252 Men, Mines, and Animals in South Africa. 



beino; nowhere in sight. However, I knew the 

 road ran west, and tliat if I took a southerly course 

 I must soon cut it. It may be well for the inex- 

 l^erienced in the chase on the South African veldt 

 to remember an elementary fact, that at middav in 

 the Southern Hemisphere the sun is always in the 

 north, and that to go due south you have only to 

 keep the sun shining on the back of your neck. 

 One or two other little useful facts may l)e here 

 set down. If lost at night on the veldt on a bright 

 starry evening, four times and a half the lengtli 

 of the Southern Cross, measured from the summit 

 to the base, in the direction of the base indicates 

 the position of the South Pole. The direction of 

 the wind is apt to be misleading, as it generally 

 follows the sun in the course of the day. It is 

 M'ell fur a hunter lea vino- his wago-ons on the 



O Co 



" trek " to make these latter drag a chain between 

 the rear wheels. When in returning from the 

 chase you reach the I'oad, you can easily discover 

 from the presence or absence of the marks of the 

 chain in the dust, among innuinei'able other spoor, 

 whether your waggons are before or liehind you. 

 Sir Frederick Carrington taught me this simple 

 little dodge, which, fortunately for its efficacy, is 

 hardly at all resorted to. It is very imprudent 

 for anv one to go huntino- on the veldt without a 

 small supply of biscuits and whisky. Chocolate is 

 an excellent thing to carry, and a box of matches 

 is essential. If the hunter towai'ds the evening 

 finds himself really lost, and is a great distance 

 from his camp, it is much better to reahze the 



