons 
 with the intention of going home. Sport was all over 
 for the season, and doubtless his mind was dwelling on 
 the pleasant prospect of rejoining friends and kindred. 
 
 The party were travelling along a native path. They 
 saw a troop of four or five lions not very far from the 
 path ; one of these was a large black-maned lion, and 
 
 E proposed to diverge from the path and take a shot 
 
 at them. Some of the party objected, but gave way to 
 
 E 's wish, as he wanted to kill the black-maner. 
 
 They approached the lions, who perceived them and began 
 to make off. They fired, I think killing one lion, and 
 breaking the shoulder of the black-maner. He separated 
 from the rest and went down towards a hollow which 
 lay to the right. 
 
 E had a native hunter, named Betyan, who was 
 
 armed with a single-barrelled musket. The party followed 
 the lion, but Betyan, being fleet of foot and courageous, 
 managed to cross the hollow and thus head the lion, 
 who only having three legs to run with could not get 
 over the ground very fast. 
 
 The lion descended into the hollow and was mounting 
 the farther bank when he met Betyan face to face. 
 Betyan fired and knocked the lion backwards into the 
 hollow, smashing one side of his lower jaw with the 
 bullet. 
 
 The lion turned straight back in the direction from 
 which he had just come, and met the party who were 
 following him. The suddenness of the rencontre appears 
 to have startled the party. There was a cry of, " Look 
 out, there he comes back again " ! 
 
VARIOUS. /I 
 
 In the pursuit the party had got considerably divided. 
 The lion, being infuriated by his wounds, on perceiving 
 his enemies at once made for them. The natives 
 climbed into trees. One native was in a small tree and 
 could not get up more than eight or ten feet from the 
 ground. The lion rushed up to the tree. His shoulder 
 being broken, he could not spring up to seize the man, 
 so he contented himself with bellowing and roaring at 
 him. The man was terrified and cried out for assistance. 
 The Europeans were all running up to his assistance, but 
 
 E arrived first. On seeing E the lion left the 
 
 native and made for E , who levelled his rifle. Un- 
 fortunately it was one of those rifles with a safety catch 
 
 behind the hammer. E had locked the catch, and 
 
 in his hurry had forgotten to unlock it. The lion came 
 
 on and on, and E pressed the trigger, but of course 
 
 could not fire. The lion knocked him over and began 
 mauling him fearfully. Betyan, who had run after the 
 lion, reloading as he went along, now came up, and shot 
 the lion dead as he was in the act of mauling E . 
 
 E was alive, but his injuries were of such a terrible 
 
 nature that in a short time he expired. 
 
 The depression of spirits amongst the party can be 
 better imagined than described. 
 
 But to revert. We resumed the pursuit of the buffaloes, 
 but did not come up with them until it was nearly dark. 
 I did a stalk and killed a fine cow. 
 
 The water-bottle was empty, and we were miles from 
 any drinking-place. Night was coming on and we had 
 to encamp where we were. I was terribly thirsty. 
 
 The Caffres began to extract the water from the grass 
 bag of the buffalo. It was a disagreeable idea, but it 
 seemed to quench their thirst. I know nothing so trying 
 
72 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 as exposure to thirst, and at last I was tempted to follow 
 the example of the Caffres. However, I strained the 
 liquid through a handkerchief to render it a little clearer. 
 It had a bitter taste, but it had the desired effect of 
 mitigating my thirst. 
 
 One day I was hunting amongst the gullies at the foot 
 of the Libombo. I was descending into a nullah, and 
 had not the remotest idea that a buffalo was within miles 
 of me. Suddenly Four-and-six dashed past me into the 
 nullah with a growl, and then before me, within ten yards, 
 uprose an old bull buffalo, grey with age. He glanced 
 at me for a moment, but, fortunately for me, thought 
 better of it, and wheeling round made along the bed of 
 the nullah. I raised the rifle and pressed the trigger, 
 but it was half cock. I had to remove the rifle from my 
 shoulder to put it at full cock, and then managed to give 
 him a ball in the croup just as he was disappearing. He 
 managed to mount the other bank of the nullah, and 
 Four-and-six brought him to bay there. One of my 
 Caffres incautiously ran up the other bank of the nullah 
 to mark the buffalo, but came suddenly upon him. The 
 buffalo instantly charged him. The Caffre sprang into 
 a small tree, but could not climb more than a certain 
 height from the ground. When I crossed the nullah 
 and arrived on the scene, there was the Caffre embracing 
 the tree, and there was the buffalo, making his utmost 
 endeavours to reach him with his horns. 
 
 Had the Caffre been six inches lower down he would 
 have been gored to a certainty. Four-and-six was doing 
 his best to create a diversion by biting the buffalo's heels, 
 but it was so enraged by the sight of the Caffre that it 
 took no notice of the dog's attentions. 
 
 I killed the bull with four shots. 
 
VARIOUS. 73 
 
 It may seem strange to some people that large game 
 sometimes require so many shots to bring them down. 
 The African game is the toughest of all. I have seen a 
 buffalo take fourteen shots before he fell, and then he 
 had succeeded in killing our best dog and maiming an- 
 other. It is very curious how some animals will drop 
 instantly to a shot, while others will receive shot after 
 shot, only giving a slight rock each time they are 
 struck. 
 
 There is a popular fallacy that an animal shot through 
 the heart must drop dead on the spot. It is nothing of 
 the kind. I have seen animals shot through the heart 
 run for a considerable distance after getting the ball. 
 The only shots absolutely certain to stop an animal on 
 the spot are the shot through the brain or the shot which 
 breaks the spine. 
 
 One evening I was returning to camp and had given 
 my rifle to Moyen to carry. We were passing through 
 a small thicket. I was smoking, and had given up all 
 thoughts of sport. I was going along in a sort of day 
 dream, and was, I distinctly remember, speculating as to 
 what news the mails had brought for me during my 
 absence from civilisation. I was rudely awakened from 
 torpor, for with a tremendous roar three lions sprang up 
 in front of me. The lioness jumped up at me and snap- 
 ped her jaws within a couple of feet of my chest, and 
 then bounded away after the others and disappeared. I 
 had unwittingly intruded upon a lioness and two large 
 cubs. I have no doubt they wished to avoid me, but 
 their proximity was unpleasant, and I received a severe 
 start. 
 
 This unexpected rencontre puts me in mind of an in- 
 cident which occurred to me at the Unguevuma. I had 
 
74 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 killed, and was walking along in an absent-minded way 
 with my rifle under my arm. As a rule when carrying 
 my rifle in this manner I kept it at half-cock, but by a 
 providential interposition, or by accident, whichever you 
 may please to term it, I had it full-cock on this occasion. 
 A few minutes previously I got a glimpse of a bull 
 water-buck, and having suddenly cocked my rifle had re- 
 placed it under my arm, forgetting to lower the hammers. 
 I have no doubt whatever that but for this trivial acci- 
 dent I should not have been alive to-day to relate what 
 happened. 
 
 We were passing through some grass about two feet 
 in height, with clumps of low scrub here and there. We 
 were in Indian file. I was leading, and my spoorer, a 
 Caffre named Jacha, was following me. He only had 
 one eye, and that eye was keener to detect game than 
 two pairs of ordinary optics ; but on this occasion it 
 overlooked a terrible danger, for the reason that the 
 danger, though within a few yards of us, was invisible. 
 
 There was a rustle in a patch of scrub about six or 
 seven yards before me, and suddenly out of it uprose a 
 wounded buffalo with bloody mouth and glaring eye, 
 which wheeled round facing me in act to charge. It all 
 took place quicker than thought. My rifle went up to 
 my shoulder instinctively, and I dropped him in his 
 tracks with a ball through the brain. 
 
 So sudden was the whole affair that my heart had 
 not time even to give a great thump. I do not quite 
 remember how I did it. I am sure I did not take a fine 
 sight, and I doubt whether I looked at the rib of my 
 rifle at all. 
 
 There he lay, and while the vaporous cloud of smoke still 
 hung before me, I simply exclaimed : " Gracious God ! " 
 
VARIOUS. 75 
 
 Strange it is, that the human hand, eye and nerve are 
 so constituted as to act automatically and correctly at 
 the proper moment, almost without a conscious effort on 
 our own part. 
 
 The reader must be now tired of buffalo, buffalo r 
 toujours buffalo, and I must appeal to his feelings of 
 charity by explaining that to my mind the buffalo of 
 Africa is the finest game in existence. 
 
 Some may ask : " Wherein lies his beauty ?" To such 
 I would reply : " His beauty lies in his very ugliness ; nor 
 can he be rightly judged save by those who have hunted 
 him amid his natural surroundings ". How can one de- 
 scribe the grace and stateliness of a stag to those who have 
 never had one before their rifle, and have only seen a stag 
 within the iron railings of a pen in the Zoological Gardens? 
 Or how could one bring home to the mind of a person 
 who had only seen a salmon on the slab of a fishmonger's 
 shop, the loveliness of a fine, short, thick, small-headed 
 fresh-run salmon, with the steely sheen of his scales glitter- 
 ing in the light of day as he springs from the surface of 
 the porter-coloured pool in his frantic endeavours to 
 shake the fatal fly from his mouth ? 
 
 Feeble is my pen, and weak is my best effort. I can 
 only appeal to the feeling of keen sympathy with Nature 
 which exists in the breasts of all sportsmen, and which 
 more or less enables them to enter into the emotions of 
 fellow-sportsmen in every branch of the chase. 
 
 Having completed my bag of forty buffalos, I returned 
 to Jozanns, and went down to Umkotyisa's kraal to 
 shoot eland, roan antelope, blue wildebeeste, water-buck, 
 koodoo, zebra and sassaby. 
 
 I left the rest of the party to superintend the removal 
 of our camp and all the paraphernalia up to Jozanns. 
 
76 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 I never saw so much game of the kind before in my life 
 as there was at Umkotyisa's. The grass had been lately 
 burned and was again shooting up, and the game had 
 gathered from all quarters. The country was rather too 
 open for very successful stalking, but go in what direction 
 you would, you could not fail to come upon troop after 
 troop of game. My lowest bag was six head, and my 
 highest, fourteen head in a day. I put aside the heavy 
 rifle and used the express, as the shooting was all at 
 light game and at considerable ranges. 
 
 An amusing thing happened. A nephew of Um- 
 kotyisa was exceedingly anxious to be allowed to hunt 
 for me. As the young fellow seemed very keen, and as 
 I am a bad hand at rejecting importunity, I lent him an 
 old single-barrelled No. 8 bore, which looked as though 
 it had once constituted part of the armament of Noah's 
 ark. He was delighted. He put in a young handful of 
 powder and about a quarter of a newspaper on top of it, 
 and finally a ball, and then rammed the whole charge 
 tightly down. 
 
 He went off, evidently resolved to do or die. 
 
 He returned in the evening in a woeful plight. His 
 nose and mouth were split, and his face was swollen up 
 like a balloon. 
 
 He approached me and squatting down on the ground 
 announced that he had no talent for hunting, and would 
 return home the following morning. 
 
 I said, " Good gracious ! what have you done to your 
 face ? " And he replied as follows : 
 
 " A little after noon I found the tracks of elands. I 
 followed them up until I came upon them feeding. 
 There was a gully by which I could conveniently ap- 
 proach them, so I crawled along this until I was close 
 
VARIOUS. 77 
 
 to them. On creeping up the bank and peering over I 
 saw an eland about twenty yards off. I rested the 
 barrel of the gun on a stone, placed the butt against my 
 nose, directed the muzzle towards the eland and pulled 
 the trigger. I do not quite know what happened, for I 
 seemed to be blind and deaf for some short time, but 
 when I came to, I found myself lying at the bottom of 
 the gully, and the gun was behind me. My face was 
 as you now see it, and I was bleeding. The elands had 
 gone away. Son of a white man, it was very kind of 
 you to lend me the gun, but it is too good a gun for me 
 it is a powerful gun too strong for me. It requires 
 the wisdom of the white men to manipulate it properly 
 farewell ! " 
 
 Umkotyisa himself came over one evening to pay me 
 a visit. I knew him previously, for he used to hunt for 
 
 my friend Mr. H on the Usutu River, and I once 
 
 witnessed a brilliant sporting feat performed by him. 
 We had driven a troop of buffaloes into the reeds of the 
 Usutu. It was an extremely dangerous place, for if you 
 entered the reeds you might come upon a buffalo within 
 two yards before you could perceive him. I took off my 
 shoes, and putting on two pairs of socks so that I might 
 move about with silence, entered the reeds, accompanied 
 by my spoorer Jacha. Our only chance of finding the 
 position of a buffalo was to stoop down and peer under- 
 neath the reeds. By so doing we could see the feet and 
 legs of the buffaloes. Near the ground the stems of the 
 reeds are bare, and you can see for some distance, but 
 above the reeds spread out their leaves and form a 
 curtain which completely obstructs the vision. 
 
 It is true that in reeds, as in dense bush, there is no 
 wind, i.e., the game may get wind, but they do not know 
 
7$ TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 the precise position of their adversary. However, if they 
 get alarmed they may dash wildly about, and there is a 
 chance of their coming right upon you without their 
 even intending to do so. If you wound one and he 
 charges, there is a very poor chance of putting in a good 
 second barrel. Indeed, I would say to all sportsmen : 
 " Do not go into reeds after dangerous game, for it is 
 sheer folly ". 
 
 After moving about in the reeds for some time, and 
 being nearly run over by a buffalo that had taken alarm 
 and had rushed past me within three yards without giving 
 me the chance of a shot, I gave it up as a bad job and 
 emerged again. 
 
 However, Umkotyisa went in and killed four buffaloes 
 with five shots. They then broke cover, and I got one 
 of them as they went away. 
 
 The reader will say: "This does not redound much to 
 the credit of the white man". True, but then in the 
 reeds a Caffre has a great advantage. He is naked and 
 barefooted. The last gives him no inconvenience, for he 
 is accustomed to go barefoot. His eye is quicker at 
 distinguishing the game than is the eye of any European, 
 and if charged he is more agile in evading danger. 
 
 Where you can see your game clearly, the good 
 European hunter is superior to any native, but amongst 
 reeds the native has a distinct advantage. 
 
 As regards the element of personal courage, I think 
 the Caffre (of a military race) equals any white man. 
 I have often thought that the natives who accompany a 
 white man to hunt deserve more credit for courage than 
 their master does. The white man is armed. He as a 
 rule can use his weapon skilfully. He is excited by the 
 pleasure of sport. The whole performance is for his 
 
VARIOUS. 79 
 
 benefit. In fact, he plays the royal highness part. His 
 courage is heightened by pride, and by the consciousness 
 that he is the white man amongst the party. 
 
 The native who accompanies him has to incur almost 
 as much risk as his master, and his sole reward is the 
 pleasure of assisting to procure sport, not the partici- 
 pating in it. 
 
 Umkotyisa presented me with a large pot of native 
 beer, and gave me all the news of the district. We had 
 a long confabulation on matters in general and on sport 
 in particular. He had been an elephant hunter in the 
 old days, and related some curious anecdotes. 
 
 " Do you see this small river on which you are now 
 encamped ? " he said. " Well, I once had a narrow 
 squeak of my life at a spot about two miles lower down 
 it. I wounded an elephant cow and followed her along 
 this rivulet. I came upon her standing almost in the 
 open at about a hundred yards from the bank. She was 
 very sick, and I went up to give her a final shot. She 
 wheeled round, and pursued me with uplifted trunk and 
 shrieking fearfully. I fled for the rivulet, which at that 
 place forms pools. Before I could reach it she was upon 
 me. I dodged her, and again she followed me and 
 overtook me. I fell down, and she ran right over me. 
 The air seemed full of her legs, but I escaped bein^ 
 trodden upon. I jumped up and made a desperate effort 
 to reach the river, and just managed to take a header 
 into a pool when she was within a few feet of me. I 
 dived, and came up under the bank a little lower down 
 stream. She ran up and down trumpeting for some 
 minutes and finally walked off. I let her alone, but 
 followed her up next day and found her dead." 
 
 Another story he told me impressed itself on my 
 
80 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 memory. He had wounded a bull elephant, and followed 
 its track until nightfall. He camped down for the night. 
 Next morning he resumed the pursuit, and at last came 
 to where the elephant had met a buffalo, for the two 
 spoors were side by side. A little farther on he came 
 in view of the elephant and the buffalo walking along 
 together. He ran round ahead and waited for them. As 
 they passed he gave the elephant another shot. The 
 elephant seemed to imagine that the injury had come 
 from the buffalo, for he at once turned and knocked 
 down the buffalo and trampled him to death. Mean- 
 while Umkotyisa, having reloaded, fired another shot, 
 and killed the elephant. 
 
 The next day he accompanied me shooting. His dog 
 and Four-and-six started a sort of cheetah and brought 
 it to bay in a hollow. We ran up and I finished it 
 off. 
 
 One evening I made a very peculiar shot, which fixed 
 itself upon my memory. A large troop of blue wilde- 
 beeste and zebras which had evidently been disturbed 
 by somebody else, or by lions, came galloping along to 
 my left hand and were passing me at a distance of about 
 250 yards. They saw me and suddenly pulled up. I 
 gave a wildebeeste bull a ball in the collar which dropped 
 him on the spot. The troop started running again, and 
 as they were passing me broadside and raising a great 
 dust and clatter I fired the other barrel. A zebra at 
 once turned out of the troop and came running at me. 
 There was something very eccentric in his course, for he 
 veered about wildly, now and then coming in collision 
 with small thorn bushes. I reloaded, and as he passed 
 gave him another shot which settled him. 
 
 On going up to examine him I found that my first 
 
VARIOUS. 8 1 
 
 bullet had gone through his face, destroying the sight of 
 both eyes. This accounted for his erratic movements. 
 Another day I broke the fore-foot of a sassaby below 
 the knee. The sassaby is one of the fleetest of all ante- 
 lopes. I slipped Four-and-six at him, but although the 
 dog started on good terms, and the sassaby only had three 
 legs to go upon, the dog coursed him for quite a mile 
 before he ran into him. 
 
 The early spring rains now commenced, and I received 
 a message from my friend C - saying that everything 
 was conveyed up to Jozanns, and that I must return, as 
 we were ready for a start. 
 
 On my arriving at Jozanns, I found that we had got 
 248 buffaloes, and that the total bag, including all kinds 
 of game, came to over 800 head. In fact, we were fully 
 loaded up, and started with light hearts on our journey 
 homeward bound. 
 
 Poor Four-and-six had been looking rather fishy-eyed 
 for some days past, and his coat began to stare. I could 
 see that the dog was not well. He never liked to be out 
 of my sight, but now he kept closer to me than ever. I 
 knew he had been severely bitten by tsetse, and feared 
 that the first rains would bring out the effects of the 
 poison. 
 
 One day I felt a hot dry nose rubbing against my 
 hand, and on looking round saw my dog trying to attract 
 my attention, and looking at me sadly. At last the 
 poor fellow gave a whine and lay down with his head 
 on my lap, and in two hours it was all over, for he was 
 dead. 
 
 I could never bring myself to say, "only a dog". 
 There is something so kind, so loyal about the doggy 
 heart, that I am not ashamed to say I hope to meet all 
 
82 TALES OF A NOMAD, 
 
 my dogs in another state of existence. Why should the 
 Great Being have given us a kindly feeling a sort of 
 recognition of far off cousinship for dumb creatures, 
 unless it is a token that they too shall be the recipients 
 of His infinite kindness, which excels anything that we 
 have the power to conceive ? 
 
 On reaching Mamba's we met Mr. S , who was 
 
 going down to explore the road to Delagoa Bay with a 
 view to opening up communication between Delagoa 
 and New Scotland in the Transvaal. 
 
 I observed a crowd of natives. They were in a great 
 state of excitement, and the hubbub was terrific, so I 
 asked S what was the matter. 
 
 He replied : " Oh, it is only my donkey they have 
 never seen a donkey before in their lives. You see the 
 bite of the tsetse has no effect upon a donkey, so I 
 brought one down to carry my traps to Delagoa." 
 
 I approached the crowd. They made way for me. 
 There in the middle of them was a little donkey with a 
 most beautiful pair of ears, like the sails of a windmill. 
 The uproar was deafening. The subject of discussion 
 was whether the long-eared one was of the genus horse 
 or of the genus rabbit. 
 
 " He is a horse ! " one of them would bawl at the top 
 of his voice ; " he is certainly a horse, for look at his face 
 and at his hoofs." 
 
 " Not a bit of it ! " roared another ; " he is a rabbit 
 look at his wool and his ears." 
 
 At this moment Jack opened his mouth and let out 
 a portentous bray, at which the crowd started back in 
 terror, and the women fled shrieking. 
 
 The fame of this wonderful creature had spread through 
 the whole country. At Umbok's the people came out 
 
VARIOUS. 83 
 
 to meet us, asking : " What prodigy is this we have 
 heard of at Mamba's ? what wonderful animal is it ? " 
 
 Our native guide replied : " He has the mouth and the 
 feet of a horse, wool and ears like a rabbit, and he sings 
 like a lion ". 
 
 " Wow ! but this is wonderful ! W T e must go off to 
 Mamba's to see it at once Is it dangerous ? " 
 
 " No, it is tame ; it will carry a mountain of things 
 upon its back." 
 
 I have attempted to give the reader some idea of the 
 pleasures and the perils attendant upon the hunting of 
 the great game in the old days. 
 
 The game has disappeared now. Most of my old 
 comrades have gone. Few died in their beds. Some 
 have fallen in battle, some by wild animals, some by 
 pestilence, and some by accidents. Their cheerful voices 
 are stilled in death, and the kindly grasp of their hands 
 I shall experience no more, for the grass is growing above 
 them ; but until my latest hour the memory of those 
 happy times we enjoyed together shall be ever green. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 FLAT GAME AND SMALL GAME. 
 
 THE high veldt of the Free State and the Transvaal 
 is a plateau consisting of wide, grassy, treeless plains. 
 During the wet or summer season they are luxuriantly 
 green and are capable of maintaining any quantity of 
 stock of all kinds, but when the rains cease the vegeta- 
 tion withers up, and the nightly frosts throughout the 
 winter completely destroy all sustenance for stock. 
 
 At this time of year the cattle and sheep farmers 
 generally drive away their herds and flocks to lower 
 lying ground where the frosts are less severe, and the 
 grass, kept alive by the nightly fall of dew, manages to 
 retain some vitality throughout the winter season. 
 With the return of spring the farmers go back to the 
 high veldt, for during the rainy season the high veldt is 
 healthier for stock than the low land. At one time 
 immense herds of game wandered over these plains. 
 They too were migratory, and shifted their quarters with 
 the changing seasons. Their numbers were simply 
 incredible. When the seasons arrived for changing 
 their locality, they would assemble in enormous troops 
 and move across country, devouring all vegetation in 
 their path. It is difficult to make computation of great 
 multitudes, but I am quite sure I have at one time seen 
 50,000 head of game on the move. As far as the eye 
 could see on the horizon they were visible against the 
 
 (84) 
 
FLAT GAME AND SMALL GAME. 85 
 
 sky line, and as they moved on and disappeared more 
 of them continually came into view. 
 
 When the game were collected like this, it was out of 
 the question to obtain sport, for they were unapproach- 
 able. 
 
 When they reached their destination they would break 
 up into troops, each consisting of so many scores, hun- 
 dreds or thousands, and spread themselves over the 
 country, and then fine sport could be had with horse 
 and rifle. 
 
 The game consisted of white-tailed wildebeeste, bless- 
 buck and spring-buck, with occasional troops of quagga. 
 
 The white-tailed wildebeeste was very wary, and had 
 a curious knack of always observing the hunter the 
 moment he came in sight. It was not of the least use 
 trying to shoot him with a slow throwing rifle, for on 
 perceiving the pufif of smoke he would whip round like a 
 teetotum and be off before the ball reached him. 
 
 I remember that on my first expedition to the high 
 veldt I was unaware of this peculiarity, and armed myself 
 with a Snider Enfield rifle. I covered them carefully 
 and judged my distance correctly, but it was all of no 
 avail, for they jumped out of the way the moment they 
 saw the flash of the shot. 
 
 On one occasion I fired at a wildebeeste at a range of 
 400 yards. He was looking straight at me. He whipped 
 round at the shot, and receiving the bullet just above the 
 root of the tail came down with his hind-quarters paralysed. 
 
 W'ith this rifle I found the best way to get wildebeeste 
 was not to fire at them, but to aim on one side of them 
 in the hope that they would jump into the shot, or else 
 to wait until they were walking along broadside on and 
 then fire slightly ahead of them. 
 
86 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 The ranges were long. Three hundred yards was about 
 the shortest, and, indeed, one could only get as near as 
 this by coming over a rise upon them. The commoner 
 ranges were from 400 to 700 yards. 
 
 An express rifle was of no use at these distances, for 
 the ball is too light to overcome the resistance of the 
 atmosphere during a long flight. 
 
 The best weapon I ever used for this work was a 
 Westley Richards capping carbine. I think it was of 
 about 420 bore. Some of these rifles were afterwards 
 constructed with falling breech-locks and solid metal 
 cartridge cases, but I never considered the locks of these 
 breech-loaders equal to the bar action hammer locks of 
 the capping carbines. The triggers generally set up a 
 drag which is fatal to good practice at game. The 
 Martini Henry rifles were open to the same objection. 
 Any sportsman will realize the truth of the saying : 
 "With a sporting rifle, more than half the secret of 
 success lies in the lock". 
 
 The Boer farmers hunted the game continually, not 
 only for profit, but also to keep them off the land, and 
 thus save the grass for sheep and cattle. The hides 
 were loaded up by scores of thousands upon waggons 
 and were sent down to the coast for sale. 
 
 The whole country was white with the bleaching 
 skulls and bones of game, and their complete extermina- 
 tion was only a question of time. 
 
 Constant practice with the rifle made the Boers perfect 
 shots and judges of distance, and they were the best rifle- 
 men in the world, as we learned to our cost when it was 
 our fate to meet them in the day of battle. 
 
 I always found them to be hospitable and kindly, and 
 though they looked upon a foreigner with suspicion, 
 
FLAT GAME AND SMALL GAME. 87 
 
 yet, if you once gained their confidence, they would do 
 all in their power to assist you. 
 
 They are a simple people, without much education. 
 Their pleasure is the chase ; their occupation to look 
 after their sheep and cattle ; and almost their only social 
 gathering is a periodical assembling for Divine worship 
 and taking of the sacrament, for the Boers are always 
 devout. 
 
