A Breath from the Veldt (^() 



that he was doing exactly what was wanted, and a sharp look or a movement 

 of hand would bring him to heel at once. In a word, he was simply invalu- 

 able whilst trekking up through the weary Transvaal, where there was little 

 to shoot but francolins and bustards ; and with his assistance I managed to 

 keep both waggons well supplied with these birds. 



The redwing francolin [Francolinus levaillanti), the common game bird of 

 the high veldt in this part of the Transvaal, is a plump little fellow about the 

 size of our red-legged partridge, though somewhat larger about the head and 

 neck. Coveys of from five to ten may be met with in almost any sort of 

 ground — in bush, open grass lands, or rocky hillsides — but the surest finds 

 are in the morning or evening, on their feeding grounds, generally patches 

 of ground partially brought into cultivation. Their tameness is amazing, 

 for the shot-gun is hardly ever used here. They would run along almost 

 under the dog's nose, and only the advent of a stone or two would induce them 

 to rise. Then they fly like partridges, and are easily killed. As table-birds 

 they are the best of all their tribe, and are therefore much shot in Cape 

 Colony, Natal, and the Free State. 



zgth April, Landsberg Farm. — Our preparations being now completed, we 

 start for the north, hoping to pick up a Dutch hunter, named Roelef Van 

 Staden, in the high veldt five days north of this. I have swapped " Skellum," 

 one of my Basuto ponies, giving £io in addition, for a little "salted" horse 

 named Jimmy, and have bought eight donkeys, for the " fly " country, if game 

 be not sufficiently plentiful outside. From Teenie's farm I have got two 

 Shangan boys, named respectively " Office " and " Gentleman " (of whom more 

 anon) ; also a small specimen of the Zulu breed called " Fompoom," otherwise 

 " Pumpkin " — a boy of twelve, with a perpetual smile, that makes him look 

 all head and teeth, and a voice of extraordinary power for one so young, as you 

 presently find out when he is urging on the oxen with yell and shriek. 

 " Bale Denten " (chopper-teeth) is the nickname by which he is known ; and 

 the two Shangans take care to remind him of it when they are not disposed 

 to be gracious. As to clothes, his equipment can hardly be called extravagant. 

 In the heat of the day his one garment consists of a huge pair of pantaloons, 

 reaching up to his armpits and supported by a single string over his left 

 shoulder — a thing of shreds and patches, probably inherited from a remote 

 ancestor — and to this is added, in the early morning and at nightfall, a sack 

 with three holes in it, through which his head and arms are thrust. The 

 get-up is perhaps not exactly to our little friend's taste, but for all that he 



