70 
AFRICAN HUNTING. 
and in such countless multitudes, biting so severely, 
that flesh and blood could not possibly hold out 
another second. I was forced to descend ; and an old 
sea-cow I had been dodging for two hours is indebted 
to the black ants for her life. 
The night before the arrival of the wagons, we 
went down with our blankets, in the hope of getting 
a shot at a sea-cow by moonlight; but the moon set 
before we met with them, and we had to take to our 
blankets in the long wet grass, without the satisfac¬ 
tion of having secured one. 
June 5.—The crack of a whip announced the 
approach of our long-expected wagon, which had 
been detained by the river being swollen. Two others 
came with it, but they brought no letters from the 
bay, as there had been no mail for two months. 
Two more wagons joined us the next day, so we 
celebrated the occasion by setting to work to pre¬ 
pare a first-rate dinner of three courses, for ten, 
consisting of some buck and buffalo soup ; stewed 
buck and sea-cow, seasoned with lots of onions, pep¬ 
per, &c. ; three sorts of vegetables ; and a roast of 
wild ducks, pigeons, and dikkops. Barter had en¬ 
gaged to provide a dish of fish, but at the second 
bite he lost all his tackle, and came home dis¬ 
comfited, with one small barbel. Dinner was fol¬ 
lowed by a bowl of gin punch, with lemons and 
all other requisites, made in the washing-basin. 
Three rubbers of whist, and lots of capital songs, 
finished up the evening. 
