164 DELIGHTS OF THE BUSH. 



throwing some sand in the air, he watched the light par- 

 ticles float away in the direction that the path turned. It 

 now became a question of how much meat was required, 

 whether another buck was to pay tribute on that day. 

 Three Kaffirs and four dogs to feed daily, besides a most 

 infallible appetite on the part of myself, consumed a large 

 quantity of flesh. If more venison were required, our 

 first buck would be concealed in the fork of a tree, or 

 other convenient place, to wait until called for ; and the 

 same stealthy work carried on until a sufficiency was 

 obtained, when we would retrace our steps for those bucks 

 that we had left hidden two or three days. A week can be 

 passed in this way very pleasantly, for the charm of the bush 

 never wears away ; the mystery is always the same. The 

 hot winds that sometimes blow on the flat or open country 

 are scarcely felt under the sheltering branches ; the heat of 

 the sun is, in the bush, only occasionally annoying, while 

 the scent of the wild flowers gives a most delicious perfume 

 to the air. The brilliant plumage of the birds flashes 

 occasionally across the path, and the busy, playful, little 

 grey monkey amuses you with his threatening grimaces. 

 The exercise also of the faculties that this sort of amuse- 

 ment necessarily entails, I believe, must lead to a higher 

 state of health in both body and mind than is likely to 

 result from the acquaintance of strong tobacco and brandy - 

 and-water, that are sometimes the early companions of 

 <( Nothing-to-do" gentlemen, who are condemned to pass 

 a certain number of days in the far south-east of Africa. 

 A tropical forest is a nosegay of sweet-scented flowers ; 

 and as the traveller crushes a blossoming plant, or his 



