st India Docks, Poplar, from which the
Union Castle liners depart. The mail boats proceed from Southampton.

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Note 2. In 1840. See page 83. The author was writing in 1876.

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Note 3. Known as the Province of the Cape of Good Hope, (or the Cape
Province), since the establishment of the Union of South Africa in 1910.

LETTER TWO.

HUNTING SPRINGBOKS ON THE KARROO.

To start for the hunting-field at seven in the morning in a carriage and
six, smacks of royalty and sounds luxurious, but in South Africa there
are drawbacks connected therewith.

Hobson's farm is, as I have said, on the Karroo--those vast plains which
at some seasons resemble a sandy desert, and at others are covered with
rich verdure and gorgeous flowers. They are named after the small,
succulent, Karroo-bush, which represents the grass of other plains, and
is excellent food for cattle, sheep, and ostriches.

These plains embrace a considerable portion of the territory of the
Cape. The Karroo is pre-eminently lumpy. Its roads in most places are
merely the result of traffic. They, also, are lumpy. Our carriage was
a native "cart," by which is meant a plain and powerful machine with
springs that are too strong readily to yield. Five of our team were
mules, the sixth was a pony.

Our party at starting numbered five, but grew as we progressed. We took
with us provisions and fodder for two days. The driving was undertaken
by Hobson's nephew, assisted by his eldest son--"Six-foot Johnny."
There was a double necessity for two drivers. To hold the reins of five
kicking mules and a prancing pony required both hands as well as all the
strength of the cousin, though he was a powerful fellow, and the
management of the whip claimed both arms, and all the strength, as well
as the undivided attention of his assistant. The whip was a salmon-rod
in appearance, without exaggeration. It had a bamboo handle somewhere
between twelve and fourteen feet long, with a proportionate lash. The
operator sometimes found it convenient to stand when he made a cast with
his fishing-rod weapon. He was an adept with it; capable, it seemed to
me, of picking a fly off one of the leader's ears.

There was some trouble in keeping our team quiet while rifles,
ammunition, provisions, etcetera, were being stowed in the cart.