250 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
small store existed where passengers obtained refreshment. 
While breakfasting here on my return journey, some Kafirs 
brouglit in a very healthy young Lion cub, with the skin and 
skull of its mother, which they had recently killed on the opposite 
side of the river, thus proving conclusively that Lions were still 
found in this part of the Transvaal, a fact of which I had been in 
some doubt. Securing Lion cubs is a dangerous proceeding. I 
heard that a short time previously some Kafirs had found un- 
protected cubs, and had crossed the river three times with them 
to destroy their spoor, as they felt the parents would undoubtedly 
follow. ‘They safely secured their retreat with the cubs, but the 
infuriated Lions came across some innocent Kafirs, and killed 
three of them. I endeavoured in vain to purchase this young 
specimen from the storekeeper, but found £5 no inducement. 
Both the skins and skulls of Lions are occasionally brought into 
Pretoria market by the Boers, and during the scarcity of game 
caused by the rinderpest more than one was killed in spots much 
nearer civilization than was considered probable. 
But there are other noxious animals in the vicinity. I hada 
chat with a colonial who had embarked in Transvaal farming, and 
listened to a tale of woe. Porcupines (ystrix afra-australis) 
were devastating his potatos; they ran between the rows of 
‘“‘earthed-up”’ plants, where they easily burrowed and secured 
the roots; a colony of Baboons visited at uncertain intervals his — 
‘‘mealie’’ crop, as did also some “‘ Wild Pigs,” probably Sus 
africanus, whilst Locust swarms frequently ravaged the farm. My — 
friend Dr. Percy Rendall, who resided near, and in, Barberton for 
some two years, and was an enthusiastic and successful naturalist 
and collector, has recorded the Antelopes of the district in 
* Field-notes on the Antelopes of the Transvaal.’’* : 
Barberton is a quiet little town now, with memories of vanished 
glories and perished prosperity as a mining centre. Lofty and — 
well-wooded mountains form its background ; in front, one gazes 
over an undulating scene; the surface is waved, and looks like a 
petrified stormy sea. In the town no one seemed prosperous, 
and no one hopeless, and there was a Micawber-lke trust in some 
vast future gold industry. The climate is subtropical—the 
temperature reached 128° F. during my visit (January)—good 
* Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 1895, pp. 858-362. 
