Chapter 22

BAMANGWATO GIRLS DRESSED FOR THE BOGUERA.

The real object of the entire ceremonial is to discipline and harden the young, particularly the boys; the rite is followed by a succession of hunting excursions, organized and kept up for several successive years; the members of a company are told off into sets, and under the guidance of an experienced hunter are taken out first to chase antelopes and gazelles, and in course of time to pursue elephants and buffaloes. On these expeditions they are designedly exposed to many hardships; they are compelled to make long marches through districts where there is no water; only in exceptional cases are they suffered to approach the fire even in the severest weather, and they are forced to experience the long-continued pangs of hunger.

A Bechuana will commonly reckon his age from the date of a boguera; when asked how old he is, he will mention the company to which he belongs, and will refer to the names of one or two of its best-known members.

According to Mr. Mackenzie, the “tshwaragana moshang,” or ceremonial of alliance between two chiefs, ought not to be omitted from an account of Bechuana customs. When vows of fidelity are exchanged between a ruler and any other chief or refugee, some domestic animal is slaughtered; and the stomach being cut open so as to expose the entrails, the two parties plunge their hands into the midst of them, and mutually shake them together.

The various forms of purification should likewise be mentioned. There are special rites to be performed by all who return either from war or from hunting-expeditions; arms, prisoners, plunder, have all to be subjected to a process of cleansing; whoever has touched a corpse must be purified; women after childbirth have to live apart from their husbands from one to three months, according to their means; a period of seclusion is prescribed for all who have been seriously ill; in all these cases the linyakas are invariably consulted and receive substantial rewards, one of the most common directions which they give consisting, as I have said, in ordering the woolly hair to be cut off with a knife or small sharpened horn.

We left Shoshong for the Marico district on the 16th of February. The weather was still unpropitious, and our progress was retarded by the miry state of the soil; in many places the water was two feet deep, and the dense growth of the woods did not permit us to make a détour to avoid it. The entire district south-eastwards between Shoshong and the Limpopo was one great forest. In some places the soil continued salt, and salt-pans were of not unfrequent occurrence; towards the south, on the banks of the Sirorume, it became rather undulated and very sandy. The journey occupies three days; and in the winter there are only two places where fresh water can be obtained.

In the course of the next day’s march I made my first acquaintance with a bird that throughout South Africa is known as “det fasant.” Hearing a sharp, shrill cackle in the underwood, I turned and saw a brown bird (Francolinus nudicollis) perched on a tree-stump. It belongs to the partridge tribe, and is to be found in many of the wooded and well-watered districts that I afterwards visited. It is common likewise in Central South Africa. The francolins live either in pairs or in small coveys, and the cock would appear to be a most watchful guardian, not only calling out upon any approach of danger, but even whilst scratching the ground for food, and on retiring to a tree to roost; the habit of crying out whenever it perches, makes it an easy prey to the sportsman.

On the 18th we passed a shallow saltpan, nearly elliptical in shape, about two feet deep, and some hundred yards in its greater length; it contained a very salt, milky-looking fluid. When the weather is dry, fresh water is only to be found in some pools in the rocks at the northern end. The lake lay still and silent in a slight depression in the forest, surrounded by a broad band of bright green sward; neither rushes nor water-lilies rose above its surface, but its shores, sloping gently down, were covered by trees and bushwood, in some parts so impenetrable that only the fleet little duykerbock would have a chance of making its way between the stems; in other places low acacia bushes sprouted up below the underwood from a single stock; flowers were abundant everywhere, and the whole scene was like a dead sea set in the midst of a fragrant and richly-wooded tract of land.

As a mark of esteem for the magnanimous king of the Bamangwatos, I gave this lake the name of Khame’s Salt-pan. On the shore I found fragments of greenstone and chalcedony, and further back, amongst the thorn-bushes, quartzite and limestone. There were numerous vestiges of the smaller gazelles, gnus, zebras, and giraffes, all of which, find rich pasturage on the plains extending east and west of the Limpopo.

KHAME’S SALT-PAN.

Amongst the trees I was particularly struck by one, the wood of which I afterwards learned was of great value; this was a mimosa, known amongst the Boers as the “Knopi-dorn;” it often grows straight up to the height of fifty feet, without a single bifurcation; its yellowish-grey bark is covered by excrescences sometimes two inches long, with sharp, hooked thorns at their ends. The timber is in use for building purposes, but it is considered a material especially adapted for making waggons.

