242 SOUTH AFRICA. 



I spent a month or so with some Boers who were 

 hunting on the banks of the Limpopo. Their 

 party consisted of three brothers, who with their 

 wives and children had camped for the winter, to 

 hunt chiefly for hides, and for the benefit of their 

 cattle, as the pasture was good, and game suffi- 

 ciently plentiful. They were a good, kindly lot, 

 and considered first-rate shots. Being men of only 

 average weight, and well mounted, they did a lot 

 of hunting every forenoon except on Sunday. 

 Their arms consisted of breechloading -450 rifles. 



Observing the vast number of cartridges they 

 expended, as compared with the tale of game 

 brought in, I took the opportunity of ascertaining 

 approximately the number of shots fired during one 

 week, and the result was that each head of game 

 gathered had cost about thirty cartridges, and I 

 think this fairly represents the average perform- 

 ances of Boer hunters. 



On a previous occasion, when in want of buffalo 

 hides, I hired a young Boer with a good reputation 

 as a game shot to help me, and although he killed 

 some game to feed our Kaffirs before we found 

 buffaloes, I noticed that he wasted a good deal of 

 ammunition. As I had to feed his 12-bore gun, 



