l ride at full speed down
the steepest and most dangerous hills. It is true that they frequently
get most fearful "_purls_" but their neck-joints appear to be more
firmly constructed than ours.

Some of the friendly Kaffirs who came in to see us were very good shots.
Kona, one of the chiefs, fired at a quart bottle stuck up at a hundred
yards, sending all his bullets within a few inches, and at last knocked
the neck off. He sat down on the ground, and aimed by resting his left
hand on the ramrod, which he stuck in the ground for a support; this
sort of shooting would be quite good enough to annoy troops in a thick
bushy country.

I think that the next Kaffir war, which is now nearly due, will be a
very severe one, unless some individual out there thinks of "_burning
the bush_" that these black fellows hide in; a method that was suggested
by some wise head in England, who condemned the stupidity of the Capites
for not having done it before. Surely there has been enough intellect
in South Africa to have thought of this long ago, had it been possible.
Unfortunately, the greater part of the trees are evergreen, and
therefore rather unfit for a blaze. Let the wise proposer try his
success on his boxwood hedges, or his rhododendrons, and then imagine
patches of forty square miles of similarly constituted vegetation; he
will at once see that burning is not so very simple a process.

It is scarcely to be wondered at that in civilised countries, man should
bow to his fellow-man, and quietly submit to be his slave, as very many
are compelled thus to cringe for their daily bread. But it does appear
extraordinary that amongst savages this same submission and obedience
should be practised, as the chief is frequently undistinguishable from
his commonest man, and the latter is independent of the former as
regards food, clothing, or any other of the world's goods. Yet no
clansman in Scotland yields half the homage to the head of his clan that
the African savage does to his chief. This feeling of obedience would
render almost useless any attempt to employ the Kaffirs as our soldiers,
a plan that appears now to have some supporters in England. We might
give our orders to these black troops, but if a chief winked his eye, or
held up his finger, not a man would obey us until he had received his
chief's permission.

The Kaffir's ornaments are simple, but characteristic; such as strings
of beads interspersed with the teeth of wol