166 EXPEDITION INTO [Chap. XX. 



with his request. Accustomed from childhood to 

 the use of the assagai, or javelin, without which the 

 Matabili neser quits his home, they are expert in 

 the destruction of the elephant ; hemming him into 

 a defile, they attack him with great intrepidity, 

 and not unfrequently incur the utmost effects of his 

 rage and fury. Occasionally, also, they assail the 

 rhinoceros, but this inert animal is more usually 

 ensnared in the pitfalls already described, which 

 are generally provided with a sharp stake at the 

 bottom, on which he is impaled. 



The Matabili possess no horses ; all those that 

 have been from time to time taken from the Griquas 

 and other tribes, with whom they have been engaged 

 in war, have been carried off by the distemj^er, as 

 it is called, a fatal murrain, which sometimes extends 

 itself to the oxen, over every part of Southern Africa 

 during the early months of the year. The ravages 

 of this disease, which is said to be an affection of 

 the lungs, are supposed to be occasioned by the 

 young grass which springs up after the first rain ; 

 and at these seasons, the colonists who can send 

 their horses into the more elevated districts, are able 

 generally to preser\'e them. 



The attempts of our friends at equitation drill, 

 and horsemanship, were ludicrous and awkward in 

 the extreme. Although active, muscular, and agile 

 in a wonderful degree, they tumbled off the horse 

 as fast as they ascended, notwithstanding that the 

 saddle, bridle, mane, and even tail were unceremoni- 

 ously pressed into the service. 



