204 THE TELESCOPE. 



effect on him of an irresistible invitation to that night's 

 supper ; his steaks were most excellent eating, and I 

 thenceforth stood high in Inkau's estimation. 



A reit-buck, as he falls, weighs something over a 

 hundred pounds, and in Inkau' s kraal, at the feast, there 

 were about thirty people, men, women, and children. Yet 

 such were the performances in gastronomy, that there 

 was after dinner scarcely a sufficient quantity of the reit- 

 buck remaining to supply me with a breakfast on the 

 following morning. There was such a scarcity of corn in 

 this kraal, that I had difficulty in getting even a mouthful 

 for my horses ; they suffered consequently in condition, and 

 the one I rode on the first day, was too weak for me to get 

 anything like a gallop out of him. I started quite early 

 in the morning with Inkau, to a spot which he told me 

 elands frequented. We reached a commanding position, 

 where I pulled out my telescope for an inspection. My 

 companion had never seen such an implement before, and 

 could not comprehend what I was doing ; so that when at 

 last I rested it on the saddle, and got him to look through 

 it, his delight and astonishment knew no bounds. Good 

 sight is much valued by the Kaffirs, and the possession of 

 a telescope would raise a man to as high a position of 

 envy there as that of a Koh-i-noor its fortunate owner in 

 England. No game appeared in sight, so Inkau proposed 

 that we should make for some high table-land a few miles 

 distant. I led my horse and walked beside Inkau, who 

 rarely saw a clump of bushes or a distant peak, but 

 what he had to tell me that he shot something there so 

 many moons ago, indicating by his fingers the number. 



