76 DAYS AND NIGHTS BY THE DESERT. 



and brush, where game will often be found very 

 wild, and 4OO-yard shots have to be made. They 

 have, nevertheless, one great objection in a sandy 

 country, an objection that I wrote of years ago, 

 viz., that the fine particles frequently incapacitate 

 the ejector from performing its duty and the block 

 from falling. 



No. 6. The last, thank Goodness, on the list 

 require no comments further than that they are 

 wanted to keep the pot supplied, when change of 

 diet is required, or when kooran, wild-fowl, dikop, 

 and sand-grouse are only to be obtained. Why 

 I prefer a lo-bore is that I became accustomed 

 to the size in America ; further, I will add, in 

 spite of the heresy that many English sportsmen 

 will think I commit by doing so, that I have ever 

 got such superior shooting from a lo-bore over 

 a i2-bore, that the additional weight that I carried 

 was more than counterbalanced by the results. 

 A further consideration should be added before 

 closing my comments on my battery, and that no 

 unimportant one, viz., that the same shells and 

 wads fitted my favourite ball guns that were used 

 in the shot ones. 



But the treck had suddenly come to an end, and 

 big drops of rain were resounding off the tight tilt 

 of the waggon as if they were falling upon a drum. 

 In a moment we were both out of our sanctuary to 

 inquire the cause, but there was no need to ask 