 Slow to acquire new ideas and modes of thought, they 
 are remarkably tenacious of anything they have once 
 conceived and digested. In this they resemble their 
 ancestors, who crossed the seas rather than submit to 
 religious and political intolerance. 
 
 I am speaking of the old generation of Boer. There 
 are now many excellent educational establishments, so I 
 am told, and the rising generation will no doubt obtain 
 wider knowledge, though whether they will be better 
 men than their fathers remains to be seen. 
 
 At the time I am writing of, the Boer seldom used his 
 pen, and when he did there was a regular commotion in 
 the house. 
 
 " Hush ! Be quiet all of you drive out the ducks and 
 the geese and the pigs and the fowls father is going to 
 write his name." And then the old gentleman, with elbows 
 squared on the table, would seize the pen with a flourish, 
 and putting on a determined look as though he were 
 going to tackle an adversary, would bend down his 
 head till it nearly touched his left arm, write his name 
 with many a splutter, and then throwing down the pen 
 and pushing back the chair, would look round with an 
 air of mingled pride and resignation, saying : " I have 
 done it" . 
 
 The blessbuck is of a chocolate-brown colour on the 
 
88 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 back and flanks, with a white belly and a white face and 
 muzzle, whence he derives his name. Male and female 
 both carry horns. The weight of a good male blessbuck 
 will be perhaps about 200 pounds. 
 
 They run in immense troops, and in many ways 
 behave much as a flock of sheep do. The usual way 
 of hunting them is as follows : You mount your 
 horse, and taking your rifle ride across the veldt 
 until you see a troop scattered about feeding. On 
 perceiving you they will run together into a mass. You 
 approach them from below the wind and take care not 
 to ride straight up to them, but round them, gradually 
 diminishing the distance as you do so. They generally 
 like to run up wind, and as you come round to windward 
 they begin, to fidget. At last the leader of the herd 
 breaks away and canters up wind. He is followed by 
 others until a long column has evolved itself from the 
 mass, but the main body of the mass has not as yet 
 unwound itself into column. You now set your horse 
 going and gallop in at a tangent towards their course. 
 If you approach too close you will break the column, 
 but if you halt and dismount at about 150 or 200 
 yards distance, the remaining blessbuck will continue 
 to follow the leaders, and thus the whole troop will rush 
 past you. You will probably have time to fire several 
 shots if you are quick about it. 
 
 It is pretty work. Crack goes the rifle, the thud of the 
 ball shows that you have hit one, and he goes head over 
 heels like a rabbit. In goes a second cartridge crack 
 again a miss crack again and a crippled blessbuck 
 flounders about in his ineffectual struggles to rise ; and 
 so on until half a dozen of them are lying kicking on 
 the veldt, and the last of the troop are disappearing in a 
 
FLA T GAME AND SMALL GAME. 89 
 
 haze of dust. You spring into the saddle and gallop 
 after them as hard as you can over the next rise and 
 half-way down the gentle slope on the other side. 
 
 You pull up your horse on his haunches and spring 
 to the ground, letting the reins trail (for a shooting horse 
 will not move from the spot if the rein trails), and, as 
 the blessbuck are careering up the next slope, you put 
 in a few more shots at constantly increasing ranges, and 
 bring down one or two more of them. You then 
 signal the cart to drive up and gather the dead. 
 
 Some people will say this is not sport. If it is not 
 sport it requires uncommonly good and quick shooting. 
 Let those who deride such sport try it for once. They 
 will probably find that it takes them about three months 
 of constant practice to get into the knack of killing buck 
 well under these conditions. However, it is all a matter 
 of taste. There are some people who say that shooting 
 driven grouse and partridges is not sport. 
 
 Let me recommend the tyro at this kind of shooting 
 to move his rifle with the game as he fires. I mean, 
 not aim in front of your buck and then check the rifle 
 while you fire, but rather fire on the swing. Do not 
 give the rifle a jerk forward, as you would at a driven 
 bird ; but aim in front of him, moving the rifle steadily 
 the whole time as you aim, increasing the pressure on 
 the trigger until the rifle explodes. You will probably 
 miss a great number, but sometime or other you will 
 knock one over, and then, if rifle shooting is in you at 
 all, you will see the reason why you succeeded the 
 whole thing will become as clear as daylight to you, and 
 you will discover that you have acquired the knack. Ex- 
 perience and knowledge of the particular weapon you are 
 using will enable you to judge the pace, the distance, 
 
9O TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 and consequently, the requisite number of feet ahead of 
 your object that you must fire. You will probably be 
 unconscious of the exact nature of the operation, and 
 will do it instinctively, but correctly, under ever varying 
 conditions. Be most particular about the lock of your 
 weapon, and carefully avoid using military arms with 
 their abominably heavy pulls and grating locks. 
 
 It is very important to have a flush rib. By this I 
 mean, reject any rifle with a deep foresight mounted high 
 on a block ; or a backsight with a deep notch, for the 
 former bothers you in taking it quickly, and the latter 
 is like shooting in blinkers. Have your foresight made 
 as low as possible very much like the foresight on an 
 ordinary shot gun (I prefer a small bead), and have the 
 backsight almost flush, with only a little notch in it, just 
 enough to enable you to see the proper amount of fore- 
 sight as you take aim. 
 
 I found it a very good plan to insert a bone or ivory 
 foresight, and over this to pass a band of leather. Then 
 to cut the leather slightly with a penknife, just allowing 
 the very tip of the foresight to protrude above the band. 
 The eye takes this in an instant as you throw the rifle 
 to the shoulder, and there is no danger in your hurry of 
 taking the sight too full. 
 
 Avoid browning a herd of bucks, even though they 
 are overlapping each other and running in a mass. You 
 will probably miss them all if you attempt it, and even 
 if you hit something you will most likely only wound- 
 It is not only cruel and unsportsmanlike, but it does not 
 add much to the bag. 
 
 For this kind of sport it is essential to have a good 
 sure-footed horse that can get over the country without 
 blundering into holes ; but let me advise any one never 
 
FLAT GAME AND SMALL GAME. 9 1 
 
 to buy a cheap horse from its owner. He may buy a 
 cheap one in market overt if it has been stolen, with such 
 satisfaction as his conscience will allow him, but from its 
 owner never. 
 
 I have bought several cheap horses and several nasty 
 ones, and the cheap ones were always nasty and the 
 nasty ones always cheap. I have bought expensive horses, 
 and some of these were good and very cheap if value for 
 money is the measure of cheapness. 
 
 The cheapest horse I ever bought was a black one 
 with a fiddle head and a lamb-like eye ; but this was all 
 pretence, for his behaviour was as of a dragon. His 
 owner was riding him. " Throw your leg over him and 
 take a canter," said he. I did so. His paces were 
 beautiful. He certainly wasn't a beauty to look at, for 
 he had lost all the hair off his head ; but the owner 
 explained to me that this was an advantage, as it 
 showed that he had recovered from the horse sickness, 
 and was therefore salted. We concluded a bargain. 
 
 Considering him somewhat low in condition, I fed him 
 up for a week. I was charmed by his mild, intelligent eye, 
 and walking round him bestowed a pat on his quarters. 
 
 He instantly kicked me in the stomach. He had be- 
 haved well for a week in order to get me into the proper 
 position for delivering that kick. 
 
 " Poor creature ! he wants exercise," I said to myself, 
 and so next morning I saddled him up and mounted. 
 
 In the first second I was shot up into the air and 
 descended upon the saddle again. In the next second 
 I went up again and descended upon his neck, and on 
 the expiration of the third second I found myself lying 
 on my back on the ground with the horse trying to eat 
 me. I was rescued. 
 
92 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 A friend explained that his back was cold (on buying 
 a horse be sure you ask if his back is always warm), and 
 therefore he was eccentric. So he was walked up and 
 down for a quarter of an hour. 
 
 A contingent of allies came to my aid. One man 
 held up his off fore-leg ; another shaded his near eye 
 (the mildest of the two) with the palm of his hand ; a 
 third held the off stirrup ; a fourth gave me a leg up. 
 I was hoisted into the saddle, and after being led for a 
 couple of hundred yards he went away all right. 
 
 The horse always commenced with this performance 
 and afterwards went well, until he came to some place 
 where he had once been fed, on which he would refuse 
 to proceed farther unless you got off and led him. 
 
 Sometimes he became resentful of opposition to his 
 will, but would bide his time. 
 
 While you were cantering along immersed in thought 
 or admiring the beauties of nature, he would without the 
 least notice (even so much as by twitching an ear) give 
 a furious buck and send you flying. I christened him 
 Satan. More than once have I meditated the loss I 
 should incur by shooting him. I lent him to a clergy- 
 man. My friend returned him with thanks, saying that 
 he preferred walking. I tried to sell him without avail, 
 and at last gave him away. 
 
 Let me recommend a sportsman to use a double-rein 
 bridle. When you jump off it is necessary to let the 
 rein trail on the ground to ensure your horse standing 
 still while you fire. Pulling the rein over his head takes 
 time, and replacing the rein in its proper position before 
 remounting to pursue the game also causes loss of time. 
 
 On starting to gallop into buck I used to throw the 
 olT curb rein over the horse's head, thus bringing both 
 
FLA T GAME AND SMALL GAME. 93 
 
 curb reins on the near side of the neck, and riding him 
 entirely on the snaffle. 
 
 When I halted and jumped off, there was no neces- 
 sity for drawing a rein over the horse's head, because 
 by merely letting fall my curb rein it trailed at once. 
 On remounting to gallop on, I merely gathered up the 
 curb rein in my hand without passing it over his head.. 
 This gain of a few seconds may seem unimportant, but 
 it is not so. It should mean firing at least one round 
 more and perhaps securing an extra buck. 
 
 I have fired from the saddle, but I do not believe in 
 it, more especially after a smart gallop, for in that case 
 the horse is breathing heavily, and the motion disturbs 
 your aim. You will do far better by jumping off. 
 
 In galloping over rough ground on a trained shoot- 
 ing horse, do not interfere with his mouth, but let him 
 find his own way amongst holes and obstacles. Above 
 all, do not sit too tight, for if there is a disaster he may 
 turn over on top of you. It is far safer to be thrown 
 clear of your horse. 
 
 I have shot blessbuck with a cart and four horses, but 
 this mode of shooting has drawbacks, as the sequel will 
 show. 
 
 S , N , and myself took a cart and four horses 
 
 and went out for a sort of shooting picnic. We were 
 returning, and saw a troop of wildebeeste cantering 
 along in a direction diagonal to our own. We told the 
 driver to cut across the veldt and if possible bring us 
 within range. He set his horses going, and we gradu- 
 ally neared a point which the wildebeeste must pass if 
 they continued on their course. However, it was a 
 question whether we could reach the place before the 
 wildebeeste passed and were out of shot. The cart 
 
94 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 swayed and rocked about, for the veldt was covered with 
 stones, ant hills and other obstacles, and we had to hold 
 on to the rail of the cart to avoid being thrown off. The 
 wildebeeste would not swerve from their course, but 
 they quickened their pace, and it became very exciting. 
 We urged our driver to increase his speed, so he laid 
 his whip across the horses, and we literally flew along. 
 Another couple of hundred yards would bring us 
 nicely within range. Our excitement reached its climax, 
 and we were getting our rifles ready for action, when 
 crash we went against an ant hill the axle broke, and 
 we and our rifles were projected into space. I found 
 myself sitting on the ears of the near wheeler; S 
 landed on a particularly hard ant hill, and N 's lan- 
 guage was something superb in its emphasis. 
 
 In a most provoking way, the troop of wildebeeste 
 suddenly pulled up and gazed in astonishment, as 
 though to say : " Dear me, what very eccentric people 
 those are"! but before we could get to work with our 
 rifles they galloped off out of range. 
 
 In shooting blessbuck a good dog is of use ; for he 
 assists in securing the wounded ones. 
 
 A Boer once lent me a very fine dog. He had great 
 speed, and was quick in dodging the horns of a wounded 
 buck. He would seize it by the nose and hang on until 
 you rode up and cut its throat. 
 
 Large dogs are noble creatures, and have a correct 
 sense of sport. I remember a lady once asked me to 
 get her a spring-buck fawn. In the spring-time in certain 
 districts you find the fawns scattered all over the veldt. 
 They squat like hares, but when you are close to them 
 will get up. 
 
 A fawn rose and went away. I set the dog at it, but 
 
FLAT GAME AND SMALL GAME. 95 
 
 the dog did not seem to understand it at first. He 
 looked up at me with a sort of wondering expression, 
 but on my repeating the order, he cantered after the 
 fawn and put both his paws upon it and lay there with- 
 out otherwise hurting it. Now, I had fully expected 
 that I should have to use threatening language to 
 prevent him killing it. 
 
 The spring-buck is a very beautiful little creature. He 
 is very fast, nor do I think there is a greyhound in 
 existence that can run into a healthy unwounded spring- 
 buck. 
 
 I have seen them, when pursued by a greyhound, 
 suddenly pull up and turn round to look at him as 
 though to say : " What funny creature is this trying to 
 run after me?" And then when the dog nears them, 
 suddenly spring away, and in a few bounds, as the saying 
 goes, leave the dog standing. 
 
 The spring-buck sometimes begins jumping, and erect- 
 ing the mane or frill of hair along his spine, in a 
 way that produces a peculiar effect. 
 
 They are more approachable in the evenings than 
 during the daytime, for they get on the feed then and 
 take less notice of the sportsman. They make fine 
 practice for the rifle. 
 
 There are particular times when game will allow them- 
 selves to be approached more readily than at others. 
 When the game are on the feed at sundown, if you get 
 between them and the setting sun they will let you walk 
 up to within a couple of hundred yards. They seem to 
 be dazzled, and cannot make out what you are. There 
 is an element of curiosity in all of the deer and antelope 
 tribes which leads them to wait and see what you are 
 like before they run off. When stalking the nobler 
 
96 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 antelopes in the thorn veldt I have sometimes been seen 
 by them, and have lain perfectly still. If they had not 
 seen enough of me to excite their alarm, they would 
 often remain gazing at me for several minutes. Some- 
 times they have recommenced feeding, and I have con- 
 tinued my stalk and shot one. 
 
 I will conclude this account of the game shooting on 
 the high veldt by recommending the European sports- 
 man to practise himself at judging distance. The air is 
 so very clear and the ground so open that an object 500 
 yards off looks no farther than a similar object would in 
 England at 300 yards. 
 
 Until the sportsman has become a good judge of 
 distance upon this kind of ground, he cannot expect to 
 make satisfactory shooting. I have seen many new 
 comers from England, India and America try their hand 
 at the game, and they have almost invariably been put 
 out of conceit with themselves. The fact is, the Boers 
 are out and out the best game shots in the world with 
 a rifle, and the sooner a new comer condescends to watch 
 them and learn their methods of sport, the sooner he 
 begins to enjoy himself. 
 
 The Boers, although a brave and self-reliant race, are 
 very averse to war, for the reason that war to them 
 means a levee en masse upon the population. They 
 have to take their waggons and sometimes their families 
 with them on the war-path. In any case it means that 
 three-fourths of the able-bodied male population have 
 to take the field, thus only leaving a very few to look 
 after the families and the sheep and cattle. 
 
 No Boer, therefore, will gratuitously provoke or enter 
 upon war unless he is absolutely compelled to. Their 
 whole national history is one unceasing record of 
 
FLAT GAME AND SMALL GAME. 97 
 
 struggles with ferocious savage nations or with us. 
 They have always exhibited singular courage and 
 tenacity, and have in small handfuls, when only armed 
 with obsolete muzzle-loading rifles, achieved more bril- 
 liant successes than we have with trained troops, artil- 
 lery, breech-loaders and machine guns. 
 
 They have this in their favour, viz., they understand the 
 nature of the country and the tactics of their enemies, 
 and are individually fine shots and good horsemen. 
 They have a firm belief in the ever presence of the 
 Supreme Being and His control over all events ; and, 
 therefore, they enter upon heavy risks with a calmness 
 which is neither founded upon conceit or consciousness 
 of brute courage. 
 
 In warfare they carefully avoid exposing themselves, 
 and take every advantage of cover, unless it becomes 
 absolutely necessary to storm. In that case, Boers have, 
 when called upon, displayed as much daring as any 
 men. 
 
 Their usual method of warfare is to make full use of 
 horse as well as of rifle. Their great mobility gives them 
 the option of giving or refusing action. In this country 
 men can ride about anywhere. The Boers generally 
 choose favourable ground for attacking. They extend 
 far out of rifle range and surround their foes, then gallop 
 into rifle range, dismount, and leave their horses behind 
 a ridge if possible, creep up and put in a concentric fire 
 under which infantry and guns are helpless. Cavalry 
 can do nothing with them, for they will not wait to be 
 charged, but are quite willing to engage and destroy 
 cavalry by a Parthian mode of warfare. 
 
 Colonial troops raised from Africanders are the only 
 men who could do anything effectual against the Boers. 
 
 7 
 
98 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 They have a sort of rough-and-ready organisation 
 under their field-cornets and commandants, and they 
 have the courage that all men possess when they are 
 fighting for their wives, their families, their land, their 
 all. They never do fight excepting for the gravest 
 reasons. 
 
 In truth, the Boers are very much pleasanter to meet 
 as friends than as enemies. 
 
 They have an objection to Englishmen, not so much 
 individually as nationally, for, rightly or wrongly, they 
 charge us with having constantly persecuted them and 
 misjudged them ; with having on more than one occasion 
 deliberately broken solemn treaties, and made their 
 interests the shuttlecock of our policy. Notwithstanding 
 this, they are kindly in their behaviour towards those 
 Englishmen whom they know and understand ; but there 
 is a deeply-rooted anti-English Government feeling which 
 will prevent any coalition of all the South African States 
 under the real rule of the English flag. 
 
 The Boers, animated by Africanderism (i.e., a senti- 
 ment for the land of their birth), will, I have no doubt, 
 confederate with the other South African States ; but 
 Downing Street will have to keep its finger out of the 
 pie, or no Boer will consent to approach it. 
 
 There is a real national feeling as Africanders. The 
 people are unselfish, and will therefore value the welfare 
 of the State above the success of any particular fads they 
 may hold. Their Parliaments will probably be delibera- 
 tive assemblies, and not mere concourses of d elegates, 
 and public affairs will be conducted with more honesty 
 and dignity than at present they are in England. 
 
 There will be little or no scope for the demagogue. 
 In fact, there is every reason to believe that representa- 
 
FLAT GAME AND SMALL GAME. 99 
 
 tive government in South Africa will be as great a 
 success as in Britain it now threatens to be a failure. 
 There are no class jealousies, there is no desire to tamper 
 with property, or to attack the interests of any section of 
 the community, and traitors who attempted to flagrantly 
 mislead their countrymen would have a hard time of it, 
 though they need not fear being lynched, for Africanders 
 as a rule are very good-tempered. 
 
 If any country deserves the appellation of the garden 
 of the world, surely it is Natal. For there, in a tract not 
 larger than Scotland, exists a variety of scenes, tempera- 
 tures and products unequalled elsewhere on the face of 
 the globe. 
 
 On the coast Nature gives with tropical profusion ; yet 
 there are none of the drawbacks usually obtaining in 
 warm countries, and at midsummer the heat is not 
 oppressive. 
 
 The upper tracts are a fine grazing country. Sheep 
 and cattle thrive all the year round, and the soil yields 
 to cultivation almost anything that can be obtained in 
 Europe. 
 
 Does a man desire beautiful wooded scenery, let 
 him ride from Durban to Verulam, or from the 
 Noodsberg through the Tongaat to Verulam, and I 
 answer for it he will be satisfied. Does he wish for open 
 plains or for views of mountain ranges, let him go to the 
 Newcastle district, and he will obtain both within sight 
 of the Drakensberg Range. 
 
 Does he wish for an even temperature all the year 
 round, let him shift his quarters from Durban to New- 
 castle with the changes of the season. 
 
 In this delightful country, neither heat nor cold op- 
 presses. The air is dry and clear. Fever and liver 
 
IOO TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 complaints are almost unknown, and people with diseased 
 lungs obtain a new lease of life. 
 
 Were Natal to be cut adrift from the rest of the world 
 she would hardly feel the loss, for she contains within 
 her own borders everything that can be desired, includ- 
 ing minerals. 
 
 To any man weary of the turmoil of existence and 
 desiring to pass the rest of his days in health and tran- 
 quillity, I would say : " Dulce est desipere in Natal". He 
 will do it as comfortably on 600 a year as he would 
 elsewhere on ^"2000. 
 
 A large Caffre population exists. They are a most 
 interesting people. Brave, honest, courteous and 
 kindly, with plenty of fun and character. 
 
 Their instincts are opposed to sustained labour. They 
 go out to work for six months or thereabouts and then 
 return to their kraals. 
 
 Thanks to the influence of that remarkable family, 
 the Shepstones, they have been ruled with singular 
 wisdom and common-sense. The success of native 
 policy in Natal is a tribute to the practical ability of the 
 Anglo-Saxon race. 
 
 Had we been Americans we should probably have 
 started with some beautiful theories about the progress of 
 the human race have told the Caffres that they were 
 men and brothers have given them the electoral fran- 
 chise have improved them in a hurry, destroyed their 
 tribal institutions, rooted up their customs and vested 
 interests, and, generally speaking, turned them topsy- 
 turvy have presented them each with a copy of the 
 New Testament in Zulu (without marginal exposition), 
 a tall hat, a pair of boots and a Gladstonian collar have 
 robbed them of their land have thrown open (in de- 
 
FLAT GAME AND SMALL GAME. IOI 
 
 ference to the dignity of man) the trade in spirits and 
 firearms and have finally exterminated them. 
 
 But the Natal Government have carefully steered 
 clear of faddism. They have refused to destroy the 
 old native institutions before the people were ready to 
 adopt new modes of life and thought. They respected 
 all that the natives valued, in so far as it was not con- 
 trary to the spirit of right and justice. They left them 
 under their existing tribal organisation ; conscientiously 
 put aside large reservations of land for them ; governed 
 them through their chiefs, and refused to allow them 
 to be demoralised by the sale of spirits or firearms. 
 
 All this time they accustomed them to labour by 
 imposing mild taxation which compelled them to go out 
 and work a little ; they took off the rough edge of the 
 native marriage institutions by limiting the amount of 
 dowry to be paid for a wife ; they gave facilities for 
 acquisition of land in freehold by such natives as 
 wished to become emancipated from tribal customs, 
 and they countenanced the missionary and schoolmaster 
 in their efforts to give light, and thus mitigate the 
 inevitable deterioration which ensues when savages are 
 brought into contact with civilisation. 
 
 It is a great work. It has been wisely conducted, and 
 the next generation will reap the harvest thus sown in a 
 degree which we can hardly at present appreciate. 
 
 The sympathies and feelings of the people are essen- 
 tially English ; nor have they as yet developed the senti- 
 ment of Africanderism to the same degree as have the 
 peoples of the great republics of the interior. But with- 
 out imputing to them disloyalty to the land of their 
 origin, it is evident that, sooner or later, like all other 
 colonists, they will naturally become children of their 
 
IO2 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 adopted land. The sooner this comes about, the nearer 
 are the prospects of obliteration of race jealousies, and 
 of confederation throughout South Africa. 
 
 There is a considerable Dutch element in Natal, and 
 it includes some of the most intelligent and influential 
 members of the community. 
 
 The general level of education, respectability and fit- 
 ness for conducting government is very much above 
 anything which exists in Europe. 
 
 Hospitality is the rule of the country, and the social 
 relations all round are very kindly. By this I do not 
 mean that the state of affairs approximates in any way 
 to the offensive American, "Good morning, stranger ; I'm 
 as good as you are and a d d sight better," style, but 
 that a mutual civility is observed towards each other by 
 all classes of society, and neither snobbish arrogance on 
 one side, or, on the other, servility flying at times to the 
 opposite extreme of bumptious Radical impertinence, 
 disfigure the relations between man and man as they so 
 painfully do in Britain. The people of Natal are a 
 courteous and sensible democracy. They are polite to 
 all, but they eschew tuft hunting. May they continue 
 to run on the same lines ! 
 
 At one time Natal afforded excellent mixed shooting, 
 such as I have never seen elsewhere. There was a 
 great variety of birds and ground game, and the sports- 
 man had to carry cartridges loaded with different sizes 
 of shot. For snipe partridges and hares No. 6 shot ; for 
 certain kinds of antelope which squat like hares and rise 
 before the gun, viz., oribi, duiker, and stein-buck, buck- 
 shot, about thirty to the ounce, were the best projectiles ; 
 and for reed-buck, rooi-rheebuck, and bush-buck I used 
 loupers about twelve to the ounce. 
 
FLAT GAME AND SMALL GAME. 1 03 
 
 There are also paauw (the large bustard) which is 
 generally shot with the rifle, and koran (a smaller bird 
 of the bustard tribe) which rises before your gun and is 
 killed with shot. 
 
 There are two kinds of partridge the red-wing and 
 the grey-wing. 
 
 The red-wing is considerably larger than the English 
 partridge, and derives its name from the colour of the 
 inside of its wings being of a reddish brown. They are 
 shot over pointers. They are a fine strong bird, and 
 get up in a very game way with a great whirring, gener- 
 ally giving their call as they do so. I have seen a covey 
 of young birds rise with such a bustle that they shook 
 the feathers out of themselves, leaving their down float- 
 ing about in a way suggestive of a family shot that had 
 mauled the whole covey. 
 
 A day's shooting at red-wing over good pointers is (bar 
 surroundings) as good fun as a day at grouse or par- 
 tridge. They are not numerous, however, and a man 
 must be content with a bag of from six to ten brace, 
 and even then must work hard and cut down nearly 
 everything he fires at. Were the vermin destroyed, and 
 the burning of grass during the breeding season avoided, 
 I have no doubt they could be preserved in considerable 
 numbers. 
 
 The beauty of sport in Natal, however, consists in the 
 variety of the game. 
 
 You start out on horseback with your gun and a couple 
 of pointers. You range the grassy ridges for partridges. 
 Your dogs draw up and stand. You jump off your horse 
 and walk up. A covey rises. You grass a brace of them. 
 
 Farther on the dogs begin drawing again in some 
 oldish grass, and carry their heads suspiciously high and 
 
IO4 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 their sterns low. " Toho ! steady!" it looks like buck 
 by the way the dogs elevate their heads. You jump off 
 and insert buckshot cartridges instead of small shot. 
 " Hold up, good dog ! " and as you advance up jumps an 
 oribi, the most graceful of the antelope tribe. He moves 
 more lightly over the ground than any hare. His mode 
 of progression is by a couple of skips and then a bound 
 in the air. You aim at the back of his head and bowl 
 him over. He is of a red colour, with little straight horns, 
 and weighs perhaps forty or fifty pounds. 
 
