POACHERS 231 



bok " means " Chamois " — and we have in 

 South Africa an antelope which is a chamois to 

 all intents and purposes, but which is called a 

 " klipspringer." Again, — the tall, heavy, 

 sober-tinted desert bustard is called the 

 " paauw," a word which means " peacock." 

 However, these names are so firmly fixed in 

 the South African vocabulary that any en- 

 deavour to change them would be a hopeless 

 task. 



We trekked south-east from Silverfontein 

 in the spring wagon, behind a team of eight 

 spanking horses. We slept at Kamiebies, 

 which is an uncertain water-place a few miles 

 over the edge of the desert and a short day's 

 journey south of Gamoep. During the day we 

 rested; in the night we had to make a dash 

 of some forty miles for our objective. We 

 meant to take the poachers by surprise, — to 

 drop on them just at daybreak, as though from 

 the clouds. So in the mean time I lazed 

 through the long, delicious day. 



The rains had not alone been earlier and 

 heavier than usual, but they had fallen 

 throughout an unusually extensive area. The 

 mountain tract was ablaze with flowers; even 

 Bushmanland stirred in its aeon-old sleep, for 

 the skirts of the last rain-cloud had trailed 



