ately, and returned after a while with a man quite exhausted from
hunger and thirst, and paralyzed with fear; he had been unable to
overtake the lager.

IX

PRACTICAL HINTS--ADVENTURE ON THE SABIE--NORTH OF LYDENBURG

Experience teaches us. The knowledge that we have gained in this war we
must pass on to the coming generation. It may be of use in a war of the
future, or on some other occasion. Therefore Oom Dietlof will take this
opportunity to give his nephews in South Africa some practical hints
that may be of use to a burgher in his travels or in a war. If anyone
loses his way in the same way that I have just described, he must
remember the following way of finding the four quarters of the wind:

The small hand of a watch describes a circle in twelve hours, while the
apparent movement of the sun round the earth is in twenty-four hours.
The movement of the small hand is therefore twice as fast as that of
the sun. If one points the small hand of a horizontal-lying watch to the
sun at twelve o'clock, then the hands and the figure XII. lie in the
meridian as well as the sun.

In the northern half-circle the sun and the hands move in the same
direction. In one hour's time the small hand goes a distance of
360 deg./12 = 30 deg., and the sun goes a distance of 360 deg./24 = 15
deg. If at one o'clock one points the small hand of a horizontal-lying
watch to the sun, the line that divides the acute angle between the
figures I. and XII. lies in the meridian. So one can always find the
meridian.

In the southern half-circle the sun and hands move in opposite
directions, therefore one must point the figure XII. to the sun, and
then divide the acute angle between the figure XII. and the small hand
to find the meridian.

In this way one can at any time find out the direction one has taken.
But everyone has not always a good watch, and the sun sometimes hides
behind the clouds. Then it is better to have a good compass--but better
still not to lose one's way.

Besides such simple articles as a pocket-knife, a water-bag, etc.,
which are indispensable to a traveller in our country, everyone ought to
carry with him a good plaster, a nosebag, and some snake poison; maize
(mealies) for his horse, the cheapest and most strengthening food that
we know of, can always be carried in the nosebag. Snake poison prepared
by a good Kaffir doctor is the only cure for snake-bites or the bite of
any poisonous insect. The Kaffirs prep