86 



A Breath from the Veldt 



the development even at this early age of his father's passion for sport. 

 Having been three times to the hunting veldt in Mashonaland, he already knew 

 the names and the spoor of nearly all the different animals and most of the 

 birds ; and when anything new was explained to him he never failed to 

 remember it. One of his favourite amusements was to collect the dead 

 khoorhans and partridges together in the shade beneath the waggon and play 

 with them by the hour together, harnessing them with string in the form of a 

 span of oxen ; and seating himself on a big stone in place of a waggon, he affected 

 to drive them with his hippopotamus whip. His language on such occasions was 

 rather in advance of his age, for, in imitation of the Hottentot and Zulu boys, 



he swore vigorously at his " oxen," 

 calling each of them by name, and 

 belabouring mercilessly the hindmost 

 one because, as beseemed its laziness, 

 it was called " Englishman." This 

 entertainment he varied at times by 

 a pantomimic performance of his 

 father's escape from the buffalo bull, 

 with its surrounding incidents. His 

 impersonation of the bull was really 

 first-class — h.i%chefd'ceuvre in his own 

 eyes ; and being of a highly busi- 

 ness-like turn of mind, he always 

 made this an excuse for a little 

 douceur in the shape of a couple of 

 teaspoonfuls of condensed milk. At last the buffalo play became so frequent 

 that if I had not put a stop to it I must soon have been reduced to a state of 

 lacteal bankruptcy. 



We were now heading due north towards the Oliphants River, hoping to 

 strike Pietersberg, the last town in the Northern Transvaal, in about a fortnight 

 and the Zoutpansberg Mountains a week later, and to cross the Limpopo by the 

 I St of June, when the climate of the northern country is generally considered 

 to be in a healthy condition. Every day we made two and sometimes three 

 treks, amounting in all to about twenty miles ; and whilst the waggon was 

 thus proceeding I generally hunted for birds, accompanied by either the old 

 man or Hert, whom I found to be a pleasant and agreeable companion, although 

 at first I could understand but little that he said. On one of these days (8th 



THE ORDINARY WALK OF THE STEINBUCK 



Showing the manner of lifting the legs when feeding or moving 



slowly. 



