of the Kafir is
_war_. But I suppose that you, being an Englishman, will not believe
that until conviction is forced on you by experience.--Come, I will
introduce you to one of those colonists who are supposed to be such
discontented fire-eaters; I think he will receive you hospitably."

The young farmer put spurs to his horse as he spoke, and dashed away
over the plain, closely followed by his new friend, who was not sorry to
drop the conversation, being almost entirely ignorant of the merits of
the question raised.

The style of the group of buildings to which they drew near was not
entirely unfamiliar to Considine, for he had passed one or two similar
farms, belonging to Cape Dutchmen, on his trip from the sea-coast to the
interior. There were about this farm, however, a few prominent points
of difference. The cottages, being built of sun-dried bricks, were
little better than mud-huts, but there were more of them than Considine
had hitherto seen on such farms, and the chief dwelling, in particular,
displayed some touches of taste which betokened superior refinement in
the inhabitants. The group lay in a hollow on the margin of an
insignificant stream, whose course through the plain was marked by a
thick belt of beautiful mimosa-bushes. Close to the houses, these
mimosas, large enough to merit the title of trees, formed a green
setting in which the farm appeared to nestle as if desirous of escaping
the sunshine. A few cactus shrubs and aloes were scattered about in
rear of the principal dwelling, in the midst of which stood several
mud-huts resembling gigantic bee-hives. In these dwelt some of the
Hottentot and other servants of the farm, while, a little to the right
of them, on a high mound, were situated the kraals or enclosures for
cattle and sheep. About fifty yards farther off, a clump of tall trees
indicated the position of a garden, whose fruit-trees were laden with
the blossoms or beginnings of a rich crop of peaches, lemons, oranges,
apricots, figs, pears, plums, apples, pomegranates, and many other
fruits and vegetables. This bright and fruitful gem, in the midst of
the brown and apparently barren karroo, was chiefly due to the existence
of a large enclosure or dam which the thrifty farmer had constructed
about half a mile from the homestead, and the clear waters of which
shimmered in the centre of the picture, even when prolonged drought had
quite dried up the bed of its parent stream. The peace