244 EXPEDITION INTO [Chap. XXVIII. 



a spotted, or " laughing " hyaena, superior in size to 

 the largest mastiff, was shot through the head, by 

 the clear light it afforded, as he was in the act of 

 skulking under the sheep-pen. The great muscular 

 power of this animal, which is called by the colonists 

 " the wolf," renders it exceedingly formidable ; the 

 difficulty of determining the sex being the most 

 remarkable feature it possesses. On the 27th we 

 again encamped on the banks of the Limpopo, in 

 which a buffalo was shot as it was swimming across. 

 Few other sporting incidents occurred of an extra- 

 ordinary character, except the death of a very large 

 black rhinoceros, which, being pent up in an old 

 stone enclosure, forming a cul de sac, the entrance 

 to which I closed up, received no less than twenty- 

 seven shots before it fell. A troop of brindled 

 gnoos, being pursued by another of these animals, 

 dashed into a narrow defile in the hills, at the outlet 

 of which, having stationed myself, I disposed of two 

 with each barrel. 



As we approached the junction of the Mariqua 

 with the Limpopo, in about latitude 24° 10', bushes 

 usurped the place of trees ; the country daily be- 

 came less inviting, and the game in consequence 

 less and less abundant, although a supply was still 

 always to be obtained. The few inhabitants that we 

 now met with refused to hold any communication 

 with our escort — seating themselves at a distance, 

 and declining the proferred snuff-box. These men 

 were the wreck of the Bakone or Baquaina, once 

 the most powerful and prosperous of the Bechuana 



