CHAP. IX.] SPRING HARES. * 281 



length he staggered a very Httle, then he put his fore 

 legs out and apart from each other, and so stood for 

 some seconds, when he slowly sunk to the ground 

 upon his broad chest and died. I sketched the scene 

 from memory when I returned, regretting that I had 

 not had a pencil with me at the time to do it more 

 justice, for the dying beast with the branched tree 

 above him was quite a study for an artist. Having 

 shot animals tUl we were tired, a pleasant moonlight 

 evening was spent on much smaller game — the spring- 

 hare, as the Dutch call it. It is a creature about two 

 feet long, shaped like a kangaroo in body and tail, 

 but with a different head ; it bui'rows and lives in holes 

 all day, but at night frisks about and grazes. 



We and the Bushmen arranged ourselves in large 

 circles, enclosing fresh patches of ground each time, 

 and then beat up towards the centre. We generally 

 enclosed two or three of these funny creatui'es, who 

 hopped about in the oddest way, and we rushed in 

 and assassinated them with sticks. The sinews of 

 their powerful tails form excellent materials for sewing 

 carosses. 



I worked hard to fix the longitude of 'Tounobis, 

 which I did more successfully than I could have 

 hoped, as my instrument was a small and not very 

 legible one, and for want of oil I had to read off the 

 observations by firelight. 



The Bushmen assured me that the character of the 

 country between that place and the lake was of 

 exactly the same description as that around us, a 

 sandy soil with not unfrequent dried-up vleys, and 



