TOUGH TRAVELLING. 3 



The inmates of the prison were certainly a most 

 forbidding lot in appearance, and to trust myself 

 with one of them for so long and fatiguing a journey, 

 simply appeared madness, and the keepers unhesi- 

 tatingly expressed themselves to that effect ; so I 

 was about to leave in despair, when I observed a 

 round-faced, good-tempered-looking lad, whose tout 

 ensemble pleased me much. 



On inquiry I found his crime was not of a very 

 heinous nature, so I had him released, and took him 

 with me to the hotel. Of course, I thought this 

 man was a Zulu or Kaffir, and therefore understood 

 African travelling and hunting ; but alas ! I was 

 mistaken, for he was a West Indian darky, a sailor 

 by trade, knew nothing about a horse, and had only 

 been in Natal a short time. 



Nothing daunted, I made the best of a bad 

 job, and three days afterwards crossed the giant, 

 rugged and picturesque Drakensberg mountains, 

 and slept in Harrysmith, in the Orange Free State. 

 From there to Marico, in a distant corner of the 

 Transvaal, I travelled, sometimes by night, less 

 frequently by day, being often threatened and 

 nearly always refused food and water by the inhos- 

 pitable Boers of that district. 



I will not say that this lad did not do his utmost 

 to give me satisfaction, but his ignorance was most 

 trying. Fatigue and exposure, however, separated 

 us earlier than was expected ; for before two-thirds 



