HORSE BUYING AND BREEDING IN SOUTH AFRICA. 
553 
party of farmers surprised over 500 Basuto warriors who had establish¬ 
ed themselves in what they thought an impregnable position with 
their cattle and ponies. The hill is called “ Vecht - top ” or 
Fighthill. The Basutos were in the “ kranz ” or bowl on the top 
of the hill, which rises for about 200 perpendicular feet from the 
sloping sides. This kranz was approached by only one goat traik 
which none but the Basutos knew. The secret having been betrayed 
one day by a native, a small party of Boers gained the summit and 
commenced shooting. The whole crowd of Basuto warriors were 
seized with panic and rushed helter skelter over the fatal sides of the 
mountain, not one escaping, and their bones remain there unto this 
day. 
Photographing this hill nearly got me into trouble. Zastron boasted 
of a bellicose land rost (J.P.) who, (through no fault of mine) spotted 
us on our arrival as red jacket-soldiers, “ roi batjes” and expressed 
in the hearing of our Anglo-Dutch companion (Homan’s agent) the 
great pleasure it would give him to put a bullet through either me or 
Griffiths, the Veterinary officer with me. Hearing of my going to 
photograph Vecht-kop he wired to Bloemfontein for authority to arrest 
me as a dangerous spy, and also telegraphed to his brother landrost 
at Rouxville to take me on my way down, in case I left Zastron. 
Luckily calmer councils prevailed at head-quarters and he was told to 
mind his own business. Maynier, a capital specimen of loyal Dutch 
Africander, who has served with credit in most of the native wars of 
late years, and who is reputed to be the most knowledgabie man about 
horses in the Aliwal district, had brought together a capital lot of 
ponies for us to see. About 80 or 90 all drawn from Basutoland or 
its borders. As there was a certain amount of feeling about our being 
there at such a time, some of the farmers saying they would not permit 
the ponies to go over the Orange River, I thought it wiser not to 
brand or mark the animals we accepted, but to mark wth the scissors 
those we rejected, and leave the others to be branded properly when 
safely in the Colony. The Dutchmen, who would congregate in the 
“ kraal ” where I was buying, could not make out what I was doing 
sending away the best ponies, and carefully marking the crocks and 
at length shrugged their shoulders and departed with the idea that the 
“ roi batje ” officer was a “ verdomde ” bad judge of a horse. 
Having bought 50 Army Service Corps’ cobs in the Cape Peninsula, 
I had to proceed to Malmesbury to purchase the balance of the mules 
contracted for previous to our arrival. Mr. West (5th Lancers) who had 
been doing this work had had considerable difficulty in getting the 
contractor, a “ canny-cute-sly-slem ” Dutchman, to deliver animals of 
decent quality, though he was getting a great deal more than their 
market value. On one occasion he showed no of which only 6 were 
accepted. The day I went down previous lessons had borne fruit, and 
I was shown a very fair sample of mule which was only right, Malmes¬ 
bury being in the centre of one of the best mule districts in the colony. 
The sizes varied from 12.2 to 14.2, the aierage price in times of 
peace, for a 14 hand trained mule being about £18. We were only 
buying mules 13 hands and over. This price is of course very flue- 
