THE CAMP ROBBED BY HYENAS. 253 



roaring occasionally as he v^ent. We determined to 

 give him battle if we could only find him, and before it 

 was clear we were in our saddles pricking along the 

 edge of the vley, accompanied by about a dozen of the 

 dogs, who started the noble beast, but he got away un- . 

 seen by any of us. 



Our dogs kept up an incessant barking during the 

 night, and we imagined that lions were prowling around 

 our camp. In the morning, however, we discovered that 

 we had been favored with the presence of far less illus- 

 trious, yet more presuming visitors. A pack of auda- 

 cious hyaenas had visited our fireside, and, not content 

 with cracking and swallowing the bones which they 

 found there, they had eaten our table-cloth, which con- 

 sisted of the skin of a sable antelope, and carried off 

 the lid of our canteen and two large camp-stools, which 

 I lately had made to order in Colesberg. One of these 

 we had the good fortune to recover, minus the rheim- 

 pys ; the other will probably be found in after years, 

 and preserved as a Bechuana or Bushman relic. 



On the 12th I drew up my wagons on the north bank 

 of the famous Meritsane. Here I had the pleasure to 

 find that, owing to a large tract of the country having 

 been burned by the Bakalahari some months previous- 

 ly, and favored by the rainy season, a rich and verdant 

 crop of young grass had sprung up, giving the undu- 

 lating plains a fresh and vernal appearance. I was de- 

 lighted on beholding this, for I knew that it would have 

 the effect of attracting the game hither from all the sur- 

 rounding parts, and I confidently hoped to fall in with 

 elands, as they are generally met with by the foremost 

 hunters in the vicinity of the Meritsane. Having break- 

 fasted, I saddled up three of my fleetest steeds, and, ac- 

 companied by two after-riders, rode forth in a north- 



