SOUTHERN AFRICA. 285 



mudo under a bush in the open air, and completed on my 

 knees in the waiCiTon amid rain and wind — the zooloofical 

 specimens, wliich I had in the first instance reahzed and 

 broiif^'ht home m3'self, being- subsequently prepared with m}^ 

 own hand. Nothing* could exceed the annoyance g-iven by 

 the Hottentots, whose indolence and indifference throuofhout 

 the journey, oblig-ed us frequently to rise during' the nig"ht — 

 the rain, which })ursued us whithersoever we went, heig'hten- 

 ing- in no small deg-ree the discomforts we experienced. Nor 

 sludl I deny that we sometimes sighed for the luxuries to 

 which we had been accustomed \ bread and meat, with simple 

 tea or coffee, forming* for many months our monotonous 

 diet. But in spite of all these hardships and privations, 

 toilsome and tedious as our journey frequently was, across 

 deserts of utterly hopeless sterility, we were more than amply 

 re|)aid b}^ the unparalleled mag'nificence of the sport that we 

 enjoyed ; and I can safely aver, that some of the happiest 

 days of my existence have been passed in the wilds of Africa, 

 'i'hey form a passag^e in my life which time can never efface 

 from the tablet of my recollection — a g-reen spot in memory's 

 w ast<!, to wliich, in after-years, I shall revert with intense 

 and unabating" ])le.asure. 