 You then come to a narrow vley or valley along 
 which runs a small burn fringed with long reeds and 
 coarse grass. Reed-buck or duiker may be expected 
 here. The duiker is a small blue-coloured buck, which 
 has no particular grace of movement, but he is a tough 
 fellow and will carry away a lot of shot. 
 
 Presently you approach a likely looking spot ; there is 
 broom and bracken mingled with reeds and long grass. 
 " Hallo, the liver dog is drawing again. Steady ! " It 
 looks like reed-buck, so you dismount and change your 
 buckshot for charges of loupers. The dogs are very stiff 
 but carry their heads right up. There is a crash in cover, 
 as with a shrill, sharp whistle two beautiful reed-buck, 
 looking as big as donkeys, rush out, and with fairy-like 
 bounds go leaping up the slope of the valley, twitching 
 their large white tails, or rather scuts, as they do so. 
 Bang bang down come the pair of them. The buck 
 is still struggling and kicking. " A fine fellow ! He 
 must weigh 180 pounds. Bring up the shooting pony, 
 gralloch them, and strap them on." 
 
 You now come to a marsh. Scape, scape ! up gets a 
 snipe, and down he comes to your shot. You walk the 
 marsh and get a few couple of them. 
 
FLAT GAME AND SMALL GAME. 105 
 
 Thus the day wears on, with occasional shots few and 
 far between, but the fun lies mostly in the complete lot- 
 tery as to what kind of game is going to rise before you. 
 
 On your way back in the afternoon you hear the 
 screaming of a koran. You walk up to the spot and 
 putting him up, shoot him. He is a fine bird, as big as 
 a blackcock. 
 
 As you near home you have to pass through an old 
 mealie field, and walk up it shooting several quail. The 
 chances are you will on that evening confess that you 
 have had a very enjoyable day's shooting. 
 
 The Vaal rheebuck are of a bluish colour, and as a 
 rule do not squat -but run about the stony hills. They 
 are difficult to approach, and should be shot with a 
 rifle. There is also a curious little wiry-haired antelope 
 called a klipspringer, which lives amongst the stones. 
 
 I have given a sample of a day's sport up country, 
 where the ground is open. Down on the coast there is 
 sport of a different kind, for in the bush you have to 
 use an army of beaters to drive the game up to the guns. 
 The bush-buck (or inkonka) is a fine fellow, weighing as 
 much as a heavy sheep. He is of a dark colour, and 
 has bayonet-shaped horns which you must beware of if 
 he is wounded. The female (called imbabala) is of a 
 redder colour. There is a tiny blue buck (called pite), 
 about the size of a hare. 
 
 Wild pigs also form a feature in a bush drive. I 
 remember on one occasion when shooting at an estate 
 on the coast, we had a large number of beaters out. 
 Owing to jealousies we deemed it advisable to keep our 
 Natal Caffres separate from the Amatonga, so they were 
 divided into two bands. 
 
 We had a very successful drive, and shot a lot of wild 
 
IO6 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 pigs and antelope which we did not want, and therefore 
 determined to give to the beaters. 
 
 The pigs and buck were all gathered together into a 
 heap, and we summoned the beaters in order to make a 
 fair division. 
 
 However, one of the Tongas thought he would have 
 his share in good time before the others, so stepping 
 forward he took a pig by the hind foot and began to 
 drag it away. In a moment a Natal Caffre hit him on 
 the head with a knobkerry and sent him head over heels. 
 Everybody made a rush forward in the hopes of getting 
 hold of a pig for his own side, and before you could say 
 Jack Robinson there was a transformation scene in which 
 the hunting party resolved itself into a war party. 
 
 It would require the pen of a Homer to describe what 
 occurred. The siege of Troy and the battle of Chevy 
 Chase weren't in it with the battle of the swine. Fiercely 
 raged the tide of war over the corpses of the defunct 
 porkers. Sticks rattled upon thick skulls, and blood and 
 wool flew about freely, until the Amatongas were defeated 
 and the Natal Caffres appropriated the spolia opima. 
 
 The CafTre is a good fellow, but like the Irishman he 
 thoroughly enjoys an occasional riot. 
 
 What struck me most in this incident was that though 
 the natives were all armed with assegais, not a man 
 resorted to the use of any weapon but a stick ; and ten 
 minutes after the row was over all animosity was for- 
 gotten, for Tongas and Natal Caffres stood peaceably 
 side by side while one of our party acted as an assessor 
 in division of the spoils. 
 
 Before concluding this narration of small game shoot- 
 ing, I must give an account of a porcupine hunt in which 
 I took part. 
 
FLAT GAME AND SMALL GAME. IO/ 
 
 I was staying at an up-country farm. My host in- 
 formed me that the Caffres had marked down some 
 porcupines in an earth not more than ten minutes' walk 
 from the house, and he proposed that after dinner we 
 should go out with lanterns and assist in killing them. 
 I was only too glad of the opportunity, never having 
 seen this kind of sport before. We set off armed with 
 pitchforks. The Caffres took their assegais and were 
 accompanied by dogs accustomed to porcupine hunt- 
 ing. 
 
 On arriving at the earths the dogs at once took up 
 the tracks of the porcupines, and rushed away into the 
 darkness at full cry. We followed as fast as we could. 
 We soon heard them giving tongue in a potato patch, 
 and made our way there with all speed. There was a 
 young moon, but the light was so indistinct that objects 
 were not clearly visible. 
 
 There was a noise of barking and worrying, varied by 
 an occasional yelp from one of the dogs. 
 
 As we approached I saw the dogs jumping about and 
 heard the grunting note of a porcupine and the silvery 
 rattle of his quills as he shook them and rushed about 
 amidst the dogs, but which was dog and which was 
 porcupine I couldn't exactly make out. 
 
 Some of the Caffres had already arrived, and were 
 delivering thrusts with assegais and blows with sticks 
 here and there in the midst of the m'etie. < . j 
 
 Being anxious to distinguish myself, I dashed in 
 flourishing my pitchfork with a sort of do or die air, but 
 sprang back again in a hurry, as the porcupine made 
 a rush in the direction of my legs. 
 
 I caught a glimpse of him, at least, I thought I did, 
 and so did we all, and we went for him. Coming to 
 
1O8 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 the low guard, I delivered an energetic point with the 
 pitchfork, and transfixed, not the quarry, but a Caffre 
 stable-boy through the calf of the leg. His howls were 
 at once added to the Babel of sounds (I had to give him 
 half-a-sovereign afterwards). Finally the porcupine was 
 killed. 
 
 The jowls of the dogs were full of porcupine bristles, 
 a fact which testified to their having done their duty 
 better on this occasion than I did. 
 
 In a series of brief sketches like this it is very difficult 
 to give the reader an adequate idea of a country and its 
 people. To appreciate South Africa a man should visit 
 it and travel about. Those who do so will never regret 
 the time thus employed, and if they do not both enjoy 
 themselves and also learn something it will be their 
 own fault, and not that of the pleasantest country on 
 the face of the earth. 
 

 CHAPTER VI. 
 THE STORMING OF SECOCOENI'S. 
 
 SECOCOENI, king or head chief of all the Basuto nations 
 to the north-east of the Transvaal, had no particular 
 grievances. He was not taxed. His land was not en- 
 croached upon. He dwelt in his fastnesses, untroubled 
 by missionary or trader. Neither rum nor Bibles were 
 causes of irritation to him. Being uncivilised, the 
 Foreign Office was unable to communicate with him 
 officially, and therefore could not possibly get up a strife 
 with him by the usual methods, i.e., diplomatic represen- 
 tations, circular notes, etc., etc. How then did it come 
 to pass that we went to war with him ? 
 
 It is a simple story. The diamond fields were opened. 
 Native labour was required. The Basutos flocked in 
 thousands to Kimberley. Each Basuto worked until he 
 had acquired enough money to buy a musket and powder 
 and ball, and then, having armed himself, went home. 
 Secocoeni's bosom became inflated with a sense of power. 
 What is the use of weapons unless you can use them 
 upon somebody? His martial ardour was aroused, and 
 he began to fancy himself a sort of little Napoleon. The 
 Boers of the Lydenburg district had much cattle, and 
 they were within easy reach of Secocoeni. Cattle are 
 to be desired. Secocoeni therefore blew his war-horn 
 and raided the cattle. The Boers declared war and sent 
 
 an expedition against him which failed to reduce him 
 
 (109) 
 
I IO TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 to submission. We annexed the Transvaal, and having 
 undertaken to protect the people, found ourselves at war 
 with Secocoeni. 
 
 We were a very mixed array a sort of army com- 
 posed of samples. There were two battalions of British 
 infantry, several corps of Colonial Horse, two guns, and 
 several native contingents wild and tame. By a wild 
 contingent I mean natives whose uniform consists of a 
 piece of leather about the size of a decent pocket hand- 
 kerchief, and a feather stuck in the head, and whose 
 armament is an assegai with perhaps a flint-lock musket 
 in addition. They are purely amateurs, and come for 
 plunder. By a tame contingent, I mean semi-civilised 
 natives, probably clothed and armed with muzzle-loading 
 capping arms, and perhaps also drawing pay from 
 Government. 
 
 Their organisation consists in being counted and then 
 told off into a certain number of mobs, who are requested 
 to keep together, and to draw ammunition and rations 
 through the agency of some one leading native who repre- 
 sents his mob, and by courtesy is supposed to command 
 them. 
 
 They play a very important part. Their numbers are 
 imposing ; but the moral effect of their presence is still 
 greater, for 1000 of them when on the march make 
 so much noise that you feel as if they were 40,000. 
 They draw as much beef rations and as much powder 
 and lead as they can possibly get out of Govern- 
 ment. The rations they eat, and the powder and lead 
 they carry away with them on their returning home 
 covered with glory. 
 
 They are instructed to march with the muzzles of 
 their weapons pointed up in the air, for the reason that 
 
THE STORMING OF SECOCOENI'S. I 1 1 
 
 they are perpetually letting them off by accident ; and 
 this is inconvenient when a number of men are crowded 
 on a narrow path in column of route. 
 
 The wild contingents screw up their courage by war 
 dances, and are, therefore, more to be relied upon than 
 their tame congeners. 
 
 The tactics of native allies are as follows : 
 
 1. To keep out of action if they possibly can. 
 
 2. To collect cattle and plunder if there is a victory. 
 
 3. To get a good start before anybody else if there is 
 a defeat. 
 
 4. On hearing the whistle of a hostile bullet to all 
 throw themselves down, and commence firing in the air 
 with the object of intimidating the enemy and preventing 
 their nearer approach. 
 
 5. To advance in the direction of the rear with 
 unanimity and celerity at each favourable opportunity. 
 
 As a rule the tame contingents are more skilful at the 
 last-mentioned manoeuvre than are the wild ones, for 
 they generally get a minute or two clear start of the 
 wild ones if there is a homeward movement to be 
 executed. 
 
 The Colonial Horse are a useful body of men for this 
 kind of warfare (more especially the Afrikander element 
 amongst them). As a rule, good horsemen, good shots 
 and individually brave, they fight well under leaders 
 whom they trust. Given plenty of ammunition, a free 
 hand and not too much liquor, they make it unpleasant 
 for the enemy. Their courage and patriotism are stimu- 
 lated by the prospect of capturing the enemy's cattle 
 and thus earning prize-money. 
 
 The principal function of artillery in this kind of war- 
 fare is to stick fast in every mud-hole, and to be the 
 
I 12 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 chief incumbrance. It has a moral effect upon the 
 enemy until they have discovered that it only makes a 
 noise and does no harm. 
 
 The British infantry brave, steady, obedient, whether 
 they trust their leaders or no, whether victory or defeat 
 be their lot, are the backbone of the army. As regards 
 actual hostilities in this sort of warfare, they seem as 
 much out of place as a convocation of bishops would be 
 on the stage of a London music-hall. If there was a 
 disaster we know they would stand, and thus give us a 
 chance of rallying upon them. The thought gives us 
 comfort. 
 
 They are dressed in a conspicuous uniform, and have 
 from time immemorial been subjected to the varying 
 caprices of persons with a mania for tailoring. Their 
 helmets are so shaped that they cannot lie down to 
 fire a shot without the helmet tipping over upon the 
 nose and spoiling the aim. Their rifles are not adapted 
 to them in length or bend of stock, and are sighted by 
 contract. The pull of the triggers is so hard as to make 
 good shooting under exciting circumstances well nigh 
 impossible. The majority of the locks are out of order, 
 i.e., if you nurse them you will find in most cases a 
 perceptible drag on the trigger before the lock is released ; 
 but that matters not at each inspection of arms the 
 barrels are peeped into, and if they are bright the arm is 
 deemed serviceable. 
 
 Notwithstanding these drawbacks, the British soldier 
 has generally managed to make a good fight of it when 
 called upon to do so. 
 
 We were commanded by Sir Garnet (now Lord) 
 Wolseley. Our object was to conquer Secocoeni, the 
 head chief of the Basutos. He dwelt in terrible fast- 
 
THE STORMING OF SECOCOENTS. I I 3 
 
 nesses, and two expeditions had already been foiled in 
 their operations against him ; but we had confidence in 
 our commander, for he had done all things well that 
 were ever committed to him, and we had a sort of feeling 
 that he would do this business well also. He was just 
 the kind of leader that colonists like. He was not 
 
 A leader over-skilled with warlike lore, 
 Crammed full of Aldershot and nothing more ; 
 
 but he knew how to adapt himself to the varying con- 
 ditions of varying kinds of warfare. He was not above 
 taking the advice of the colonial leaders. In his des- 
 patches he did justice to all men who served under him. 
 Where he ruled, there were no aggravating orders and 
 countermanding of orders when the book came round. 
 We felt that he knew what he was about himself, and 
 accordingly we too felt confident that all would go well, 
 or that, at the very least, our energies would not be mis- 
 directed. 
 
 Our column was to advance from Fort Weeber. 
 Another column, commanded by Colonel Bushman, was 
 to advance from Leydenburg. It consisted of a company 
 or two of infantry and 7000 Amaswazi warriors, under 
 Captain Norman McLeod, of Dunveggan. 
 
 These formidable warriors totally differed from our 
 other native allies. They were of Zulu race, though 
 they had never submitted to the power of the Zulu 
 king. They disdained firearms and trusted to the use 
 of cold steel, and their animosity towards Secocoeni was 
 increased by the fact that some years previously one of 
 their regiments had been surrounded and annihilated by 
 the Basutos. They were armed with shield and spear. 
 
 Let not the reader imagine for one moment that I 
 underrate hand-to-hand weapons. On the contrary, 
 
 8 
 
1 14 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 it appears to me that improvements in small arms, 
 artillery, and machine guns have led us to dangerously 
 underestimate the value of the hand-to-hand weapon as 
 a factor in warfare. Experience in South Africa and 
 the Soudan will have been wasted unless it has incul- 
 cated one great lesson, viz., that a brave enemy armed 
 with cold steel and the impetuous courage that is fostered 
 by having to rely on that alone, can compel the best 
 troops to go into formation to resist their onrush, and 
 that had the Zulus or Arabs only had the sense not to 
 rush at our formations, but to surround them and pour 
 in a concentric musketry fire we should have met with 
 terrible disasters. 
 
 The excessive penetration and flatness of trajectory 
 of modern weapons would be a positive disadvantage 
 if a brave enemy well armed with hand-to-hand weapons 
 managed to get in amongst us. Say, for instance, that 
 a quarter of an hour before daybreak a division of the 
 enemy, thus armed, managed to interpose themselves 
 between two bodies of our own troops. All they would 
 have to do would be to lie down and let us exterminate 
 ourselves by a cross fire. History repeats itself, and the 
 sword and spear are not dead. 
 
 McLeod brought the Amaswazi up from Swazi- 
 land no light task, for an Amaswazi army has no 
 commissariat. They rely upon Providence and the 
 enemy for provisions. Until they meet the enemy they 
 are always hungry, and like hungry men are always more 
 or less unmanageable. If you do not believe it, ask 
 the wives of hungry men. Under McLeod's leadership 
 they marched through Leydenburg without sacking 
 the town, a thing which reflects high credit upon their 
 commander. 
 
THE STORMING OF SECOCOENI'S. 1 15 
 
 Both these columns were to meet at Secocoeni's town. 
 Ours was to attack it from the front, and Bushman's 
 from the rear. 
 
 The town itself was built along the slope of a range 
 of precipitous rocky hills, in which were numerous caves. 
 The enemy, if driven out of the town, would take refuge 
 in the caves, from which they would open fire upon the 
 invaders. 
 
 In the plain before the town was a small hill, full of 
 caves and breastworks of stone. It was a sort of out- 
 work in advance of the main position. It was called the 
 fighting kopje. No one could advance to attack the 
 town without being exposed to fire from the fighting 
 kopje ; and it therefore became necessary to mask the 
 fighting kopje by surrounding it and keeping up a fire 
 upon it with a portion of the force, while the remainder 
 of the force attacked and burnt the town. The Amas- 
 wazi were to mount the range of hills from the other 
 side, and driving the Basutos from their cover on the 
 summit, were to descend the face of the hills and take 
 the town in reverse. After the capture of the town the 
 fighting kopje would have to be stormed, and then the 
 whole thing would be over. 
 
 I will pass over the events which transpired on our 
 advance towards Secocoeni's. Suffice it to say that our 
 advanced guard, without waiting for the arrival of the 
 main body, attacked and burnt a native town which lay 
 to the right of our line of advance, and might have 
 threatened our communications had we passed it and 
 left it undestroyed. 
 
 After the affair was over we assembled the captives 
 in the plain. They were chiefly women and children. 
 A painful incident impressed itself upon my memory. 
 
1 1 6 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 Caffre women carry young children upon their backs. 
 The children hang round their necks and pass their 
 legs round on each side of their mother's body. 
 
 There was a poor woman with a little thing of perhaps 
 two years of age upon her back. During the fight it 
 was impossible always to distinguish men from women ; 
 indeed, the Basutos, knowing our aversion to fire in the 
 direction of women, used sometimes to take advantage 
 of it by placing their women behind them. 
 
 The child I mentioned was a pretty little thing with 
 large dark eyes like a mouse, and I was horrified to see 
 that it had received a bullet through the thigh, though, 
 fortunately, the bone was not broken. It did not seem 
 to feel much pain, for it stared carelessly round, and 
 from time to time would touch the dreadful wound with 
 its finger. But the tears of the poor mother were pain- 
 ful to behold. May I never see such another sight ! 
 Heaven forgive us for the violence we do each other ! 
 
 Trooper W , a man difficult to manage on pay day 
 when there was a canteen within five miles, but a lion in 
 the field, with his horny fist rubbed away something 
 which appeared to have got into his eye, and, without 
 even using a single expletive, handed his water-bottle 
 containing aqua pura qualified with commissariat rum 
 to the poor woman, saying as he did so : " Here, take a 
 sup of this". 
 
 It was meant kindly. Honest W , my heart went 
 
 out to you ; and if I could have got access to the ad- 
 jutant's escritoire at that moment, numerous entries of 
 drunk and disorderly, resisting the guard, breaking 
 out of barracks, etc., etc., would have been erased from a 
 certain defaulter's sheet. 
 
 I went about a hundred yards away from the main 
 
THE STORMING OF SECOCOENTS. \\J 
 
 body, and lay down under a bush to avoid the rays of 
 the sun. One of the enemy's riflemen made an uncom- 
 monly good shot from a distance of at least eight 
 hundred yards. The bullet whizzed close to my cheek 
 and cut up the dust behind me. It became apparent 
 that safety lay in proximity to the main body, for as 
 they were guarding a crowd of captives, the enemy were 
 afraid to fire upon them lest they should kill their own 
 people, so I rejoined the crowd again without delay. 
 
 We shot a number of the enemy in this fight. Our 
 commandant, who led the advanced guard, accepted a 
 somewhat heavy responsibility in attacking this position 
 without support, for it was within a short distance of 
 Secocoeni's town where the main body of the enemy 
 were concentrated, and it was easy for the enemy to 
 obtain large reinforcements, which in such broken ground 
 would have overwhelmed us. 
 
 Indeed, before the fight was concluded reinforcements 
 began to come up by a mountain path, but so quick had 
 been the movements of our commandant that the whole 
 thing was over before the enemy's reinforcements could 
 get into action, and they arrived just in time to see 
 columns of smoke rising from the burning villages in 
 the great valley like steam from a cauldron. The enemy 
 fought well, particularly a chief with a white shield whom 
 Grant shot. Unfortunately, after the affair was over, our 
 sergeant-major saw a kaross lying in the mouth of a 
 cave, and, being desirous of obtaining it, he stooped down 
 to seize it and drag it out. He was shot dead in the act 
 by a Basuto concealed within the cave. 
 
 I was informed that a party of engineers went up 
 there and discovered another small outlet to the cave, 
 into which they dropped a heavy charge of gun-cotton, 
 
I 1 8 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 and that the explosion blew a dog and a lot of skins out 
 of the main entrance of the cave. If so, the people 
 within must all have perished. 
 
 To revert. The reader may consider the use of gun- 
 cotton to be inhuman. If the reader had possessed 
 cattle and these cattle had been stolen by the Basutos ; 
 if he had attacked the Basutos and had been peppered 
 by them from behind rocks and breastworks, and when 
 he had carried the position found that they had run to 
 earth I think the reader would have said : " By all 
 means bring a few waggon-loads of gun-cotton, melinite, 
 ecrasite, bellite, dynamite and concentrated essence of 
 hell-fire stuff it into the holes set a light to it, and 
 blow them all to blazes ! " 
 
 It is one thing to sit in an easy-chair and lay down 
 the law as to what you think ought or ought not to be 
 done in warfare, and quite another thing to have to 
 suffer and be still. War really means driving your 
 enemy on his knees for mercy, and it is no use pretend- 
 ing that it is anything else. 
 
 If cant is to rule the roast, then let the nations of 
 Europe interdict shells, torpedoes, and mines. 
 
 To resume. We arrived before Secocoeni's town. Bush- 
 man's column never actually effected a junction with 
 ours, for it was some miles away on the other side of the 
 hills. The general, however, rode round and interviewed 
 Colonel Bushman, to concert with him measures for a 
 simultaneous attack upon the enemy from both sides of 
 the position. I commanded the general's escort on this 
 occasion. I met Campbell, of Shipka Pass fame, a fine 
 fellow, of magnificent physique. He was one of McLeod's 
 officers in charge of the Amaswazi. He was in high 
 spirits at the prospect of fighting, and asked me if I 
 
THE STORMING OF SECOCOENI'S. 1 19 
 
 would have a drink ready for him at our camp when the 
 affair was all over. I laughingly assented, but I little 
 knew that already the shadow of death hung over the 
 poor fellow. He was killed in the assault next morning. 
 
 On the eve of a great engagement there is no man 
 for whom I have greater sympathy than for the general. 
 Upon his shoulders lies the responsibility for the success 
 of the whole affair. Any man can fight unless he be an 
 abject cur, and, putting aside the risk to his personality, 
 can fully enjoy the scene as he would a drama enacted 
 before him ; but the general carries a heavy load, atra 
 cur a post sedet Imperatorem and he needs not only im- 
 plicit obedience to his orders, but also heartfelt loyalty 
 and support from every officer and man who serves 
 under him. 
 
 My idea of the spirit that should animate an army is 
 that they should keenly sympathise with their general 
 in the heavy strain he has to endure, not only as repre- 
 senting their sovereign and country, but also as a man. 
 Should he make an error of judgment, let the soldier 
 be silent and sympathetic. Should the army be defeated, 
 let the soldier die fighting valiantly in the rear-guard ; 
 but let no thought of reproach or mistrust be directed 
 towards his chief. Let his general's fame be to him as 
 that of his own father, and I warrant he will be a good 
 and faithful soldier. 
 
 Let this feeling be the normal one towards all in com- 
 mand, but more especially towards those who display a 
 regard for the welfare and comfort of those who serve 
 under them. In speaking of responsibility, I must re- 
 mind the reader that there are two distinct kinds of 
 responsibility the one for all operations which take place 
 under immediate control of the commander, and the 
 
I 2O TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 other for those operations which have been delegated, 
 and for the proper execution of which the chief com- 
 mander has no other guarantee than faith in the ability 
 of his subordinate to carry out instructions in general, 
 and to skilfully meet any unforeseen exigencies which 
 may arise. The latter class of responsibilities are by far 
 the most wearing. Therefore, as he trots past you, let 
 your loyalty go out to him from a full heart, yes, from 
 all you who shoulder a musket. He has not time and 
 opportunity to nod to each of you ; but he bears the 
 heaviest part of the burden of all of you, and if he be a 
 brave and good soldier, as he generally is, he cares for 
 all of you. His life to him is nothing. He is the living 
 embodiment of your collective hopes and wishes, and he 
 has no desire save your welfare, and no hope but to lead 
 you to victory. God save the general means God save 
 the Queen God save my dear country God save me. 
 
 True, he has his rewards, and certainly he deserves 
 them ; but the prospect of reward does not influence him. 
 The greatest, the best, and the bravest are ever the 
 simplest in that respect. 
 
 The evening before the assault we were speculating 
 as to the plan of attack, and examining the kopje, the 
 town, and the face of the hill with field glasses, in order 
 as much as might be to make ourselves acquainted with 
 the nature of the ground. 
 
 Basutos generally build their towns on places more 
 adapted for monkeys than for men to live in. I know 
 nothing more awkward or trying to the nerves than 
 attacking a Basuto stronghold. You do not see your 
 enemy, but the whistling of the bullets round you makes 
 it painfully apparent that the enemy see you. You are 
 peppered from rocks and bushes, from huts, from breast- 
 
THE STORMING OF SECOCOENTS. 121 
 
 works of stone, and from the mouth of caves. As you 
 advance you have the unpleasant feeling that each step 
 may bring you under fire of some concealed cave, and 
 that the next moment you may collapse dead from a 
 shot fired by some reptile of whom you have not even 
 had a glimpse. You may take cover and think yourself 
 secure from the enemy in your front, but a shot fired 
 from a flank whizzes past your ear and shows that you 
 are in view of other foes. 
 
 These reflections are very unpleasant, and towards a 
 Basuto I have always felt an unchristian sentiment of 
 hatred, which as a rule I do not entertain towards other 
 foes. In fact, I have experienced satisfaction in looking 
 at the corpses of dead Basutos, and have congratulated 
 myself that they at any rate were incapable of giving me 
 further annoyance. 
 
