gstone variety. Although the trees were ungrafted, unpruned,
and, in fact, had not been interfered with by meddling man since the
germination of the stones that gave them auspicious birth, the size and
flavor of the fruit were ail that could be desired.

One gold-bearing creek was called "Peach Tree," on account of the
number of trees there growing. Near the upper end of the worked portion
of Pilgrim's Creek was a dense orchard that bore splendidly. But, alas!
they grew over "pay dirt," and in consequence were ruthlessly uprooted.
I am positive that the occurrence of these trees was quite
adventitious; they did not appear to have been planted with any regard
to order, nor as a rule were they found in localities suitable for
homesteads.

I have often speculated as to the origin of these peach-trees. Did some
thoughtful old voortrekker carry peach stones in his pocket, and, as
Admiral Rodney was wont to do with acorns, plant them here and there
for the benefit of posterity? Or did some small boy voortrekker,
munching, from the pocket of his blesbuck-skin jacket, dried fruit sent
up by some kind tante from the far south, carelessly throw aside a
stone which had been accidentally included, and was that the ancestor
of those trees which used to afford us so many delightful feasts?

About half a century before the days I write of, the then thickly
populated region surrounding these goldfields was turned into a
shambles and a solitude by, the horde of the terrible Ma 'Ntatisi,
chieftainess of the Bathlokua. This tribe was driven from its territory
at and around the sources of the Vaal River by the Amahlubi, at the
beginning of the upheaval caused by Tshaka, the Zulu king. On many a
level mountain terrace can still be seen the circular stone walls
indicating where populous villages once stood. Many clans, some large
and some small, had inhabited the fertile valleys of the Drakensberg
between what is now Wakkerstroom and the Olifant River. They lived in
comparative peace with one another. Occasional tribal fights took
place, but the victors never attempted to ruin the vanquished or to
take their territory.

Ma 'Ntatisi's horde literally obliterated these communities. Probably
the number of people who escaped the slaughter did not amount to five
per cent of the whole.

Old "Kameel" was one of the survivors. He was a native who, with his
family and a few goats, lived at a kraal on a ledge to the right of the
creek, about hal