A GIANT GOOSE. 59 



Was it an ostrich ? At this he waxed wroth, and 

 inquired if I took him for a fool. 



However, we went in search of the unknown, 

 but nowhere could it be seen, and I really com- 

 menced to think that my friend was what he supposed 

 I took him for, when a Hottentot who had joined us 

 from the wagons called out in his gibberish, and 

 pointed with his hand in the direction he wished us 

 to look. "See bass, vilge maccow ;" but it took a 

 great deal of patient staring before we could detect 

 what our man evidently saw. 



At length we did succeed, which was rather a 

 wonder, for the object of our search was up in a tree, 

 and not on the ground. We both came to the con- 

 clusion that the unknown was a vulture, and thus 

 unworthy of powder and lead, and would have passed 

 on ; but Totty got excited at our indifference, and 

 swore some fearful Boer oaths expressive of its 

 superiority as an article of food ; so at length my 

 chum resolved to shoot, and gave it one of the barrels. 

 The thump that bird made when it came to the ground 

 was sufficient to startle a nervous person, for it fell 

 with a thud as sonorous as would be produced by the 

 descent of a bag of potatoes. 



To reach our prey was the work of a moment, and 



