36 THE HUNTER'S ARCADIA. 



strangers, the thought never arising in their minds 

 that they are giving away their employers' food. 



If once you obtain in these parts the sobriquet of 

 a "mean white man," it is bound to stick to you 

 wherever you travel, and will do you no end of harm ; 

 thus it is better to grin and bear without remonstrance 

 a pack of hungry savages, who are stowing away an 

 amount of food that would probably be sufficient to 

 sustain your whole party for the next twenty-four 

 hours. Snuff, although of no use as an article of 

 trade, is wonderfully appreciated by these people, 

 when given to them gratuitously. It is a bribe that 

 seldom fails to make them loquacious, and as I wanted 

 information in regard to the state of the roads and 

 the frequency of water in front of me, and was 

 fortunately provided with some of Taddy's fragrant 

 preparation, I had recourse to its influence. But 

 scarcely had each received his quantum, than the 

 sharp cry of a kooran announced the presence of 

 that bird in our immediate vicinity. In an instant 

 each Batlapin was on his legs, a line was formed with 

 the precision and dexterity of drilled soldiers, and 

 a hasty advance made in the direction from which the 

 sound emanated. Soon after three birds were flushed 



