108 • ADVENTURES IN SOUTH AFRICA. 



back by a dexterous touch of the knife, where certain 

 ribs well known to the hunter join the vertebrae, where- 

 by the animal can more easily be balanced on the pack- 

 saddle, we succeeded with great difficulty in placing 

 her on " Suiiday," and rode slowly for the place where 

 we had left the porcupine. We placed him on the 

 oryx,- and secured him with a rheim, but we had not 

 proceeded far when some of the quills pricked the steed, 

 upon which he commenced bucking and prancing in the 

 most frantic manner, which of course made matters 

 ten times worse, causing the porcupine to beat the 

 devil's tattoo on his back. The gemsbok's head, also, 

 which, being a poor one, I had not cut off, unfortunate- 

 ly got adrift, and kept dangling about his haunches, the 

 sharp horns striking his belly at every spring. He 

 broke loose from Jacob, who led him, and set off across 

 the country at a terrific pace, eventually smashing the 

 pack-saddle, but still failing to disengage himself from 

 the gemsbok, whose hind and fore feet, being fastened 

 together, slipped round under his belly, impeding his 

 motions, and in this condition he was eventually se- 

 cured, being considerably lacerated about the haunches 

 by the horns of the oryx. 



Next day Cobus and I fell in with the finest bull 

 oryx I had yet met, which, after a severe chase, we 

 rode into and slew. For some evenings previous a 

 large bright comet had appeared in the southwest, hav- 

 ing a tearing, fiery tail, which strange meteor, to the 

 best of my recollection, shone brightly in the clear firm- 

 ament for five or six weeks. We lived well, but lone- 

 lily. My camp abounded with every delicacy — ^tongues, 

 brains, marrow-bones, kidneys, rich soup, with the most 

 delicious venison in the world, &c., &c., and a constant 

 supply of ostrich eggs. The 25th was cool and cloudy, 



