186 ADVENTURES IN SOUTH AFRICA. 



afterward assisted against\the Boers. I deemed it rather 

 a rash step thus coolly to march through the enemy's 

 country, bearding as it were the lion in his den. There 

 was, however, no help for it ; so I resolved to take the 

 bull by the horns, and put on a bold face. The least 

 that I might have expected was to have my wagons 

 most thoroughly ransacked and plundered, if not taken 

 from me altogether. This they would certainly have 

 done if they had thought that I was an Englishman ; 

 but by saying I was a berg Scot, or nfiountain Scots- 

 man, backed by the garb of Old Gaul, which I always 

 wore, I convinced them that I was a Scotsman. Many 

 of the clergymen among the Boers being Scots, they 

 entertain a predilection for my countrymen. 



These Boers happened to be short of coffee, a bever- 

 age of which they are extremely fond. I had, fortu- 

 nately, a large supply in my wagons, and as I was on 

 my way to Colesberg, I had no objection to dispose of 

 it. Accordingly, by presenting the ladies of the lead- 

 ing families with a few half pounds of coffee, and sell- 

 ing them the remainder of my stock at a moderate 

 price, I managed to secure the good graces of the whole, 

 and they were pleased to express their opinion that I 

 was a " ghooe carle," or good fellow. On hearing that 

 a few days previous I had bagged a savage lioness, and 

 on beholding her trophies, they seemed quite astonish- 

 ed, remarking to one another, " Mi scapsels ! vat zoor- 

 ten mens is de ?" signifying, " My stars and garters ! 

 what sort of man is this ?" In the course of the even- 

 ing and during the night several armed parties of Boers 

 halted at this lager to refresh, and then passed on to 

 join the head-quarters of their army, which was en- 

 camped about forty miles to the southward, at a place 

 called " Schwart Coppice." Each of these Boers was 



