ON THE MOOI OF NATAL 247 



hook worked itself out an instance of fisher- 

 man's luck of the better kind. Two pounds 

 thirteen ounces was what he weighed, and, well 

 salted and peppered and with the vein near the 

 backbone removed, he " kept," and made a 

 delicious item on a Johannesburg breakfast table 

 on the Sunday morning. Trout up to four 

 pounds and even five pounds have been caught 

 towards Kamberg, so the aforesaid brace were 

 comparative youngsters. 



These were all real " days in the country." 

 Once my kind host sent me an Indian coolie to 

 act as gillie. When a trout was hooked, this gillie 

 showed remarkable interest in the proceedings. 

 He even used the landing net well. When, as 

 sometimes happened, a trout got off when being 

 played, he would say : " 0/z, Boss ! " a mixture 

 of sympathy and gentle reproach. It was, how- 

 ever, preferable to the remark of a home gillie to 

 a friend who had the misfortune to part company 

 with a big fish : " And has your honour lost 

 him ? " One day was specially worthy of the 

 description I have given. To a novice who had 

 to do thirty miles on horseback there came sore 

 realization that it was indeed a day in the 

 country. Two farmer friends were my congenial 

 companions, and one of them knew the best place. 

 So we rode on. There was frequent temptation 

 to dismount and try some likely spot, but the ride 

 was continued steadily, with "the hobgoblin castles 

 of the Drakensberg," as the late W. G. Steevens 

 called them, in the distance. Once, when we were 



