Io THE ODYSSEY OF AN ANIMAL COLLECTOR 
South African Government’s attention was then focused on Ger- 
man South-West Africa. At this time a number of Commandos 
were formed to fight the Germans. There was no question of vol- 
unteering as everyone was commandeered. 
I was ordered to report at Naboom Spruit, where a avian of 
young farmers assembled, and we formed a detachment of the 
Waterberg Commando. In this detachment I was the only English- 
man in a crowd of backveldt Dutchmen, and Afrikaans was the 
only language spoken. We were given horses and rifles and as we 
could all ride and shoot we were, zpso facto, full-blown cavalry- 
men. We were shuffled off to Kimberley, where we took part in 
practice cavalry charges over the veldt. , 
My horse was the biggest I have ever seen and appropriately 
named Olifant (meaning elephant). It was always difficult to 
mount him neatly, as he had the habit of moving forward as soon 
as one put a foot in the stirrup. Owing to this and to his great 
height, a huge leap upward and forward was necessary to land in 
the saddle. To add to my difficulties, my army riding breeches— 
the largest in stock—were never meant for a fellow of my height 
(6 ft. 5 in.), so I had the greatest difficulty in bending my knees 
sufficiently to mount. When the time came for us to shift to the 
final camp near Cape Town prior to embarking for South-West 
Africa, it fell to my lot to assemble somehow most of the kitchen 
utensils on my horse. By the time I had finished, the sides and 
rear of the saddle were adorned with large kettles and dixies. To 
this was added my personal kit and blankets, and of course my 
rifle, bandolier full of cartridges, and filled water-bottle had to be 
carried. I was weighted like a knight in armor, and was a little 
dubious as to whether I should ever get into the saddle. 
At the crucial moment I gave a terrific leap, hoping to clear the 
mountain of impedimenta surrounding the saddle, but alas, Oli- 
fant was more impatient than ever. He moved forward quickly 
the instant he felt my weight in the stirrup, and I landed on the 
wrong side of the pots and pans, etc. The fun was now on, for he 
strongly objected to my sitting on his rear end, and before I had 
time to slide off he burst into a canter and I slid farther and farther 
back. The rattling of the dixies added to his annoyance and he 
fairly tore through the tent lines, out of control. I hung on to the 
