SOLD!! 107 



reins over its head, and taking the saddle off, he looked at 

 his steed in a kind of suspicious way, but left it stand- 

 ing, and proceeded to stalk the eagle. He got up pretty 

 close, when the bird flew away; he took aim, and bang, 

 bang ! produced not even the effect of ruffling a feather. 

 Loading his gun, this unsuccessful marksman now returned 

 to the horse, which, giving a shake of its head, turned 

 round and walked quietly away. I heard shouts of " Wo ! 

 wo \ }) sent after the horse, with a heavy charge of strong 

 language to propel them ; still the animal did not seem 

 to understand ; the soldier's walk became a run, and so 

 the horse galloped, and won the race easily, kicking up its 

 heels in the excess of its joy. This was more than the 

 warrior's temper could stand ; he had missed the bird, but 

 he thought he could manage the horse. Hot and enraged, 

 he pulled up, and let fly both barrels at his charger. He 

 seemed to have made a better shot this time, as the horse 

 gave a jump, and started at speed towards home, while 

 the soldier had the satisfaction of carrying his saddle for 

 about eight miles under a burning sun, on a day when 

 the thermometer would have shown 95 in the shade. I 

 would have given anything to have heard how this 

 Nimrod described his day's sport to his comrades on his 

 return home. Another somewhat similar case occurred 

 about this time, with the exception that the gentleman 

 killed his horse, instead of merely driving him home; and 

 the strangest fact was, that this representative of his stud 

 was nearly the only animal that he did kill with a gun 

 during his residence in Africa. 



After an emigrant ship arrived, strange sportsmen 