 Basutos, of course, have a right to defend themselves 
 just like other folk, and are wise to do it in their own 
 way ; but really they are most provoking. 
 
 An enemy who comes out to face you ; whom you see 
 before you ; who fights, it may be stubbornly, does not 
 excite in your breast one tithe of the animosity that a 
 concealed foe does. When you are ordered to advance 
 against a visible foe the first few bullets are disagreeable ; 
 but when the fire gets hot all unpleasant feeling vanishes, 
 and you experience no further inconvenience. 
 
 I certainly did not enjoy the prospect of to-morrow's 
 storming. A witty friend observed casually that the 
 enemy's position looked a deuced deal prettier on the 
 map than it did through the field glasses, a sentiment in 
 which I fully concurred. 
 
 We were roused long before daybreak, and paraded in 
 silence. The breaking of day is the most unpleasant 
 
122 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 time for fighting. You are not comfortable. You have 
 not shaved, tubbed, and had a good breakfast preparatory 
 to going into the next world. 
 
 I can well understand the feeling that prompted the 
 Athenians to comb their locks and beautify themselves 
 before the immortal stand they made at Thermopylae. 
 
 My witty friend observed that the general was really 
 too bad, and that before they hanged a man they gave 
 him a good breakfast ; whereas we were to be shot on a 
 cup of coffee and a biscuit. 
 
 This was an insubordinate remark to which I did not 
 deign to reply. 
 
 Let no man tell me that the stomach is not a great 
 factor in fighting. Were I ever to go out with a pro- 
 fessed duellist, do you think I would go out in the nasty 
 damp chilly morning, with my courage down in the soles 
 of my boots ? Not a bit of it. Dinner at 8 P.M., a pint 
 of champagne, a couple of glasses of Burgundy, a whisky 
 and soda and a cigar, evening prayers ; and then, if it is 
 my duty to face him, bring on your duellist and see if I 
 don't cook his goose. 
 
 Talk about the glory of war ! It is all very fine when 
 you are drawn up in line and the general rides up after 
 keeping you waiting for an hour (why do generals and 
 royal highnesses always keep you waiting?). "See the 
 conquering hero comes " general salute, break into 
 column and march past. Bump, bump, bump goes the 
 big drum. You feel all alive big, as one might say, and 
 are ready to engage in personal conflict with the devil if 
 required to do so. But be chilly, sleepy and hungry at 
 four in the morning, and the gilt seems to have been 
 rubbed off the image of the war-god. 
 
 However, a truce to reflections. 
 
THE STORMING OF SECOCOENPS. 12$ 
 
 Our duty was to carry some ridges on our right, that 
 is to say on the left of the enemy's position. We were 
 to be supported by a native contingent. Where they went 
 to I don't know, but we never saw them again until the 
 affair was all over. We extended and went at the ridge 
 smartly. The enemy blazed away in our direction, and 
 we blazed away in their direction, but as it was dark we 
 didn't do each other much damage. We carried the 
 position, and changing direction to the left moved on 
 along the ridge until we were within rifle range of the 
 town. 
 
 It now dawned, and with daylight the enemy began 
 peppering us from another more elevated ridge which 
 commanded our position, so we took cover amongst the 
 boulders of rock which were strewed about. 
 
 As the sun rose the spectacle opened to our view was 
 really very fine. The cracking of rifles made a continuous 
 pealing which was echoed back from the hills. Some 
 colonial troops were coming along the face of the hill 
 upon the enemy's other flank, and were rolling them up 
 as they did so. 
 
 Round the detached hill or fighting kopje down in the 
 plain were the infantry and artillery, which kept up a 
 desultory fire in answer to the fire from the kopje. 
 
 The Amaswazi had not yet begun to show up, and we 
 began anxiously to scan the top of the hill, for we 
 momentarily expected their appearance over the brow. 
 
 McLeod was not a man to let the grass grow under 
 his feet ; but the Amaswazi had to come a considerable 
 distance over the hill before they got into action ; and as 
 savages will never move to the attack until there is light 
 enough to distinguish friend from foe, we could hardly 
 expect them upon the scene just yet. 
 
I 24 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 The enemy's bullets began to fly about rather un- 
 pleasantly, for they had got the range now and began 
 to make themselves objectionable. I was comfortably 
 seated behind a big boulder, taking a peep over now and 
 then. 
 
 One of our men about five yards from me lower down 
 the face of the hill called out, " I say, mister, don't you 
 think you had better come down out of that ? " 
 
 I replied, "What for?" 
 
 He said, " Well, I think it is healthier down here where 
 I am." 
 
 "Why so?" 
 
 " Well, there is a Basuto out there (pointing to the 
 left as he spoke) who is getting ready to take a shot 
 at you." 
 
 At that instant a ball whizzed close to my ear, and I 
 became aware that this Basuto was in a position to en- 
 filade my stone, so I took the man's advice and moved 
 to healthier quarters. 
 
 At last we began to hear a few dropping shots on the 
 top of the hill. A few minutes later the fire became 
 general along the top, and we saw the Basutos running 
 back from the crest, and now waving plumes and shields 
 began to appear. Soon, like a huge irregular semi-circle, 
 the Amaswazi came into full view r , driving the Basutos 
 down the hill before them. 
 
 The ground was very broken and the resistance 
 obstinate, but they continued their steady advance. 
 The commandant now ordered an advance against the 
 town, for he desired the honour of capturing the king's 
 own kraal. 
 
 I must here make a digression. I had once been sent 
 by Colonel Clarke on an embassy to the Amaswazi king. 
 
THE STORMING OF SECOCOEN/'S. 12$ 
 
 On our arrival at the king's kraal we were received by 
 a very handsome, amiable young chief, named Bomvan. 
 It was his duty to look after us, to arrange an interview 
 with the king, to present us with a bullock and with 
 beer, and generally speaking to make himself agreeable 
 to us. This he did most thoroughly. He was of a fair 
 complexion for a Caffre, and had a remarkably musical 
 soft voice and pleasing manners. On our leaving I 
 parted from him with regret, and little thought under 
 what strange circumstances we were to meet again. 
 
 To continue. We rushed down and carried the king's 
 kraal. The bullets fired from caves in the mountain 
 were whistling about us like hail. As I ran up to the 
 king's hut I saw a strange sight. There, before the door 
 of the royal hut, was the keeper of the king's hut lying 
 dead on his face, with both arms extended, and a stream 
 of dark blood which welled from a gash in his side 
 trickled across the pavement. 
 
 Backwards and forwards over his prostrate form strode 
 an Amaswazi warrior with a huge shield and a bloody 
 assegai. He was shouting his isibongo (war song), and 
 as he sang he stamped his feet, flourished his assegai, 
 and writhed his body from head to foot till his plumes 
 shook and his ornaments rattled. Heedless was he of 
 the fire from the caves of our presence of all, save 
 that he was triumphing over the corpse of his enemy. 
 He reminded me of a fierce but beautiful panther as he 
 strode and shouted in his delirium of warlike ecstacy. 
 
 As he turned, to my utter astonishment I beheld the 
 features of my friend, the gentle, courteous, refined Bom- 
 van. No transformation could have been more complete. 
 
 I said : " Bomvan, get under cover, you fool, you will 
 be shot directly ". 
 
126 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 As he recognised me his eyes softened, the blood 
 mania vanished, and in his old pleasant voice he said : 
 " Ah, is that you? We are well met here; see I killed 
 him you bear witness that I was the first man at the 
 door of the king's hut" So saying, he stepped with me 
 behind the cover of a hut, and we chatted for a few 
 minutes. 
 
 If H. N. and good, kind, old A. W. S. be still alive, as 
 indeed I hope they are, let them testify to this incident 
 
 For the first time in my life I experienced a wish that 
 I had been of simple and not of gentle birth. An order 
 had been issued that all plunder was to be pooled and 
 subsequently divided amongst the force. 
 
 The king's kraal contained treasures of ivory, karosses, 
 etc., etc., which was very tempting, not merely from their 
 intrinsic value, but from their peculiar suitability as 
 souvenirs of this day of battle. This was one of the 
 occasions on which it was decidedly unpleasant to be 
 strictly honest 
 
 The town was now completely in our possession, and 
 in a few minutes more was wreathed in flames. 
 
 We sounded the retire, and returned in Indian file 
 across the plain, taking care to make a detour round the 
 fighting kopje. As we were passing it I was walking 
 beside one of our men, who suddenly sat down without 
 warning. A bullet fired from the kopje had perforated 
 the calf of his leg. 
 
 We now joined the troops who had encircled the 
 kopje, extended and lay down to await further orders. 
 
 A number of Amaswazi came up now and sat down 
 in a little hollow near us. 
 
 The seven-pounder shells seemed to have no effect 
 whatever upon the stone breastworks of the kopje. 
 
THE STORMING OF SECOCOENI'S. 
 
 The general rode up and began to give directions 
 about the storming. I carefully watched his face as he 
 sat on horseback, and by its expression I could not see 
 that he was even conscious of the fact that he was being 
 fired at from the kopje. At last the arrangements were 
 completed. The infantry opened a heavy independent 
 fire for a short time, and then a rocket went up, and we 
 rushed forward to storm the position. 
 
 They peppered us from the breastworks and heaved 
 over long-handled assegais at us ; but they made shock- 
 ing bad practice, for we got up close to the foot of the 
 kopje and lay down there without having suffered much 
 loss. 
 
 Close under the kopje we were safe enough, for they 
 could not depress their rifles sufficiently to hit us. 
 
 The Amaswazi now rushed up and joined us, and we 
 were further reinforced by some infantry. 
 
 The advance was sounded, and we went up the face of 
 the kopje, clambering over the breastworks and wind- 
 ing our way up amongst the big rocks, shooting such of 
 the enemy as had not time to escape into the caves. 
 We lost a few men by shots fired from the caves, but we 
 did not suffer nearly as much as I expected we should. 
 As I was ascending I came to a big rock, and had the 
 option of passing either to the right or the left of it. It 
 was fortunate that I did neither. 
 
 The sergeant-major passed round the left of it, and 
 got knocked over by a charge of slugs in the jaw, and an 
 Amaswazi warrior going to the right of the rock fell dead 
 with a ball through his body. 
 
 Considering the locality most unhealthy, I made a 
 detour to avoid it altogether. 
 
 While we were struggling up the kopje, I felt a hand 
 
128 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 laid lightly on my shoulder and I moved aside in answer 
 to a polite request. A certain gallant cavalry officer 
 passed me and ran up the kopje, as unconcernedly as 
 though he were going up the steps of a club. I believe 
 he was the first man on the top, and I am glad to say 
 was not hurt. 
 
 We now held the position, and the most dreadful 
 part of the play began. The engineers came up and 
 threw heavy charges of gun-cotton into the mouths of 
 the caves. The ground shook with each terrific report, 
 and I even managed to pity the feelings of the wretched 
 Basutos in the caves. 
 
 I heard of a gallant thing done by one of the enemy. 
 He deliberately removed the burning fuzes from two 
 successive charges of gun-cotton. The suspicion of the 
 engineers being aroused, they shortened the fuze of the 
 third charge with the result that it exploded while the 
 brave Basuto was endeavouring to remove it. I heard 
 this story, but cannot vouch for the truth of it. 
 
 A day or two afterwards when the whole affair was 
 over, I entered the caves to observe the effect of the gun- 
 cotton. Huge rocks had been split and rent about as 
 though they were mere bricks. I saw a ghastly spec- 
 tacle. It was the corpse of a Basuto flattened out. He 
 had been lying on a flat rock watching the mouth of the 
 cave, to fire at anyone who attempted to enter. An 
 explosion had split another huge boulder, and a portion 
 of it had fallen upon him, squashing him flat. His 
 head and one arm and shoulder were protruding. 
 
 We lost a few valuable officers and men in this affair, 
 but the Amaswazi suffered most heavily. I was informed 
 that in this and other fights they lost seven hundred 
 killed. 
 
THE STORMING OF SECOCOENrS. 
 
 The native allies whose duty it was to have assisted in 
 the storming, went off on a cruise of their own to steal 
 cattle. They captured a large number, and were return- 
 ing with them in high glee, when they met some Ama- 
 swazi warriors. 
 
 " What have you been doing ? " asked the Amaswazi. 
 
 " We have been collecting cattle." 
 
 " Were you not in the fight ? " 
 
 "No." 
 
 " Friends, these are very nice cattle, so we will go 
 halves." 
 
 To this the native allies objected, so the Amaswazi cut 
 the matter short by attacking them and capturing all 
 the cattle. It served the native allies right. 
 
 These Amaswazi were curious fellows. They had not 
 yet had enough of fighting, so about a couple of thousand 
 of them went off to Umsoet's stronghold, and after a 
 terrific fight, in which they were twice repulsed, they 
 captured it. Of those who returned about every other 
 man was wounded ; but they were as happy as sandboys, 
 having had plenty of bloodshed and having captured 
 plenty of booty. 
 
 They do not care for gold or valuables. They prefer 
 iron pots, knives, hoes, blankets, or anything of that 
 sort. 
 
 I speak the Zulu language, of which the Amaswazi 
 tongue is only a dialect, not differing more than the 
 dialect of a broad Scot from that of a Londoner. There 
 are a few idiomatic phrases peculiar to the Amaswazi, 
 but one picks these up in a very short time. 
 
 I had the following conversation with a Swazi 
 warrior : 
 
 " Have you enjoyed yourself? " 
 
 9 
 
130 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 " Yes, it is delightful." 
 
 " What luck have you had ? " 
 
 Holding up three fingers of his hand, he replied : " I 
 have killed three, one was a warrior, one an old woman, 
 and the third a lad. I suppose we shall now go on and 
 harry the Zoutpansberg and Waterberg." 
 
 " Certainly not ; we are not at war with them, we are 
 only fighting with the Basutos of Matshila." 
 
 "The English general is a lion. I shall certainly come 
 again next season." 
 
 " We are not going to do the same sort of thing next 
 season ; we only make war when we have a just griev- 
 ance." 
 
 " Dear me, what a very curious people the English 
 are ! " 
 
 Other things I saw and heard which to relate would 
 be a mere pandering to a morbid taste for the dreadful. 
 Suffice it to say, that where you are compelled to employ 
 savages as allies you cannot entirely prevent them from 
 acting as savages always do. 
 
 Yet these same ruthless savages are in civil life hospit- 
 able, honest, kindly, and law abiding. The strange con- 
 tradictions in their character are merely the resultant 
 of their surroundings and of the conditions under which 
 their race has been evolved. 
 
 The garrison of the fighting kopje had not yet sur- 
 rendered, so we put a strong picket on the kopje and 
 surrounded it with riflemen. Some of them made at- 
 tempts to escape at night, but were nearly all shot down. 
 The next day they surrendered. 
 
 The day afterwards we received an order for one 
 squadron to go in pursuit of the king, who had escaped 
 from the town and had taken refuge in a stronghold 
 
THE STORMING OF SECOCOENI'S. 131 
 
 somewhere on the plateau on the top of the range of 
 mountains. 
 
 We went up a narrow precipitous path, leading our 
 horses in Indian file, and having gained the top of the 
 range went on, and in about a couple of hours reached 
 a small deserted Basuto village, where we halted. We 
 found McLeod here with a body of Swazis. About a 
 rifle-shot distance from this village was a cleft in the hills, 
 which appeared to have been made by volcanic disturb- 
 ance. Precipitous cliffs rose on each side, and the 
 bottom was strewn with huge boulders, over which we 
 made our way with difficulty. The king was supposed 
 to have run to ground in a cave somewhere in this gorge. 
 He could not escape, for the keen Skyeman had sur- 
 rounded the place with a chain of warriors and had thus 
 boxed the king up safely. 
 
 We now entered the gorge and drew it. In the middle 
 was a little level patch of ground, where we discovered a 
 still smouldering fire, and a lion skin kaross lying on the 
 ground, proof conclusive that the king himself had nearly 
 been surprised, and had only just had time to take refuge 
 in a cave, leaving his kaross behind him in his hurry. 
 
 We discovered the mouth of the cave and mounted a 
 picket over it. Captain Brook, of the 94th, now came up 
 with a company of infantry. During that night one or 
 two of the enemy managed to sneak out by some other 
 concealed mouth of the cave and tried to break through 
 the cordon of sentries, but one of them was shot and the 
 rest had to run to ground again. 
 
 There was an assemblage of captives, most of them 
 being women. These poor creatures had a sort of dazed 
 look, as though they did not fully realise that they had 
 fallen into kind hands, and that their safety was now 
 
132 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 assured. Most of them had lost relatives, fathers, brothers, 
 husbands or sons in the righting. I do not think that 
 the affections or the sensibilities of the savages are as 
 highly developed as those of civilised folk, but they do 
 feel. The difference between their nature and ours is 
 more one of degree than of kind. 
 
 On the faces of some of them was stamped an expres- 
 sion of apathetic grief. The terrible scenes through 
 which they had passed seemed to have exhausted their 
 capacity for realising suffering. 
 
 Some men are sceptical as to the common element 
 which binds humanity of every race and class together ; 
 but had such a one seen the trusting joyful look of grati- 
 tude which came as a swift response to the least word 
 kindly spoken (even though they understood it not), or 
 to the least sympathetic sign one gave them, his heart 
 would instantly have converted his intellect. 
 
 Perhaps some one reading these lines may wish that 
 he had been there to extend kindly help to those 
 wrecked ones. Are there no others in the streets of our 
 great cities at this very moment ready to repay a hun- 
 dredfold by wealth of gratitude the slightest tokens of 
 good-will exhibited towards suffering brothers? What 
 do we strive for continually ? Gold, is it ? Fame, is it ? 
 Pleasure, is it ? The treasure we seek we miss daily, for 
 it is in the hearts of our fellow-creatures. Yes, heaven 
 and earth may pass away, but kindness never. 
 
 The following day the king surrendered. When I saw 
 the miserable, feeble, broken-down old man, I could 
 hardly realise that this was indeed the great Secocoeni, 
 whose ambition had for so long perturbed the country. 
 We put him in a sort of stretcher or hammock, and 
 escorted him down to the main camp. 
 
THE STORMING OF SECOCOENPS. 133 
 
 After this we went on a four days' raid to collect the 
 enemy's cattle, and had to travel over the most fearful 
 country that men ever attempted to penetrate on horse- 
 back. We had to lead our horses up and down precipitous 
 defiles by narrow paths, and my horse's hocks were com- 
 pletely skinned by sliding down over rocks and stones. 
 Had we been attacked in some of these passes we must 
 have abandoned our horses or else have been cut to pieces. 
 
 We captured a large number of cattle, and returned to 
 camp completely done up by our exertions. 
 
 All resistance was now over, and the only thing re- 
 maining to be done was to accept the submission of the 
 outlying chiefs and to get out of the country as fast as 
 we could, for the Amaswazi were difficult to manage 
 and wanted to spread themselves over the country to 
 make war on their own account. 
 
 Thus was achieved the conquest of Secocoeni over 
 obstacles that had hitherto been deemed almost insur- 
 mountable. Not a hitch had occurred not an operation 
 had failed of complete success, no order once issued had 
 ever been countermanded. The whole thing went off 
 with as much smoothness as the successive acts of a play 
 that has been running for a hundred nights, and every- 
 thing was concluded on the date predicted by the general. 
 
 It may be that he also learned a thing or two, and 
 that the daybreak storming of Secocoeni's town may 
 have been the object lesson which suggested the arrange- 
 ments for the daybreak storming of the Egyptian lines 
 at Tel el Kebir. 
 
 The campaign was as well planned and conducted as 
 it could possibly have been ; and when the general next 
 takes the field in his country's service may I be there 
 to see and to bear a hand ! 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 THE SIEGE OF MARABASTADT. 
 
 THE Boers of the Transvaal had sent two deputations to 
 England representing the grievance under which they 
 suffered by the violation of the Sand River treaty and 
 the annexation of their country. Our rule had conferred 
 numerous benefits upon them. Land had gone up in 
 value. Security prevailed. Capital was coming into 
 the country. The insubordinate native tribes within 
 the Transvaal territory had been reduced to subjection, 
 and the power of the Zulu country had been for ever 
 broken. 
 
 Notwithstanding all these benefits, the Boers of the 
 Transvaal, with a reprehensible perversity of spirit in- 
 herited from their Calvinistic ancestors, actually preferred 
 freedom with its drawbacks, to the blessings of our rule 
 with its advantages ; and they had the audacity to inform 
 us that unless their representations were listened to they 
 would positively make war upon us, and strive to incul- 
 cate by the use of carnal weapons those views which 
 they had failed to successfully communicate to us by an 
 appeal to intelligence and sense of fairplay. 
 
 They went further. They held that the great mass of 
 the people of England were more honest than those who 
 governed them, and that, whether defeated or successful, 
 the spectacle of a people sacrificing their all in the 
 defence of their liberties would arouse in England such a 
 
 (134) 
 
THE SIEGE OF MARABASTADT. 135 
 
 feeling that the Government would be compelled to give 
 way to the storm of popular indignation. 
 
 Paul Kruger, the leader of this national movement, 
 was a born ruler of men. Had he lived in Europe there 
 is little doubt but that he would have been one of the 
 men of the age. He, too, saw that in South Africa there 
 was a strong element of Africanderism which if once 
 aroused would command respect even in Downing 
 Street. He knew he could count upon the cordial 
 co-operation of the Free State, and that in the old 
 colony, nay, in the streets of Capetown itself, were thou- 
 sands who would rather cut off their right hand than see 
 Africanderism stamped upon and erased in the Trans- 
 vaal by the paw of the British lion. 
 
 I may here observe that but for the wisdom of Presi- 
 dent Brand, the Free State would have rushed into the 
 conflict, and a fire would have been lighted in South 
 Africa the consequences of which no man could have 
 foretold. 
 
 The Boers conversed frankly about the coming strife. 
 On its being represented to them that the power of 
 England was such that they could not hope to make 
 successful resistance, they replied that they might be 
 defeated probably they would be that they had de- 
 termined to abandon their farms, houses and property, 
 and evacuate the country, rather than submit to our rule ; 
 that they had committed their cause to the Ruler of all 
 events, and, therefore, that the prospect of success or 
 failure in no way agitated their minds. 
 
 Now, a Boer takes a long time to make up his mind 
 about anything, but once having done so nothing can 
 shake him in his opinion. You might as well preach at 
 a milestone. 
 
136 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 Their very calmness, instead of being read as an indica- 
 tion of terrible obstinacy of purpose, was construed into 
 lack of zeal on behalf of their opinions. 
 
 Their formidable fighting qualities were also underrated 
 by those who, being themselves unskilled with horse and 
 rifle, could not see the immense advantages conferred 
 upon guerilla troops by the introduction of long-range 
 breech-loading rifles. 
 
 The hour of conflict arrived. The Boers attacked and 
 destroyed the wing of a British regiment on the march, 
 and in a few days cooped up every British force in the 
 Transvaal within fortifications. 
 
 The only chance of salvation lay in being relieved by 
 a column from Natal. The Boers assembled a force 
 upon their frontiers to resist the advance of this column. 
 
 The strategical fate of the campaign depended entirely 
 upon the events at Lang's Neck, and the most sensible 
 thing would have been to suspend hostilities throughout 
 the country by an understanding that a certain number 
 of Boers should remain encamped before each British 
 detachment, as being the number of men requisite in 
 warfare to blockade that detachment. Had this been 
 done and had Britishers and Boers entered each other's 
 lines, chatted and smoked their pipes while the conflicts 
 were going on at Lang's Neck, the result would have 
 been precisely the same as it was after some months of 
 aimless skirmishing and fighting. 
 
 However, as the Boers wished to prevent our garrisons 
 from getting provisions, they blockaded them ; and as 
 our garrisons wished to worry the Boers and prevent 
 them from sending reinforcements to their force at 
 Lang's Neck, they made sorties, and otherwise conducted 
 themselves in such a way as to necessitate the Boers 
 
THE SIEGE OF MARABASTADT. 137 
 
 keeping a considerable force round each garrison to 
 watch it. 
 
 On hearing the first rumour that hostilities had begun 
 I saddled my horse and rode off to Marabastadt, and 
 offered my services to Major Brooke, commanding a de- 
 tachment of the 94th stationed at that place. 
 
 On my way thither I met a party of about half a 
 dozen mounted Boers, two of whom were personally 
 known to me. 
 
 After the usual good-day we lighted up our pipes and 
 conversed on various indifferent subjects. They knew 
 perfectly well that I was going to join the British force, 
 and I knew equally well that they were going to concen- 
 trate with a view to commencing hostilities against us. 
 However, mutual civility was the order of the day. 
 
 " Mynheer, where are you going to ? " asked one. 
 
 " To bring home my washing from Marabastadt," I 
 replied. 
 
 The Boer grinned politely, but added : 
 
 " Almighty ! twenty miles is a long way to go for 
 washing." 
 
 " Yes, but I am also going to hunt, and perhaps I 
 might be going to be married for all you know" (I said 
 this in order to suggest an answer to my next question, 
 for I didn't wish the Boer to say that he was going to 
 fight against us, for such an admission might have 
 thrown cold water upon our amicable relations). " And 
 where are you going ? " 
 
 44 Mynheer, I am going to hunt." 
 
 This was all I wanted to know. They were going to 
 fight. So I said good-day and rode on. 
 
 I had not gone ten yards before a Boer called out to 
 me, so I stopped and asked him what he wanted. 
 
138 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 " Mynheer, give my best compliments to Major 
 Brooke," said he. 
 
 " I will," I answered, and rode on. 
 
 This was the Boer's polite way of letting me under- 
 stand that he knew perfectly well where I was going. 
 
 I found Major Brooke in a particularly cheerful mood. 
 The prospect of impending conflict increased his natural 
 geniality of disposition, and his eyes twinkled with 
 humorous contentment as he walked about waving a 
 fly flapper, giving directions to his men, who were 
 intrenching and making all preparations for a siege. 
 
 Every now and then another volunteer would come 
 in and proffer his services, and as Brooke beheld his 
 food for powder accumulate so did a more and more 
 benevolent expression settle upon his countenance. 
 
 Could he only have mounted all his force, I think he 
 would have sent a note to the Boer commandant to 
 tell him to get ready, and have then ridden out with the 
 whole posse to attack him. 
 
