392 
WILD BEASTS AND THEIR WAYS 
CHAP. 
wild animals ; but after a weary drive* along a track 
worn by wheels and other traffic, and occasionally 
well defined by empty tins that had contained 
preserved provisions, a small speck is seen upon 
the horizon, which is declared to be the station for 
spare horses. 
Upon arrival at this cheerless abode we entered a 
small log-house, containing two rooms and a kitchen; 
but the cooking was conducted in the public room, 
an apartment about 13 feet square, with a useful 
kind of stove in one corner. The man who repre¬ 
sented the establishment had of course observed the 
coach in the far distance, therefore he was not 
startled by the arrival of our party, which consisted 
of the Hon. Charles Ellis, Lady Baker, and myself. 
He had already begun to fry bacon in a huge 
frying-pan upon the little stove, and he had opened 
some large tins of preserved vegetables, in addition 
to another containing some kind of animal hardly 
to be distinguished. He had been successful that 
morning, having killed an antelope ; therefore we 
had quite an entertainment in this log-hut, so far 
away from the great world. 
The table was spread with a very dirty cloth, 
and our small party was immediately augmented by 
the arrival of the coachman (our driver), the man 
who looked after the horses, an outside passenger 
of questionable respectability, and our host, who had 
just cooked the bacon. It was an unexceptional 
fashion throughout the country to reduce all 
clothing to a minimum. Coats were unknown 
