2 THROUGH GASA LAND. 



The exploits of Gordon dimming, Andersson, Sir 

 Cornwallis Harris, and other mighty Nimrods had 

 created within my bosom an unquenchable desire to 

 become their rival ; but, alas ! my purse was far 

 from a long one, so, instead of marching into the 

 interior of the country " with all the pomp and cir- 

 cumstance of war," in the way of waggons, horses, 

 hounds, and innumerable attendants, I had to pursue 

 my game on foot with what natives I could pick up 

 as associates, and sleep upon the open veldt or under 

 the spreading forest, with the heavens for my canopy, 

 and mother earth for my mattress. However, I 

 consoled myself that my knowledge of field sports, 

 particularly in elephant hunting — for I had shot 

 several of these animals in Ceylon — would make up 

 for these drawbacks ; but never, as in this instance, 

 was the adage of " counting your eggs before 

 they are hatched " so thoroughly verified. 



Few men were ever blessed with a better consti- 

 tution than I possessed at the age of twenty-five 

 years. Moreover, I was, at that period of my life, 

 as hard as nails ; could walk from morning till night, 

 day after day without fatigue, and, on a push, run a 

 mile or more without having to cry " Bellows to 

 mend." I never was very fast on foot, it is true, but 

 what I lacked in speed I made up in staying power. 



Such was r.he state of my affairs, bodily and 

 financially, when I found myself in Natal, prepared 

 to go forth and do battle with the wild beasts of the 



