3o6 Men, Mines, and Animals in South Africa. 



green string communicating with the waggon, 

 which it entered, the elevated wire being some 

 yards off. The operator was seated in the waggon, 

 where he had installed his apj^aratus ; the 

 disselboom of the waggon served as a desk for 

 the sender to write out his despatches. So we 

 all sent off messages, some to Cape To^vn, some to 

 London, happy at finding ourselves once more in 

 actual contact with home and with friends. At 

 midday I finally got off, and a distance of twenty 

 miles was accomplished before outspanning for 

 the night. Fern Spruit was passed — of evil 

 memory to me, as the place where three of our 

 horses had died on the way up, and where our 

 camp was nearly destroyed by fire. Here we 

 picked up Major Giles, with the ox- waggon, 

 which was to accompany us as far as Tuli. 

 Hard by Fern Spruit is situated " Long's " 

 Mine, from which specimens of quartz of extra- 

 ordinary richness in gold have been taken. There 

 is, however, some doubt as to whether the quartz 

 nowbeing worked is a legitimate reef or is notrather 

 a " blow out." The discoverer and projDrietor had 

 dug down to a depth of only eighteen inches, and 

 seemed to be unwilling to risk the prospect of his 

 property by prying deeper into the earth. I 

 expect he wanted to part with his claims for a 

 good round sum of money to some syndicate or 

 speculator, and take his profit at once. The 

 specimens of quartz were sufficiently remarkable 

 to seduce even the cautious, but with the re- 

 collection of the " Yellow Jacket " and " Golden 



