92 ADVENTURES IN SOUTH AFRICA. 



for d£12 in cash, fifteen pounds of coffee, and twentj 

 pounds of gunpowder. I christened this horse " Sun- 

 day," in honor of the day on which I obtained him. 

 This bargain being concluded, I inspanned, and trek- 

 ked to the wandering Boer, whom I reached about an 

 hour after sundown. 



This man's name was Gous ; he lived in a small 

 canvas tent pitched between his two wagons, round 

 "which his vast flocks of sheep assembled every evening, 

 his cattle and horses running day and night in a neigh- 

 horing range of grassy hills. His wife was one of the 

 best-looking women I met among the Boers : she in- 

 formed me that she was of French extractibn. On the 

 following morning I breakfasted with Gous in his tent : 

 he had lots of flesh, milk, and wild honey, which last 

 ' article was reported abundant that season. He offered 

 to sell to me a brown horse of good appearance; his 

 price was too high, but at a subsequent period we came 

 to terms, and I bought him. After breakfast I inspan- 

 ned, and, having proceeded a few miles across a glow- 

 ing plain, on which I counted fourteen tall ostriches 

 stalking amid large herds of other game, I reached a 

 periodical stream, where I outspanned, the sun being 

 intensely powerful. Here I found another Boer, named 

 Sweirs, encamped with his flocks and herds, having 

 been bbliged to leave his farm, situated far in the depths 

 of the Karroo, from want of watqgs^^ Sweirs was an 

 elderly man, but had been a keen sportsman, and en- 

 tertained me with many interesting anecdotes relative 

 to the habits of the game and pf his hunting adventures 

 in his early days. He informed me that he remember- 

 ed lions extremely abundant in those districts, and that 

 a few were still to be met with. He related to me in- 

 stances where he had seen the gemsbok beat off the 



