Chap. XXIV.] SOUTHERN AFRICA. 211 



possess all the aptitude of his Asiatic relative, the 

 only difficulty that presents itself, is the general ab- 

 sence, within our territories, of sufficient food for 

 his support. Were he once domesticated, and ar- 

 rayed against the beasts of the forest, Africa would 

 realize the very heau ideal of magnificent sport. It 

 is also worthy of remark, that no attempt has ever 

 been made on the part of the colonists to naturalize 

 another most useful animal — the camel, although 

 soil, climate, and productions appear alike to favour 

 its introduction. 



We succeeded, after considerable labour, in ex- 

 tracting the ball which Andries pretended to have 

 fired yesterday ; and the grooves of my rifle being 

 conspicuous upon it, that worthy, but unabashed, 

 squire was constrained not only to relinquish his 

 claim to the merit of having slain the elephant — 

 but also to forego his fancied right to the ivory. 

 The miniature elephant, finding that its mother 

 heeded not its caresses, voluntarily followed our 

 party to the waggons, where it was received with 

 shouts of welcome from the people, and a band of 

 all sorts of melody from the cattle. It died, how- 

 ever, in spite of every care, in the course of a few 

 days ; as did two others, much older, that we sub- 

 sequently captured. 



The day again closed with a thunder-storm, which 

 twice passed off, and twice revisited us in the course 

 of the night. The rivers, which had subsided 

 during the day, became once more agitated, and 

 instead of the trumpet accompaniment from ele- 



