of the lions, tigers and snakes that he knew about, 

 they believed him ; but when it came to farming ! 

 No ! Downright lying he would not have ; and there 

 was nothing for it but larruping. 



" It was the only piece of solid truth they had 

 allowed me to tell for months," he added thoughtfully, 

 " and I got a first-class hiding for it." 



And was there no one who doubted Du Chaillu and 

 Stanley and others ? Did no one question Gordon 

 Cumming's story of the herd of elephants caught and 

 killed in a little kloof ? and did not we of Barberton 

 many years later locate the spot by the enormous 

 pile of bones, and name it " Elephants' Kloof " ? 



There are two crocodile incidents well known to 

 those whom time has now made old hands, but believed 

 by no one else ; even in the day of their happening 

 they divided men into believers and unbelievers. The 

 one was of ' Mad ' Owen only mad, because utterly 

 reckless riding through Komati Drift one moonlight 

 night alone and unarmed, who, riding, found his horse 

 brought to a stop, plunging, kicking and struggling 

 on the sand bank in mid-stream where the water was 

 not waist deep. Owen looking back saw that a croco- 

 dile had his horse by the leg. All he had was a leaded 

 hunting crop, but, jumping into the water he laid 

 on so vigorously that the crocodile made off, and Owen 

 remounted and rode out. 



There are many who say that it is not true that 

 it cannot be true ; for no man would do it. But 

 there are others who have an open mind, because they 

 knew Owen Mad Owen, who for a wager bandaged 



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