42 Recollections of Adventures 



game, although in countless thousands, never cut up 

 the pasturage like sheep do, and many parts of South 

 Africa are becoming barren, as the water instead of 

 being stored as of yore, is run off in these dongas 

 without benefitting the soil. 



When not occupied during the winter in going 

 trips to Zoutpansberg and Spelonken, I used to go 

 hunting in the Bush Veld where in those early 

 days, there were large numbers of game, rhinoceros, 

 giraffe, buffalo, kudu, waterbuck, eland, palla, wilde- 

 beest, hartebeest, rietbok, quagga, ostrich, besides 

 smaller antelopes such as duiker and steinbok, and 

 birds of all kinds, francolin, partridge, grouse, guinea- 

 fowl, koorhaan, pauw, wild duck, pigeon, geese, teal, 

 lions, hyenas, leopards, lynxes, wild dogs, jackals, 

 etc. There was grand shooting and plenty of excite- 

 ment, sometimes with natives, sometimes with lions, 

 etc., and I have enjoyed having yarns with the old 

 Boer hunters who lived in tents and wagons all 

 along the Apies, Pienaars, Plaatte, and Eland 

 rivers, grazing their stock during winter on 

 the succulent buffalo grass. They lived a primitive, 

 but perfectly happy life, shooting what game they 

 required and having plenty of food, bread, dried 

 fruits, pumpkins, potatoes, mealies, besides fresh 

 milk, eggs and butter, and the better sort made their 

 camps very snug. 



I never pretended to be a lion hunter and had a 

 wholesome respect for their majesties, but occasion- 

 ally had their acquaintance forced upon me, and 

 much as I dislike lion and snake stories, I will 

 relate one or two adventures as they occur to 

 me. 



While returning from a winter trip in the Bush 

 Veld with two wagons and a troop of loose cattle ; 