In the afternoon we passed some salt-pools, in which I was surprised to find some half-starved fish. The fish themselves were not of any uncommon kind; to me the perplexing thing was how they could have made their way to so great a height above the table-land, and the only explanation I could give was that they had been carried thither by birds.

Evening overtook us in the valley of the upper Sirorume, just at the spot where the stream makes its way over interesting shelves of sandstone, thence to turn south, and then south-south-east to join the Limpopo.

While proceeding through the sandy forest in the inner bend of the Sirorume, we noticed from the waggon an appearance in the ground as though the long grass had been flattened by a heavy roller six or seven feet wide. It proved to be an elephant-track, and two Bamangwatos on their way to the Transvaal informed us that it was made by a herd of the great small-tusked elephants that were known to be wandering about the boundaries of Sekhomo’s and Sechele’s territory. I entertained no doubt that it was the same herd of which I had heard before, and which continued to haunt the same region for two years afterwards, when it was destroyed by the Damara emigrants.

At no great distance ahead of us the river-valley made a turn, above which, westwards and southwards as far as the eye could reach, stretched a dense underwood. Soon afterwards we descended for the second time into the river-valley of the Sirorume, designated by the English as the “brack reeds.” Here for miles both ways the river-bed is flat, and forms a sort of fen overgrown with rushes. I crossed this no less than three times, on each occasion finding it very prolific in puff-adders. Our search for drinking-water proved unavailing, and as our stock of meal was rapidly diminishing, we felt the necessity of hurrying on as quickly as possible; but on the 21st we came on the top of the table-land upon one of those unexpected rain-pools, which I described in my account of my first journey.

Three days before, I had shot two specimens of the puff-adder (Vipera arietans), each over three feet long, and as thick as my arm; they had heart-shaped heads, and two very long and crooked fangs. The scaly skin of this snake varies in colour from yellow to dark brown, consisting of alternate light and dark bands. It is to be met with almost everywhere between the sea and the Zambesi, but is far more abundant in some districts than in others; especially frequenting places overgrown by thorns, as less liable to be visited by snake-eagles. Most of the specimens I saw were lying dormant on the margins of thickets, or on the edges of pathways, coiled round and round, and flat as a platter; their sluggishness is quite remarkable, and I noticed more than one in pools of water from which they could never escape. So sharply are the fangs bent backward, that the puff-adder does not inflict a wound in the same way as the ordinary species; it has to turn the front part of its body quite back, lower its head, and in this position to fling itself at its victim; this it is capable of doing from a distance of several feet, and I have been a witness of this mode of attack both in Cape Colony and in Natal.

There is another peculiarity about this kind of adder which has been noticed particularly in the western parts of Cape Colony. When any one comes across one of them, his attention is very often attracted to it in the first instance by the singular noise it makes between hissing and spitting; and on looking at the creature more closely, he occasionally finds its body all perforated, and a number of little snakes issuing from the orifices; it has hence been concluded that the brood of the puff-adder thus eats its way into the world. For my own part, I do not concur with this theory, and I would offer an explanation of the phenomenon, in which I am supported by the testimony of an eye-witness. I believe that of all the South African snakes, none more than this is distinguished by devotion to its young; and whenever danger approaches, I think it inflates itself, and in its agitation rushes upon its foe with expanded jaws, and, whether designedly or not I do not say, swallows some portion of its teeming brood. These are prevented by another inflation of the mother’s jaws from escaping where they had entered, and so force for themselves an exit where they can.

After descending the Puff-adder heights on the lower Sirorume, we entered the valley of the Limpopo, known also as the Crocodile River; the hilly district on the left shore terminated in a woody table-land to the west, the right shore being quite flat, and enclosed by prairie-like plains. The river-bed was sandy, and varied from thirty to ninety feet in width; the bank was steep, and covered with impenetrable bush or long grass. On the shore I found frequent traces of crocodiles, and a few of hippopotamuses; in the more open and clayey parts I also noticed the tracks of lions and leopards. In the adjacent places we observed indications of the existence of koodoos, pallahs, waterbocks, bushbocks, hartebeests, gnus, giraffes, and zebras.

On the 22nd we reached the mouth of the Notuany, a river that rises in the Transvaal, in the western Marico district; it flows only after very heavy rain, and even then not over the whole of its course, which is 150 miles long; it is deep, and lies, as it were, in a trench; ever and again pools occur along its shores, which always contain fish, and sometimes crocodiles. From the west, the Notuany takes up a considerable number of sand-rivers. The stream was now flowing, and as its mouth was much blocked up by reeds, we felt pretty sure that no crocodiles would have made their way overland to the water, and so we ventured to enjoy a bath at the ford, which was moderately deep.