 The fort at Marabastadt was a square work, consisting 
 of a deep ditch and a high bank. The parapet was 
 lined with sandbags, so arranged as to form loopholes 
 through which to fire at the enemy. The lines consisted 
 of circular huts in the form of a street, with rows of huts 
 on each side. They were without the fort and were 
 raked by the fire of the fort. The canteen was loop- 
 holed and turned into an outwork, and it was assigned 
 to the volunteers. The detachment of Hottentot 
 mounted police under Mr. Thompson built a work for 
 themselves. These were all connected with the fort 
 by sunken ways. Roughly speaking, the works were in 
 the shape of a cross. The fort was at the intersection 
 of the timbers. The long leg represented the lines. 
 
THE SIEGE OF MARABASTADT. 139 
 
 The left arm was the canteen, and the work occupied 
 by the detachment of police was the right arm. Thus 
 the outlying works were all covered by the fire from the 
 fort. One of the huts in the lines was utilised as a 
 hospital. 
 
 For several days our time was fully occupied in 
 intrenching, sandbagging, setting wire entanglements, 
 cutting sub-ways, etc., etc. 
 
 One day while we were working away Brooke walked 
 round to see how we were getting on. After he passed, 
 a man observed : " He don't look 'appy ". 
 
 " Why not ? " asked another. 
 
 " He's afraid the enemy won't attack him and that 
 he will have all this trouble for nothink." 
 
 However, our gallant commander's hopes of strife 
 were destined to be shortly realised. He was just the 
 very man to command us. A force which by the nature 
 of things has to stand on the defensive is more liable 
 to depression of spirits than a force which can expend 
 its energies by going in search of the enemy ; and our 
 commander's cheery disposition had an excellent effect 
 upon everybody. 
 
 When there was, so to say, a half-holiday, he would 
 get up a cricket match, or tilting on horseback with 
 brooms instead of lances. 
 
 The canteen was the most tranquil scene of content- 
 ment in our disturbed country, for there a daily issue 
 of spirits was made, and over the counter drinks could 
 be obtained for coin of the realm. The volunteers (as is 
 only right under the circumstances) drank both in civil 
 and military capacity. They absorbed quite twice as much 
 per head as did the troops, and were proportionately 
 happy. Moreover, we dwelt in full view of the wine, 
 
I4O TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 beer, and spirituous liquor. We felt that the enemy 
 must first pass over our corpses before they could en- 
 danger the safety of these soothing stores, and that to 
 us in particular was entrusted the double honour of 
 defending and consuming them. 
 
 Alas, they came to an end before the siege did. 
 
 From time to time we heard rumours that the Boers 
 had concentrated, that they were winding up their 
 martial ardour by indulgence in pious exercises, that 
 they were going to invade us, etc. But we heard the 
 last so often that we began to doubt whether they would 
 ever really come to the scratch. 
 
 However, we received definite information that they 
 were encamped in laager about seven miles off, on a 
 road which led straight from the fort to their camp. 
 
 Major Brooke (I suppose), feeling it his duty to keep 
 in touch with them, and thus prevent them from detach- 
 ing men to operate against our forces elsewhere, deter- 
 mined to bring on hostilities. 
 
 Accordingly, one day, about a couple of hours before 
 sunrise, the Hottentot police under Thompson and 
 Bates went out to engage them and draw them on. 
 
 We, the volunteers, made a detour and occupied a little 
 hill about half a mile on the right of the road by which 
 the police went out towards the Boer laager. The idea 
 was that if the police were defeated and driven back 
 along the road, we were to issue from the little hill and, 
 galloping to the road, form a support upon which they 
 could rally. 
 
 The Boers are naturally suspicious of anything which 
 looks like an ambuscade or flank movement, and this 
 arrangement would be pretty certain to check their 
 pursuit. We reached the little hill before daybreak. At 
 
THE SIEGE OF MARABASTADT. 141 
 
 sunrise we could see the police skirmishing about in the 
 direction of the Boer laager. 
 
 At this moment some of the volunteers saw some 
 cattle, and being seized with a fever of appropriation 
 
 rode off to gather them. I remained with S and 
 
 R - and C , thinking that to leave the hill at such 
 
 a time might frustrate the very object for which we were 
 sent ; and I was right in my conjecture. While the rest 
 were away in search of the cattle, we heard the cracking 
 of rifles, and soon saw that the police were hotly engaged. 
 The grass was all burnt off in that direction, and we 
 could see the puffs of dust rise as the bullets struck the 
 ground. 
 
 Soon we saw the police in full retreat, some empty 
 saddles with stirrups swinging as the horses rushed along 
 showed that the Boer fire had told its tale. They were 
 in full flight, with the Boers in hot pursuit, every now 
 and then jumping off to take a shot. Thompson and 
 Bates were doing their duty bravely, and were riding in 
 rear of the fugitives, calling upon them to halt, but 
 nothing would have stopped them unless it had been a 
 wall ten feet high and lined with broken bottles. 
 
 Our men who had ridden off to collect the cattle now 
 came galloping back in a great hurry, and were arriving 
 one by one, with their horses completely blown by their 
 exertions. 
 
 Seeing that if we waited for the rest to come up it 
 would be too late to aid the fugitives by a flank move- 
 ment, S , R , C and myself set off and galloped 
 
 across at a tangent towards the road ; but I fancy some 
 of the fugitives mistook us for Boers who had out-flanked 
 them and were trying to cut them off, for they sat down 
 on their horses and rode like men. John Gilpin's famous 
 
142 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 ride was nothing to it. Our movement, however, had the 
 desired effect of creating a diversion and causing the 
 Boers to halt and open fire upon us. 
 
 We pulled up, jumped off our horses and fired a couple 
 of rounds apiece ; but as more Boers came up the fire 
 was getting hotter and hotter, the fugitives had now 
 obtained a good start, and there was no further object 
 to be gained by delay, so we too remounted and retired 
 in hot haste. 
 
 The Boers, being suspicious of a trap, followed us no 
 further, but contented themselves with firing shots as 
 long as we were in sight. 
 
 Our skirmish had the desired effect, viz., of convincing 
 the Boers that they could not weaken themselves by 
 detaching a portion of their force to aid in the siege of 
 Pretoria or the defence of Lang's Neck. 
 
 I say this advisedly, lest the reader should imagine 
 that our commander wantonly brought on hostilities 
 without adequate motive. 
 
 The native commissioner at Klipdam had two smooth- 
 bored iron guns with which he used to fire salutes on 
 great occasions. 
 
 We now heard that the Boers had taken possession of 
 these guns, and were putting them in order with a view 
 to employ them for the purpose of reducing our fort. 
 
 Rumour said that they were casting cannon-balls of 
 lead or hammered iron ; and we in our turn made more 
 extensive preparations than we should have made against 
 mere rifle fire. 
 
 The horses of the police were every morning knee 
 haltered, and let out to feed on grass, under charge of 
 two armed men. They were not permitted to wander far 
 from the fort lest they should be captured by the enemy. 
 
THE SIEGE OF MAR ABAS TADT. 1 43 
 
 One morning I went down as usual to the little river 
 about 400 yards below the fort to bathe. I had just 
 dried myself and got into my shirt, when I heard the 
 crack of a rifle and subsequently a regular peal of 
 firing. Gathering up my clothing I made my way to 
 the fort in a manner characterised more by rapidity 
 than by dignity, and completed my toilet under cover. 
 
 The enemy had done a very smart and bold thing. 
 The Boer commandant in person, accompanied by one 
 or two more of them, had galloped down, and exposing 
 themselves to the full fire of the fort (that is to say, I 
 suppose, they came within about 400 yards), had 
 captured and driven off the police horses. How they 
 managed to do so without being shot I can hardly make 
 out. The whole thing was a surprise, and probably our 
 men could not get to their rifles until the enemy were 
 nearly out of range. We still had some few horses left, 
 viz., those which were fed in the empty huts. Mine 
 was one of them. 
 
 Every morning we sent out a mounted patrol to 
 reconnoitre the village of Marabastadt, lest any of the 
 enemy should be concealed there. 
 
 One day the patrol was met by a volley from a party 
 of the enemy concealed behind some houses, and one 
 of our men was struck by two bullets and killed. The 
 patrol retired ; and now the enemy opened a smart fire 
 from behind houses and from ditches, to which we 
 replied. This continued for about a couple of hours, 
 until the enemy found it so hot that they evacuated 
 Marabastadt and retired in haste. 
 
 About 400 yards from the fort and on the side 
 opposite to that on which the village lay, was a ridge 
 of stones from which an enemy could annoy the fort. 
 
144 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 Accordingly, in order to anticipate the enemy, we 
 built a small circular work capable of containing about 
 twenty men upon the site of these stones. This work 
 was about a couple of hundred yards beyond the end 
 of the street of huts which constituted the lines. 
 
 It consisted merely of a ditch with the soil thrown 
 inwards. Inside was a little banquette on which to 
 kneel when firing through the loopholes. 
 
 The soil just here consisted of a sort of shale or 
 pudding stone, and was not particularly well adapted 
 to resist artillery, for a shot passing through it would 
 have the effect of sending stones flying about. 
 
 There was about 700 yards from this little work a 
 kopje, or hill covered with rocks. The Boers occupied 
 this, and mounting the guns in natural embrasures formed 
 by the rocks prepared to open fire. 
 
 It was that day above all others sacred to sweet con- 
 cord and harmony in the Isle of Erin the day dedicated 
 to Saint Patrick when a loud boom, followed by the 
 humming of a cannon-shot in its passage through the 
 air, announced that the Boers had at last opened fire 
 upon the outwork. 
 
 All the afternoon the fire continued, but the practice 
 was indifferent, and the balls generally flew too high and 
 went bounding and ricochetting away over the plain. 
 
 However, it excited us and kept away melancholy. 
 I never saw our commander look so cheerful. He was 
 positively radiant. 
 
 That night I went up to the outwork with the relief. 
 It consisted partly of men of the 94th and partly of 
 volunteers. 
 
 We made ourselves as comfortable as we could under 
 the circumstances, but the prospect of being pounded 
 
THE SIEGE OF MARABASTADT. 145 
 
 by guns all day long on the morrow does not conduce 
 to sound rest. 
 
 During the night we heard a faint clicking sound, as 
 though of stones being brought into contact with each 
 other. It appeared to proceed from a point about 150 
 or 200 yards distant. We felt sure that the enemy were 
 erecting some sort of shelter whence their riflemen could 
 annoy us. Surely enough, at break of day we saw that 
 they had constructed a wall of stones loosely piled up, 
 with loopholes in it, from which they opened fire at us. 
 Being under cover we cared nothing for their fire, and 
 replied smartly to it, with such effect that they appeared 
 to have been driven from their loopholes, and for the 
 time ceased firing. 
 
 We were now waiting for the moment when the guns 
 should open upon us. There are men who aver that they 
 are inaccessible to the feeling of fear. I can only say that 
 I frankly confess I am not of such mould ; and I think that 
 if most men spoke the absolute truth they would own 
 to experiencing unpleasant sensations, especially while 
 awaiting the fire of guns when they themselves are stand- 
 ing behind a breastwork capable of being penetrated by 
 the said guns. 
 
 To experience the feeling of physical fear is not in 
 itself shameful. It does not follow that because the 
 frame is pervaded by a feeling of awe, and by a sort of 
 sinking sensation, that the soul which inhabits that 
 frame will be less resolute in compelling it to do that 
 which it is its duty to do under the circumstances. 
 
 Why it is I know not, but artillery fire has a peculiar 
 effect upon most men. The loud report, the rushing 
 screaming sound of the shot have a demoralising in- 
 fluence ; and there are few men, however brave, who can 
 
 10 
 
146 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 avoid ducking their heads to the first few shot or shell 
 that pass over them. There is nothing that unsteadies 
 young troops more than artillery fire. 
 
 We waited the first gun-shot in dead silence. 
 
 The modus operandi of loading and discharging was 
 as follows : 
 
 The enemy had blankets hung before the embrasures, 
 thereby concealing the muzzles of the guns. When the 
 guns were loaded, elevated and aimed correctly, they let 
 fall the blankets, and applying a hot poker to the touch- 
 holes discharged them. We peeped through the loop- 
 holes and kept a sharp look-out. The instant we saw a 
 puff of smoke, we all turned vice versa and threw our- 
 selves down. 
 
 But to revert. We were awaiting the first round. I did 
 not want to run away, but if the reader had volunteered 
 and had earnestly begged to take my place in the work 
 I might have consented under pressure, provided the 
 major had given me a certificate in his own handwriting 
 and signed by himself to the effect that I was not afraid, 
 which, by the way, I certainly was. 
 
 I happened not to be peeping through a loophole just 
 at the instant that a loud boom struck upon my expec- 
 tant ear, accompanied by a cry of " Look out! " from our 
 men, who were on the alert. With an agility unsurpassed 
 by any acrobat who tumbles for the public edification 
 at a guinea a night, I made myself horizontal. 
 
 There was a rushing sound, accompanied by a crash 
 and a cloud of dust, as a shot flew through the work, and, 
 striking the wall on the farther side, fell back spent on 
 the floor. 
 
 They had led off with a good shot. " All right/' "All 
 right," " I am all right," came from numerous voices ; but 
 
THE SIEGE OF MARABASTADT. 147 
 
 one poor fellow, a sergeant of the 94th, lay extended on 
 the ground, while a slight quiver permeated his frame. 
 In a few moments it was all over with him. The shot 
 had dislodged a stone from the face of the work, which 
 had struck him on the breast, shattering his frame, and 
 thus giving him a rapid passport into the middle state. 
 
 We rushed up to him and lifted his head for an 
 instant, but it was manifest that he had met his fate. 
 
 We were too crowded in the work, so half of us went 
 into the ditch outside. 
 
 Let not the reader imagine that we went there for 
 comfort. The instant that two square inches of the crown 
 of our heads appeared above the level of the ground we 
 got a reminder in the shape of. a rifle bullet from the 
 wall behind which the enemy's riflemen were en- 
 sconced. 
 
 However, our fellows inside the work kept on pelting 
 away at the enemy's loopholes, and managed to keep 
 them fairly quiet. There was a tree growing on one 
 side of the wall, from behind which the riflemen were 
 annoying us. One of the enemy climbed this tree, with 
 a view of getting a more commanding position. He 
 kept his body on the farther side of the trunk so that 
 we could not kill him. He became very troublesome, 
 and his performances nearly converted me to the views 
 of the Society of Friends. I wished he were a Quaker 
 and not a Boer. 
 
 After all, how much happier men would be if they 
 never fought excepting in canteens ! 
 
 We were obliged to open a hot fire on the tree, with 
 the result that we made it too warm for him, and he 
 soon descended again. 
 
 All day long the fire of the guns continued, but they 
 
148 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 never made another shot as good as the first one ; and no 
 one else was hurt, though we had some very narrow 
 squeaks from rifle bullets. 
 
 The continued strain was very wearing upon the 
 nerves ; and, talk about time hanging heavily, I never 
 experienced such a long day in my life. I feel sure that 
 I became a year older during that twelve hours. 
 
 The cramped position, too, was a nuisance. Had it 
 not been for the witticisms and mercurial temperament 
 of an Irish soldier who was squatted next to me, 
 should have been a prey to melancholy. 
 
 Irishmen may be obstructives in the House of 
 Commons, but they are jewels in the field. 
 
 On the other side of this Irishman was an English 
 soldier, and during the lulls of the firing they held 
 sweet converse under difficulties. It ran something in 
 this line : 
 
 " I wish I had a bloomin' 'arf pint. Mike, have you 
 never a fill of bacca about you ? " 
 
 " I have here ye are enjoy it. Maybe ye'll be 
 perched on a cloud smoking away among the saints 
 in glory before long, av if it's allowed in thim parts." 
 
 They then began conversing about a certain music- 
 hall at some place where they had once been stationed. 
 The Irishman observed that it was " a place for real 
 enjoyment and the height of foine living". 
 
 The Englishman replied : " Yes, what I likes about that 
 bloomin' place is that there ain't no bloomin' affectation, 
 no introductions nor the like of that ; when you sees a 
 young woman, you goes up and ketches hold of her and 
 says, ' J Ow dye do, Polly ? ' and there you are, you see." 
 
 The Irishman incautiously lifted his head for a 
 moment. Whiz came a bullet past his face. 
 
THE SIEGE OF MA RABA STADT. 1 49 
 
 " Mike, that was very nearly being a case of a brass 
 nose and a pension for you," observed his English 
 comrade in arms. 
 
 With the recklessness of his race, the Irishman ex- 
 posed his head and shoulders, levelled his rifle and 
 fired a shot in return, saying : " Be jabers ! here's at ye ; 
 take that, ye blackgyard ". 
 
 When the cannon-shot struck the face of the work a 
 shower of flat stones and earth would slide down into 
 the ditch on the top of us. We utilised some of the 
 flat stones by putting them up on the edge of the ditch, 
 so that we could peep up without danger of being shot 
 through the brain. Several of these stones were smashed 
 into flinders by bullets. In that ditch I ate what was 
 unquestionably the most uncomfortable luncheon I 
 ever had in my life. 
 
 Each time the enemy hoisted up the blankets before 
 they reloaded their guns we peppered away at the 
 blankets ; but as we should have fired away all our 
 ammunition had we continued this, we were compelled 
 to occasionally cease our fire. This enabled the enemy 
 to complete their arrangements, and at last the blankets 
 would fall and the guns be again discharged. 
 
 Even Great Eastern railway trains do finally arrive ; 
 and so at last over us, wearied with continued excitement, 
 did merciful Night finally cast her veil. 
 
 An order came from our commander to dismantle 
 the work, evacuate it, and fall back on the fort. This 
 we did, under cover of darkness, without molestation 
 from the enemy. 
 
 May I never experience such another day! 
 On the ensuing day and for many days afterwards 
 the enemy kept up a game of long bowls, firing at the 
 
1 50 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 fort and surrounding works, but the range was too long 
 for their guns, and we did not experience much incon- 
 venience. However, one shot went crashing through 
 our peaceful little home, the canteen, and another per- 
 forated the hospital hut where poor Sergeant McGonigal, 
 wounded in the cavalry engagement, and a wounded 
 soldier of the 94th were lying. 
 
 The enemy now began a long-range rifle-fire, with the 
 object of letting their bullets drop into the fort. They 
 wounded a man by this fire. To provide against it we 
 had to construct screens, or what are technically termed 
 curtains. 
 
 It is generally supposed that the British infantry 
 officer knows nothing excepting the routine work of his 
 particular branch. It is by no means so ; for Major 
 Brooke had as nice a notion of rough-and-ready engineer- 
 ing work as any man need have, and met each difficulty 
 as it arose by some acute arrangement. How he managed 
 it I don't quite know ; for I never saw him peering into 
 engineering books, so I suppose he was born with a 
 genius for meeting difficulties and overcoming them. 
 
 He seemed to be everywhere at once, and the sight 
 of his dapper form and pleasant face kept up the spirits 
 of everybody. 
 
 I fancy the only thing that troubled him was not 
 being able to get at the enemy. 
 
 The enemy after a time ceased to fire with the guns ; 
 and there was a lull for a few days. 
 
 The siege was getting monotonous. We were entirely 
 cut off from the outside world, and knew nothing of what 
 was going on. We felt sure that we should remain in 
 ignorance of all until probably a relieving column ap- 
 peared, or news came of the utter defeat of the Boers 
 
THE SIEGE OF MARABASTADT. l$l 
 
 at Lang's Neck and the complete subjugation of the 
 country. The wildest imagination could hardly have 
 conjured up a picture of the news we ultimately did 
 receive. 
 
 Sunday was always a day of truce. The Boers are 
 stern Calvinists, and, like the people of Scotland, observe 
 Sunday strictly. 
 
 We sent away a mail by a native messenger, who was 
 to convey it to Delagoa Bay ; but what became of that 
 mail I know not, for the letter I wrote never reached its 
 destination. Probably the family matters therein re- 
 ferred to were duly pondered over by the Boer com- 
 mandant and his staff. 
 
 The lull in the artillery fire was only a preparation for 
 a storm in another quarter. One morning we saw that 
 the guns had been removed from the kopje and had 
 been mounted in an intrenchment on the other side, 
 viz., in the direction of the village. The range was 
 about 800 yards, and from the new position the whole 
 fort and outworks were more exposed to fire than they 
 had been from the kopje. 
 
 They made bad practice, however. Occasionally a 
 shot would perforate the houses in the lines, but no men 
 were killed or wounded by the fire. 
 
 A shot went through the canteen one day, but we had 
 surrounded it with sacks full of earth, and as long as we 
 were sitting down below the level of the top of these 
 sacks we were perfectly safe. 
 
 The battery was in a tempting position, and I think 
 our commander contemplated making a sortie by night, 
 and, coming round in rear of it, capturing it at the point 
 of the bayonet. 
 
 The Boers had some idea that we might attempt this, 
 
152 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 and had a number of shot guns ready loaded with slugs, 
 which for night firing at close ranges are more effective 
 than bullets. 
 
 Apparently they became disappointed with the effect 
 of the fire of the guns, and removed them to the top of 
 a hill about a mile off. From that point they could 
 certainly deliver a plunging fire upon the fort ; but the 
 range was too great, and they could not even hit the fort. 
 
 One day there was loud cheering from the Boer camp, 
 and a deputation of them came up, accompanying a 
 messenger from the Government at Pretoria who bore 
 a despatch announcing that hostilities were over ; that 
 the British had agreed to give back the Transvaal to the 
 Boer Government ; that the country would be evacuated 
 by us in three months, and that our force was to march 
 down to Pretoria at once. 
 
 It is difficult to describe the disgust and despondency 
 that pervaded our garrison. Had a shot never been 
 fired at all, had the country been given back to the 
 Boers before hostilities commenced, we could have 
 understood it. But to yield up the country after being 
 well thrashed all round was more than we could reconcile 
 with any previously accepted canons of British pro- 
 cedure. 
 
 We were on good terms with our late enemies, and 
 employed some of them to convey our stores in their 
 waggons to Pretoria. 
 
 The Boers have their country, and I hear that they 
 are administering it justly and wisely. Extensive gold 
 fields have been discovered, and their treasury is full. 
 
 There has been a great influx of Europeans, and 
 British capital. The Boers have given their assent to 
 any foreigner obtaining the electoral franchise, provided 
 
THE SIEGE OF MARABASTAD T. 153 
 
 that he has been domiciled in the country for a certain 
 time and will swear allegiance to the Transvaal Govern- 
 ment. 
 
 A great future awaits the country. Ultimately there 
 will be a confederation of South African States, and I 
 think the Transvaal and Free State will join, provided 
 that such confederation is not under the British flag. 
 In another fifty years the people of South Africa will 
 be united in the bond and sentiment of Africanderism, 
 and the sad records of strife between Britishers and 
 Dutch will be blotted out for ever from their historic 
 pages. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 A LUCKY KILL. 
 
 I WAS seated in the court, which was crowded with 
 natives. The hour was ten A.M., and the rays of a Borneo 
 sun were already sufficiently powerful to necessitate the 
 half closing of shutters in order to keep out the glare. 
 
 Before me stood Sergeant Gurdet Singh, of the con- 
 stabulary. He was an intelligent looking Sikh. 
 
 " Well, sergeant, what do you want ?" 
 
 " When will sahib interview the native chiefs? " 
 
 " At three P.M." 
 
 " When will sahib inspect kit?" 
 
 " Four P.M.'"' 
 
 " When are the men to begin firing their annual 
 course ? " 
 
 " To-morrow morning at six A.M. See to the targets ; 
 put back those inefficient men for another week's position 
 drill." 
 
 " When will sahib go on circuit?" 
 
 " The day after to-morrow." 
 
 Gurdet Singh saluted, and turning about left the 
 court. 
 
 " Proceed with the case. Now, witness, you are a very 
 stupid fellow. What is your religious persuasion ? " 
 
 " Islam, tuan." 
 
 " Do you understand the nature of an oath ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 (154) 
 
A LUCKY KILL. 15$ 
 
 " What is it ? " 
 
 " I swear " 
 
 " Yes, and so shall I soon unless you brighten up. 
 Who ought you to fear more than any one in court ? " 
 
 With a look of modest hesitation the witness, after 
 scratching himself, replied: "When I am dead I shall fear 
 the Almighty most of all, but when I am in court I fear 
 the magistrate most". 
 
 There was a look of horror on the faces of pious 
 Mahometans at hearing this blasphemy. Again 
 Gurdet Singh stepped up and saluted. 
 
 u What is it, sergeant ? " 
 
 " Natives have come in to see you." 
 
 " Can't see them, tell them to wait until I am dis- 
 engaged." 
 
 "They have brought in news of elephants." 
 
 " Oh ah yes. Well, it is a pity to keep them wait- 
 ing. Show them in." 
 
 Three Sulu natives were ushered in, and duly reported 
 that a troop of elephants had destroyed their granary of 
 rice on the Bahan River ; that the elephants had pulled 
 off the roof, and having eaten as much rice as they could, 
 had scattered and trampled the remainder, and had 
 then gone off in the direction of the Kayu River. 
 
 " Gurdet Singh ! " 
 
 "Yes, sahib." 
 
 " Have two boats made ready at once, with sails and 
 paddles. Tell off eight Dyaks to accompany me. My 
 orderly will come also. Let them take three days' 
 rations. Tell my servant to pack up a few things. I 
 start in an hour." 
 
 " Where is sahib going to ? " I fancied I saw a 
 twinkle in his eye as he asked this question. 
 
I 56 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 " To look for those elephants." 
 
 " And the kit inspection, sahib? " 
 
 " Will be next Monday." 
 
 " And musketry ? " 
 
 " Oh, next Tuesday." 
 
 " And when will sahib interview the native chiefs ? " 
 
 " Catch them and keep them until I return, but feed 
 them in the meantime." 
 
 " And when will sahib go on circuit?" 
 
 " Oh, when circumstances admit of it. This case is 
 adjourned sine die. Clear the court, sergeant, and go 
 away yourself and get those boats ready. By the way, 
 give a dollar each to those men who brought in the 
 information about elephants. They have performed a 
 public duty, and deserve well of their country." 
 
 An hour later I was all ready for a start. Coming 
 out on the verandah I saw a crowd of tame Dyaks (t.e. t 
 not constabulary but civilian Dyaks), all armed with 
 their parangs or short heavy swords, awaiting me. 
 
 As I approached them their faces brightened up like 
 those of schoolboys on the announcement of an extra 
 half-holiday. 
 
 Their spokesman said : " We hear that the tuan is 
 going on a journey ". 
 
 " Well, what if I am ? " 
 
 " We should like to go with the tuan." 
 
