156 A HARVEST DESTROYED. 



the spot where he had left us, he tracked the spoor 

 of the waggon until the horse on which he rode, 

 unable to proceed farther, he took off the saddle, 

 and allowed the beast its liberty, knowing that it 

 could not stray far ; and seeking out a snug bush, 

 he composed himself for the night. He had not 

 been long at rest, before he was surprised by the 

 orowling of a lion, apparently close at hand, which 

 soon induced him to quit his quarters. He suc- 

 ceeded in securing his horse, and retraced his steps 

 under the greatest alarm to a hut which he remem- 

 bered to have passed. Here he remained during the 

 night, and pursuing his solitary journey in the morn- 

 ing, which he had accomplished with much difficulty, 

 he felt quite relieved on once more overtaking us. 

 He had recovered the luckless dog, having found it 

 asleep in some long grass at the spot where we had 

 left it*. 



We were informed that three hours' ride would 

 now bring us to Botha's Drift, at the Orange River, 

 and, therefore, did not quit Coles-Berg till three 

 o'clock in the afternoon, expecting to reach this long 

 wished-for spot before sunset. We passed through 



* On opening a case which I received from my brother at the Cape 

 a few weeks since, I was not a little surprised to see the form of my 

 faithful and attached dog " Flora;" she had died since my departure 

 and had been set up by M. Jules Verreaux, a French naturalist, with 

 all that characteristic expression of life which he is so deservedly 

 celebrated for giving to the remains of animals intended to adorn 

 the cabinets of the naturalist and lover of virtu. 