On the southern side of the river-mouth we found one of the “dornveldts” common in the Limpopo valley, a wide tract of rich soil, densely overgrown with bushes of theAcacia horrida, six feet in height. These are districts which might well rejoice the heart of a European landowner; but for years to come no doubt they are destined to lie fallow.

For two days I remained on the banks of the Notuany, finding both in the animals and plants most interesting material for study. I shot a grey-horned owl and a carrion kite.

Just as we were approaching the mouth of the Marico, while we were crossing one of the numerous rain-channels that make their way down, our axle broke, but we managed to make it hold together till we reached a farm at no great distance.

I had the good fortune next day to meet with two herds of pallahs. These creatures appear to range over the whole country, thence to Central Africa, and hereabouts take the place of the blessbocks of the southern grass plains.

Our progress began now to be very considerably retarded by the rains; for some weeks it had been as wet as it was in Shoshong, so that we had to go through a succession of marshes for nearly half the distance along the Limpopo and Marico valley, being perpetually unable to find a dry spot for our encampment at night.

During the morning march of the 26th, our attention was arrested by a brilliant scene. On the left bank of the Marico, spreading out over the best half of a large meadow, was a carpet of fiery red, set in a frame of verdant sward, and enclosed with the dark green foliage of the mimosa. This spectacle of beauty was caused by masses of flowering aloes, which sent forth their gorgeous spikes of blossom some three or four feet above the cluster of prickly leaves. Where the aloes were thickest, I noticed that they were not unfrequently overhung by a beautiful sulphur-coloured creeper.

An attack of illness on the 28th made me discontinue our march. Whether it was the result of my continuous exertions, or the effect of the miasma of the district, or whether I had taken a chill from the dampness of the places in which we had camped, I cannot tell, but certain it was that I found myself quite unable to move, and had to be lifted out of the waggon; a violent sickness came on, my head became as heavy as lead, and I was quite incapable of answering the numerous questions which my friends in their anxiety kept putting to me. My senses soon quitted me altogether, and for two hours I lay in a condition of delirium, from which I was only roused by being vigorously bathed with cold water. Boly sobbed aloud in his distress. F. ran hither and thither like a madman, and Eberwald showed me such sympathy and unremitting attention as endeared him to me more than ever. Recovering my consciousness, I resolved to bleed myself. I was quite satisfied that no gentler measure could relieve the extreme pressure of blood on the head. The operation was quite successful, and immediate relief followed. Nature did the rest, and in three days’ time I had so far recovered, that we were able to proceed on our way.

Leaving the actual valley of the Marico on the 3rd of March, we crossed the saddle, and entered a valley intersected by the Bechuana-spruit, and enclosed on the southern side by the interesting Bertha heights. On their south-western spurs lies Chwhene-Chwene, the town belonging to the Batlokas, under Matlapin, their chief; it is situated in Sechele’s territory, which extends from the mouth of the Sirorume to the Dwars mountains. In the underwood in the hollow I found some morula-trees bearing ripe fruit.

As soon as we could on the following day we made our way towards the town, which was tolerably clean, the farmsteads and huts being larger and more commodious than those of most Bechuanas; in some cases they were surrounded by gardens. The fields were sown, but only partially, with corn, maize, and Kaffir sugar-cane. Just outside the town I came to a halt, because some of the Batlokas told me that there were merry-makings going on within, and the Morena was tipsy.

Descending the slope from the table-land, we found several deep holes in the hard grey limestone containing cool spring water. The view from the springs was very striking. The thinly-wooded valley in front of us was several miles in width, and stretched away eastwards to the Marico. It was bounded on the south by the countless summits of the chain of the Dwars hills. To the pass by which we crossed these heights, I gave the name of “Schweinfurth’s Pass,” whilst the next one, further to the west, I called “Rohlf’s Pass.” From the top of the hills we could see the first of the farms on the plain; on reaching the bottom, we met a Boer migrating into the Damara country.

It was satisfactory, on arriving at Brackfontein Farm, to find that its owner was a smith, and able to repair our broken waggon. His two sons asked me to join them on a hunting excursion, but I did not feel myself sufficiently convalescent to accept their invitation, although the abundance of game in the locality made it very enticing. In the densely-wooded parts of the Dwars mountains there were gazelles and koodoo-antelopes, and in the more open parts at the base, and on the eastern and southern grass-plains were both kinds of gnus, zebras, and springbocks; other antelopes and ostriches were likewise occasionally to be seen.