 " But I don't want you." 
 
 " Oh, but we should like to go." 
 
 " I tell you I don't want you." 
 
 " We shall not be in the way." 
 
 " I will not give you anything to eat." 
 
 " We don't want anything to eat, we can carry our own 
 food, and when that is done we can eat the wild fruit." 
 
A LUCKY KILL. I 57 
 
 " Now, look here ; you fancy I am going on a war 
 expedition, and you would like to accompany me to 
 assist in slicing off heads, but I assure you I am only 
 going hunting." 
 
 " Ah tuan, we thought perhaps you might intend to 
 make war upon those evil-minded Bajows. If so, we 
 should have liked to help you. Hunting is nice, but 
 war is nicer." 
 
 " I promise you this, if I go on a war expedition I 
 will let you know beforehand. Will that satisfy you ? " 
 
 ''Yes, thank you, tuan." 
 
 The Dyaks are the most interesting race in the East. 
 They are small, something like the Ghoorkas, but are 
 brave, faithful and honest. They are excellent men 
 in the jungle, and also thoroughly understand the 
 management of boats. They are an amusing people, 
 and have plenty of character. They dearly love fighting, 
 and would sooner go with a war party than go to a 
 wedding any day. They have impetuous courage, and 
 are very good at hand-to-hand fighting, but they cannot 
 be disciplined in the same way that Sikhs and Pathans 
 can. 
 
 The taking of heads sounds rather barbarous to 
 European ears, but it is a custom amongst them to collect 
 the heads of their enemies as trophies of war, and it is 
 very difficult to break them of it. Apropos of this 
 I must relate an anecdote of Sergeant Bungin. 
 
 The reader must not suppose that he in any way 
 resembled the gorgeous creature arrayed in scarlet 
 and stripes, whose manly form causes the bosom of the 
 nursemaid to thrill with emotion. 
 
 To him the mysteries of squad company and battalion 
 drill were a sealed book. Bungin was appreciated for 
 
158 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 his qualities of courage, honesty and intelligence, and 
 was generally placed in charge of some out-station up 
 a river. 
 
 Periodically he used to come down on a visit to head- 
 quarters, to make his report, draw pay, obtain fresh 
 ammunition, etc. He was a curious figure, a thorough 
 child of the jungle ; and he would walk into his com- 
 manding officer's quarters with a twinkle in his keen 
 little eyes, and salute him with an air as though to say : 
 "Yes, you command me; but a cat may look at a 
 king". 
 
 Like all his race he had a brave heart, and knew the 
 meaning of the word duty. 
 
 Bungin was once in charge of a solitary station up 
 a river, and had two privates under him. One day a 
 party of savages from the interior appeared at the station. 
 Bungin, knowing that resistance would be of no avail 
 against such superior numbers, went out to interview 
 them. There was a how-d'ye-do all round, and then 
 Bungin asked them why they had honoured him with 
 this visit. 
 
 They replied : " We are on an expedition with the 
 object of collecting heads. We require two Malay 
 heads, two heads of Sikhs, or natives of India, and two 
 heads of Europeans." 
 
 In an instant a scheme flashed through Bungin's 
 ready-witted brain. He replied: " Ah, collecting heads 
 a noble sentiment I collect myself, and am delighted 
 to meet any who have sympathetic tastes. I think I 
 can see my way to assisting you, and will try to obtain 
 the heads. But this Government is eccentric. It 
 has an objection to the innocent recreation of col- 
 lecting heads, so we must be very careful. Meet me 
 
A LUCKY KILL. 159 
 
 here at this very spot to-morrow night when the moon 
 rises, and I will see what can be done for you." 
 
 The savages retired into the jungle, thoroughly 
 satisfied. 
 
 Bungin had a few spare muskets in store. A little 
 lower down the river some civilian Dyaks were engaged 
 in collecting india-rubber and jungle produce. 
 
 That night Bungin took a canoe and paddled off to 
 visit these Dyaks, and proposed that they should come 
 with him to the station and give the savages a warm 
 reception. The Dyaks joyfully acceded, for what Dyak 
 will ever neglect an invitation to a war party? They 
 returned with Bungin, and he issued muskets to them 
 all. 
 
 The following night at the hour arranged the savages 
 emerged from the jungle and gave the preconcerted 
 signal, to which Bungin replied. The savages advanced 
 up to the station. A volley of musketry rang forth, and 
 with a triumphant howl, out rushed Bungin and his 
 valiant crew, drawn parangs in hand, and utterly routed 
 the amazed savages, killing a number of them and 
 pursuing the rest into the jungle. Bungin afterwards 
 came down and reported the occurrence, bringing with 
 him (so I have heard it stated) the skulls of the enemy 
 as vouchers. 
 
 He was afterwards given sole charge of the Penungah 
 Station and district. He was far up in the interior. He 
 managed matters with singular tact and ability. Nobody 
 interfered with him, for the reason that nobody under- 
 stood anything about the place. I am sorry to say that 
 he was at last killed in the performance of duty. 
 
 But to revert to our story. I went down to the shore, 
 and a few minutes later was lying at full length in a 
 
160 TALES OF A NOMAD, 
 
 prahu, or native boat, which four Dyaks were propel- 
 ling with swift strokes of their paddles. Over me was 
 an awning of mats woven out of palm leaves, and I was 
 as comfortable as I should have been in a first-class 
 carriage. 
 
 I estimated that it would take us four hours paddling 
 to reach the mouth of the Kayu River. The direction 
 in which the elephants were reported to have gone would 
 most likely bring them to the Kayu River, and it was 
 probable that they might follow the bank, lingering from 
 time to time to feed and to bathe as they went along. 
 I intended to ascend the river, examining the banks for 
 spoor. If I failed to find their tracks I contemplated 
 making a cut across country in a direction at right angles 
 to the line which I supposed they had taken, and thus 
 cross their path and follow it up until I came upon the 
 elephants. 
 
 When we got out a little distance the breeze freshened, 
 and our two boats were soon skimming along at four or 
 five knots under sail. 
 
 In another three hours we reached the embouchure of 
 the Kayu, and crossing the bar entered the river, which 
 was here bordered by mangrove swamps. The flood- 
 tide was running up strongly, and so far overcame the 
 power of the stream as to give us almost dead water. 
 
 After paddling for an hour in this manner we got out 
 of the region of mangrove into a belt of nipa palms, 
 whose broad fronds in places met across the river and 
 necessitated our hacking them away in order to allow 
 the boats to pass. 
 
 In another hour or so we emerged from the nipas, and 
 now the banks were clad with jungle, in some parts very 
 dense, but generally speaking a man could find his way 
 
A LUCKY KILL. l6l 
 
 through it on foot anywhere. Huge trees rose out of 
 the jungle and towered above the underwood. The 
 luxuriant growth of tropical vegetation is almost incon- 
 ceivable to a European who has never seen it. Nature 
 seems to revel in illimitable power of production. The 
 great trees are clothed with parasites, which run all over 
 them and hang in festoons from every bough. It is need- 
 less to say that in a jungle of this kind it would be quite 
 impossible to use a horse. Indeed, one is fortunate if 
 one can see game at fifty yards distance in any given 
 direction. 
 
 There was plenty of life. Huge bats the size of sea- 
 gulls flopped about over the boats. Troops of monkeys 
 chattered and howled amongst the branches, or jumped 
 from bough to bough with a loud swishing sound. Borneo 
 is par excellence the country of monkeys. Every now and 
 then a wild pig would stare at the boat with astonishment, 
 and then giving a grunt would trot away. Here and 
 there on the banks were small patches devoid of timber, 
 and clothed with grass or bracken. I saw a stag or two 
 as we paddled along, but not wishing to disturb elephants 
 did not fire. Sometimes we stopped and landed to seek 
 for spoor ; but, though there were plenty of old elephant 
 tracks, there was nothing more recent than tracks made 
 at the time of the last full moon. 
 
 In this country, all sorts of game get on the move 
 about two days before the full moon until two days 
 after, and the same thing happens at the time of the 
 young moon. At these periods the game emerge from 
 their haunts in the jungle and travel to the rivers and to 
 distant feeding grounds. It is, therefore, advisable for 
 the sportsman to select these times of the moon for his 
 
 hunting expeditions. 
 
 n 
 
1 62 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 On coming round a bend of the river I saw a timbadau 
 bull, and was tempted to fire, but refrained. The tim- 
 badau are a species of wild cattle. The male is of a 
 dark chocolate colour (almost black), with a white nose, a 
 white stern and white legs. In conformation he some- 
 what resembles the " bos ghaurus," or bison of India. 
 The female is red, with white nose, stern and legs. They 
 are reported to be dangerous ; but though I have shot 
 many of them, I have never seen one show fight, and I 
 fancy the danger incurred in hunting them is inconsider- 
 able. Their beef is almost uneatable. I suppose this 
 is due to their feeding on bitter leaves in the jungle. 
 
 We continued to ascend the river until it was nearly 
 dark. I began to fear that the elephants could not have 
 come in this direction at all, so I ordered the boats to 
 pull into shore and make fast. 
 
 We set to work to clear away small bush, and camp 
 down for the night. The Dyaks are very ingenious at 
 this kind of work. They will make you a bedstead, a 
 table, and a chair in ten minutes, and then put a roof 
 over the whole. They cut sticks, having one end sharp- 
 ened and a fork at the other. They use these for up- 
 rights, driving the sharp end into the ground. Crosspieces 
 are fixed across from fork to fork, and then withes are 
 used as longitudinals, the whole being lashed together 
 firmly with strips of bark. 
 
 In the evening the life of the jungle seems to wake 
 up. Pigeons whiz about overhead as they fly to roost. 
 A peculiar kind of insect which lives in the bark of trees 
 begins to make a shrill chattering noise, and if there 
 are any flying foxes about, they soar from tree to tree. 
 They are in reality a species of large squirrel which has 
 a skin or membrane connecting its fore and hind legs. 
 
A LUCKY KILL. 163 
 
 It jumps from a tree, and spreading out its legs is thus 
 sustained by the membrane. I have seen it shoot across 
 from one tree to another over an intervening space of at 
 least 150 yards. The point of arrival is necessarily a 
 little lower than the point of departure, but so slight is 
 the angle of descent, that the impression given is that 
 the creature travels through the air horizontally. 
 
 With the darkness the noises of the night cease. 
 
 I sat down to my solitary meal of tinned provisions 
 and coffee, and, after a quiet pipe, gave my express and 
 my heavy double No. 8 bore a coating of vaseline, and 
 then lay down to rest, so that I might be ready for the 
 hard day's work that awaited us on the morrow. 
 
 Morning and evening in the tropics are the pleasantest 
 times of the day. In the morning especially Nature looks 
 its best. There is a freshness in the air. The wondrous 
 vegetation glittering under a heavy load of dew suggests 
 fairy-land, and the best transformation scene on a 
 London stage seemed tawdry when compared with 
 this beautiful river, which, like a path of silver, wound 
 its way amid glorious masses of tropical foliage. What 
 a blessing it is that one can occasionally get face to 
 face with Nature ! She complains not at her votaries 
 paying homage in shirt-sleeves, and untrimmed by a 
 razor. 
 
 After a hasty plunge in the river and a light breakfast 
 we set off in search of the elephants. 
 
 I directed our course almost at right angles to the 
 direction of the river, thinking thereby that if the ele- 
 phants had come anywhere in this direction I must cross 
 their spoor. 
 
 Occasionally a pig trotted across us, or a deer would 
 give a shrill bark and bound away, but we hardly noticed 
 
164 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 them, for when the heart is set on elephants all minor 
 sporting temptations become insignificant 
 
 I carried my double express, and my gun-bearer fol- 
 lowed me, carrying my heavy double barrel No. 8 
 smooth bore, loaded with eight drachms of powder and a 
 two-ounce spherical ball, hardened with tin, in each barrel. 
 
 Progress through the jungle is tedious work. A Dyak 
 walked before me, lopping away branches with his 
 parang. Now and then we came to fallen trunks of 
 trees, over which we had to clamber, or else make a 
 detour to pass them, and in other places we were con- 
 stantly tripping over rattans and creepers of various 
 kinds. 
 
 To my mind the elephant is an exceedingly easy 
 animal to kill, if you only go close enough to him and 
 are not afraid of him. However, if you do make a mess 
 of it and are charged by an elephant in a tropical jungle 
 it may be very awkward, for you stand in danger of being 
 tripped up or caught fast by the creepers. The elephant 
 can run straight through jungle which is impenetrable to 
 a man. It is therefore dangerous work. On the other 
 hand, there are generally large trees about, round which 
 a man can dodge an elephant, if he is able to reach a 
 tree in time. 
 
 The leeches are the greatest nuisance. They are 
 especially voracious after a shower of rain. They adhere 
 to the leaves and wave their tails about. If you happen 
 to touch one he instantly leaves the leaf and clings to 
 you. 
 
 I used invariably to wear putties tightly wound round 
 my legs, two pairs of thick socks, and to tie strings 
 round my coat at the wrists in order to prevent the 
 leeches ascending my arms. Notwithstanding these 
 
A LUCKY KILL. 165 
 
 precautions, I have on returning from a day's hunting in 
 the jungle stripped myself and found more than thirty 
 leeches upon me gorged with blood. They get down 
 your neck, into your boots, under your armpits, and, in 
 fact, all over you, excepting in your hair. 
 
 We went on and on, but could see no recent tracks of 
 elephant. At about eleven A.M. we had to begin mak- 
 ing use of the pocket compass, for the sun being nearly 
 overhead was no longer of any use as a guide to us in 
 our course. 
 
 Shortly after one I halted for a rest. It was certain 
 that the elephants had not come anywhere in this direc- 
 tion, so it seemed to me probable that they had made a 
 sweep round to the southward, and returned in the direc- 
 tion whence they had originally come. 
 
 It was, however, possible that we had made too wide 
 a cast, and that they were within the ground we had 
 traversed, so I determined to return by another route. 
 I intended to strike the river at a point considerably 
 below our encampment, and then to ascend it until we 
 reached home ; so, setting the new course by the com- 
 pass, we started back. The heat was intense, and took all 
 the energy out of us. Our want of success depressed our 
 spirits, and we stumbled along, taking hardly any notice 
 of spoor. I had very faint hopes of falling in with 
 elephants, and merely followed the hunter's maxim, 
 '' Never say die ". 
 
 It was a little after three, and I judged that we must be 
 not very far from the river, when suddenly the leading 
 Dyak gave a whistle and pointed to the ground. On 
 going up my heart gave a bound, for there were the 
 quite fresh tracks of elephants. There were only two of 
 them, a bull of large size and a cow. 
 
1 66 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 In a moment our fatigue and depression vanished, 
 and we felt fit to go another twenty miles. 
 
 By the direction of their tracks it seemed as though 
 they had come from the river. They did not belong to 
 the troop we were in search of, but had probably crossed 
 over from the other side of the river. 
 
 We followed their spoor, and in less than a quarter of 
 an hour came to a mud hole, where they had bathed. 
 The mud had not yet settled down, and the water was 
 still of a pea-soup colour. The banks were covered 
 with wet mud and water. 
 
 By the traces it was evident that they had lingered here 
 for some time, and we now felt sure they were close ahead. 
 
 One has to exercise judgment and caution in ap- 
 proaching a pair of elephants male and female, for at 
 certain periods the male is excessively dangerous if in- 
 terfered with. 
 
 It is as well to make sure that you are firing at the 
 male, for at the periods above referred to, should you 
 fire at the female first and wound her, it is extremely 
 likely that you may at once be charged by the male. 
 If he charges, she will probably charge also. 
 
 Now, one man one tree to dodge round and two 
 elephants at the man, is not fair play. 
 
 If you fire at the male only, in all probability the 
 female will take to flight. In dense jungle it is some- 
 times exceedingly difficult to distinguish the male from 
 the female, as the tusks are often obscured by bush and 
 branches. 
 
 The troops of elephants generally consist of females, 
 calves, and elephants which have not yet reached 
 maturity. They are not dangerous as a rule, excepting 
 during the season when the wild fruit is ripe. At that 
 
A LUCKY KILL. l6/ 
 
 time they seem to be affected by a sort of madness, and 
 often kill people wantonly. 
 
 The spoor now began to descend a gentle slope, and 
 we heard the noise of frogs and water-insects, by which 
 we guessed that we were approaching a marsh or swamp. 
 A few minutes later, the blue sky appeared before us, 
 and we saw that we were nearing the edge of the jungle. 
 At last we debouched on a large swamp covered with 
 nipa palms and long grass and rushes. 
 
 " Hist ! " said my gun bearer. " Don't you hear them ? " 
 
 The noise of swishing and cracking was distinctly 
 audible, and we now knew that the elephants were 
 feeding in the swamp, and were not more than 300 
 yards from us at the present moment. 
 
 They had entered the swamp by a sort of well-beaten 
 path which was evidently much used by elephants, and 
 there was a chance of their emerging again by the same 
 path. 
 
 The ground looked very dangerous. There was not 
 a tree in it which could save a man from an angry 
 elephant. They had also gone somewhat down wind, 
 so if we followed them, they would know of our approach 
 and might take to flight before we could get a shot. 
 There was a great deal of mud and water, and if a man 
 were charged he would have a very poor chance unless 
 he killed the elephant stone dead, for to run about would 
 be almost impossible. 
 
 After a consultation, I told one Dyak to remain at 
 this spot and to climb a tree in order to get a better view 
 of the movements of the giant game. If they showed 
 any intention of leaving the swamp by the path by which 
 they had entered it, he was to recall us by giving a 
 peculiar whistle. 
 
1 68 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 I took the rest of the men with me, and turned to the 
 left, going along the edge of the swamp. I went for 
 about 300 yards, and then entered the swamp. 
 
 My design was to get round the elephants and 
 approach them from below the wind. I did not want 
 to make too much noise, nor was it fair to expose the 
 Dyaks to unusual danger, so I told them to remain. 
 My orderly, however, insisted on accompanying me, so 
 I gave him the express rifle loaded with solid conical, 
 telling him to use it if there was a charge made, and 
 that when we got near the elephants, I would go in front 
 and fire at them, while he was to remain behind and take 
 care of himself. I took the heavy double No. 8 bore, and 
 put six spare cartridges into my left breast-pocket. 
 
 It was difficult work plunging in this swamp, and I 
 almost wished we had never entered it. At last we 
 came to a muddy, stagnant lagoon, which looked impass- 
 able. However, my orderly, laying down the express 
 rifle and ammunition bag, slipped into it and began 
 wading across. The water soon rose to his armpits, and, 
 seeing that it was impassable, I recalled him to the bank. 
 
 The only thing now to be done was to retrace our 
 steps and await events. Just as we were rejoining our 
 party, I heard a call note from the Dyak whom we had 
 left on the look-out at the spot where the elephants had 
 first entered the swamp. 
 
 I set off as hard as I could run in his direction, swish- 
 ing through bushes and jumping over roots and binders. 
 I tripped up and came down a burster, but was up again 
 in a moment. As I was running, I heard the plash, 
 plash of an elephant wading through the swamp. It 
 was evidently coming out of the swamp by the same 
 path it had entered it by, and it was a question whether 
 
A LUCKY KILL. 
 
 I could gain the path before the elephant had passed by. 
 I dashed on, encumbered as I was by the heavy gun, 
 and reached the path just as the huge elephant, between 
 nine and ten feet high, was emerging from the swamp. 
 It was the bull. His long tusks gleamed before me as 
 he approached me, dangling his trunk and flapping his 
 ears. My hand was shaking with excitement and ex- 
 haustion, but there was not a moment to be lost, for he 
 was twelve paces from me and was nearing me at every 
 stride ; so I swung up the heavy gun to my shoulder, and 
 covering his forehead fired. I did not wait to observe 
 the result of my shot, but threw myself down to one side 
 of the path. The next instant I heard my orderly's 
 voice shouting: " He is down, tuan! He is down." And 
 rising again there I saw him lying stone dead before me. 
 He had fallen at just eleven yards from the muzzle of 
 the gun. His feet now make excellent footstools, and 
 his tusks, each four feet nine inches in length, adorn our 
 house as trophies. He fell with his knees doubled up 
 under him, and was lying on the ground in the attitude 
 a horse or a cow would assume if sleeping lying down. 
 I lay on my back for five minutes to recover breath, and 
 then rose. I was dreadfully thirsty, and emptied the 
 water bottle, after which I climbed upon his back and 
 sat there smoking a most satisfactory pipe of triumph- 
 Moments like these amply repay the sportsman for 
 all the hardship, fatigue and exposure he has undergone, 
 and success is all the sweeter when it follows upon the 
 heels of hard work and despondency. I would say to 
 all hunters: " Never mind if you are unlucky, go on, luck 
 will come sooner or later ". What became of the cow, 
 I know not. Probably, having heard the shot, she made 
 her exit from the swamp by another route. 
 
I/O TALES OF A NOMAD, 
 
 The female of the Oriental elephant does not carry 
 tusks, and it is advisable not to shoot her unless you come 
 so suddenly upon her as to necessitate killing her to ensure 
 your own safety. I was once following elephants, and on 
 passing round the trunk of a great tree came suddenly 
 upon a female elephant within eight yards of me. She 
 saw me at the same moment I saw her, and I shot her 
 instantly. 
 
 We now set to work to cut out the tusks with axes. 
 Should any one ever shoot an elephant and be un- 
 provided with an axe, it is as well to know that if he 
 revisits the carcase in a week's time he can withdraw 
 the tusks from the skull without the least difficulty. 
 
 I wanted the fore-feet also. This was a tedious 
 business, for we had to cut the elephant to pieces to get 
 at his feet, which were doubled under him. The Dyaks 
 then tied rattans round them, and having cut a circular 
 mark round the ankles by following the lines of the 
 rattans with a knife, they then hacked off the feet. 
 
 Having got out the tusks and cut off the fore-feet we 
 started for camp in thorough good-humour. We 
 reached the river and skirted it. It made considerable 
 bends, and we could see a long way along the banks. 
 It was sundown, the hour at which the game came 
 down to drink. My orderly pointed out a stag to me. 
 He was on the same bank as ourselves at about 200 
 yards distance, and was stepping down to drink. His 
 horns were laid back, and as I aimed he twitched his 
 tail and took a step forward which brought him to the 
 very brink of the water. The setting sun must have 
 dazzled me, and have caused me to take the foresight 
 a little too full, for as I fired he collapsed and fell into 
 the river, but began struggling about, and on finishing 
 
A LUCKY KILL. \J\ 
 
 him off and getting him to shore I found I had fired 
 too high, just grazing him on the shoulders, and thus 
 paralysing him by the shock. 
 
 That night in camp I set to work to prepare the fore- 
 feet of the elephant. We extracted as much of the flesh 
 and the bones as we could, and then washed the feet in 
 the river. 
 
 I then painted them internally with arsenical soap, 
 and the Dyaks inserted a circular framework of hoops 
 of wood cut from a pliant kind of bough. Having thus 
 got the feet into the shape of footstools I carried them 
 with me on my return to the Residency on the following 
 day. I then made my Dyaks build a sort of elevated 
 gridiron out of sticks. Upon this I placed the feet, soles 
 upwards, and had smouldering fires of damp wood kept 
 up under them for four days. The smoke of the wood 
 and the heat of the sun combined had now stiffened the 
 feet sufficiently to enable me to remove the framework 
 from the interior. Care must be taken not to burn the 
 feet. 
 
 I was now enabled to cut away the remaining portions 
 of flesh and small bones from the interior of the toes. I 
 then washed them with a solution of carbolic and water 
 in equal proportions, and exposed them to the sun for a 
 few days, after which I could kick them about like a foot- 
 ball. On my return to England Rowland Ward did the 
 rest. 
 
 But perhaps some reader may ask : " What became of 
 the case in court, of the native chiefs, of the musketry, 
 and of the circuit? " 
 
 As for the case. The defendant had to marry the 
 plaintiff, and they lived together happily ever afterwards. 
 The native chiefs were interviewed, and having relieved 
 
IJ2 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 their minds by talking for three hours, and having de- 
 livered themselves of more sensible statements than are 
 usually heard in the House of Commons during the same 
 period of time, went away thoroughly content. The 
 musketry course was fired ; it was better than that of 
 most militia regiments. And I went on circuit. Justice 
 and the quality which drops like the gentle dew from 
 heaven were dispensed to John Chinaman with cheapness 
 and despatch. 
 
 These matters had certainly been delayed, but they all 
 came out well in the washing. Meanwhile, the country 
 had been rid of an elephant, but it was not one of those 
 which did the mischief. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 MY BIG TUSKER. 
 
 ONE evening I was descending a river in a prahu. It 
 was very pleasant work. Two Dyaks were seated in 
 the bows propelling the boat by noiseless strokes, for it 
 was my wish to avoid disturbing any game which might 
 be coming down to drink. Another Dyak in the stern 
 steered the boat with his paddle. I was seated in ' the 
 centre of the boat cross-legged, upon a sort of little half 
 deck which I had constructed for shooting purposes, and 
 beside me lay my elephant gun and my express rifle, 
 the former by Holland and the latter a perfect master- 
 piece by James Lang. 
 
 A sportsman will easily understand why I had this 
 little deck constructed. Say, for instance, that you are 
 seated upon the athwart ship plank which is ordinarily 
 used as a seat in boats. To begin with, your feet are 
 always in the bilge water, and you have no table upon 
 which to lay your rifles, ammunition, pipe, tobacco,, 
 matches, etc. 
 
 Moreover, if you are a right-handed and right-eyed 
 man, you can fire to the left with ease, but you cannot 
 fire to the right without turning your whole body round 
 facing the right bank of the river, and it is difficult to 
 do this in an ordinary boat. If you have a little deck 
 constructed you can spin your body round in any direction, 
 and can thus in a moment find the most comfortable 
 
174 TALES OF A NOMAD, 
 
 position in which to fire at any object. I used always 
 to fire in the sitting position, viz., my legs spread out, 
 my feet planted on the deck, and my knees raised with 
 both my elbows fixed upon them. 
 
 The boatmen should be instructed to drop their 
 paddles softly into the water upon a true edge, and to 
 remove them without a splash. The boat should be 
 trimmed on an even keel. On coming within range of 
 game, the boatmen should be told to make one rather 
 long stroke just to give the boat steerage way, and then 
 to cease paddling and remain absolutely still until you 
 have fired, for the least rocking of the boat is enough to 
 spoil your shot. These apparently trivial details are 
 essential to success in river shooting. Many a head of 
 game have I shot in this way, and, therefore, have some 
 right to give advice in the matter. 
 
