AN UNFORTUNATE KAFFIR. 103 



wretch's eyes were pink as a white rabbit's, while 

 the matted wool which grew upon his head was of 

 a light sandy brown colour. Without a vestige of 

 clothes upon his person, he stood in front of us 

 alternately jabbering like a monkey or tearing him- 

 self with his talon-like nails. Shocking as this un- 

 fortunate creature was to my eyes, he was quite as 

 repulsive to my followers. My Zulu proposed to 

 drive him off and water the cattle ourselves ; but 

 this course, I felt convinced, could not have been 

 effected without considerable difficulty, and a fight 

 or struggle with such an afflicted creature would not 

 have redounded to our credit, even if. we had been 

 successful ; so the cattle were once more hurried 

 into their yokes, and with many a shout and crack 

 of the whip we hastened forward to the next water. 



Can any one imagine what a life such an unfor- 

 tunate as this must lead, despised by all, expatriated 

 from his tribe, afflicted by the most loathsome of 

 diseases, and compelled to obtain a precarious 

 sustenance by whatever means in him lay, and, as 

 a consequence, living from hand to mouth ? Such 

 an existence must be the most dreadful that a 

 human being can be condemned to suffer. 



But from such a disagreeable subject let us drift 

 to pleasanter themes. So, if the reader will bear 

 with me, while the patient bullocks toil on under 

 the scorching sun and over the heavy sand, I will 

 continue the narrative of my pet lions. 



