274 
shoulder, which throws a ball weighing from an ounce and a 
half to three ounces. The instant the game is sprung, he 
dismounts, drops on his right knee, and takes a deliberate 
aim. ‘The horse, in the meantime, stands fast, nor would he 
stir from the spot, should his master not return for an hour. 
The Cape horses are trained to this steadiness from the time 
they first become acquainted with the bridle. If the rider 
drops the rein on the ground when he dismounts, the horse 
is taught to consider it as a signal to stand; but should this 
be neglécted, he walks off without any ceremony. 
* When a boor has returned from Capetown with a cask 
of brandy-wine, which he seldom forgets, the news spreads 
like wild-fire, and you see the neighbours flocking in from 
all quarters like vultures or carrion-crows at the scent ofa 
carcase. It is on such occasions that you can best observe 
the benefit, and the chief intention indeed, of the training’ 
they give their horses, For every boor that sits tippling in 
the house, you will see a horse standing at the door, where 
he will remain fixed from morning till night without a morsel 
to eat. From the time the cask is first broached, until the 
melancholy moment when it finally ceases to flow, the house 
is one continued scene of riot and confusion: one party, turn- 
ing out in a brutal state of intoxication, is succeeded by 
another and another, who, in their turn, depart in the same 
condition. 
_“ There is a strict prohibition against the sale of gun 
powder or lead to the boors; government having taken 
upon itself the task of dealing out these dangerous articles 
among them. To prevent the chance of individuals making 
an improper accumulation, an order from the Colonial 
Secretary to the Ordnance Store-keeper must accompany 
every requisition; and a correct register of these orders 15 
kept in the office, to which a reference is made when 
applications are too often repeated. At each of the 
Drostdies, there is a subordinate magazine for the supply 
of ^ distant Colonists, : 
 . 4hese vexatious, though perhaps necessary restrictions 
have rendered Estar = Mrd scarce, that a boo! 
