SOUTHERN AFRICA. 131 



— it was so bent that the hammer could not by an}- means 

 be broug-ht down upon the nipple. In vain I looked around 

 for a stone; and sought in ever}^ pocket for my knife, with 

 which to strike the copper cap, and bring- about ignition, 

 or hamstring the colossal but harmless animal, by whose 

 side I appeared the veriest pigmy in the creation — alas ! I 

 had lent it to the Hottentots to cut off the head of the 

 hartebeest. Yainly did I wait for the tardy and rebelHous 

 villains to come to my assistance, making the welkin ring, 

 and my throat tingle, with reiterated shouts— not a soul 

 appeared — and, in a few minutes the giraffe having reco- 

 vered his wind, and being onty slightly wounded in the hind 

 quarters, shuffled his long legs— twisted his tail over his 

 back — walked a few steps — then broke into a gallop, and 

 diving into the mazes of the forest, disappeared from my 

 sight. Disappointed and annoyed, I returned towards the 

 waggons, now eight miles distant, and on my way overtook 

 the Hottentots, who, smoking their pipes with an air of 

 gentlemanly laziness, were leisurely returning, having come 

 to the conclusion that " Sir could not catch the kameel," 

 for which reason they did not think it worth while to follow 

 as I had directed. 



My defeat did not cause me to lose sight of the flesh- 

 pots. Any change from the monotony of an unvaried 

 bread-and-meat diet being highl}- agreeable, I went back 

 to the nest of the ostrich with a view of obtaining the 

 eggs. So alarmed were the old birds by my unceremonious 

 intrusion in the morning, that they had not returned. 

 Twenty-three gigantic eggs were laid on the bare ground 

 without either bush or grass to conceal them, or au}^ attempt 

 at a nest be3^ond a shallow concavity which had been scraped 

 out wdth the feet. Having broken one, to ascertain if 

 they were worth carrying home, a Hottentot took off his 

 trowsers, in which (the legs being- first tied at the lower 



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