 A prahu, like a canoe, has no keel, and therefore is 
 disturbed by the least movement. For a variety of 
 reasons, unnecessary to quote here, they are far more 
 useful than any kind of European built boat for this 
 sort of work. 
 
 It was a lovely evening, and the jungle was alive with 
 animal and bird life. The river made sharp twists, and 
 each time we swept round one of these our expectancy 
 was wound up to the highest pitch, for every turn re- 
 vealed fresh beauties in the way of long still pools 
 reflecting the giant tropical vegetation as though in 
 a mirror, and every new vista afforded an additional 
 prospect of seeing game. 
 
 The worst of these rivers is that you may ascend one 
 with ease, and find no obstacle which cannot be cleared 
 away in a minute or two by a few strokes of a Dyak 
 parang ; but on descending again you may find the river 
 
MY BIG TUSKER. 1/5 
 
 blocked up by some enormous tree which has fallen 
 across from bank to bank. In cases of this kind, it is 
 sometimes necessary to make a portage, viz., to unload 
 your boats, cut a number of rollers, make a wooden cap- 
 stan and a rope of twisted bark, and thus haul your 
 boats up the bank, and lower them into the water on the 
 other side of the obstacle. 
 
 I remember on one occasion when ascending a river 
 we came to a giant fallen trunk, about 150 feet in 
 length and averaging about five feet in diameter. It 
 had fallen across the river and served as a footbridge. 
 
 There was room for our boats to pass underneath 
 without removing the awnings. While we were up the 
 river the heavy rains at the sources caused a flood. 
 On our return journey we found that the river having 
 risen the trunk was half covered with water. It was 
 equally impossible to pass beneath it or above it. We 
 could not afford to wait a week for the flood to abate, so 
 we had to make a portage. 
 
 Perhaps some one may ask: "Why not cut the trunk 
 in half?" This appears to be a sensible question, but I 
 would advise the querist to attempt to cut in half a 
 horizontal tree five feet in diameter, the lower half of 
 which is immersed in a swift flowing current, and he will 
 discover where the difficulty lies. 
 
 As we descended the river, we gradually got into the 
 tide way. The vegetation altered. There were fewer 
 trees and more palms. The river became uninteresting. 
 The tide was at its lowest, and on each bank a belt of 
 about five feet of dense black mud was visible. The 
 mosquitoes and sandflies began to annoy us too. 
 
 Occasionally we saw young crocodiles a few inches 
 long basking in the mud, and they would rush splutter- 
 
176 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 ing into the river as soon as we neared them. The 
 Borneo waters abound with these horrid saurians, which 
 grow to a very large size, sometimes attaining nearly 
 thirty feet in length. Many people are killed by them. 
 When hungry they will even take a man out of a boat. 
 This, however, is easily done, for the steersman of a 
 prahu sits perched upon the stern in the very way to 
 tempt a crocodile. 
 
 The Government give rewards for their destruction, 
 and many crocodile skulls are brought in, but somehow 
 or other their numbers do not seem to decrease much. 
 The best way to catch them is to sharpen both ends of 
 a stick about a foot long, and fasten a line round the 
 middle. A crocodile will bite an ordinary rope in half, 
 so the portion of line nearest the bait is made of several 
 small strands. These get between his teeth, and he is in 
 consequence unable to sever them. The piece of wood, 
 which performs the office of a hook, is baited with meat 
 and is thrown into the river. A bladder or float is 
 attached to the other end of the line. 
 
 The crocodile feeds more by night than by day. He 
 swallows the meat and swims off. Next morning the 
 natives examine the pool or river and soon discover the 
 float upon the surface of the water. They attach a long 
 line to the float and begin to haul. As soon as the 
 line is drawn taut the sharpened stick turns crosswise, 
 and thus the crocodile is fast hooked. He is then 
 dragged out of the water and despatched by spear 
 thrusts and cuts from the kriss or parang. 
 
 There is a popular fallacy that the crocodile can only 
 live in fresh water. I have seen them make excursions 
 a considerable distance into the sea, and people are often 
 killed by them in salt water. 
 
MY BIG TUSKER. 1 77 
 
 I remember on one occasion in my district, three 
 young natives were fishing in a prahu. It was in an 
 estuary of the sea, though the water was not more than 
 three or four feet deep. They were casting hand-nets. 
 
 The two men who escaped related to me that the 
 third man called out : " Help me ! I have enclosed a big fish 
 in my net". They went towards him, but as they did so 
 a great crocodile seized the young fellow and pulled him 
 out of the boat. They never saw him again. He must 
 have thrown his net over the crocodile, and have felt its 
 weight just as the crocodile was going at him. 
 
 For the benefit of the geological reader I will state 
 that the rivers bring down a quantity of detritus and 
 deposit it to seaward. At last this rises above the level 
 of the sea and forms banks. Then the birds and the 
 winds bring seeds of vegetation, and these banks become 
 clothed with mangrove or nipa palm. Thus the land is 
 continually extending seaward. This may be an errone- 
 ous theory, but it seems to be the only one which 
 accounts for the facts. 
 
 The mangrove flourishes nearest to the coast, and will 
 only grow where its roots are actually covered by salt 
 water at high tide, and the nipa palm takes the place of 
 the mangrove a little higher up stream where the highest 
 tide fails to overflow the banks. 
 
 The river here made some very sharp turns like an S. 
 Suddenly one of my Dyaks ceased paddling and pointed 
 to the bank inquiringly. I listened and heard a swishing 
 sound amongst the nipas, as though of some large animal 
 on the feed. The timbadau do not come down so far as 
 the region of nipas, so I guessed that it must be either 
 elephant or rhinoceros. We swiftly paddled to shore, and 
 making fast our boat to an overhanging bough of a tree, 
 
 12 
 
TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 managed to haul ourselves up by the knotted roots which 
 here formed the upper part of the bank. The rifles were 
 handed up, and we were all ready for sport. A Dyak 
 whispered to me, that whatever it was, we had it at a 
 great advantage, for it was in a loop of the river. That 
 is to say, it was practically on an isthmus of which we 
 occupied the neck. It was now low tide, and the animal 
 would not dare to jump into the water and swim, because 
 it would be unable to get through the deep belt of mud 
 and mount the farther bank. I could see that the neck 
 of the isthmus was not more than sixty or seventy yards 
 wide at this point, so that as the animal was bound to 
 break back we were certain to get a shot. Dangerous 
 game when cooped up like this, sometimes behave in a 
 peculiar manner, and go for you if you are anywhere 
 near their path of exit. In this case, there would 
 certainly be no golden bridge for a flying enemy, there- 
 fore it became advisable to look out for squalls. 
 
 The other boat had come up now, and its occupants 
 had mounted the bank also. 
 
 When I started on this expedition my Dyak orderly 
 was sick, and I had brought a Pathan with me to act in 
 his place. I handed the Pathan my express rifle loaded 
 with hardened solid conical, telling him to support me 
 in event of danger, and I instructed the Dyaks to take 
 to the river if necessary. Leaving a couple of men to 
 look after the boats, I took up my No. 8 bore and we 
 went in search of our quarry. 
 
 The ground here was fairly open for jungle. There 
 was long coarse grass everywhere, and clumps of nipas 
 and isolated small trees were scattered about ; but in 
 most parts I could manage to see for about sixty or 
 seventy yards. 
 
MY BIG TUSKER. 
 
 We still heard the swishing, and went cautiously in the 
 direction of the sound. It proceeded from a clump of 
 nipas rather thicker than ordinary, and we entered them. 
 The swishing ceased for a moment. We skirted the 
 clump of nipas and peered amongst them without seeing 
 anything. Suddenly we heard a trampling and snorting, 
 and some large beast broke away and rushed off on the 
 other side in the direction of the bend. There was a cry 
 of "Rhinoceros !" and we started off in full chase. At last 
 I pulled up. I could not see him, but I knew he must 
 be somewhere before us in the bend. 
 
 Again I heard a galloping and snorting noise, but this 
 time coming towards us. He had discovered that there 
 was no exit, and was breaking back in our direction. I 
 got a glimpse of him about seventy yards off. He was 
 coming in our direction, but would pass about twenty or 
 thirty yards to our right, so I set off running to the 
 right, and gained the shelter of a small tree, behind 
 which I stood. I aimed straight at his chest, but when 
 within fifteen yards he saw me and made a swerve which 
 would cause him to pass between myself and my natives. 
 As he passed I gave him a heavy shot in the lungs. 
 The Pathan who had my express loosed it off, missing 
 him clean, and sending the bullet whizzing across past 
 me within a couple of feet of my head. The rhinoceros 
 thundered on, and I gave him another heavy shot, raking 
 forward, just as he was disappearing. 
 
 The Pathan was profuse in his apologies for having 
 fired across at me. I was his father, his mother and 
 all his relatives rolled into one. The pull off of the rifle 
 was much lighter than the military arm to which he was 
 accustomed. The rifle went off sooner than he ex- 
 pected. It was also so long in the stock that he could 
 
l8o TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 not aim well with it. He was torn with grief at having 
 sent a bullet in the direction of the sahib. He thought 
 the rhinoceros was coming straight at the sahib. It only 
 swerved at the last moment. He had fired with a view 
 of aiding the sahib. He shoot the sahib, indeed ! not 
 he, if he had a hundred lives he would sacrifice them all 
 cheerfully for the sahib's sake. 
 
 We now followed upon the spoor and found copious 
 traces of blood, and about 400 yards farther on came 
 upon him lying dead. He was a fine animal, but his 
 horn was not to be compared with the horns of the 
 African rhinoceri. 
 
 We had to camp down for the night upon the bank, 
 and resume our journey in the following morning. 
 
 In this climate, unlike South Africa, the sportsman 
 should neglect nothing to promote his health and com- 
 fort. Let me recommend him to take with him 
 an iron fold-up camp bedstead (one of those which 
 fits into a sack) ; also a cork mattress and plenty of 
 waterproof sheets, for they are always useful. As for 
 medicine, let him keep his liver working correctly and 
 take five grains of quinine daily, and he will be all right. 
 
 With the kind permission of the reader I will here 
 digress in order to relate a somewhat unpleasant adven- 
 ture which once befell me in ascending a river. 
 
 I was bound partly on an errand of exploration but 
 took my sporting rifles with me as there was always a 
 chance of coming across game. 
 
 The sun had already set, and in a few minutes more 
 it would be dark, My men were paddling as hard as 
 they could to reach our camping ground for the night, 
 and in consequence were making a good deal of noise 
 and splashing with each stroke. Having given up all 
 
MY BIG TUSKEK. l8l 
 
 expectation of sport for the day, I had just put on a 
 light pair of canvas slippers in lieu of my heavy shoot- 
 ing boots, when we heard an elephant give an appalling 
 trumpet call from the right bank of the river, about a 
 hundred yards higher up stream. 
 
 We instantly pulled in to the bank. I grasped my 
 heavy elephant gun and sprang on shore, followed by 
 my Dyaks. 
 
 At this point of the river the jungle was very bad 
 going. As you went forward, one step would be on a 
 hard tussock and the next would be in mud a foot deep. 
 The vegetation consisted of palms, and the ground was 
 overrun by prickly weeds and binders. Moreover, there 
 were no trees about which could save a man from a 
 charge. 
 
 As we approached the elephants I heard a bull giving 
 an ominous grumble. This sound somewhat resembles 
 the rolling of peas on a drum head. Perhaps some may 
 not understand the simile. I will liken it, therefore, to 
 stage thunder. It is a deep bass purring or growling, 
 and is supposed to be an indication that the elephant is 
 in an evil humour. I believe he produces the sound by 
 putting the tip of his trunk near the ground and exhal- 
 ing blasts of air. 
 
 This elephant varied the performance by an occa- 
 sional noise resembling a rush of steam, as though a 
 locomotive was clearing its cylinders before starting on 
 its journey. He was evidently irritated by our approach, 
 and had no idea of decamping without giving battle. 
 
 It was now so dark that in the shade of the jungle 
 I could not see my foresight distinctly, and I did not 
 feel exactly comfortable. One of my Dyaks added to 
 my uneasiness by saying : " There are two of them, a 
 
1 82 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 male and a female. Be very careful, sir, and kill the 
 bull with the first shot, for he is very angry and will 
 certainly show fight. This is a bad place. He will 
 knock down these palm trees like grass, so run away 
 the instant you have fired. Perhaps it would be wiser 
 not to go near him, sir." 
 
 Any person using language calculated to intimidate 
 troops in the face of the enemy is liable to the penalty 
 of death ; and I was not pleased with the Dyak, more 
 especially as his words aggravated the want of con- 
 fidence in myself which I already felt. However, here 
 I was I had come out with the intention of shooting 
 and there was the elephant, so I was bound to go ahead 
 as a matter of sportsmanlike duty. 
 
 We advanced. As we approached him he gave 
 another savage trumpet call. My Dyaks began to betray 
 the inherent fault of this gallant race. They became 
 excited, and some of them rushed forward to get a view 
 of the elephants. I had some difficulty in getting over 
 the ground, as I was in danger of losing my slippers in 
 the dense mud, and my ankles being bare got badly 
 scratched by the prickly vegetation. 
 
 We were going parallel to the river and at about fifteen 
 yards from its bank. Suddenly there was another 
 appalling trumpet call, this time with an element of 
 shriek in it, and I heard a rustling amongst the jungle 
 about forty yards to our front. The sound approached 
 us, and I knew that the giant was not going to wait to 
 be attacked but was coming to look us up. 
 
 One of my Dyaks who had gone on ahead came rush- 
 ing back with a look of alarm on his face. He never 
 stopped, but passed me at full speed, making for the 
 boat which was lower down stream. Two splashes in 
 
MY BIG TUSKER. 183 
 
 the water announced that two more Dyaks had sought 
 safety by taking headers into the river. 
 
 My folly in having approached this elephant in a dim 
 light and on such dangerous ground now became pain- 
 fully apparent to my own mind ; but there is no use in 
 crying over spilt milk. There was not a moment to 
 be lost. I was quite unable to run about in my present 
 condition, and the river seemed to be the best position 
 for giving battle in ; so I made for the bank as fast as I 
 could, threw ofT my cartridge bag, and cocking both 
 barrels came to the ready position. I determined not 
 to fire at all unless obliged to, and in that event I con- 
 templated throwing down my gun and leaping into the 
 river. 
 
 Behind me I heard a noise of splashing and rattling 
 of paddles, accompanied by the voices of the Dyaks in 
 the boat crying out : " Look sharp and shove off, for he 
 is coming down stream and will smash the boat if he 
 sees it". 
 
 In a few moments more at about ten yards from me 
 the jungle parted and a huge bull elephant stalked out, 
 with his head elevated in the air, his trunk curled up, 
 and his ears extended. On seeing me he halted and 
 extended his trunk straight out at me. I levelled my 
 gun upwards at him, and there we stood face to face 
 without a movement on either side. I could hardly see 
 the bead of my foresight. His head was so raised that 
 I could not get the forehead shot, so I levelled my gun 
 at his mouth, though it would have been almost hopeless 
 to expect to kill him by a shot in the mouth. Had he 
 given the least movement forward I should have fired 
 instantly, and then, dropping the gun, have jumped into 
 the river. This was perhaps one of the most trying 
 
184 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 moments in my life, and in dreams produced by indiges- 
 tion that elephant still plays a prominent part. At last 
 he gave a blast, and wheeling round went back in the 
 direction whence he had come. He was evidently in a 
 sort of " Come on, I am ready for you " mood, but 
 did not wish to commence hostilities unless provoked. 
 It is needless to say that I felt very thankful at the 
 result 
 
 The part I played was not a particularly brilliant one, 
 still I think that any fair-minded man will acquit me of 
 poltroonery, for after all a man comes out to kill the 
 game and not to be killed by them. The conditions too 
 were distinctly unequal. I could not have killed him 
 as he stood in that position with head elevated, and he 
 certainly would have killed me unless I had jumped into 
 the river after firing. I should have escaped, but then 
 a fine animal would have been wounded for no reason- 
 able end. He might also have taken it into his head to 
 smash my elephant gun. 
 
 I regretted the loss of his tusks, for they were a good 
 pair, and projected quite three feet and a half from the 
 jaw. 
 
 We heard the elephants moving away in the jungle. 
 The main object, however, of this chapter is to describe 
 the manner in which I killed my largest tusker, so I 
 must crave the reader's pardon for these digressions. 
 
 I had long heard of an immense elephant, and had 
 seen his spoor, but had never succeeded in coming 
 across him. That elephant came between me and my 
 night's rest. I was always dreaming of him ; but some- 
 how or other, in these visions, the lock of the rifle seemed 
 to be out of order, or something intervened to prevent 
 the realisation of my desire to kill him. I became 
 
MY BIG TUSKER. 185 
 
 gloomy and despondent whenever I thought of him, 
 and I went on an expedition with the sole object of 
 meeting him and slaying him. 
 
 I had ascended the Kayu River, and had encamped 
 where there was a clearing upon which stood an old 
 house. A certain company was formed some years ago 
 to prospect for gold upon the Segama River. The 
 Segama itself was unnavigable owing to the numerous 
 rapids, and the best mode of access to the upper waters 
 of the Segama was to ascend the Kayu River as far as 
 it was navigable, and thence to make a road through the 
 jungle to the upper waters of the Segama. This the 
 Gold Company had done, and the house I encamped in 
 was their old abandoned depot upon the Kayu, at the 
 point where they commenced to make their road across 
 country to the Segama. 
 
 The moon was at the full that night and there had been 
 a good deal of rain, so there was every prospect of sport ; 
 for elephants move about at the time of the full moon, 
 more especially if the weather has been rainy. My 
 design was to proceed along the road for five or six 
 miles from the river, as thereby I should be sure to see 
 the tracks of any elephants which had travelled parallel 
 to the river. 
 
 I sent for my Dyak spoorer and had a confabula- 
 tion. 
 
 " Shall we get sport to-morrow ? " 
 
 " Yes, tuan, the moon is full ; there has been rain, and 
 I heard a certain bird calling this evening. It may be 
 that we shall come across the big elephant." 
 
 " What on earth do you mean about your bird ? " 
 
 " Whenever that bird gives its note it always presages 
 success. The last time I went out hunting with the tuan, 
 
1 86 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 and ran a thorn into my foot, and was obliged to remain 
 in camp, the day the tuan killed that elephant, I knew 
 he had killed, for I heard that bird. I said to the people 
 in camp : ' The tuan has killed an elephant He will 
 come home carrying its tusks, see if I am not right ; ' 
 and sure enough you returned successful. Besides, I 
 have made quite sure of success. I am going with you 
 to-morrow. I have brought my charms with me, see, here 
 they are, all tied round my waist ; so we cannot fail to 
 be successful. The corporal also had a dream last night 
 in which he saw an elephant, and that is a sure sign of 
 success. Ah, he is a wonderful man that corporal ! " 
 " Was it a tusker that he saw in his dream ? " 
 " I am not sure, tuan ; I do not know. I will ask him. 
 But the corporal has the gift of second sight. At Padas, 
 during the war, the corporal had a dream that Privates 
 So-and-so and So-and-so would have ill-fortune on the 
 next day. A reconnaissance in force was ordered, and 
 these two privates were told off for the duty. They 
 knew that a cloud hung over them, for the corporal had 
 announced his dream, but they were true Dyaks and 
 brave men. They preferred death to shame, so they 
 directed a certain disposition to be made of their 
 property and of pay which was due to them, and they 
 went forth to do their duty. One of them got a suda (a 
 sharpened bamboo stake) through his foot, and the other 
 was shot in the behind. Neither was killed ; but you 
 see that disaster happened to them both, just as the 
 corporal had predicted. Ah, he is a wonderful man ! 
 Undoubtedly he is inspired." 
 
 The Dyaks have no religious faith, and no idea of the 
 Supreme Being or of worship, but they are great believers 
 in dreams and omens, and have implicit faith in charms. 
 
MY BIG TUSKER. 1 8/ 
 
 Mission teaching has a peculiar effect upon the mind 
 of Dyaks. I do not think they are able to grasp it quite 
 so well as they can the simple though very partial and 
 imperfect creed of the Mahometans. I once had a 
 mission Dyak amongst my men, and one night heard 
 him reading out a chapter from one of the Gospels for 
 the benefit of the other Dyaks. It was the sublime 
 account given of the trial before Pilate, and the denial of 
 St. Peter. I speak with reverence, but this was what I 
 actually heard : 
 
 " Read us something from the book," said one. 
 
 "Yes, yes," cried others; "it is very interesting, and 
 you are very learned to be able to read ; just like a 
 white man you are, but you would not make a good 
 sergeant for all that." 
 
 He commenced to read, getting very slowly over the 
 stones. Every now and then the Dyaks would make 
 comments, when it came to the words, "the cock crew," 
 one Dyak said : "What o'clock was that? " 
 
 This started a debate at once. One Dyak said : " Day- 
 break ". 
 
 "No, you fool," said another; "the cock crows two 
 and three times." 
 
 At last one very stupid, heavy-looking Dyak who 
 seldom spoke thought he ought to make a remark, so he 
 asked the question : " Who did the cock belong to ? " 
 
 " It belonged to Pontius Pilate," said one. 
 
 " It belonged to the maidservant," said another. 
 
 " It belonged to the neighbours," said a third. 
 
 " It belonged to the Government/' said a fourth. 
 
 " It belonged to nobody, but was only a cock that 
 walked about stealing what it could, like the Malay 
 fowls," said a fifth. 
 
1 88 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 At last there was a cry of : " Never mind who it 
 belonged to ; go on go on". 
 
 There was an animated discussion on St. Peter's con- 
 duct. " He was a coward," said one, " and he didn't 
 know how to use his parang. I cut people's heads 
 off; I don't cut ears off." 
 
 " No, he wasn't a coward to deny," said another. " We 
 all know that in private life it is shameful to tell an 
 untruth ; but in this case it was like war, and he was 
 justified in telling an untruth, for the truth would have 
 done no good to anybody." 
 
 " He was a fool, "said another. " Why did he come at 
 all if he was going to tell an untruth ? He had better 
 have run away like the others did.'' 
 
 The next morning we took the field prepared to camp 
 out for the night if necessary. A havresack contained 
 my food and my whisky. A waterproof sheet contained 
 my blanket pillow and a spare shirt in case I got wet. 
 Let no one who hunts in the jungle forget to take a 
 Maignen's filter with him, and some salt. When a leech 
 fastens upon you, touch him with salt and he will drop 
 off, and the wound will leave no irritation ; but if you pull 
 off a leech, the wound will smart, and perhaps inflame 
 considerably. 
 
 Shortly after leaving camp we crossed the fresh spoor 
 of a cow elephant with a calf accompanying it, but as I 
 was in search of tuskers we passed on. After going for 
 about two miles my spoorer gave an exclamation of joy 
 and surprise, and halted, at the same time pointing to an 
 immense spoor, quite fresh, which we recognised at once 
 as that of the great elephant which had so often evaded 
 us and of which we were now in search. 
 
 He had passed during the night time, and was direct- 
 
MY BIG TUSKEK. 1 89 
 
 ing his course towards the sea and generally parallel to 
 the river. 
 
 It is difficult for any one who is not a sportsman to 
 realise the thrill of pleasure which one experiences on 
 striking fresh spoor of giant game. The reflection that 
 not long ago the monster was walking over the very 
 spot, rouses all the faculties, and vague anticipation is 
 transformed into keen excitement. All is animation. 
 "It is him sure enough." "He is going down to the 
 swamps." " He passed here not five hours ago," were 
 the remarks which rapidly fell from our lips. 
 
 The start of joy the sportsman feels when with the 
 telescope he descries the outlines of the dun deer is 
 feeble when compared with the awesome emotion aroused 
 by recognition of the fresh tracks of a monster elephant. 
 
 The element of danger adds a zest to the pursuit. 
 Before the monster will lie dead at one's feet many an 
 anxious moment will pass, and the breath is drawn hard 
 as one contemplates the grave potentialities of the 
 situation. It may be that one well-placed shot will lay 
 him low, or it may be that fierce charges will have to be 
 met before the match is played out. In the background 
 is the gloomy possibility of a sad procession returning to 
 camp, bearing the disfigured corpse of one who will 
 never draw trigger again, and across the memory flit 
 shadows of hunting days with disastrous terminations. 
 
 But away with dull care and nervous apprehension. 
 May the day be far distant when men of British race 
 will give up the chase, and wrap themselves in the 
 cotton-wool of over-prudence ; for then the booming of 
 artillery will be to them no longer a stirring appeal to 
 get forward and do their duty, but only a knell of death 
 and doom. 
 
TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 To my mind the very essence of sport lies in having to 
 do all the work oneself, and for this reason I have never 
 been able to conceive how certain forms of Indian sport 
 in which elephants and a large number of beaters are 
 employed, can for an instant be compared with African 
 sport, for in the latter the hunter has to find his game, 
 follow it up, and kill it, all off his own bat as the saying 
 goes. 
 
 But to continue our story. The elephant was direct- 
 ing his course towards the sea and generally parallel to 
 the river. We followed up the spoor. At first it led 
 amongst some small stony hills, over which he had 
 travelled in a bee line without stopping to feed ; but it 
 descended into the plain again, where the ground was 
 soft and the task of spooring was easy. 
 
 It was an open question whether we should succeed 
 in coming up with him that day. If he was making a 
 distant point, he might travel for fifty miles without 
 stopping, but if he was going to some favourite feeding 
 ground only a few miles off we were pretty sure to come 
 up with him. 
 
 While tracking him, we came upon two rhinoceri who 
 were having a bath in a mud hole. They jumped up 
 and went off with a tremendous scurry, but I did not fire 
 for I feared to disturb the elephant. At last we came to 
 where the elephant had lingered for some time to feed, 
 and here his tracks wandered about in a zigzag way all 
 over the place. Farther on, we came to a huge pile of 
 droppings which showed that he had rested here for some 
 hours. The spoor now perceptibly freshened, and I felt 
 pretty sure we should come up with him that day. 
 About three P.M. we came to where he had bathed. He 
 had again lingered here. In another half-hour we came 
 
MY BIG TUSKER. 1 91 
 
 to a large swamp. The spoor led into it. It was curious 
 ground. There were a number of little tussocks or is- 
 lands, whichever you may choose to call them, each 
 about the size of a room, with channels of deep mud 
 separating them from each other. These channels were 
 narrow, so that we could generally find a spot where we 
 could spring from one island to another. The inter- 
 vening mud was rather soft, and would have taken a man 
 over the ankles had he tried, to walk in it. The islands 
 had banks three or four feet high, which overhung in 
 places. The swamp reminded me somewhat of a peat 
 bog, with this difference, viz., that it was overgrown with 
 clumps of long grass reeds and palms. Between the 
 line where the jungle ceased and the swamp commenced 
 was an open strip about fifty yards in width which 
 bordered the swamp. Along this one could see for 200 
 or 300 yards, for there was hardly any vegetation upon it. 
 We spoored the elephant into the swamp, and at last it 
 became evident that he had joined several other elephants, 
 for there were tracks which wandered about everywhere. 
 
