82 TALES OF A NOMAD, 



my dogs in another state of existence. Why should the 

 Great Being have given us a kindly feeling a sort of 

 recognition of far off cousinship for dumb creatures, 

 unless it is a token that they too shall be the recipients 

 of His infinite kindness, which excels anything that we 

 have the power to conceive ? 



On reaching Mamba's we met Mr. S , who was 



going down to explore the road to Delagoa Bay with a 

 view to opening up communication between Delagoa 

 and New Scotland in the Transvaal. 



I observed a crowd of natives. They were in a great 

 state of excitement, and the hubbub was terrific, so I 

 asked S what was the matter. 



He replied : " Oh, it is only my donkey they have 

 never seen a donkey before in their lives. You see the 

 bite of the tsetse has no effect upon a donkey, so I 

 brought one down to carry my traps to Delagoa." 



I approached the crowd. They made way for me. 

 There in the middle of them was a little donkey with a 

 most beautiful pair of ears, like the sails of a windmill. 

 The uproar was deafening. The subject of discussion 

 was whether the long-eared one was of the genus horse 

 or of the genus rabbit. 



" He is a horse ! " one of them would bawl at the top 

 of his voice ; " he is certainly a horse, for look at his face 

 and at his hoofs." 



" Not a bit of it ! " roared another ; " he is a rabbit 

 look at his wool and his ears." 



At this moment Jack opened his mouth and let out 

 a portentous bray, at which the crowd started back in 

 terror, and the women fled shrieking. 



The fame of this wonderful creature had spread through 

 the whole country. At Umbok's the people came out 



