226 
SPORT AND WAR. 
chap, xxi n. 
the Cradock Pass in the pitchdark of night at a fearful 
pace. This pass is one of the most extraordinary 
engineering works in the Colony. The road previously 
passed over the almost perpendicular mountain itself, 
but science and engineer skill have made the present 
road a gradual incline. The road is cut out of the very 
face of the mountain, and zigzags round the precipitous 
gullies in the most extraordinary manner, with thousands 
of feet of precipice below and overhanging mountains 
above. We must have gone down this incline at the rate 
of fourteen miles an hour, without being able to see the 
leading horses before us. At the foot of the mountain, 
on the 4 Greorge 5 side, there is a branch-road, which 
carries the mail into the town of that name, and returns 
to the main road at the same spot. We halted for the 
post-cart during this brief half-hour, and were able to 
take 4 the forty winks ’ so much required. However, the 
4 post-horn ’ sounded, and we again got on our perches, 
and on rattled the two-wheeled vehicle, crossing the 
two Braak Rivers. About daylight we reached Mussel 
Bay in the early morn, and were enabled to snatch a 
hasty meal with an old friend, who also gave each of 
us a large piece of 4 biltong,’ which we ‘whittled’ at 
and fed on all the way to Cape Town. Now, biltong, 
or meat dried in the sun, retains all its nutriment, and 
is the most sustaining thing a man can eat. It might 
be made of great service in war-time, because the men 
