more agreeable company than the general class of English or Dutch
emigrants: the naked savage was frequently the more gentlemanly fellow
of the two. In the present instance, however, my host was an exception;
he was an unassuming, hard-working man, and I accepted his proffered
offer of a shake-down, with thanks.

I sent on one of my Kaffirs with my shooting-pony the previous day, and
at daybreak, on a lovely morning in October, started from my tent for a
day's sport in this district. I had scarcely ridden half a mile from
our encampment on the Natal flat, when I noticed a small animal jumping
over some hushes that bordered the road about 150 yards in front. Upon
reaching the road, it stopped, and looked at me, and I then saw that it
was a duiker. I had placed a bullet in each barrel, and immediately
took a shot at the buck. I saw that the animal stumbled as I fired, but
it cantered on to a thick patch of bush on my right. I wanted to salute
it with the second barrel on its coming out, but, after waiting half a
minute or so without seeing it, I dismounted, and crept up to the bush.
On peeping in, I saw the duiker, lying on his side. I made ready for a
shot, and gave a loud whistle, but it did not move. Upon crawling into
the bush, I found that the buck was quite dead, the bullet having gone
through its ribs. I was not certain I had hit it at first, although,
when I fired, I fancied I heard the "thud" of the bullet. I applied the
knife, and carried the buck to the thick bush close by, where, selecting
a forked tree in a shady dell, the venison was hung up. From
information that I sent my Kaffirs, they called for it before sunset
that evening. They were too late: the intense heat, although the
venison hung in the shade, had placed the meat beyond even an epicure's
idea of what game should be.

I pursued my journey, and arrived soon after 8 a.m. at my host's. I
took some coffee and bread, the latter made from Indian corn, and soon
after, mounting my shooting-pony, I started for a kraal that had been
pointed out to me as the residence of an old Kaffir who was well
acquainted with the hiding-places of the bucks that frequented this
locality. I soon saw him, and found he was a man of about forty. It
is, however, very difficult to judge of a Kaffir's age; but he was
rather grey, nearly six feet in height, very muscular, and without an
ounce of superfluous fat. He was ready for sport at once, and
recommended me