1 66 THE 



work, and knew perfectly how to do it. As we did 

 not intend commencing operations until we reached 

 some flats five or six miles off, my chum and I rode, 

 and although we kept our nags at a pretty sharp 

 pace, when we reached our destination there were 

 neither " bellows to mend " nor stragglers among the 

 crowd, which must have numbered upwards of a 

 hundred persons. 



Where we began business was just such a place 

 as the most fastidious would have pronounced emi- 

 nently suited for our purpose : a large extent of 

 open grass land, with clumps of an acre or more 

 of short brush closely scattered over it. The forma- 

 tion adopted was that familiar to all acquainted with 

 the tactics of Zulus when on the war-path, viz., about 

 a third of a circle, the extremities of which projected 

 more than a hundred yards in advance of their centre. 

 My friend and myself being armed with rifles, and 

 consequently able to kill game at greater distance 

 than our sable attendants, each took a flank. 

 Scarcely had we broken ground, when the sport 

 commenced to be fast and furious. Still, not a word 

 was spoken, the only sound audible being the 

 whistling of the knobkerries through the air. This 



