848 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Dec. 9, 1911. 
PARTRIDGE SHOOTING ON THE 
ORANGE RIVER. 
No part of Cape Colony affords better shoot¬ 
ing among feathered game than the country on 
the upper reaches of the Orange River, along 
the borders of what used to be the Orange Free 
State, and more recently the Orange River 
Colony. I have had a pretty general experience 
of shooting in the southern part of the South 
African Union, and my best bags have always 
been made in this district. 
Partridges, as they are called here (though the 
birds are not true partridges, but Francolins), 
exist in quantities sufficient to suit the taste of 
the most ambitious sportsman; several kinds of 
pigeons and doves are found in the rugged 
kraantzes bordering the kopjes and the banks 
of the rivers; while quail (Kleinke paartriche, 
“little partridges,” as the Dutch call them) are 
to be put up at almost every step on any ground 
that has been cultivated for mealies or Kaffir- 
corn. 
They are said to be the only game that are 
found in greater abundance near Kaffir locations 
than anywhere else; those seeking all other 
game should keep as far away from Kaffirs as 
possible, for they are most inveterate poachers. 
Should a Kaffir find a partridge nest, he will 
return to his kraal, pull a few hairs out of his 
horse's tail, and with some sticks construct a 
trap very similar to that used in this country for 
snaring woodcocks. This he sets near the nest, 
and as soon as he has captured the two parent 
birds, he robs the nest of its eggs. But quail, 
with their natural productiveness, besides being 
migratory, stand a better chance in their 
struggle for existence against the Kaffirs than 
those birds which do not migrate. 
On one occasion I and a brother sportsman, 
who, like myself, was spending a short time 
close to the district, decided to have a couple 
of days on the river, in the hope of using both 
rod and gun. Our outfit consisted of a couple 
of small patrol tents, some blankets, and a 
change of clothes. These we placed on two 
pack-horses, but we took little in the way of 
food, as there was a store close to where we 
intended to camp. Besides our own riding 
horses, we brought ponies for the two Kaffir 
boys who were to accompany us. Having only 
about ten or twelve miles to ride before strik¬ 
ing the river, we did not set out until the after¬ 
noon, and having found a suitable place on a 
kloof on the bank of a small stream, we pitched 
our tents and knee-haltered our horses. 
Early the next day, after a hasty snack of 
coffee and biscuits, we started for the shooting 
ground just as the sun was rising, taking one of 
the Kaffir boys with us and leaving the other 
in charge of the camp. We found our first covey 
of partridges—a fine large one of about twelve 
birds—in a mealie stubble close to the river, out 
of which we only got a couple to our guns. 
They did not go very far, however, as we 
marked down about 150 yards off, in some scrub 
on the slope of a small kopje, where they gave 
us some nice shooting. We accounted for six 
more, but could only pick up four out of the six. 
These birds are most expert runners, and unless 
you shoot them dead, or break their legs, it is 
almost impossible to find them if they fall in the 
scrub. 
As we had now shot eight birds out of this 
covey, we moved on to look for another. We 
had not gone very far when one of the dogs 
came to a point, but the other, a young dog, 
with the usual impetuosity of canine puppvhood, 
ran in and flushed the birds before we could get 
a shot at them; but we marked them down, as 
before, on some scrub, and had some capital 
sport, the birds getting up singly and in pairs 
and giving us some nice shots. For about half 
a mile we followed the direction of the river, 
keeping about 200 yards from the bank, and be¬ 
tween it and the kopjes, and meeting coveys 
almost every 100 yards. The coveys were nearly 
all large and near together, so we had compara¬ 
tively little walking to do. 
Our short walk of less than a mile had 
brought us amid scenery as beautiful and di¬ 
versified as one could desire. The gradual and 
sudden openings of kloofs and kopjes (the chief 
features of this part of the country), with their 
equally gradual and sudden disappearance as we 
moved from the foot of one kopje to another, 
imparted life and motion to almost every object. 
The bottom of the kloof we had just reached 
was ablaze* with clianthus blossom in full bloom, 
among the crimson flowers of which scores of 
beautiful sun-birds were darting about, no doubt 
attracted by the honey contained in the flowers. 
We shot two species of them. One was a beau¬ 
tiful green and orange color, and the other red 
and green, both with purple and violet reflec¬ 
tions. They were something larger than hum¬ 
ming birds, but of the same shape. 
Having shot sixteen brace of partridges up 
to this, we decided to return to camp, shooting 
the kraantz for pigeons on the way. As we 
went back we put up a large mountain hare, the 
Vlakte Haas of the Dutch. Hares, apparently, 
were not numerous in this particular part of 
the country, though in other parts they are 
plentiful enough. Besides the species we had 
just shot, there is a smaller kind, which in¬ 
habits the more open veldt, and in some places 
the jumping hare (called by the Dutch, Spring 
Haas) are also plentiful. This latter is allied 
to the jerboas. The head is large, the tail long, 
and the forelegs are very short in comparison 
to the hind ones. It bears considerable resem¬ 
blance to the kangaroo in form, and its mode of 
progression is much the same. It lives in holes, 
like a rabbit, but is often found a considerable 
distance away from its burrows. 
We got two kinds of pigeons; one was a fine 
bird about the size of our rock pigeon, but with 
darker plumage. It appears to confine itself 
altogether to the rocky ledges of the kraantzes, 
as I have never seen it alight on a tree. The 
other was a much smaller bird, about the size 
of a turtle dove, and somewhat similar in color. 
