A Thousand Miles in a Machilla 



lunched in camp, and were usually given soup, liver, 

 kidney, or minced meat, according to what had been 

 shot, and either preserved fruit or asparagus, or a 

 dish of macaroni or rice. We drank nothing 

 stronger than lime juice in the middle of the 

 day, but always finished up with a cup of black 

 coffee. 



The menu for dinner was, as a rule, soup, fresh 

 fish when we could catch it, or tinned whitebait, a 

 delicacy which we allowed ourselves twice a week, 

 and which is to my mind quite the best of tinned 

 foods ; roast meat or bird with tinned vegetables, or 

 sweet potatoes when procurable ; macaroni or rice 

 with cheese, devilled biscuits, and coffee. We shared 

 an imperial pint of champagne twice a week, and on 

 other nights drank whisky and sparklet, with a glass 

 of Madeira after dinner. Teetotalism after sundown 

 in the tropics may suit some people ; we both look 

 upon it, however, as the greatest of errors. We were 

 never short of food except during the last few days 

 of our journey, for if game failed there were always 



goats and poultry to be bought. A occasionally 



shot a guinea-fowl, francolin, or duck, and these we 

 regarded as a great luxury. 



Antelope meat varies very greatly in quality. 

 The smaller beasts, such as oribi, reedbuck, bush- 

 buck, are perhaps the best, but eland meat is quite 

 excellent, and a saddle of hartebeest, kudu, or sable 

 by no means bad. Zebra is sickly, waterbuck tough 

 and rank, and puku the hardest meat we ever ate; 

 it is, however, possible when minced. But all, 

 with the exception of zebra, make good soup: it is 



40 



