38 Eecollections of Adventures 



stocking, no fencing, and driving stock every night 

 long distances into kraals, and so resulting in harden- 

 ing and cutting the surface of the ground ; diminish- 

 ed rainfall and vegetation. I sold much of my stuff 

 in these districts and got together a large troop 

 of sheep, which I sold to butchers. We continued, 

 after leaving Coetye Burger's hospitable home, to 

 the Buffalo River, where an old curmudgeon of an 

 uncle of his lived, also a Burgers, who would not 

 give us any grazing, and a few miles beyond his 

 place a severe hailstorm killed three of my hungry 

 oxen, so I turned homewards via Hanover. Near 

 here we were " outspanned " on a farm, and doing a 

 trade with the owner, when about a dozen Boers 

 returning from a wolf hunt turned up and got off to 

 inspect the leather. Just as they were beginning to 

 buy, their horses with one accord commenced kick- 

 ing, rolling and behaving madly, then scampered 

 away into the dim distance, and the riders after them. 

 I said to the old Boer who looked stolidly on "What is 

 it ? " And he answered " Dit is de bij nest neef " 

 " (it is the bees nest nephew.) " Bees get infuriated 

 with a sweating horse, and a swarm in the wagon 

 house had turned out en masse to sting the unfor- 

 tunate horses. The old Boer said he did not 

 think that his friends would catch their horses soon, 

 and they didn't. I waited a couple of hours and 

 then trekked. They may have collected them 

 sometime during the week. 



I had to buy three oxen to replace the dead 

 ones ; one was so savage that he nearly killed one 

 of my boys, and chased me on to the wagon, and 

 poked his horn through the side of the front chest, 

 just missing my " hind " leg. The pious Boer had 

 given him an excellent character, but he had 

 suddenly changed, and became so dangerous, that I 

 shot him for the boys to eat. 



