276 HOME LIFE ON AN OSTRICH FARM. 



— not altogether justly — for being such a splendid shot, 

 really and truly proceeds from his excessive care to 

 make sure of his game, and thus waste no cartridges. 

 Here is an instance which almost equals Max Adder's 



mean man. When T was at the Kimberley Diamond 



Fields, a Kaffir fell one day from the narrow pathway 

 left between the claims into one of the latter, belonging 

 to a Dutchman. He landed on the little table used by 

 the Boer for sorting his diamonds, and — the height 

 from which he had fallen being eighty feet — not only 

 the table, but nearly every bone in the unfortunate 

 man's body was broken. He seems, however, to have 

 possessed a wonderfully strong constitution, and ac- 

 tually recovered from his teirible injuries : and, his 

 case exciting very general sympathy among the kind- 

 ly diamond-diggers, a subscription was made for him. 

 But, Ions: before he was convalescent, the Boer called 

 on him, demanding payment for the broken table, the 

 whole value of which did not amount to more than 

 thirty shillings. 



