The Tales of a Huntsman. 159 



little chestnut pony, which had been purchased at 

 Kimbeiiey for the sum of 8/. Captain Williams 

 was mounted on a bay jDony named the ''Tortoise," 

 which name sufficiently desc]"i1)es liim. and the 

 ''Baboon'" l^estrode a, laroe raw-boned, coek- 

 throppled nag- called " Xelson." But it had never 

 occurred to Captain Williams, nor to me, that anv- 

 thing- very wonderful in the wa\' of steeds was 

 necessary. We looked upon them merely as con- 

 veyances for aettin;^' over the *iTound (pucker than 

 we could on foot. Since this morning I have 

 come to the conclusion that shooting in South 

 Africa, unless it is to be accompanied by great 

 risk, I'equires that the sportsman should be 

 mounted on a perfectly-trained, well-bred, fast 

 horse, just as tiger-shooting in India requires a 

 perfectly steady and courageous elephant. For 

 some time, near!)' two hours, Lee and I wandered 

 on, peering al)out through the bushes, examining 

 spoor, of which we saw nnicli, and sometimes con- 

 versing in a low tone. At times Lee told me of 

 one or two curious things. He told me that in 

 the Zoutspansberg I'ound Avliere he himself resided, 

 there grew a tree called the snake tree, the leaves 

 of which, when boiled, make a decoction which 

 is an infallible specific against snake bite. He 

 had used it himself, he said, on animals with com- 

 plete success, and he ^vas perfectly confident that 

 with this remedy he could cure any human being 

 who had been bitten by a poisonous snake. He 

 further told me that persons whom he could trust 

 had informed him that the drink made from these 



