

RAIN-STORM. 47 



been procured from the colony, and therefore had 

 considerable experience in the pursuit of the smaller 

 varieties of buck, as well as an occasional encounter 

 with some of the larger members of the cat family, 

 such as leopards, caracals, etc., for these species of 

 the carnivore still are to be found in considerable 

 abundance south of the Orange River. The morn- 

 ing previous to the occurrence of the incident to 

 which I owe the obtaining of my two pets, Leo and 

 Juno, broke with such an appearance of bad weather 

 that, by the advice of my servants, I determined to 

 shift my camping place to more elevated and, there- 

 fore, drier ground. A ridge, thickly covered with 

 mapani brush, and here and there studded with 

 meruli and mimosa trees, was selected for our new 

 encampment, and as the distance to it was not over 

 six miles, it was not deemed necessary to inspan the 

 bullocks till three hours after midday. Although 

 the weather had threatened since sunrise, the rain 

 kept off until we had completed about half our 

 journey, when, as is not unusual in tropical climates, 

 one of those downpours began that have to be 

 experienced to be appreciated. But this was not 

 all ; with the rain came thunder, and with the 

 thunder, lightning, of which it would be difficult to 

 say whether the awe-inspiring voice of the one was 

 more terrible to listen to than the sight of the 

 brilliant, rapidly repeated flashes of the other. 

 Bullocks cannot treck with wet yokes, or their 



