er of the Vaal.

And now I found myself in a very hunter's paradise, for the country was
literally swarming with game of almost every description, consisting of
eland, gemsbok, springbok, reitbok, and antelope of all kinds, often in
herds numbering several thousands; also that curious-looking beast the
gnu, of which I now got my first glimpse; troops of quagga and zebra;
giraffes, rhinoceroses, lions, leopards, and ostriches; hippopotami and
crocodiles in the rivers; but still very few elephants, and those so shy
that it was only with the utmost difficulty I succeeded in securing
three within the first fortnight after crossing the Klip River. And
during all this time, although I enjoyed some splendid hunting, I did
not meet with a single adventure worthy of record, and met very few
natives, while those whom I encountered were either very friendly
disposed on the one hand, or, on the other, too shy to come near me.
But I saw several very curious sights, one or two of which I may perhaps
be excused for recording.

For instance, about a week after crossing the Klip River we found
ourselves striking northward across a tract of practically level
country, dotted here and there with herds of various kinds of game,
which took but little notice of us beyond moving leisurely out of our
way when we seemed to be approaching them rather too closely for their
liking. Piet and I were, as usual, riding forward about a mile ahead of
the wagon, on the lookout for ostriches or elephant spoor, when we
sighted a troop of the great birds which we were seeking some two miles
ahead of us, immediately in line with a range of those curious
flat-topped hills which are such a distinctive feature of the South
African landscape. Away to our left, about a quarter of a mile distant,
was a small kopje, about two hundred feet high, consisting of an outcrop
of rock the sides of which, although almost perpendicular, were so rough
that I believed they might be easily climbed; and as the summit of the
kopje promised to afford an excellent spying place from which to observe
the movements of the ostriches, we turned our horses' heads toward it
and approached it at a gallop, reining up at its base. Upon arriving at
the foot of the kopje I at once saw that it might be scaled without the
slightest difficulty, for not only were the rocky projections so bold
and rough as almost to amount to steps, but on the southern or shady
side of the hill--which was the f