r down the cheeks of many of the
party, from the strength and rapidity of the doses. Seeing so great a
disinclination on the part of the Kaffirs to use any exertion now that
they were full of meat, I went by myself to have a look for a sea-cow,
as the colonists call the hippopotamus, the Kaffir name for which is
"imvubu." I was told that they were to be found in the Imvoti river,
and they were not very frequently disturbed in this part. The Kaffirs
near the river frequently suffered very much from the depredations of
this game, corn-gardens being sometimes nearly destroyed and trodden
down by the sea-cow during one night. Other animals also persecuted
these unfortunate people. A herd of elephants might quietly walk
through their fences some night, with the same ease as though the
barricades were cobwebs, crush to the ground the nearly ripe crop, and
leave the whole Kaffir village with but a poor chance of obtaining a
winter supply of corn. These Kaffirs were rarely possessed of a gun,
and did not like to venture too near these savage intruders; and the
shouting and beating of shields did not always produce the desired
effect on the elephants. Sometimes a venturesome Kaffir would get
himself smashed by attempting to drive away a savage troop, and this
would act as a warning to other Kaffirs; and they therefore frequently
preferred being pillaged to being squashed. Sometimes a party of bucks
will get the habit of sneaking into the corn of a night, when it is
green and young, and will enjoy a good feed at the expense of the
kraal's crop of mealeas.

The worst visitation, however, is a flight of locusts; and no idea can
be formed of the destruction which these creatures will accomplish in
even a couple of hours. I saw several heavy flights during my residence
at Natal, the heaviest of which came upon the country at the back of the
Berea, and extended about four miles inland. I can only compare its
appearance to that of a heavy fall of snow, where each flake is
represented by a locust. My horse would scarcely face them, and I was
often nearly blinded by a great brute coming into my eye with a flop. I
did not practise the same refined cruelty on this delinquent that a
gentleman of South-African reputation told me he had one day done when a
locust flew into his eye. Although blinded momentarily in one eye, he
still kept the other on the rascal, who sought escape by diving amongst
the crowd on the ground. After di