When I left Brackfontein on the 12th, I turned to the south, crossing the Bushveldt, in order to reach Linokana, the native town in the Marico highlands.

Without entering into a minute description of the Bushveldt, I may here simply mention that it is a wooded hill-country, consisting of low ridges, sandy eminences, and isolated peaks, the soil being covered with rich grass.

BUISPORT, ROCKY CLEFT IN THE BUSHVELDT.

I left the district by the Buisport or Buispass, passing the Markfontein, Sandfontein, and Witfontein farms. Zwart, the owner of the first of these, bought it for 300l.; it is of very considerable size. Zwart had previously been an elephant-hunter, and had visited the Damara country and the falls of the Zambesi before he settled down to farming. At a hartebeest-hunt at Sandfontein we met with a Dutchman, who sold goods on account of Mr. Taylor, the merchant at Sechele. Although, he only stayed here for a few days in each month, we were most hospitably entertained by him and his kind old mother.

The Buisport, through which we passed the next morning, is one of the most charming spots in the Marico highlands; it is traversed by a spruit, that retains water all through the year in the deep hollows of its rocky beds. We crossed the spruit several times; the travelling was very rough, and we had to proceed with the greatest caution, but all our trouble was amply repaid by the enjoyment of the picturesque scenery of the glen. Enclosed on every hand by the most diversified rocks, sometimes wooded, sometimes perpendicular, and sometimes running in terraces, it presents a prospect singularly attractive.

It likewise offers no little interest to the student of natural history. Bushbocks, pallahs, klippspringers, apes and baboons, and some smaller animals of the feline race are amongst the most common mammals, while leopards, lynxes, and koodoos are by no means rare. The variety of birds, snakes, insects, and plants is most remarkable. With the exception of the two kinds of bustard, I found nearly all the birds that I have hitherto mentioned, and besides these, I saw some quails, two new species of thrushes, a wryneck and two rollers.

BAHARUTSE DRAWING WATER.

The plateau upon which we entered at the farther end of the pass was splendid meadow-land, cultivated in many places. On the east and west it sloped towards the foot of the Notuany and Zeerust heights. We followed these hills for some distance in a south-westerly direction, until we came to the valley of the upper Notuany, that was only divided by one ridge from the Matebe valley just in front of us, being cultivated over about half its area. This was a token of the proximity of Linokana, a Baharutse town, of the agriculture of which I had already heard very glowing reports.

At the distance of only a few miles from its source the Notuany was flowing in a deep entrenched bed, across which a few trunks of trees had been thrown, forming a primitive bridge, over which we had no alternative but to take our waggon. Once through the valley, we were at the Linokana hollow, in the centre of which, and extending up its northern and eastern sides, lay the town of the same name.

The reeds in the Matebe teemed with animal life. Morning and evening were the best opportunities of watching their movements, but at those times we could see the grey wild cat creeping stealthily after snipes and long-tailed cape-finches; the water-lizard lying craftily in wait for its prey; or occasionally the caracal driven by hunger from its rocky lair to seek a meal in the security of the reeds of the river-bed.

In the eastern portion of the valley, our attention was directed to a group of trees near some well-cultivated fields, conspicuous among them being some eucalyptus, two feet in diameter, and certainly not much less than sixty feet high. Beneath their shade stood several houses built in European style. These were the quarters of a missionary, whose instruction and example have had such a beneficial influence upon the Baharutse, that they have become the most thriving agriculturists of all the Transvaal Bechuanas. The name of this missionary is Thomas Jensen, and he is a representative of the Hermannsburg Society. He received us most kindly, and introduced me to Moilo (or Moiloa) the chief, as well as to Chukuru and other chiefs who resided on the hills. Moilo was a tall, grey-headed man, with hard features, but of a kindly disposition; he was a faithful vassal of the Transvaal Republic, considerate for his followers, and in many respects superior to most of the neighbouring rulers. He introduced me to his sons, none of whom, however, he considered competent to succeed him as chief; the son of a relative living in Moshaneng, a scion of the old Bechuana royal family, being, with his sanction, universally regarded as the rightful heir.

CHUKURU, CHIEF OF THE BAHARUTSE.

