CHAPTER 111 



MY FELLOW SCOUTS 



Rensberg caught us up on the fourth day, and 

 the old chap proved a great addition — a first- 

 class bushman who could live on as little as 

 anyone I ever met, and, like most of his country- 

 men, a first-class shot and a great hand at keeping 

 the camp in meat. The old chap's only failing 

 was that common weakness of so many Dutchmen 

 — a lust of slaughter. It seemed impossible some- 

 times for him to resist shooting, even if we already 

 possessed more meat than we could carry. (At 

 the end we had almost a coolness over this.) 

 However, a better mate in the bush I never expect 

 to meet. 



Unlike the Boer as generally depicted, Rensberg 

 was a little man of rather delicate appearance ; 

 in spite of a hard life in later years spent almost 

 entirely amongst savages, he retained the instincts 

 of a gentleman. Some of Rensberg's remarks 

 amused us immensely. He told us once, and as 

 naively as a child (after all, in many ways he was 

 little else), that " he did hope the war would last 

 a long time so that he could earn plenty of money." 

 Another time, whilst discussing various bucks 



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