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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 neglected, 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 of a 

 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 is 

 kept in the office, to w^hich a reference is made when 

 applications are too often repeated. At each of the 

 Drostdies, there is a subordinate magazine for the supply 

 of the distant Colonists. 



" These vexatious, though perhaps necessary restrictions, 

 have rendered ammunition so dear and scarce, that a boor 