Each of the larger farms in the town possessed a plough, and waggons could be seen in considerable numbers, standing amidst the cone-shaped huts. Following Mr. Jensen’s advice, the people have turned the Matebe springs to good account; not only have they conducted the water into the town so as to ensure a good supply for domestic purposes, but they have cut trenches through their fields and orchards, thereby securing a thorough irrigation. The adult male population, besides paying a poll-tax of ten shillings to the Transvaal, pledged themselves to provide a certain number of beasts of burden in times of war. Mr. Jensen was entrusted with the collection of the tax, but, although he handed over as much as 400l.annually to the Government, he received no remuneration whatever for his trouble.

In the fields round the mission-building maize and wheat were growing, and in the gardens adjacent to the dwelling peaches, apricots, pears, figs, oranges, and citrons were thriving admirably, and, together with the vegetables, contributed a welcome addition towards the support of the modest establishment. The little flower-garden revived pleasant recollections by the abundance of old favourites it contained; there were roses, both as standards and climbers, irises, lilacs with their graceful bloom, and carnations with their pleasant fragrance; tulips and hyacinths had been in bloom, but had now gone off.

BAHARUTSE VILLAGE.Page 419.

BAHARUTSE VILLAGE.

Page 419.

The family life of the missionary beneath the blue-gum trees on the Matebe was quite idyllic in its peacefulness; nothing could surpass the excellence of the pattern which it set to the dusky population which surrounded it. My own pleasure for the time, however, was seriously damped by the intelligence which Mr. Jensen said he had received from Zanzibar on good authority, that Livingstone had fallen a victim to dysentery by the Bangweolo Lake. At the same time he told me that the companion of Livingstone’s first journey was still alive.

The Baharutse possess large herds of cattle, but the periodic recurrence of lung-disease is so fatal, that they lose very large numbers of them.[14]

Linokana (from li =theand nokana = alittle river), during the lifetime of Moilo, was called by his name in his honour. As Karl Mauch has already observed, it is a place where a naturalist may spend weeks with advantage. With the exception of mammalia, nearly all kinds of animals abound. The heights (the eastern of which is called the To, or Elephant hill, and the northern the Po, or Buffalo hill), as well as the meadows and marshes on the Matebe, and the woods on the Notuany, exhibit an immense variety of birds, amongst which birds of prey, long-tailed finches, bee-catchers, green doves, and purple herons especially predominate.

On the 16th we turned our backs upon the hospitable fields of Moilo, proceeding southwards towards Zeerust. The next farm of any considerable extent that we came to was that belonging to Martin Zwart, whom we found engaged in distilling peach-brandy; he was the owner of two farms here, and had purchased several others on the frontier, but nevertheless he was by no means in flourishing circumstances; his love of hunting had prevented him from ever steadily devoting himself to farm life and, like many others, he had failed to get on. During the twenty-one years in which he had been a hunter, he had killed as many as 294 elephants.

Near the sources of the Notuany I took an excursion up the valley to Oosthuisen’s farm. He resides in a lovely hollow, with several of his relations. His property contains a certain quantity of copper ore, which is collected by the natives, and, after being smelted, is made into bracelets and other ornaments. He cultivated maize, wheat, and tobacco, and spent a good deal of his time in tanning skins purchased from hunters coming back from the interior. Returning by Zwart’s farm, we proceeded for two hours, and reached Zeerust, the headquarters of the local government for the Marico district. Though containing little more than forty houses, the little town possessed a Dutch church, surrounded by high walls, behind which, during the recent unsettled state of things, the population sought refuge.

Zeerust is situated on the Little Marico, which wends its way eastwards through the hills to join the Great Marico. Nearly the whole of the district is highland, traversed by a multitude of brooks, and broken by some exceedingly fertile valleys; in comparison with the rest of the Transvaal, it may be said to be fairly cultivated; a part of it is covered with mimosas and various kinds of underwood; good pasturage for cows and horses may be seen almost everywhere. The farms lie close together, but although garden produce appeared to occupy a certain amount of attention, it was only in a few instances that we saw anything like abundance, the farmers, being, as I have said, addicted to elephant-hunting, and giving all their profits to that expensive amusement. The prohibition of hunting decreed by the Bechuana chiefs may probably compel these enthusiasts to stay at home, and by inducing them to mind their farms, may tend to bring about a more prosperous condition of the district.

Quitting Zeerust on the 19th, we made our way up the valley of the Little Marico. After passing several farms in the main valley and side valleys, and on the slopes, bearing the names of Quarifontein, Quaggafontein, Kaffirkraal, and Denkfontein, we emerged on to the Hooge-Veldt (high field), which is one of the most extensive grass plains on the South African plateau. The Zwart Ruggens (black ridges) were visible on the east. The plain abounds with game, and forms the eastern portion of the high land between the Molapo and the Harts River, where both of them, as well as the Marico and many of their affluents, take their rise; its subsoil consists of the grey limestone which I have so frequently mentioned. We only passed two farms hereabouts, Pitfontein and Witfontein, and these lay in small depressions that seemed to lead down to the Harts River.

