Notes on South African Hunting. 77 
Three “boys” desert—A bargain. 
At last morning came, and with morning a 
big nigger who came and grinned affably at us, 
and ultimately persuaded me to go with him 
and see a functionary whom he called his chief. 
This worthy I found sitting before three burn¬ 
ing sticks warming his shins. I explained in 
my patent way, our position, and they gave 
me a drink I had never tasted before—made, as 
I afterwards found out, of Kaffir corn and berries. 
As to berries, there are lots of them in the 
season; most of them fairly good to eat, but of no 
account to live on. The bushmen live almost 
entirely on them nevertheless, and only alter their 
diet by any locusts or cockchafers they can find. 
When I got back to the water I found all the 
boys had arrived, except three, who had stayed 
behind tired out; and with them was one of 
our two cooking tins. As they had lots of 
water with them, and were near a cattle post, 
I did not disturb myself much about them, and 
I have never heard of them again from that day 
to this. This is not really so hard-hearted as 
it sounds. Give a Kaffir water, and he will get 
fat where a white man would starve. 
Soon we all went up to see the chief again. 
