A LESSON IN SPOORING. 



He was a determined sportsman, and seemed to love 

 hunting for the sake of sport alone. He did not care 

 what work he went through, and was certainly a most 

 gentlemanly Kaffir, as he never asked for a present, or 

 any reward for all his trouble, and seemed unexpectedly 

 pleased when I presented him, on leaving, with the value 

 of a blanket, some powder, and a box of lucifer-matches. 

 On passing near a deep woody ravine, he told me that he 

 would go down in it and beat the bush for a buffalo, and 

 that I might wait up at the top, where I should probably 

 get a shot, as any game that might be in the ravine would 

 come out on that side, and make for the dense bush by 

 the river. I did as he requested, and heard him coolly 

 beating the bushes in the hollow beneath. Presently some- 

 thing came rushing towards me; 1 was all ready for a 

 buffalo, but saw only a bush-pig, which I allowed to pass 

 unhurt, fearing that the report of my gun would alarm 

 the country, and that my Kaffir would not consider this 

 pig a sufficient excuse. Soon after, Inkau came out of the 

 bush, and said, "No buffalo there to-day/' and walked 

 quietly on. When he crossed the spoor of the bush-pig, 

 he suddenly stopped, and looking down, said, " A buf- 

 falo has passed here this morning ! " I was amused at 

 what I thought was his mistake, and allowed him to 

 make one or two more remarks about it ; I then told him 

 that it was a bush-pig. " No ! a buffalo/' he positively 

 asserted. The grass was long but green, and no sand 

 could be seen, or any ground that could take an impres- 

 sion. I said that a bush-pig had passed there just now. 

 "I know it," he answered; "look here," pointing to where 





