36 ADVENTURES IN SOUTH AFRICA. 



hide with a noose at the end : it is made either of ox or 

 buffalo hide, and is about eight feet long. A wagon is 

 also provided with a tar-bucket, two powerful iron chains 

 which are called the rheim-chains, and a large iron drag 

 called the rheim-schoen ; also the invariable whip and 

 jambok ; the former consisting of a bamboo pole upward 

 of twenty feet in length, with a thong of about twenty- 

 five feet, to the end of which is sewn with "rheim-pys," 

 or strips of dressed steinbok-skin, the "after-slock," and 

 to this again is fastened the " fore-slock," corresponding 

 with the little whip-cord lash of the English coachman. 

 The " fore-slock," about which the wagon-drivers are 

 very particular, is about a yard in length, and is formed 

 of a strip of the supple skin of some particular variety 

 of antelope prepared in a peculiar manner. The skins 

 of only a few species of antelopes are possessed of suf- 

 ficient tougliness for this purpose. Those most highly 

 prized among the colonists are the skins of the harte- 

 beest, koodoo, blesbok, and bushbuck ; when none of 

 these are to be obtained, they use the skin of a he- 

 goat, which is very inferior. The colonial wagon- 

 driver wields this immense whip with great dexterity 

 and grace. As he cracks it he produces a report nearly 

 equal to that of a gun, and by this means he signals to 

 his leader, who is perhaps herding the oxen at the dis- 

 tance of a mile, to bring them up when it is time to 

 inspan. 



The "jambok" is another instrument of persuasion, 

 indispensable in the outfit of every Cape wagon. It is 

 made of the thick tough hide either of the white rhinoc- 

 eros or hippopotamus. Its length is from six to seven 

 feet ; its thickness at the handle is about an inch and a 

 half, and it tapers gradually to the point. These 

 " iamboks" are exceedingly tough and pliant, and ar^ 



