Bush Veld and other Treks and Adventures 77 



terrible accident one day. His herd boy came to tell 

 him that a tiger (leopard) had killed some goats on 

 the hill, at the back of the house. Old " Cous " took 

 his dogs and went to see what damage had been 

 done. On approaching the spot, the dogs found the 

 brute and old Erasmus encouraged them to attack ; 

 when the leopard suddenly sprang clean over all the 

 dogs, on to the old man, tore the scalp off his head 

 right over his eyes and gave him some terrible bites 

 on his head, neck and shoulders. The kaffir herd 

 boy stabbed it with his assegai, and the dogs pulled 

 it off, leaving poor old Jacobus nearly dead. It 

 took him many months to recover. Many years, 

 (about 30) after this his eldest son, Cornelius 

 Erasmus, was bitten in the same way by a leopard 

 on his winter farm in the Rooiberg, a strange coin- 

 cidence ! 



It is wonderful what severe injuries men of 

 robust constitution can recover from. Hans Delange, 

 a notable old " voortrekker," whom I knew well, 

 was attacked by a lion near Bronkhorstspruit. He 

 had no weapon but one of the old-fashioned hunting 

 knives called " Harnuter " (* Huguenot ') as usually 

 worn by the old Doppers. With difficulty he got 

 hold of this knife with one hand, while the lion was 

 biting his other hand and shoulder to pieces, and 

 succeeded in stabbing the brute in the heart. He 

 described most graphically to me how he forced the 

 knife into the lion's chest, and then wriggled it 

 about inside until he got to the heart. The old man 

 was found nearly dead the lion quite dead. His 

 case was considered hopeless, but he was taken to 

 the Warm Baths at Waterberg, where he recovered, 

 and lived for several years, with his one hand and 

 arm maimed and useless. The courage and vitality 

 of some of these old, hard pioneers, was simply 

 wonderful. I could tell many tales of their dealings 



