My young companions were light-hearted, and very kind,
and quite unlike English boys, who too often chaff or bully a strange
boy, especially if this boy belongs to a strange nation. But the young
Caffres amused themselves for hours each day in throwing an assagy at a
mark. The mark was a large hard fruit, in shape and size like an
orange. It was placed on the top of a stick, and the boys threw at it
from a distance of forty paces. I was very awkward at first, but having
learned how to hold and throw the assagy, I became at the end of a week
as expert as they were, and being stouter and stronger, I could throw
the assagy to a greater distance. I also practised throwing the
knob-kerrie, which did not require so much skill, but which I soon found
was a very useful weapon, as quails in hundreds soon visited the
country, and I and my companions used to knock down twenty or thirty
quails a day with these sticks, and we used to make a fire and cook
them, and found them excellent eating.

My first great sporting achievement was in killing a duiker, a small
antelope that was found in bushy or stony country. This animal, which
the Caffres termed _Impenze_, was very cunning, and could conceal itself
in long grass in a wonderful way. I possessed very good sight, and
rarely missed seeing anything that was to be seen, though I had yet to
learn how to properly use this sight. We were sitting watching the
cattle one morning, when I obtained a glimpse of an object moving in
some long grass about a hundred yards from where we were. I did not say
anything to my companions, but got up, and making a circular course,
went quietly up to a rock which overlooked the grass in which I fancied
I had seen the moving object. As I peeped over the stone I saw the
impenze, standing broadside to, and about twenty yards from me. I had
my assagy all ready to throw, and sent it with all my strength at the
buck. The blade of the assagy went right through the buck's neck, and
though it did not kill him, it prevented him from moving quickly through
the grass and bushes, as it remained fast in his neck. I jumped down
quickly and struck him with my knob-kerrie, and killed him with two or
three blows on the head. The two Caffre boys had now joined me, as they
saw I was attacking some animal. They jumped about in a state of great
excitement when they saw the dead antelope; and then taking a good look
all round, they told me to keep quiet, and not t