was a stout active impulsive young fellow, with the look of a capable
Nimrod.

"You'd have been better with a fowling-piece, or even a Dutch roer,"
said Rivers, casting a doubtful look at the blunderbuss as they entered
the jungle and began to ascend one of the nearest subsidiary glens or
kloofs.

"Well now, sir," said Jerry respectfully, "I don't agree with you. A
man who goes a-shootin' with a fowlin'-piece or a Dutch gun must 'ave
some sort o' capacity for shootin'--mustn't 'e, sir?"

"Well, I suppose he must."

"W'ereas," continued Jerry, "a man who goes a-shootin' with a
blunderbuss don't require no such qualification--that's w'ere it is,
sir."

"D'you mean to say that you can't shoot?" asked Rivers, with a look of
surprise.

"No more, sir," replied Jerry with emphasis, "than the weathercock of a
Dutch Reformed Church. Of course I know 'ow to load--powder first, ball
or shot arterwards; it's usually gravel with me, that bein', so to
speak, 'andy and cheap. An' I knows w'ich end o' the piece to putt to
my shoulder, likewise 'ow to pull the trigger, but of more than that I'm
hinnocent as the babe unborn. Ah! you may laugh, sir, but after all I'm
a pretty sure shot. Indeed I seldom miss, because I putt in such a
'eavy charge, and the 'buss scatters so fearfully that it's all but
impossible to miss--unless you fairly turn your back on the game and
fires in the opposite direction."

"You're a pleasant hunting companion!" said Rivers. "Do you know the
importance of always keeping the muzzle of your gun _away_ from the
unfortunate fellow you chance to be shooting with?"

"Ho, yes, sir. The dangerous natur' of my weapon is so great that I've
adopted the plan of always walking, as you see, with what the milingtary
call `shouldered arms,' which endangers nothin' but the sky--includin'
the planetory system--except w'en I 'appens to fall, w'en, of course,
it's every man lookout for hisself. But there's one consolation for
you, sir,--my blunderbuss don't go off easy. It takes two pulls of the
trigger, mostly, to bring fire out o' the flint, and as I often forget
to prime--there's a third safeguard in that, so to speak."

Further converse was interrupted by the sudden bursting of a duiker, or
large antelope, from a thicket close beside them. Both sportsmen
levelled their pieces, but, the jungle there being dense, the animal
vanished before either could fire. With the eager haste of tyros,
however, they r