200 THE HUNTER'S ARCADIA. 



of one of which he always slept. But when these 

 fandangoes were going on amongst the natives, 

 Master Billy would double his legs under him, and 

 remain all night perfectly happy and contented among 

 the revellers, as if no such thing as jackals, hyenas, 

 and caragals existed in this part of the earth. The 

 very cuteness of the character of this goat deserves 

 more notice than I should feel disposed to bestow 

 upon an ordinary animal. When trekking, if the 

 country was open, he would follow the wagons forty, 

 or even fifty yards behind, provided always he had a 

 number of dogs on each side of him. If brush, that 

 was dense, had to be passed through, the place of 

 security he then considered best, was immediately 

 between the hind wheels ; but if an alarm was given, 

 the wagon-box, in an instant, became his perch, which 

 he would gain, whether the vehicle was in motion 

 or not, by a single spring, quite astonishing to 

 the beholder to see a beast of such rotund pro- 

 portions capable of making. I have said he slept on 

 the wagon-box, but this was only when marauders 

 were not about, for if he got a sniff of one of the 

 carnivore? out on the prowl, with one rush he dived 

 into the wagon and, apparently, did not consider 



