

PROPOSES:' 55 



the traveller's rheims be not strong, he may look 

 it for a stampede; but should they hold, the 

 rgressor, as a climax to his former manoeuvre, 

 ives utterance to his deepest and loudest roar, 

 rhen the frightened treck beasts, if not secured by 

 le stoutest fastenings that can be obtained, will 

 break free and rush with inconceivable rapidity into 

 the very jaws of their foes secreted to leeward. 



Such was the plan adopted on the occasion of 

 which I speak, and the result was the loss of three 

 of my best draught bullocks. However, I had one 

 satisfaction ; assisted by the light from our now 

 blazing fires, as the patriarch followed on their heels, 

 I was enabled to place a pair of ten-to-the-pound 

 bullets through his tawny hide. This I was certain 

 of, for I heard distinctly the thuds, those never-to- 

 be-forgotten and tell-tale sounds that quickly re- 

 spond to the delivery of successful shots. 



My performance in marksmanship was not 

 wonderful, for the object I fired upon was large, and 

 within fifteen paces of where I stood. The foe, 

 nevertheless, did not drop in his tracks, but con- 

 tinued his course, evidently intending to join his 

 relatives and participate in the provided banquet of 

 newly slaughtered beef. But " man proposes, God 

 disposes/' for many an ominous growl of pain dis- 

 tinctly told that the old marauder was not now in 

 a frame of mind or body to enjoy the feast. The 

 night was so intensely dark, that it would have been 



