HOW TO SIT DOWN. 163 



responded to by the darting off of the victim. The cock 

 must be held tight with the thumb while the trigger is 

 pulled back ; the cock then raised to the full, and trigger 

 released : this is all done silently. The piece is now slowly 

 raised, and the best place chosen between the branches 

 for the path of the bullet, as a little twig will turn a ball. 

 During this examination and preparation the buck is 

 silently stealing away, lifting his legs high and slowly; 

 a nice open space is seen clear of brambles, and the pre- 

 vious silence is broken, first by the report of the gun, 

 and, secondly, by a " bah ! " from the moving animal : a 

 rush is made to the spot, and a red bush-buck, about the 

 size of a roe-deer, but stouter, becomes the reward of the 

 previous precautions. The usual operations are performed 

 on him, and a slight rest is taken. For two people to sit 

 down in the bush would be a very simple tiling, and liable 

 to no mistake, we should imagine ; but it is not so. 

 Inyovu won't sit beside me on the old log, but, facing 

 me, takes his position. " Why did you move, Inyovu?" 

 " Must not sit side by side in the bush ; we only see half 

 round. Sit face to face; you see one half, and I the 

 other ; then no animal approaches without being seen." 

 After this caution, I never again made such a cockney 

 blunder with Kaffirs. Two or three powerful doses of 

 snuff act like a glass of grog on my dark friend, and I 

 find the stimulating effect of a pinch on myself; the day 

 is intensely hot, and but little wind is stirring. Inyovu 

 remarks that we must not go further down this path. I 

 heard a buck just blow the alarm, and he must have 

 " got our wind." The wind has changed a little, as, 



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