On the 22nd we commenced a gradual descent, and entered the valley of the Makokspruit, in which the Makokskraal is situated. In this valley was a farm, the owner of which was a relative of a man whom I had attended in the diamond-fields. Although they were very poor, the people were very anxious to treat us hospitably. Next day we came to the valley of the upper Schoenspruit; the stream was flowing freely, and all along its shores farm followed farm in close succession. Between the Schoenspruit and Potchefstroom we had to cross several low ridges, the south-western spurs of the Hooge Veldt lying parallel to the Mooi and to the affluents of the Schoen.

I discovered an interesting rocky pass on the first ridge on the way to Potchefstroom, with walls of quartzite nearly semicircular, and rising almost perpendicularly. The farm shut in by them was called Klip-port; another, a little further on, was called Klipfontein, the quartzite veins in the ferruginous slate being here also quite apparent.

Arrived at Potchefstroom, I carried out my intention of selling two of my bullocks, as I had come to the end of my resources. Here, too, I said goodbye to my three companions, two of whom, Eberwald and Boly, went off to the Lydenburg gold-diggings, trusting to be rewarded with better fortune than they had found in the diamond-fields.

I travelled thirty-four miles the next day, meeting on my route a large number of waggons containing emigrants, merchants, and canteen-keepers, all on their way to Lydenburg, their thirst for gold being now as ardent as once it had been for diamonds. I halted at Klerksdorp only till evening, when I hurried on to the Estherspruit. On the 1st of April I forded the Bamboespruit, and after crossing the Vaal, seventeen miles below Christiana, at Blignaut’s Pont, I arrived in Dutoitspan on the 7th.

Of all my curiosities, of which I brought back forty cases closely packed, I considered my ethnographical specimens, 400 in number, the most valuable; but in addition to these I had a great collection of insects, horns, plants, reptiles, skins of quadrupeds and birds, minerals, skeletons, spiders, crustaceans, mollusks, and fossils.

Although I had succeeded somewhat better than during my former journey in making a cartographical survey of the route, many obstacles with which the reader has been made acquainted in the previous pages, prevented me from making a map as complete as I desired.

My pecuniary position was now very much what it had been on my first appearance in Dutoitspan; to say the truth, it was rather worse, for immediately on my arrival, an attorney called upon me to fulfil my obligations with respect to the bond into which I had entered on behalf of the young man who absconded; and very shortly afterwards I was obliged to pay off the 117l.which had been advanced to me before starting. My necessities compelled me forthwith to dispose of the greater portion of my skins and ostrich feathers, and I had to part with my waggon and team for whatever prices they would fetch. For a time my difficulties seemed to increase, as it was at least a month before I could work up anything like a remunerative practice.

I took the smallest of houses, consisting only of a single room, in one of the side streets: it was built of clay, and had a galvanized iron roof; there was a shed of the same materials close to its side; and the whole stood in a little yard containing a well, two sides of which were blocked up by a stable. For this accommodation I had to pay a rent of 5l.a month.

By June, however, I had succeeded in working up so much practice that I was obliged to keep a saddle-horse, and very shortly had to procure a chaise and a couple of ponies in addition. The winter of 1874 was a bad time in the central diggings; the measles broke out, and for several weeks I had to pay as many as forty visits a day; and, when the sickness was at its height, the average number was fifty-two.

From the very commencement of the increase in my business, I set about the preparations for my third and most important journey. I purchased a new waggon, and gradually got together a team of ten picked oxen. Offers to accompany me were freely volunteered on all sides, but my experience made me aware that I could not be too particular in the choice of my associates. I had a half-caste Cape-servant, Jan Van Stahl, who soon proved a great comfort to me; he could not only write both Dutch and English, but very quickly fell into the way of helping me in my preparation of medicines; he was, moreover, a very excellent accountant. I made the acquaintance, too, of a young man engaged as a clerk in one of the stores, who was manifestly superior both in education and manners to the generality of his order; and having thoroughly satisfied myself as to the integrity of his character, I made him the offer of accompanying me. His employers were at that time relinquishing their business, and he came and resided with me. His name was Theunissen. He became a good friend, and remained with me more than a year, until we reached the Zambesi, where he quitted me on account of his fear of fever.

