being a thorough spendthrift. Give him ammunition
for his defence, and he will blaze away at tree or bush, air or ground,
until it is all expended, and with no other object or reason than for
amusement, or thinking that a Kaffir _might_ be near.

I had the following story from a Kaffir, one of the actors, who remarked
to me the great quantity of ammunition that had been wasted in a
skirmish.

Three Kaffirs were hidden behind some rocks on a hill, watching the
advance of a party of the Hottentots who were sent out to take cattle.
As this party entered a ravine below the Kaffir spies, one of the latter
crept down in the bush, and, taking care to get a safe place, fired a
shot. A volley from the Hottentots was the response, and they continued
firing into the bush, from which no return came, until the whole of
their ammunition was expended. The Kaffir remarked to me that, had his
party been larger, he could then have attacked the lavish invaders at a
great advantage.

I always admired the neat little double-barrelled carbine of the Cape
corps; it is light, effective, and, being double-barrelled, is far more
destructive where snap-shooting is all the chance one gets. I never
thoroughly understood why the whole army should not have
double-barrelled guns.

It is a difficult matter at first to tell the Fingo from the Kaffir, but
after a little practice one soon sees many distinctions. The Fingo, for
instance, always bores holes in his ears, and frequently carries things
in them, which is not the case with the Kaffir.

The frontier hush is principally composed of the mimosa and wait-a-bit
thorn; the fish-hook-like shape of the latter, and the long spears of
the former, make a journey through the bush very destructive to clothes:
one ought to have a suit of armour to get on comfortably.

CHAPTER THREE.

NARROW ESCAPE--SANDILLI GOES HOME--VOYAGE TO NATAL--MY FELLOW,
PASSENGERS--TEMPTING VIANDS--PROPERTY OVERBOARD--NATAL BAY--THE "TICK"--
BEAUTY OF THE VEGETATION--DOLCE FAR NIENTE--CAPE HORSES--POINTS OF A
CAPE HORSE--SHOOTING-PONIES--MODE OF JOURNEYING--THE "SICKNESS"--
TRAINING A SHOOTING-HORSE--ENDURANCE OF CAPE HORSES--A ROUGH JOURNEY--A
STORMY NIGHT--AGREEABLE TERMINATION.

After about eight months of frontier life, which was little better than
so much banishment, I had directions to leave the colony and embark at
Algoa Bay for conveyance to Natal. I had to wait in the wretched town
of Port Elizabeth for a