nd his
case was by no means singular. The whole colony was more or less
visited by this plague at that time, and thus the reviving spirits of
the settlers were once again knocked down by a crushing blow.

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Note 1. Reverend A.A. Dugmore, _the Reminiscences of an Albany
Settler_, page 23.

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Note 2. The author, having seen the mirage while riding on the karroo,
writes from personal experience.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.

FAIRS, FIGHTS, FREE-TRADE, FACTIONS, AND OTHER MATTERS.

In the heart of the wild mountain scenery of the frontier a grim-looking
fort had been built to keep the Kafirs in check. It was named Fort
Wilshire, and a truly warlike place it was, with its high walls and
cannon, its red troops of the line, green rifles, and blue artillery.
Lying remote from civilised men, it was a dreary enough place to the
troops stationed there, though, with that ready spirit of adaptation to
circumstances which characterises the British soldier, the garrison
dispelled some of its _ennui_ by hunting.

At one period of the year, however, the little frontier fortress
thoroughly changed its silent and solitary character. The Government,
yielding at last to earnest entreaties and strong representations, had
agreed to permit, under certain restrictions, the opening of trade with
the Kafirs. A periodical "fair" was established and appointed to be
held under the guns of Fort Wilshire. The colonial traders, full of
energy and thirsting for opportunity, took advantage of the "fair," and
assembled in hundreds, while the Kafirs, in a species of unbelieving
surprise, met them in thousands to exchange wares. It was a new idea to
many of these black sons and daughters of nudity, that the horns which
they used to throw away as useless were in reality valuable merchandise,
and that the gum, which was to be had for the gathering, could procure
for them beads and buttons, and brass-wire and cotton, with many other
desirable things that caused their red mouths to water.

On the day in which we introduce the scene to the reader some of the
colonial traders had already arrived at the fair. These were not all of
the same calibre. Some, of small means, had commenced modestly with a
shoulder-bundle and went through the new land, as peddlers and packmen
in older lands had done before them. Ot