94 DAYS AND NIGHTS BY THE DESERT. 



bare-backed, in preference to waiting for his horse 

 being saddled. Further, I could name many 

 an old acquaintance who invariably rode, except 

 when travelling, on naught but a blanket with a sur- 

 cingle passed round it. 



The young colonists of the Cape of the present 

 day remind me much of those dashing, gallant 

 youths, whose numbers were so awfully thinned by 

 Nana Sahib and his followers. But this does not 

 account for my having come off scatheless after my 

 fall ; therefore, I must accredit it to luck, for I did 

 not then ride one ounce under fourteen stone. 



Soon after breakfast I took a stroll, more with 

 the intention of botanical research than to kill 

 animal life ; still, I had my rifle with me ; for, know, 

 reader, in this part of the world it should always be 

 your nearest, if not dearest, friend. I found flower- 

 ing verbenas of different colours abundant, and had 

 soon collected a choice assortment of this charming 

 blossom, for it has ever been to me a prime favourite. 

 This doubtless arises from the circumstance that 

 my father's garden in my boyhood's days was cele- 

 brated for their production, and neither time nor 

 trouble was spared by the indulgent parent and the 

 old gardener in bringing them to the greatest per- 

 fection. " Like father, like son ; " so, with insatiable 

 appetite and unwearied energy, I searched far and 

 near for a new variety of verbena to add to my col- 

 lection. A pile of detached stones stood before me, 



