HISTORY. 263 



In the country of the Cape, the value of the agile form and 

 powers of endurance of the African Ox, are shewn in the ser- 

 vices he performs. These oxen are used for carrying bur- 

 dens, in the manner of mules and pack-horses in other coun- 

 tries. A traveller, describing this employment, observes : 

 " We proceeded nearly the whole way at a brisk step, some- 

 times trotting, and at other times galloping, while the three 

 bushmen, who drove the pack-oxen on before us, hurried 

 them over the rocky ground at so extraordinary a rate, that, 

 even on horseback, I found it not easy to keep up with them ; 

 and often, when the surface was so thickly covered with 

 stones and large fragments of rock, that my horse could 

 scarcely find where to place his foot, I was obliged to call 

 out to them to slacken their pace."* 



These oxen are likewise trained to the saddle. They are 

 broken in, we are told, when they are about a year old. A 

 slit being made in the cartilage between the nostrils, large 

 enough to admit the finger, a strong stick, stripped of its 

 bark, is passed through, and to each end of it is fixed a thong 

 of hide, of length sufficient to reach round the neck, and serve 

 as reins. The saddle is formed of sheep-skins with the wool 

 on, and the stirrups consist of a thong across the saddle, with 

 loops for the feet. While the animal's nose is still sore, he is 

 mounted and put in training, and, in a week or two, is gene- 

 rally rendered sufficiently obedient to the rider. " The faci- 

 lity and adroitness," says Mr Burchell, " with which the Hot- 

 tentots manage the Ox, has often excited my admiration. It 

 is made to walk, trot, or gallop, at the will of its master ; 

 and being longer legged, and rather more lightly made than 

 the Ox in England, travels with greater ease and expedition, 

 walking three or four miles in an hour, trotting five, and 

 galloping, on an average, seven or eight." These oxen are 

 likewise used in the drawing of those covered waggons which 

 the Dutch settlers have introduced, and with which they 

 transport their merchandise, and perform their long journeys 



* BurchelPs Travels in Africa. 



