146 
AFRICAN HUNTING. 
blanketed, and I think the lions could not make them 
out. Besides, we had a little moonlight, which makes 
the lions less daring than they are on dark nights. 
They are boldest when the nights are stormy. 
9 th. — Caught an armadillo alive, and made his 
tail fast with a rheim, and dragged him to the wagon 
through the long grass. The Kaffir had to exert all 
his strength, as the armadillo held on with his claws 
for his very life, and grasped the long grass con¬ 
vulsively, and had rolled himself as large as a 
haycock. Brought a letter of introduction from 
Dr. Kelly, resident magistrate of Klip river, and 
a present of books to Pretorius, President of the 
South African Republic. I donned my best attire to 
present them, and approached him with a low bow, 
as here he is all-powerful. The only remark after 
reading it was : — 4 What cost is there for the trans¬ 
port P ’ I was quite taken aback ; and this was all that 
passed between us. This was almost my first ac¬ 
quaintance with the Transvaal Dutchmen, and I did 
not then know their manners and customs. It is 
considered polite and the correct thing always to offer 
payment, to give them the opportunity of declining, 
you of course thanking them then for their kind¬ 
ness ; but I must say that very rarely, if ever, will 
they accept payment for food or anything taken 
in their own houses, and they are remarkably 
hospitable. 
I did not anticipate any difficulty from Pretorius 
in getting into the interior, as peace had been declared, 
