434 BOTANICAL INFORMATION. 



gunpowder, was fastened under the waggon which held our 

 choicest collections ; had the fire reached it, there must have 

 been awful loss of life. The fellow, whose act in firing the 

 grass had caused all the alarm and danger, stood coolly hy, 

 and would not assist, till the flames taking a rapid and unex- 

 pected direction, threatened his own waggon, when his pitiful 

 cries moved the compassion of my people, who helped him to 

 remove it from the danger. 



I remained a few days longer in the neighbourhood, hoping 

 to procure more animals, but with little success. The young 

 sassaby did nothing but fret, and at last it died. One night, 

 finding that the oxen were very uneasy, I went to quiet them 

 and to replenish the fires with wood, when I saw a large lion, 

 looking at me ; but on turning to fetch my gun, which is 

 always kept under my blanket, he made off. We saw num- 

 bers of gnoos, sassabys, and crowned cranes; and Punyer 

 shot a small brown guso, of which I preserved the skin. As, 

 however, grass is become very scarce, it is well to return to 

 Macalisberg. On the morning of the 29th of October, w' e 

 had the alarming spectacle of two white rhinoceros and ten 

 lions. They all emerged from one bush, about 500 yards 

 from our waggon, and stood gazing a good while, as if con- 

 sidering whether to advance or retreat ; and while we were 

 fastening the heads of the foremost to the wheels of the wag- 

 gon, that they might not run away while we fired, the savage 

 animals turned leisurely round, and disappeared in another 

 part of the bush. I was so desirous to catch some young 

 elands, that I halted four days in a spot where I noticed a 

 species of Dodoncea, on the foliage of which they feed, to be 

 very plentiful, and I was so happy as to catch three, and two 

 young sassabys ; but when I had got them, the largest eland 

 was so wild, that I had to stand by him all night, lest he should 

 kill himself with struggling, and the sassabys pine and iHJ 

 not eat. Moreover, the want of grass causes our cows to W 

 nearly dry, and the horses fall off so much, that they canno 

 overtake the animals which we pursue. My people shot 

 fine fat giraffe, of which the flesh is a great treat to us j tbes 



