bout the shoulder.

Really one never tires of the forest-life, there is pleasure in even
walking through its paths, made as they are by the African elephantine
McAdam, and merely looking at the trees and shrubs, each and every one
of which would be a gem in England. It is a conservatory on a
Brobdignagian scale. Then, to a sportsman, there is the excitement: At
which shall we have the first shot, a buck or an elephant, a buffalo or
a guinea-fowl? or shall we walk the whole day and see nothing but a
poisonous snake, wriggling away in the dead leaves? There is always
something here to be seen that is interesting from viewing it in its
natural state. The manis is frequently found in the bush; lots of
little creatures, like weasels, and birds of most brilliant plumage.
There may be no accounting for taste, but I would rather walk through an
African forest than either up Cheapside, or even Regent-Street: the one
is all real and true, the other artificial and in great part false, if
we are to believe the chemical tests by which most of our groceries have
so lately been exposed.

Twice in the Natal bush, and once across the Umganie, I killed three
bucks in one day. When across the Umganie, I shot the first as he was
in the open ground, and knocked him over with a bullet as he was
running; the other two I killed in the bush. Monyosi's brother was with
me, and it was hard work carrying the venison home. A curious thing
happened with one of the bucks that I killed on this same day. It heard
us coming, but did not know exactly where we were, and jumped into the
path about ten yards in front of me. I gave it a raking shot, to which
it fell, but got up again, and was going away on three legs, when I
dropped it with a bullet in the neck. I was much surprised that it rose
after being struck with the first bullet, which ought to have gone right
through it, and to have come out in the buck's chest. I looked for the
two bullet-holes, and saw but one. Upon opening it, the mystery was
solved,--the bullet had broken against a bone, and was in a dozen
pieces. For this fracturing I accounted by my attempt to harden the
bullets for elephant-shooting by adding tin to the lead, and the tin,
being the lighter metal, had floated to the surface of the lead, and
some of my first bullets had been cast of nearly pure tin, instead of
the right composition, and therefore were as brittle as glass. The
right hardness is when the teeth can o