232 
AFRICAN HUNTING. 
and treated it with every indignity. I was then told 
I was a prisoner, and must be taken to Mooi River 
to Mynheer Pretorius the following morning; and I 
set off accordingly, on horseback, accompanied by 
three Roers; my wagon, oxen, horses, and servants 
remaining behind. We arrived the day following, 
about three o’clock, when I was taken to the cantour, 
and this charge of smuggling was brought against 
me. On my way I met a Natal friend of mine, and 
asked him to go with me to act as my interpreter, 
but the Sandrost (magistrate) ordered him out without 
hearing a word, and expended a great amount of 
breath in reading the laws to me in high Dutch, not 
one word of which I could comprehend. 
He gave me to understand that the charge was 
most serious; that there was no doubt I was in 
BoshofPs service, employed to smuggle this powder to 
the Kaffirs beyond, in order that they might make 
war on the Transvaal country from the other side ; 
that it was the greatest crime I could be guilty of, 
and that hanging was too good for me. 
Through the intercession of many friends I was at 
last released, and my wagon was sent for and brought 
up before the door of the cantour and thoroughly 
overhauled, and it ended in all my ammunition 
being confiscated to the Government, but I was 
allowed 20 lbs. of powder out of 150 lbs., and 100 
lbs. of lead out of 500 lbs., with caps and flints to 
match, with which I was forced to content myself 
and go on my journey. My three or four guns I 