The latter we always found on trees and never 
on the rocks. While walking along the river I 
shot a very fine kingfisher, a large black and 
white bird, and nearly as big as a pigeon. I had 
often noticed these birds on the African rivers 
before, but this was the first one I had ever 
shot. We also saw a small white kingfisher with 
very small black spots, a bird not much bigger 
than our own. We did not get a shot at him, 
but as I had shot this species before, I was not 
disappointed. 
We reached the camp as hungry as hawks, but 
were not long in getting breakfast under way, 
as our boy had full steam up in the kettle when 
we arrived. Our bag consisted of seventeen 
brace of partridges, four and a half couple of 
pigeons, one hare, besides the kingfisher and 
sunbirds. The sun being now well up and very 
hot, we decided to postpone operations against 
the partridge until evening. The pointers will 
stand the heat much better than setters, still, 
they do not work with nearly so much energy 
during the heat of the day as they do in the cool 
of the morning or evening. 
In the evening I again went in search of par¬ 
tridges, while my friend, who said he had had 
enough of walking, went to shoot pigeons at the 
kraantzes, where we had seen them in the morn¬ 
ing. I tried hard for some considerable time to 
get a shot at some paaws (bustards). They are 
difficult birds to get near on foot, as they keep 
so much to the open plains, but by walking 
round them on horseback one can often manage 
to shoot them. Flaving spent so much time try¬ 
ing to get a shot at the paaws, without success, 
I returned to try my hand at the partridges 
again, and shot five and a half couple before 
dusk, the birds being just as numerous in this 
direction as the one we took in the morning. 
It being now too dark to shoot, I returned to 
camp to find that my companion had already 
arrived. His bag consisted of ten couple of 
pigeons and two doosies (or rock rabbits). All 
the pigeons he got at one of the kraantzes by 
sitting under a ledge and shooting at them as 
they came in.—County Gentleman. 
All the game laivs of the United States and 
Canada, revised to date and nozv in force, are 
given in the Game Lazvs in Brief. See adv. 
DISADVANTAGES OF THE SMALL¬ 
BORE RIFLE. 
The recent death of Mr. George Grey from 
the effects of the terrible mauling he received 
from a lion seems to furnish one more example 
of the unsuitability of the very small bore rifle 
against such dangerous game. From the ac¬ 
count received it appears that Mr. Grey put in 
a shoulder shot at the charging lion, when with¬ 
in twenty yards, and another when he was with¬ 
in five yards, the latter damaging the jaw. Not¬ 
withstanding, the lion got home, felled Mr. Grey 
and worried him. Sir Alfred and Mr. H. Rease 
came up and put in two body shots, which in¬ 
duced the lion to leave his victim for a time; 
lie then returned and continued mauling Mr. 
Grey until, being then nearly exhausted, it was 
found possible to finish him with a shot in the 
head. But by that time Mr. Grey had sus¬ 
tained such terrible injuries that he died a day 
or two later. 
It is not stated what rifle Mr. Grey was using; 
but whatever the weapon, the fact remains that 
a shot in the shoulder at twenty yards and an¬ 
other in the face at five, which smashed two 
teeth and damaged the brute’s jaw, failed to 
stop or turn him. Sir Alfred and Mr. Henry 
Rease were armed with .256 bore rifles, and two 
shots which took effect in the body had only 
the result of sending the lion back to his victim. 
It is difficult to resist the conclusion that Mr. 
Grey lost his life through the too light arma¬ 
ment of himself and his friends. Admirable as 
the powerful small-bore rifle is as a killing 
weapon, when the user can make sure of plant¬ 
ing his bullet in a fatal spot, the thing is practi¬ 
cally useless in such a case as this when the lion 
is actually upon his victim, and it is impossible 
to fire a head shot for fear of hitting the latter. 
Rib shots were all Mr. Grey’s friends could at¬ 
tempt, and these from the .256 failed to give 
that shock which would disable. 
The affair might have turned out even more 
unfortunately than it did. The lion which killed 
Mr. Grey was one of two males, which the party 
of four were pursuing on horseback. The sec¬ 
ond lion took no part in the fray, but remained 
at 100 yards distance, growling and lashing his 
tail. Had he charged also, it must have gone 
hard with the party, as the rifle used by Mr. 
Hill, the fourth member, jammed after he had 
fired one shot in the hope of stopping the charge 
at Mr. Grey. Thus two of the four sportsmen 
were out of action, and the two remaining, 
armed with .256 rifles, might have found them¬ 
selves called upon to deal with two lions. The 
deplorable fatality points very directly to the 
conclusion that the small-bore principle is being 
carried to extremes. 
I-IERO WHO BRAVED CROCODILES. 
For a double rescue from a river infested with 
crocodiles Trooper Patrick C. McEwan, of the 
Natal police, has been awarded the medal of 
the Royal Humane Society. 
A boat with four men of the police and a 
native boy on board was capsized on Lake 
Sibayi in North Zululand. Two men trying to 
swim ashore were drowned or pulled, down by 
the crocodiles which are numerous in the river. 
McEwan managed to reach land and hastily 
constructed a frail raft which he paddled out 
with his hands and took the boy ashore. Again 
paddling out about 300 yards he also saved the 
last man left alive.—London Chronicle. 
THE PATIENT ANGLER. 
The customer had waited fifteen minutes for 
the fish he had ordered. He was very quiet as 
he sat there, but internally there was a seeth¬ 
ing. At the end of the sixteenth minute the 
waiter, who had been in total eclipse for fifteen 
and a half minutes, bustled up. 
“That fish will be here, sir, in five minutes.” 
Five minutes elapsed three times. Then the 
waiter bustled up again. 
“The fish will be here, sir, in a minute.” 
The customer turned to him. 
“Tell me.” he said quietly, but with a certain 
emphasis, “what bait are you using?”-—St. Louis 
Republic. 
