IDLENESS. 99 



ground that had been drawn a blank by the other 

 sportsmen. It may be concluded, therefore, that some 

 skill and experience is requisite in the bush-hunter of 

 Africa. So plentiful was the game in the Natal district 

 during my residence there in 1847, 1848, and 1849, that 

 even around Pietermaritzburg, within a mile of the 

 houses, I have shot bucks ; while partridges, pheasants, 

 quail, and snipe were also common. But the use of 

 the bullet against the larger animals is so fascinating a 

 mode of sport, that it prevents the South- African sports- 

 man from attending much to the feathered game, which 

 are merely popped at for the purpose of putting them 

 beside bread sauce and Cayenne pepper. Two or three 

 strings of reh-boks were to be met with round the 

 Pietermaritzburg hills, while reitbok and ourebis seemed 

 to come in daily from the surrounding country for the 

 sole purpose of supplying the gaps caused by the death 

 of others of their species. There was a tolerable monopoly 

 in the shooting line here that was curious. While the 

 English traders, &c., still translated the national motto 

 of (C Honi soit qui mal y pense" as " Slave away for 

 money as long as you live," the Dutchman merely 

 saved his powder for a trip into the interior, and the 

 gentlemen who had nothing to do for their living seemed 

 to do nothing for their pleasure. The consequence was, 

 that not half a dozen men were ever seen to go out 

 shooting at all regularly. This may appear strange, when 

 we consider the quantity and quality of the game; but, 

 perhaps, the luxury of the climate relaxes the energies 

 of those who may be long resident, and their greatest 



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