It was a disappointment to me that Van Stahl’s dread of lions prevented his going with me; but Pit Dreyer, the shepherd, decided to accompany me in his place.

Previous to this time, and throughout my stay, the general state of things in the diggings had been undergoing very considerable change. More than a quarter of the white population had left, returning either to the colony, to their homes in the Orange Free State, or to Europe, except that many of them had migrated to the gold-diggings in the Transvaal. Much greater care, too, was being bestowed upon the buildings, iron and wooden, that were being put up in Kimberley.

A great many of the people, moreover, were expressing themselves dissatisfied with the Governor in a way that led to an open revolt very soon after my departure.

Since 1872 the diamonds themselves had depreciated in value, although the “claims” had grown into higher demand, as they were worked with larger capital and improved machinery.

In November I took a fortnight’s holiday, in anticipation of my prolonged absence. I went to the Vaal, and pitched my camp at the mouth of the Harts River, where the time sped rapidly away in hunting-excursions, and in seeking new materials for my scientific collection.

END OF VOL. I.

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ALPHABETICAL LIST.

A Classified Educational Catalogue of Workspublished in Great Britain. Demy 8vo, cloth extra. Second Edition, revised and corrected to Christmas, 1879, 5s.

About Some Fellows.By anEton Boy, Author of “A Day of my Life.” Cloth limp, square 16mo, 2s.6d.

Adventures of Captain Mago.A Phœnician’s Explorations 1000 yearsB.C.ByLeon Cahun. Numerous Illustrations. Crown 8vo, cloth extra, gilt edges, 7s.6d.; plainer binding, 5s.

Adventures of a Young Naturalist.ByLucien Biart, with 117 beautiful Illustrations on Wood. Edited and adapted byParker Gillmore. Post 8vo, cloth extra, gilt edges, New Edition, 7s.6d.

Afghan Knife (The). A Novel. ByRobert Armitage Sterndale, Author of “Sconce.” Small post 8vo, cloth extra, 6s.

After Sundown; or, The Palette and the Pen.ByW. W. Fenn, Author of “Blind-Man’s Holiday,” &c. With Portrait of Author. 2 vols., crown 8vo, cloth extra, 24s.

Albania: A Narrative of Recent Travel.ByE. F. Knight. With some very good Illustrations specially made for the work. Crown 8vo, cloth extra, 12s.6d.

Alcott (Louisa M.) Jimmy’s Cruise in the “Pinafore.”With 9 Illustrations. Second Edition. Small post 8vo, cloth gilt, 3s.6d.

——Aunt Jo’s Scrap-Bag.Square 16mo, 2s.6d.(Rose Library, 1s.)

——Little Men: Life at Plumfield with Jo’s Boys.Small post 8vo, cloth, gilt edges, 3s.6d.(Rose Library, Double vol. 2s.)

——Little Women.1 vol., cloth, gilt edges, 3s.6d.(Rose Library, 2 vols., 1s.each.)

——Old-Fashioned Girl.Best Edition, small post 8vo, cloth extra, gilt edges, 3s.6d.(Rose Library, 2s.)

——Work and Beginning Again.A Story of Experience. 1 vol., small post 8vo, cloth extra, 6s.Several Illustrations. (Rose Library, 2 vols., 1s.each.)

——Shawl Straps.Small post 8vo, cloth extra, gilt, 3s.6d.

——Eight Cousins; or, the Aunt Hill.Small post 8vo, with Illustrations, 3s.6d.

——The Rose in Bloom.Small post 8vo, cloth extra, 3s.6d.

——Silver Pitchers.Small post 8vo, cloth extra, 3s.6d.

——Under the Lilacs.Small post 8vo, cloth extra, 5s.

——Jack and Jill.Small post 8vo, cloth extra, 5s.

“Miss Alcott’s stories are thoroughly healthy, full of racy fun and humour ... exceedingly entertaining.... We can recommend the ‘Eight Cousins.’”—Athenæum.

Alpine Ascents and Adventures; or, Rock and Snow Sketches.ByH. Schütz Wilson, of the Alpine Club. With Illustrations byWhymperandMarcus Stone. Crown 8vo, 10s.6d.2nd Edition.

Andersen (Hans Christian) Fairy Tales.With Illustrations in Colours by E. V. B. Royal 4to, cloth, 25s.

Architecture (The Twenty Styles of).By Dr.W. Wood, Author of “The Hundred Greatest Men.” Imperial 8vo, with 52 Plates.

Art Education. See“Illustrated Text Books.”

