Seven Years in South Africa, Volume 1

Departure from Musemanyana -- The Quagga Flats -- Hyena-hunt / by moonlight -- Makalahari horsemanship -- Konana -- A lion on / the Sitlagole -- Animal life on the table-land -- Gnu-hunt at / night -- A missing comrade -- Piles of bones -- Hunting a wild / goose -- South African spring-time -- Molema's Town -- Mr. Webb and / the Mission-house -- The chief Molema -- Huss Hill -- Neighbourhood of / Moshaneng -- Illustrious visitors.

No sooner was the axle mended than we left Musemanyana, travelling on till it was quite late at night. The wind was blowing almost a gale when we halted, and in lighting our fire we had some difficulty in preventing another steppe-burning; the next morning, however, the 21st, was warm and bright. Shortly after starting we came across some Makalahari and Barolong women collecting young locusts just emerged from their pupa state. It was not until we had gone on for three hours and a half that we arrived at a depression, and found some pools of clear water; from this point our road lay to the north-east, over wide plains with bushes few and far between. The dry grass had all the pleasant fragrance of hay, and young blades were already sprouting amidst the withering stems. In all directions the ground was burrowed by jumping-hares, porcupines, and earth-pigs. Hyenas had taken possession of the holes that the earth-pigs had deserted, and occasionally we observed the lairs of jackals. In localities exclusively populated by natives, jackals, caama-foxes, and proteles are freely hunted for the sake of their skins, which are made into coats; but in the parts where white men predominate, and game is abundant, hyenas are chiefly made the object of attack, being partially exterminated by strychnine.