208 THE GREAT THIRST LAND. 



unlooked-for apparition. I sought what appeared the 

 most respectable store for my dismounting-place ; hut, 

 before I had removed my off foot from the stirrup, I 

 was made captive by a true specimen of the race north 

 of the Tweed, who would listen to no argument or 

 excuse, but insisted that I should become his guest. 

 At dinner all the delicacies the "gudeman" had in his 

 shop were produced, among which were wine from Con- 

 stantia, Boer brandy, ten years of age, from the Old 

 Colony, and whisky that claimed Scotland for its birth- 

 place. How my host's eyes dilated when I told him that 

 I had fished and shot in his native land last autumn, 

 and when I said I knew Bothwell-on-the-Clyde the 

 climax was reached. 



His wife, a kind motherly woman, and three ruddy 

 well-grown children I was introduced to, the latter staring 

 at me with awe when they learned that I had crossed 

 the big ocean, and came from papa's land. One little 

 four-year-old, in rather timid accents, asked whether 

 " him would not always stay with them," and when 

 answered in the negative it pouted its pretty little lips, 

 and seemed quite sad. A bed was offered me, but de- 

 clined, as I make it a rule not to sleep from the wagon. 

 So at half-past four I was again in the saddle, and, after 

 a pleasant ride of an hour, over a fair road the distance 

 being about nine miles I cantered into Zeerust, similar 

 in size and many other respects to Jacobsdal. 



Here, as before, I looked out for the best store ; at 

 length I decided on what appeared the cleanest and 

 most promising, which bore the inscription "Niccoti 

 Winkle." It certainly looked a strange name ; but then 

 I was in a strange ]and. 



I rode towards it ; there was a group of four or five 



