246 A MEDLEY OF SPORT 



pitching or striking camp — animals to be watered, fed, 

 and knee-haltered, fuel to be cut or gathered, bedding to 

 be got out, water to be found and carried, and food to be 

 prepared for the hungry wayfarers. Each man of our 

 little party drew lots to decide what particular task he 



was to perform. "Fuel" fell to E , "water" to 



another man, while on the slip of paper that I drew was 

 written the word, " cook." 



Now Jacob, E — — 's huge Zulu servant, was an 

 excellent cook (for a native), but he had been sent to 

 the store, some five miles away, to purchase certain 

 necessaries which we had forgotten to procure in 

 Johannesburg, and I was therefore told off to act the 

 part of chef during his absence. But I am rather a " dab 

 hand " at camp cooking, and when the fuel-man brought 

 in sufficient material from which to start a blaze, I soon 

 had the big three-legged iron pot simmering over the fire. 

 In due course tiffin was announced, and judging from 

 the fact that only a few mutton bones remained in the 

 pot at the finish of the repast, my " Irish " stew was 

 fully appreciated. 



Tiffin finished, one pipe of "Pioneer" and one "tot" 

 of Scotch whisky were allowed ; and then a general move 

 was made towards a big patch of rough grass lying about 

 a mile away from the camp, for we had elected to try this 

 cover for francolin and korhaan. 



We had not entered the grass many minutes ere we 



discovered that E 's pointers were utterly useless, 



and had evidently never been worked or shot over. 



