i6 SOLDIER AND SPORTSMAN 



me that the quickness he acquired in practising 

 that sport stood him in good stead on that 

 occasion. 



I have read that animals become hypnotised by 

 snakes, and no doubt this may occasionally happen. 

 The only case I ever witnessed was in England, 

 when I saw a frog hypnotised by a common adder. 

 The remedy for a snake-bite is alcohol in large 

 doses. Major Forbes, one of the officers of Colonel 

 Pennefather's expedition, then moving in Rhodesia, 

 was bitten by a mambra, and his brother officers 

 took it in turn to walk him about all night, he 

 meanwhile consuming nearly a bottle and a half 

 of brandy. 



Mafeking was the place where prospective 

 troopers were put through their facings, the only 

 men accepted being those who could ride and shoot. 

 Some strange yarns were spun by them. One 

 stated that he had been huntsman to the Belvoir 

 (pronounced as spelt) for five years, another had 

 been first whip to the Cottesmore, but on trying 

 these two fellows it was obvious that neither had 

 ever been on a horse in his life. 



About three miles from Mafeking there were 

 several vleys (swamps), which at certain seasons 

 literally swarmed with water-fowl. The guns 

 would be got into position and the natives sent 

 to the different vleys to get the birds on the 



