d my weapon, and, aiming
into the "brown", pressed both triggers, one immediately after the
other, with the result that five of the duck dropped dead, while another
half-dozen fell wounded, the whole being promptly retrieved by Piet and
the dogs, who all dashed into the shallow water and brought them ashore.

Eleven birds constituted an ample supply for our immediate requirements,
both for supper that night and for breakfast next morning; and as I made
a point of never destroying the wild things except as a matter of
necessity, we forthwith returned to the wagon and proceeded to pluck and
prepare as many of the duck as we needed for supper, afterward roasting
them over the camp fire. By the time the meal was ready for consumption
the soft, velvet darkness of the South African starlit night had fallen,
and we ate our meal to the accompaniment of the usual night sounds of
the veld where water happens to be near--the soft, subdued quacking of
drowsy waterfowl, the occasional "honk" of a belated goose, the stealthy
splashing of bucks wading warily into the deeper and cleaner water clear
of the rushes before venturing to drink, mysterious rustlings among the
reeds, the distant call of buck to each other in the bush, the sharp
bark of the jackal, the blood-curdling laugh of the prowling hyena, and
the occasional roar of the leopard; the whole dominated by the incessant
noise of millions of frogs, and the continuous chirr of many more
millions of insects.

I slept that night on the cartel, which is a light hardwood frame,
closely strung lengthwise and across with rimpi, or thin strips of hide,
and which, slung to the framework of the interior of the wagon, under
the tent, serves as a bedstead. Upon this, if furnished with a
mattress, a pillow, and a pair of blankets--as in my own case--it is
possible to enjoy a perfect night's rest. The next morning we were all
astir with the dawn, and while the "boys" prepared breakfast I made my
way down to the spruit, bathed, with the dogs for company, and got back
to the wagon just in good time for the first meal of the day, with an
appetite to which a keen edge had been put by the fresh, clean air of
the open veld. Then, immediately after breakfast, the oxen were
inspanned, and, pushing forward a little more rapidly than on the first
day, we forded the Great Fish River shortly after noon before
outspanning for the midday halt.

In this fashion, then, we journeyed, day after day, qui