CHAPTER II. 



SOME OF OUR PETS. 



Friendliness of South African birds and beasts — Our Secretary bird — 

 Ungainly appearance of Jacob — His queer ways — Tragic fate of 

 a kitten — A persecuted fowl — Our Dikkops — A baby buffalo — 

 Wounded buffalo more dangerous than lion — A lucky stumble — 

 Hunter attacked by " rogue " buffalo — A midnight ride — Followed 

 by a lion — Toto — A pugnacious goose — South African climate 

 dangerous to imported dogs — Toto and the crows — Animals offered 

 by Moors in exchange for Toto. 



South Africa is the land of pet animals. The feath- 

 ered and four-footed creatures are all delightful. They 

 have the quaintest and most amusing waj^s, and they 

 are very easily tamed. The little time and attention 

 which in a busy colonial home can be spared for the 

 pets is always repaid a hundredfold ; and often you 

 are surprised to find how quickly the bird or beast 

 which only a few days ago was one of the wild crea- 

 tures of the veldt — torn suddenly from nest or burrow, 

 and abruptly turned out from the depths of a sack or 

 of a Hottentot's pocket into a human home — has be- 

 come an intimate friend, with a clearly-marked indi- 

 vidual character, most interesting to study, and quite 

 different from those of all its fellows, even of the same 

 kind. On one point, however, the whole collection is 



