"The Spider." lor 



c'ommodation. This will, probably, be soon 

 pro^dded, as a coacb service now passes along tlie 

 road, either way, twice a week, but the traveller 

 who desires to be reasonablv comfortable will do 

 well to rely upon his own feeding, cooking, and 

 sleeping resources, and for a long time to come will 

 find a night passed in the bush very preferable to 

 one passed in the inside of a Transvaal shanty. 

 For twenty or thirty miles round Pietersburg, the 

 liio'h o-rass veldt without tree or bush is seen, 

 Ijroken here and there by isolated kopjes. AYe 

 travelled twenty-five miles on leaving Pietersburg, 

 where I may remark ^\^e found a thoroughly good 

 hotel, and encamped near a small store kept by a 

 (xerman. Here commenced our first cooking 

 efforts. To collect brushwood and dried dung for 

 the fire, to fill the kettles and boil the water are 

 the first duties ; bacon and eggs and bread are the 

 staple of the repast, supplemented by such tinned 

 ])rovisions as mav have been brouirht alon^r. Eo:^s 

 and bread and milk are very often not obtainable, 

 when biscuits and preserved milk form indifferent 

 substitutes. My party soon became very skilful 

 and expeditious with their kitchen arrangements, 

 and would have breakfast or dinner ready within 

 half-an-hour of outspanning. The Aveather was 

 perfect, with the exception of on-j day, when for a 

 few hours we were troubled with a regular Scotch 

 drizzle ; the nights were cool, but not cold ; the 

 bush country into which we plunged on the second 

 day after leaving Pietersburg, varied and agree- 

 able. Partridges, " pheasants(?) " guinea fowl, and \ 

 doves can be secured along the route, and form ap- 



