Five years of a hunter's life in the far interior of South Africa, Volume 1 |
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abundant adorned after-riders animals antelope assagais Bakatla Bamangwato Bechuanas beheld black rhinoceros black wildebeest blesboks blue wildebeests Boers Booby breakfast buck buffalo bull elephants bullet bushes camelopard camp cattle CHAP chase Cobus Colesberg continued our march course covered dawn direction distance districts dogs eland encamped endeavour extremely eyes feet fire flesh following day following morning forest gallop gemsbok giraffe Grahamstown grass Griquas ground halted hartebeests head hills horns horses Hottentots hour hundred yards hunting hyænas inspanned kaross Kleinboy koodoos kraal Kuruman large herds length lion lioness miles mimosas mountains Mutchuisho natives night obtained old bull once Orange River oryx ostriches outspanned oxen passed plain proceeded quaggas reached rhinoceros riding Riet river rifle roan antelope rocky rode saddle shot shoulder Sicomy Sicomy's side skin spoor springboks stood Strydom Thebus thorny trees trekked tribes troop tusks variety vley waggons wild wounded
Popular passages
Page 252 - Will the unicorn be willing to serve thee, Or abide by thy crib? Canst thou bind the unicorn with his band in the furrow? Or will he harrow the valleys after thee?
Page 322 - That whistle garrisoned the glen At once with full five hundred men, As if the yawning hill to heaven A subterranean host had given. Watching their leader's beck and will, All silent there they stood, and still. Like the loose crags whose threatening mass Lay tottering o'er the hollow pass, As if an infant's touch could urge Their headlong passage down the verge, With step and weapon forward flung, Upon the mountain-side they hung.
Page 209 - Dixon should not prove sufficient. My men as yet had been steady, but they were in a precious stew, their faces having assumed a ghastly paleness; and I had a painful feeling that I could place no reliance on them. Now, then, for it. neck or nothing! She is within sixty yards of us, and she keeps advancing. We turned the horses
Page 273 - ... soft, dark eye, with its silky fringe, looked down imploringly at me, and I really felt a pang of sorrow in this moment of triumph for the blood I was shedding. Pointing my rifle toward the skies, I sent a bullet through her neck.
Page 305 - ... ahead of him, he came to a stand. I then gave him a second bullet, somewhere near the first. These two shots had taken effect, and he was now in my power, but I would not lay him low so far from camp; so, having waited until he had regained his breath, I drove him half way back toward the wagons. Here he became obstreperous; so, loading one barrel, and pointing my rifle toward the clouds, I shot him in the throat, when, rearing high, he fell backward and expired.
Page 310 - The younger bulls remain for many years in the company of their mothers, and these are met together in large herds of from twenty to a hundred individuals. The food of the elephant consists of the branches, leaves, and roots of trees, and also of a variety of bulbs, of the situation of which he is advised by his exquisite sense of smell. To obtain these he turns up the ground with his tusks, and whole acres may be seen thus ploughed up.
Page 253 - Both attain an enormous size, being the animals next in magnitude to the elephant. They feed solely on grass, carry much fat, and their flesh is excellent, being preferable to beef. They are of a much milder and more inoffensive disposition than the black rhinoceros, rarely charging their pursuer. Their speed is very inferior to that of the other varieties, and a person well mounted can overtake and shoot them.
Page 357 - ... the forest. This was his last charge. The wounds which he had received began to tell on his constitution, and he now stood at bay beside a thorny tree, with the dogs barking around him. These, refreshed by the evening breeze, and perceiving that it was nearly over with the elephant, had once more come to my assistance. Having loaded I drew near and fired right and left at his forehead. On receiving these shots, instead of charging he tossed his trunk up and down, and by various sounds and motions,...
Page 353 - The distance I had come, and the difficulties I had undergone, to behold these elephants, rose fresh before me. I determined that on this occasion at least I would do my duty, and, dashing my spurs into " Sunday's" ribs, I was very soon much too close in their rear for safety. The elephants now made an inclination to my left, whereby I obtained a good view of the ivory. The herd consisted of six bulls ; four of them were full-grown, first-rate elephants ; the other two were fine fellows, but had...
Page 196 - One of the most striking things connected with the lion is his voice, which is extremely grand and peculiarly striking. It consists at times of a low, deep moaning, repeated five or six times, ending in faintly audible sighs ; at other times he startles the forest with loud, deeptoned, solemn roars, repeated five or six times in quick succession, each increasing in loudness to the third or fourth, when his voice dies away in five or six low, muffled sounds, very much resembling distant thunder.