A SECRET OF THE ORANGE RIVER. 171 



country, he had subsequently drifted farther down 

 into the Colony, and thence into an elephant 

 hunter's retinue. He had accompanied expeditions 

 with Griquas, Dutch, and Englishmen all over the 

 far interior. The Kalahari desert, Ovampoland, 

 Lake N'Gami, the Mababe veldt, and the Zambesi 

 country, were all well known to him, for in all of 

 them he had traded, hunted, and, on occasion, 

 fought. As for the western Orange River and its 

 mysteries — for it is a mysterious region — he knew it, 

 as I afterwards discovered, better than any man in 

 the world. Well, we trekked up to Matabeleland, 

 and, after some trouble, got permission to hunt 

 there ; and a fine time we had, getting a quantity 

 of ivory, and magnificent sport among lions, 

 elephants, buff'aloes, rhinoceros, sable and roan 

 antelopes, koodoo, eland, Burchell's zebras, pallah, 

 and all manner of smaller game. 



" One day, Klaas, who was sometimes a bit too 

 venturesome, got caught in the open by a black 

 rhinoceros, a savage old bull. The old brute 

 charged and slightly tossed him once, making a 

 nasty gash in his thigh, but not fairly getting his 

 horn under him, and was just turning to finish 

 the poor little beggar, when I luckily nicked in. 

 I had seen the business, and had had time to 

 rush out on to the plain, and just as Borele charged 

 at poor Klaas to finish him off as he lay, I got 

 up within forty yards, let drive, and, as luck 

 would have it, dropped him with a -500 express 

 bullet behind the shoulder. Even then the fierce 

 brute recovered himself, and tried to charge me in 

 turn ; but he was now disabled, and I soon settled 

 his game. After that episode, Klaas proved himself 



