148 ADVENTURES IN SOUTH AFRICA. 



I belonged was averse to slavery, and that I could not 

 think of acceding to their demand. They then saddled 

 up, and departed as wise as they had come, telling me 

 that the matter should not rest there. The little Bush- 

 man seemed highly amused with the whole proceeding; 

 and as the Boers mounted their steeds and rode away, 

 leading the spare horse, he shrieked with delight, ex- 

 claiming in Low Dutch, " Yah, yilia forfluxta Boera, 

 yilla had de chadachta me te chra, mar ik heb noo a 

 ghroote baas, dat sail yilla neuk ;" signifying " Yes, 

 you worthless Boers, you thought to get hold of me ; 

 but I have now a great master, who will serve you out." 

 The Boers having departed, and my oxen and horses 

 having effaced all original traces around the fountain, 

 I described a circle a little distance from it to ascertain 

 if it was much frequented. This is the manner in 

 which spoor should at all times be sought for. - I found 

 a tolerable abundance of the spoor of various wild ani- 

 mals, and I therefore resolved to remain here some days 

 for the purpose of hunting. I removed my wagons to 

 an adjacent hollow, where I drew them up entirely con- 

 cealed from view, and then constructed a shooting-hole 

 beside the fountain, where for several mornings, at early 

 dawn, I shot hartebeests as they came to drink. 



On the morning of the 12th I rode northeast with at- 

 tendants, and after proceeding several miles through an 

 open country we entered a beautiful forest of camcel- 

 dorn trees, and rode along beneath a range of steep 

 rocky hills. The country gave me the idea of extreme 

 antiquity, where the hand of man had wrought no 

 change since the Creation. In a finely-wooded broad 

 valley or opening among the hills, we fell in with a 

 magnificent herd of about sixty blue wildebeests. As 

 they cantered across the grassy sward, tossing their 



