Big Game-Shooting Trips 46 



poort, when hundreds of armed Kaffirs passed my 

 wagons, as I thought, on the war path, I hailed 

 some, and they said that Sebedilla, their Chief, had 

 ordered them to encircle game and drive them down 

 to the narrow " poort." I inspanned at once and got 

 into the " poort " just in front of the driving game, 

 and shot seven quaggas for the old chief, for which he 

 was grateful ; his whole " Impi " had only killed 

 some small buck, as a black rhinoceros had broken 

 the ring of beaters, and let all the game out. 

 I kept one quagga for my boys, as they preferred 

 that meat to any other game. This old Chief 

 was always friendly to me, and was loyal to the 

 Boers, who had once befriended him ; his tribe is 

 Matabele. Years afterwards, in the Volksraad, I 

 used my influence to prevent old Sebedilla's Location 

 being cut into farms, and parcelled out to specula- 

 tive applicants. 



One day while riding a smart little roan pony 

 that was not well trained, I had ridden down a fine 

 giraffe and had just put up my gun to shoot him, 

 when the pony looked up, and, terrified at the tall 

 beast towering over him, swerved under the bough 

 of a tree, which caught me full in the "lower chest," 

 it took me part of the way, and with the recoil, shot 

 me back some yards, the pony going on from under 

 me. I fully understood the meaning of a real 

 stomach ache. The boys caught the pony, and I 

 kept him in hard work after that, until he was 

 sensible. 



The Elephant's River, after it is joined by the 

 Eland, Moos and the other rivers, is a fine stream. 

 The banks are lined with grand trees, and rich grass, 

 and there are long stretches of water, ideal for boat- 

 ing. It abounds in fish and crocodiles, and when at 

 all in flood is most dangerous to cross at the fords, 



