324 



ADVENTURES IN SOUTH AFRICA. 



favorite steed, and borrov^ed one of my eighty guinea 

 rifles, armed with which he had sped through the for 

 est he knew not whither ; and eventually becoming be 

 wildered, he had lost himself entirely. In this oondi 

 tion he was fortunately discovered by a party of Bak» 

 lahari, who conducted him safely to my camp. 



I bad at length got into the way of making myse!. 

 tolerably comfortable in the field, and from this date 1 

 seldom went in quest of elephants without the follow- 

 ing impedimenta, viz., a large blanket, which I folded 

 and secured before my saddle, as a dragoon does his 

 cloak ; and two leather sacks, containing a flannel 

 shirt, warm trowsers, and a woollen night-cap, spare 

 ammunition, washing-rod, coffee, bread, sugar, pepper 

 and salt, dried meat, a wooden bowl, and a tea-spoon. 

 These sacks Were carried on the shoulders of the na- 

 tives, for which service I remunerated them with beads. 

 They also carried my ooffee-kettle, two calabashes ot 

 water, two American axes, and two sickles, which 1 

 used every evening to cut grass for my bed, and like 

 wise for my horses to eat throughout the night. Mj 

 after-rider carried extra ammunition and a spare rifle , 

 and Ttiy own personal appointments consisted of a wide- 

 awake hat, secured under my chin by " rheimpies," or 

 strips of dressed skin, a coarse linenby shirt, sometimes 

 a kilt, and sometimes a pair of buckskin knee-breeches, 

 and a pair of " veldt-schoens," or home-made shoes. I 

 entirely discarded coat, waistcoat, and neck-cloth, and I 

 always hunted with my arms bare. My heels were 

 armed with a pair of powerful persuaders, and from my 

 left wrist depended by a double rheimpy an equally per- 

 suasive sea-cow jambok. 



Around my waist I wore two leathern belts or girdles. 

 The smaller of these discharged the duty of suspend- 