 This was embarrassing ; but we could always dis- 
 tinguish the track of the solitary bull we were following, 
 for it greatly exceeded any of the other tracks in size. 
 I was, however, annoyed that he had joined other ele- 
 phants, as it might spoil our stalk. 
 
 At last we heard a noise of crackling branches, and 
 knew the elephants were feeding. 
 
 We went straight towards the sound. I saw an ele- 
 phant about forty yards away, but it was turned from 
 me, and it was not the large bull that I was in pursuit 
 of. I made a detour to avoid giving alarm to this ele- 
 phant, and in so doing suddenly saw my huge friend. 
 His head was raised, and his long white tusks were 
 
Ip2 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 gleaming before my very eyes, and I said to myself : 
 " They are mine already ". 
 
 I sat down to take my shot. He was about forty 
 yards off and was broadside on, but was in such a thick 
 clump of nipas that I could only see his head when he 
 raised it to feed. He raised his head again, and was still 
 for a moment as he stuffed a bundle of palm leaves into 
 his mouth. Just then I covered him between the eye and 
 the ear and fired. I did not see the effect of the shot, 
 for the smoke obscured my vision, but the spoorer called 
 out : " He is down ". 
 
 Now the Oriental elephant will always come down if 
 struck in the head, anywhere near the right place, by a 
 two-ounce ball propelled by eight drachms of powder ; 
 but unless he is shot through the brain he will get up 
 again. 
 
 I saw the nipas swaying and shaking where he had fallen, 
 and knew he was not dead. He now began screaming 
 like a pig, and I dreaded he would get up again and 
 make off in the opposite direction without giving me 
 another chance. Excited as I was, I cast prudence to 
 the winds, and dashed forward to try and get up to him 
 before he should recover. There was no time to find 
 a way from island to island, so I jumped into the mud 
 and plunging through it tried to make a bee line towards 
 the elephant. My heavy gun was open at the breech. 
 I had extracted the empty shell, and was in the act of 
 fumbling for another cartridge as I ran forward when I 
 heard an ominous crashing and then a squeal, and the 
 next instant the nipas parted and I saw the monster 
 coming straight in my direction with trunk curled up and 
 mouth open. There had been no time to insert another 
 cartridge in the right chamber of my gun, and I had 
 
MY BIG TUSKER. 193 
 
 shut the breech again, thus only having my left barrel 
 available. I threw up the gun and gave him a heavy 
 shot on the chest when he was within fifteen yards of me, 
 and dropping the gun threw myself under the bank of 
 the island on my left hand. I can't tell you what I felt like. 
 I felt like nothing. There was no use in feeling like 
 anything. I did what I could, viz., lay there covered 
 with mud from head to foot that was all. 
 
 Fortunately for me, the shot in the chest was a sickener, 
 and the great brute wheeled off at right angles and 
 thundered on through the swamp. 
 
 I jumped up, took the mud out of the muzzles of my 
 gun with my finger and ran on loading as I went. My 
 Dyak corporal hauled me up on an island and said : 
 " Run back hard, sir, he is returning to the jungle and is 
 making a detour; you can cut him off if you are quick 
 about it". I heard him crashing and plunging as he went 
 through the swamp. He was making a quarter circle 
 round us to try and regain the jungle, and I saw that I 
 could cut the chord of the arc and thus get a shot at him 
 as he was crossing the open space which separated the 
 swamp from the jungle. 
 
 We ran on helter-skelter, the corporal being of the 
 greatest assistance to me, and we got back to the edge 
 of the swamp just in time, for as we reached it he came 
 out of the swamp about a hundred yards off and went 
 past us, giving a good broadside shot. As he did so, I 
 gave him both barrels heavily behind the shoulder. I 
 afterwards found the two bullet holes within a few inches 
 of each other. 
 
 He shrunk to each shot, and I knew he had got it 
 very severely. However, he went on. 
 
 I was quite exhausted with excitement and exertion 
 
194 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 and required a short rest and a pull at the whisky to 
 restore my nerves to their normal condition, but the 
 confounded fellow who carried the whisky had run away 
 when I fired and the elephant began to scream. He 
 was not a Dyak but a Malay, " and behaved accord- 
 ing," as the saying goes. Some of the Dyaks went 
 off to look for him, and we soon heard them shouting in 
 the jungle. Meanwhile the corporal spent the time 
 usefully in scraping the mud off me with the blunt edge 
 of his parang. 
 
 At last the truant returned, and, in reply to copious 
 abuse, said he had got lost in the jungle. 
 
 We now went to the spot where I had given the 
 elephant the last two shots, and followed up the spoor. 
 There was a great deal of blood issuing from the wounds 
 behind the shoulder, for it discoloured the leaves of the 
 bushes which he brushed with his flank, and wherever 
 he had halted there was a pool of blood on the path. 
 
 The mere fact of an elephant making halts after he 
 has been shot is a sure sign that he has been heavily hit, 
 as otherwise he will probably go fifty miles without 
 stopping. 
 
 We spoored on and on for about four miles, the spoor 
 trending for the most part up hill. 
 
 There was a shower of rain and, I was in a torture of 
 anxiety lest the rain should come on heavily and wash 
 out the tracks. The shower set the leeches on the qui 
 vive, and in a few minutes we were covered with them ; 
 but the excitement I was in about this magnificent 
 elephant made me heedless of the leech bites. 
 
 At last the spoor began to descend into a very nasty, 
 dangerous-looking, thickly-bushed gully, at the foot of 
 which I could hear water running. 
 
MY BIG TUSKER. 1 95 
 
 It was probable that the dying elephant, rendered 
 thirsty by loss of blood, was making for this stream, and 
 the chances were that he would make a stand there. 
 
 I did not think it fair to expose my people to un- 
 necessary danger, though they wanted to accompany me, 
 so told them to remain behind, while I descended into 
 the gully with my spoorer. 
 
 The Dyak corporal took out his keen parang and began 
 feeling the edge of it. 
 
 " What are you going to do ? " I inquired of him. 
 
 " I am going to follow the tuan." 
 
 " Well, but you can't do anything to help me with that 
 parang of yours." 
 
 " Oh yes, tuan. If he comes at us, I know the tuan 
 will not miss him, but if anything happened I could cut 
 off his trunk with my parang." And the gallant fellow 
 added: "If anything happened to the tuan and I was 
 not present, it would be malu (i.e. t shame) upon me". 
 
 So I allowed him to accompany me. We descended 
 slowly over great fallen trunks of trees and down banks 
 over which the elephant had slid, scoring the soil heavily 
 with his footmarks as he had slipped down them. 
 
 At last we reached the bottom of the gully, and came 
 to a rivulet. He had halted in the bed of the rivulet 
 for some minutes and had been squirting water all over 
 himself, for it was splashed about on the bank. He had 
 crossed ; so we, too, waded through. 
 
 The spoor now went along the bed of the rivulet for 
 about 200 yards. We followed up, with every sense on 
 the qui vive. 
 
 At last, just as we came over the brow of a little 
 hollow, to my joy, there before me lay the huge elephant 
 quite dead. 
 
196 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 He was in a perfectly natural position, just as though 
 he had lain down and gone to sleep. 
 
 His tusks measured five feet ten and a half inches 
 in length, and were of pure yellow ivory with a shade 
 of pink tinge in it. I have them now. As he lay there 
 it was impossible to measure him, but he must have 
 been at least ten feet in height, and his bulk was enor- 
 mous. 
 
 I travelled by the light of the moon and reached camp 
 very late that night, getting severely scratched by bushes. 
 On my arrival, I stripped off everything, and searched 
 for leeches. They were all over me ; but who cares for 
 minor inconveniences of this kind when he is blessed by 
 the consciousness of having that day killed the record 
 bull elephant of the country ? I was thoroughly happy. 
 Had a Rothschild offered me all his money in exchange 
 for the satisfaction of killing my elephant, I really believe 
 I should have declined to accede to his proposition. 
 
 Sound and sweet are the hunter's slumbers after a day 
 such as this ; and his very waking is joyous, for it is laden 
 with the consciousness of recent success. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 A TALE OF THREE ELEPHANTS. 
 
 THE reader will be pretty well tired of stories of shooting 
 elephants ; but there is one which I must relate, though it 
 did not end up with the killing of a tusker. 
 
 At certain times of the year the elephants are exceed- 
 ingly dangerous. When the wild fruit is ripe they come 
 down to the banks of the rivers, where it grows in greater 
 abundance than it does in the depths of the jungle. It 
 seems to have a peculiar effect upon them, and to arouse 
 their combativeness. I remember in particular an 
 instance of their malicious behaviour under these con- 
 ditions. 
 
 It was on the Upper Kinabatangan, and I will relate 
 what occurred just as it was told to me by the natives 
 who gave me the story. 
 
 Two natives wished to make a journey by a jungle 
 path. They were carrying some food and personal effects 
 in wallets which were strapped to their shoulders. 
 
 Some natives who had lately travelled by the very same 
 path endeavoured to dissuade them, saying that a troop 
 of elephants frequented the tract of jungle which the path 
 traversed, and that the demeanour of the elephants was 
 so threatening as to render it advisable to make a detour 
 and thus avoid the danger of meeting them. 
 
 The two natives, however, were in a hurry, and made 
 light of these warnings. 
 
198 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 Next morning- they set out, and travelled for some 
 distance. They then heard the trumpeting of elephants 
 a little way before them. One of them hesitated to 
 proceed, but his scruples were overridden by the other 
 native, and they went on. 
 
 All was silent again. At last the native who was 
 leading pointed to an elephant calf not twenty yards 
 from the road, and continued his course ; but the other 
 native, being seized by some sort of qualm, halted and 
 disburdened himself of his pack. 
 
 The native who had preceded him had onlylgone on 
 about fifty yards along the path, which was here very 
 straight, and was still in view of his companion, when an 
 elephant gave a shriek from the jungle on the right-hand 
 side of the path. It was answered by several shrieks 
 from the left of the path, and soon from all quarters 
 elephants came bearing down upon the unfortunate man. 
 
 His companion, who was about fifty yards behind, did 
 not wait to see the result, but took to his heels. The 
 last he saw of the other native was that he was trying to 
 get rid of the pack upon his shoulders. 
 
 As he never turned up, a party went out the next day 
 to look for him. His corpse was discovered trampled 
 quite flat, and even the pack he was carrying had been 
 demolished by the elephants. 
 
 But to proceed to my story. It was the season of ripe 
 fruit. A certain troop of elephants had done some 
 damage to natives on the Bahan River. I had previously 
 sought for them, but they had eluded me, I had offered 
 a private reward for information which should lead to 
 my killing any of the said elephants. 
 
 One day some Dyaks came across from the Kayu 
 River in a prahu, reporting that they had seen the spoor 
 
A TALE OF THREE ELEPHANTS. 199 
 
 of a troop of elephants on the right bank, so I set off at 
 once and arrived at my camping ground on the same 
 night. 
 
 Next day I made a wide cast across country and struck 
 the spoor of four elephants. After following it for some 
 hours it trended towards the river again, and at last I 
 came to where they had all bathed in the river. After 
 bathing they had ascended the river, feeding as they 
 went. 
 
 It was about three in the afternoon when we came 
 upon them. We were on their tracks which led along 
 the banks, and were making our way through a sort of 
 thicket, when we heard an elephant give an alarming 
 squall, or trumpet call, about fifty yards to our front. 
 This was followed by a perfect chorus of trumpeting 
 from the others. 
 
 On this occasion I was accompanied by natives who 
 were unaccustomed to elephants, and they became 
 demoralised and rushed back in alarm, crying out to me : 
 " Run, sir, they are coming". 
 
 The bush here at the water's edge was very dense, 
 and we were approaching the elephants down wind, so I 
 deemed it folly to proceed. However, the jungle about 
 fifty yards from the water's edge was more open. There 
 were large trees scattered about, and wherever you get 
 large timber you have fairly open ground. 
 
 So I went back about a hundred yards, and making a 
 move to the right went round, intending to approach the 
 elephants from the land side and thus get them between 
 myself and the river. 
 
 It was necessary to advance with caution, for they were 
 evidently intoxicated with wild fruit, and had no inten- 
 tion of running away without first showing fight. 
 
2OO TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 In approaching elephants which have turned rusty, it 
 is as well to remember that every troop has a leader, and 
 that the rest will, in all probability, follow the movements 
 of that leader. If he be vindictive you ought to shoot 
 him first, as thereby the troop is left without a com- 
 mander and will most likely take to flight. 
 
 The trunks of the trees here were large enough to 
 enable a man to successfully dodge an elephant ; but I 
 did not want them all to come at once, so I stole forward 
 on tiptoe, dodging from trunk to trunk, wishing all the 
 time that I was comfortably perched on one of the trees 
 at about twenty feet from the ground. 
 
 At last I saw a grey mass before me at the edge of 
 the thicket which bordered the river, and on looking 
 more narrowly descried the form of an old cow elephant. 
 She gave a trumpet call which set the others shrieking 
 again. I could not see them, for they were in the 
 thicket. 
 
 She was evidently the leader of the gang, and was 
 giving the cue to the rest of them. She was standing 
 broadside on, with her head in the direction we had 
 originally approached them from, and with extended 
 ears and one forefoot slightly advanced appeared to be 
 on the look-out for anything advancing from that 
 quarter. 
 
 She was about sixty yards off. I determined if pos- 
 sible to shoot her, but wished to make quite sure of her 
 in order to avoid disagreeables. There was a big cotton- 
 wood tree about thirty yards nearer to her, so moving 
 quietly sideways until the tree was in a line between 
 myself and her head, I advanced swiftly forward under 
 cover of the tree. 
 
 On reaching it I peered round the trunk. There she 
 
A TALE OF THREE ELEPHANTS. 2OI 
 
 was, trumpeting viciously and shuffling her forefeet in 
 an ominous way. I sat down, covered her between the 
 eye and the ear, and dropped her dead with a two-ounce 
 ball. 
 
 There was a chorus of shrieks from the thicket and a 
 sound of crashing branches, and out came an elephant, 
 going full speed in the direction of my right front. 
 
 Jumping out of the smoke of my first barrel I covered 
 him on the temple and fired, bowling him over like a 
 rabbit. 
 
 The natives had not followed me, so I was without a 
 second gun. 
 
 Hearing the other two elephants crashing through the 
 bush, as though to make a devour round my right, I ran 
 forward, reloading the heavy gun as I did so and passing 
 within ten yards of the second elephant. The elephants 
 broke cover and went away. They were disappearing in 
 the jungle about eighty yards off just as I finished load- 
 ing and had closed the breech of my gun, so I took a 
 hasty snap shot at the croup of a retreating elephant, and 
 at once brought him down in a sitting position with a 
 broken spine. 
 
 To have three elephants down with three cartridges is 
 very satisfactory work. 
 
 The elephant with the broken spine was struggling 
 and trumpeting, so I gave him the remaining barrel to 
 keep him quiet, and in so doing committed a great 
 error. 
 
 I heard a shriek behind me, and on turning round saw 
 the second elephant I had dropped rising again to his 
 legs and rocking about like a horse with the staggers. I 
 realised at once that he was not shot through the brain, 
 and that unless I gave him another shot he would recover 
 
2O2 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 himself and make off, so 1 hastily opened the breech of 
 my gun and endeavoured to reload. I was using green 
 cases, which had been considerably exposed to damp, and 
 they had swelled. I succeeded in withdrawing the empty 
 shell in the right barrel about a quarter of an inch but could 
 get it no farther. Meanwhile the elephant was screaming 
 furiously, and having spun himself round in my direction 
 extended his trunk towards me. 
 
 My gun was for the moment useless, and, as discretion 
 is the better part of valour, I thought it was fully time to 
 be off. I bolted for the nearest large tree. The elephant 
 recovered himself and went away crashing through the 
 jungle, and I was left standing there with the bare satis- 
 faction of having dropped three elephants and only 
 secured two of them. 
 
 The natives now came up, and after extracting the 
 shells from my gun, I went up and gave the broken- 
 backed elephant anorher shot in the head, which settled 
 him. 
 
 The moral of this story is, in damp climates use brass 
 shells. It was very exciting work while it lasted, but I 
 have no desire whatever for a repetition of the perfor- 
 mance. 
 
 On my way home, when not a mile from the camp, 1 
 had a very pretty double shot. 
 
 We were approaching a sort of glade or open patch 
 of two or three acres in extent which adjoined the river. 
 It was a favourite spot for deer and wild cattle in the 
 evenings, for the grass was sweet, and the bank of the 
 river sloped gradually down to the water's edge over a 
 clean belt of sand and stones. About this glade were 
 scattered patches of long brackens, and in amongst them 
 was a kind of grass which the game loved. 
 
A TALE OF THREE ELEPHANTS. 2O$ 
 
 I had seen spoor of wild cattle about, so I halted my 
 people in the jungle before we emerged, and taking 
 my express rifle went forward to reconnoitre. 
 
 Whether it was that I was tired or careless I know not, 
 for my eye failed in its duty on this occasion. I was 
 walking along the edge of the glade when casting 
 my eyes to the left I started, for there was a wild bull 
 not forty yards off, feeding quietly with his head almost 
 towards me. I aimed at his collar and fired. At the same 
 moment there was a rumbling, swishing sound, and I 
 realised that a troop of them were galloping across me 
 to gain the cover of the jungle. I only caught fleeting- 
 glimpses of them as they sped amongst the brackens, 
 so I waited until they crossed the open strip which 
 encircled the glade and separated it from the jungle. 
 As they rushed across it I covered another well forward 
 and fired. He rolled over at once and lay there with- 
 out a kick. On looking back at the first one I had fired 
 at, I saw that he too had dropped dead on the spot. 
 
 I left two natives to encamp at the place in order to 
 drive away the wild pigs from the carcases. Apropos 
 of the wild pigs, I must relate an incident so extra- 
 ordinary that but for the fact that I made it known at 
 once and that the witnesses are still living I should fear 
 to be put down as a romancer. 
 
 I was going up a river in a prahu, and, being anxious 
 to shoot something for my people, was on the look-out 
 for game. 
 
 I saw something moving amidst the brackens which 
 fringed the right bank about sixty yards higher up 
 stream, and catching a glimpse of something dark, took 
 it to be a deer. 
 
 I fired a shot at hazard into the brackens where I saw 
 
2O4 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 them shaking, and to my astonishment immediately 
 afterwards saw a large wild pig trotting along the bank 
 in the direction of our prahu. 
 
 He was bleeding from the jaws, the hollow ball from 
 my express having gone through his cheeks. 
 
 When he reached a point on the bank opposite to our 
 prahu he halted, and eyeing us for a moment, gave a 
 grunt and plunged into the river to swim out to us. He 
 came up on the right bow. A Dyak pushed him off 
 with his paddle and the pig drifted down stream with 
 the current past the prahu. 
 
 To my amazement he came swimming up stream and 
 tried to board us on the left quarter. I cocked the left 
 barrel of my rifle, thinking he might put his feet on the 
 gunwale and capsize us, for we were rather crank ; but 
 one of my Dyaks drew out his parang and leaning over, 
 gave him a cut which half severed his head from his 
 body, and he went floating down stream. 
 
 I have often heard of the pugnacity of the wild pig 
 upon occasion, but I should never have believed such a 
 thing as this unless I had witnessed it. 
 
 But to return to the subject of the beef of wild cattle. 
 Next morning I sent up a boat from the camp to bring 
 the beef, which the natives seemed to appreciate, though 
 I did not like it. Most natives have a capacity for 
 stowing away quantities of beef when they get the op- 
 portunity, and also of going a long time without food 
 when food is not to be had. 
 
 I remember on one occasion going on an expedition 
 with the deputy governor. Our provisions ran out. 
 The men had to work terribly hard in dragging boats 
 over stones and rapids. They went for a day and a half 
 upon one sardine apiece which we gave them, and then 
 
A TALE OF THREE ELEPHANTS. 2O$ 
 
 they settled down to a hearty dinner upon boiled fern 
 tops. 
 
 But the natives of Borneo are not equal to the Caffres 
 in this respect. A CafFre can eat more when he gets the 
 opportunity, and can go longer without food when it is 
 necessary, than any man I have ever seen. 
 
 I have given instances of successful days of hunting. 
 Sometimes, however, one makes a mess of it as I am 
 about to relate. 
 
 I had hunted all day until about three in the after- 
 noon without success, and was thinking of returning 
 home when we struck the spoor of a particularly fine 
 bull elephant. We followed up, and in about half an 
 hour the spoor freshened to such an extent that we knew 
 he could not be far in front of us. 
 
 A tree had been blown down lately, and its leaves were 
 yet green and loaded with berries. Just as we were 
 passing this tree (it was only about twenty yards to our 
 left) my attention was attracted to a grating noise 
 proceeding from amongst the boughs of the fallen tree ; 
 and on looking to my left I started, for there was a huge 
 bull elephant feeding upon the said tree. I could not 
 see his head, for it was buried amongst the boughs and 
 leaves of the tree, but the grating noise was produced by 
 the motion of his jaws, and I could hear the flapping of 
 his ears as he tossed his head about in the act of feeding. 
 
 I beckoned to my men to make themselves scarce,, 
 and walked up on tiptoe. It was very awkward. I 
 wished to kill him with a single shot, but as his head 
 was invisible I did not know how to manage it. 
 
 A shot from a large-bored gun planted behind the 
 shoulder will do the business, but it does not drop him at 
 once. If I shot him behind the shoulder, it might eventu- 
 
2O6 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 ally kill him, but he might kill me first, for there were 
 no trees about of sufficient size to protect a man. Now 
 and then as he tossed his head I got a glimpse of his 
 ears as he shook them. I determined to chance the shot 
 at his temple, guessing the spot the next time I saw his 
 ear. I knew that if I hit him anywhere about the head 
 he would come down, but if he was not shot in the brain 
 he would get up again. My design was to drop him by 
 a shot somewhere in front of the ear and thus bring him 
 on to his knees and stupefy him, and then to give him the 
 second barrel in the crease behind his shoulder. 
 
 Accordingly I presented my gun and, waiting until I 
 saw his ear move, fired through the leaves about a foot 
 in front of it. 
 
 He fell on his knees, but it had been raining, and the 
 air was so heavily laden with damp that the cloud of 
 smoke produced by my discharge hung in front of me, 
 obscuring everything for a few seconds, and I had to 
 wait until it had partly dissipated. The smoke was 
 dispersing. I levelled again to give him the second 
 barrel behind the shoulder, and was in the act of pressing 
 the trigger when there was a deafening report close 
 to my ear, and another cloud of smoke obscured every- 
 thing. 
 
 The Dyak who carried the express rifle had run up 
 behind me, and placing the muzzle close to my cheek 
 had fired it off at the elephant with a view of aiding me 
 to kill it. Of course I could not see at all to fire my 
 second barrel ; and as it is a dangerous thing to stand in 
 a cloud of smoke beside a wounded elephant that is 
 getting to its legs, I had to bolt without firing the 
 .second barrel. The elephant escaped. 
 
 My disgust can be better imagined than described. 
 
A TALE OF THREE ELEPHANTS. 2O/ 
 
 There were no words in plain Saxon that could do 
 justice to my feelings on this occasion, and I sat down 
 in such deep despondency that I had not even heart 
 enough to give the Dyak my opinion of him. 
 
 He explained that he thought the elephant was killed 
 when it fell on its knees, and that he only fired by way 
 of helping to finish it off. 
 
 I told him to get out of my sight, and not to let me 
 see him or hear his voice for the rest of the day. 
 
 That evening I was in about as morose a mood as it 
 is possible for a man to be in, and I had to exercise self- 
 control to prevent myself from venting my ill-temper 
 upon my people. 
 
 After all though, if sportsmen never had a misfortune, 
 if they brought everything to bag, the pleasure of sport 
 would be gone. 
 
 In parts of North Borneo there is very fair deer 
 shooting to be had. The natives continually worry the 
 deer with dogs, spears, and nets ; and unless some steps 
 are taken to preserve them in a short time they will 
 disappear, or become so scarce as to render it not worth 
 while to go out after them. It would be very easy for 
 the Government to make small reservations where their 
 officers could occasionally enjoy a good day's sport ; but 
 they neglect all representations made to them on this 
 subject. An occasional day's sport varies the monotony 
 of existence in a dull out-of-the-way station, and the 
 Government make a grievous error in thus neglecting 
 the interests of their officers. Strangers, too, would come 
 for the purpose of shooting, and would carry away with 
 them some general knowledge of the country and its 
 capabilities which might have the effect of attracting 
 
2O8 TALES OF A NOMAD. 
 
 capital. The Government seem to be blind to this, and 
 do no more than grasp at the immediate dollar. 
 
 There was a place within easy reach of Kudat. It 
 was much frequented by deer and wild cattle. A couple 
 of hours' rowing on a flood-tide sufficed to reach it. As 
 many as four or five deer could be shot there in an 
 afternoon, and there was a small house in which sports- 
 men could encamp for the night. 
 
 Natives continually persecute the game there ; and 
 many of them have obtained guns, so that before long 
 there will be no game to persecute. 
 
 In a country of dense jungles it is very difficult to 
 get sport. Game exists in the jungles, but the hardships 
 incurred in getting at it deter most sportsmen. There 
 are no opportunities of stalking, excepting when the 
 game emerge from cover morning and evening to feed 
 in the clearings. It is impossible to use a horse. Even 
 if the nobler varieties of game existed in large numbers, 
 the conditions under which they would have to be pur- 
 sued are such as to rob sport of three-fourths of its 
 charms. 
 
 South Africa is, or rather was, facile princeps the 
 paradise of sportsmen ; for there the climate and the 
 nature of the country all aided in enabling one to pur- 
 sue sport under the pleasantest conditions. But South 
 Africa is nearly shot out ; and the next generation will 
 have the bare satisfaction of reading accounts of the 
 great game which, like Fenimore Cooper's heroic Indians, 
 once were, but are no more. 
 
 i 
 
 FINIS. 
 
M313049