6o KLOOF AND KARROO. 



provided them. There was no water until four hours 

 farther on, so they had perforce to do without. 

 Meanwhile, we breakfasted upon sardines, springbok- 

 biltong, from which we cut thin wafers, and biscuits, 

 moistened with a little hollands (out here called 

 " square face ") and water. Pipes were lighted, and 

 in less than half an hour we inspanned our cattle 

 and started again ; upon the flat Karroo roads we 

 slipped merrily along, though here and there spruits, 

 stones, and dry river-beds shook us up. The sun- 

 baked red soil of the karroo is, however, the best 

 travelling in the Colony, and differs widely from the 

 agonies of mountain trekking, which are not only 

 indescribable, but not to be imagined by users of 

 English roads. We had not proceeded more than 

 an hour, when, 300 yards in our front, a herd of fifty 

 or sixty springbok galloped across, and cleared the 

 road as they went in most beautiful style, each 

 antelope bounding over like an india-rubber ball. 

 Hurriedly we pulled up, seized our rifles, jumped 

 out, and blazed away at the retreating game. As 

 the bullets whistled past them, the springbok, not to 

 disgrace their name, leapt high in the air, ten feet 

 or more, arching their backs and unfolding the long, 

 snow-white hair that usually lies hidden upon their 

 croups. A singular and beautiful sight indeed ! Again 

 we fired, and this time the tell-tale thud proclaimed 

 a hit, and a hard one, for an antelope staggered, fell, 

 and shortly was secured ; a good shot, and a most 

 lucky one, at nearly 400 yards. We carried the dead 

 beauty to our cart, and again trekked with renewed 

 spirits. 



Onward we toiled over the parched and now 

 heated plains, outspanning at intervals of two hours 