Autobiography of Sir G. Gilbert Scott, R.A., F.S.A., &c.Edited by his Son,G. Gilbert Scott. With an Introduction by theDean of Chichester, and a Funeral Sermon, preached in Westminster Abbey, by theDean of Westminster. Also, Portrait on steel from the portrait of the Author byG. Richmond, R.A. 1 vol., demy 8vo, cloth extra, 18s.

THE BAYARD SERIES,

Edited by the lateJ. Hain Friswell.

Comprising Pleasure Books of Literature produced in the Choicest Style as Companionable Volumes at Home and Abroad.

“We can hardly imagine better books for boys to read or for men to ponder over.”—Times.Price 2s. 6d. each Volume, complete in itself, flexible cloth extra, gilt edges, with silk Headbands and Registers.

“We can hardly imagine better books for boys to read or for men to ponder over.”—Times.

Price 2s. 6d. each Volume, complete in itself, flexible cloth extra, gilt edges, with silk Headbands and Registers.

The Story of the Chevalier Bayard. By M. De Berville.

De Joinville’s St. Louis, King of France.

The Essays of Abraham Cowley, including all his Prose Works.

Abdallah; or, The Four Leaves. By Edouard Laboullaye.

Table-Talk and Opinions of Napoleon Buonaparte.

Vathek: An Oriental Romance. By William Beckford.

The King and the Commons. A Selection of Cavalier and Puritan Songs. Edited by Professor Morley.

Words of Wellington: Maxims and Opinions of the Great Duke.

Dr. Johnson’s Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia. With Notes.

Hazlitt’s Round Table. With Biographical Introduction.

The Religio Medici, Hydriotaphia, and the Letter to a Friend. By Sir Thomas Browne, Knt.

Ballad Poetry of the Affections. By Robert Buchanan.

Coleridge’s Christabel, and other Imaginative Poems. With Preface by Algernon C. Swinburne.

Lord Chesterfield’s Letters, Sentences, and Maxims. With Introduction by the Editor, and Essay on Chesterfield by M. de Ste.-Beuve, of the French Academy.

Essays in Mosaic. By Thos. Ballantyne.

My Uncle Toby; his Story and his Friends. Edited by P. Fitzgerald.

Reflections; or, Moral Sentences and Maxims of the Duke de la Rochefoucald.

Socrates: Memoirs for English Readers from Xenophon’s Memorabilia. By Edw. Levien.

Prince Albert’s Golden Precepts.

A Case containing 12 Volumes, price 31s. 6d.; or the Case separately, price 3s. 6d.

Beauty and the Beast.An Old Tale retold, with Pictures by E. V. B. 4to, cloth extra. 10 Illustrations in Colours. 12s.6d.

Begum’s Fortune (The): A New Story.ByJules Verne. Translated byW. H. G. Kingston. Numerous Illustrations. Crown 8vo, cloth, gilt edges, 7s.6d.; plainer binding, plain edges, 5s.

Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ.ByL. Wallace. Crown 8vo, 6s.

Beumers’ German Copybooks.In six gradations at 4d.each.

Biart (Lucien).See “Adventures of a Young Naturalist,” “My Rambles in the New World,” “The Two Friends,” “Involuntary Voyage.”

Bickersteth’s Hymnal Companion to Book of Common Prayermay be had in various styles and bindings from 1d.to 21s.Price List and Prospectus will be forwarded on application.

Bickersteth (Rev. E. H., M.A.)The Reef, and other Parables.1 vol., square 8vo, with numerous very beautiful Engravings, 2s.6d.

——The Clergyman in his Home.Small post 8vo, 1s.

——The Master’s Home-Call; or, Brief Memorials ofAlice Frances Bickersteth. 20th Thousand. 32mo, cloth gilt, 1s.

——The Master’s Will.A Funeral Sermon preached on the Death of Mrs. S. Gurney Buxton. Sewn, 6d.; cloth gilt, 1s.

Bickersteth (Rev. E. H., M.A.)The Shadow of the Rock.A Selection of Religious Poetry. 18mo, cloth extra, 2s. 6d.

——The Shadowed Home and the Light Beyond.7th Edition, crown 8vo, cloth extra, 5s.

Biographies of the Great Artists (Illustrated).Each of the following Volumes is illustrated with from twelve to twenty full-page Engravings, printed in the best manner, and bound in ornamental cloth cover, 3s.6d.Library Edition, bound in a superior style, and handsomely ornamented, with gilt top; six Volumes, enclosed in a cloth case, with lid, £1 11s.6d.each case.

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