| Show A WEEKS OUTING IN SOUTH AFRICA in a foreign land far from home it is strange under what trivial circumstances two men may meet one perhaps may incidentally let drop a word and in in less than two minutes bobb will r realize that each was born and raised in the biame same town many miles away across the ocean and from that bare fact without inquiring into credentials a lifelong friendship may be cemented in such a way 1 chanced to run across charlie cosgrave our fathers happened to go to college together that was enouf enough h I 1 had been staying with charlie on his orange and ostrich farm a couple of weeks we had plucked the birds bunted played nap with the neighbors and killed time generally in a most enjoyable way the life was new to me and I 1 enjoyed it hugely as charlie was always skirmishing around for some new excitement I 1 was enabled to go to bed each night I 1 had not lived the day in in vain vain my chum was a typical englishman affected extremely loose add ng breet toes s ithma immaculate culf alte tops garnia garni garnished sned vv with i ollio ri I 1 abair ai i of spurs that made mace one blink tt to look at them they were so brightly burnished his hunting crop and he were inseparable ditto his dogs for he never stirred without half a dozen canines at his heels together with his big roan mare with a white stocking he was quite correct in fact quite english you u know although it seemed tome to me a t t 1 bout out of place in the wilds of south africa that mare had my heartiest sympathies her tail being docked in the correct hyde park style the flies had a high old time bessiea Bes sies tail work ing perpetually like an animated gun swab one morning after coming in in loaded with dead parrots the fruits of a raid upon a flock charles ventured the information formation we had been working too hard and needed a rest and change I 1 did not say anything as it appeared to me we had been resting the balance of our time so I 1 concluded that mum was the word and proceeded to await developments it soon leaked out that every year during the hottest months january and february all the farmers were in the habit of packing up and trekking down to the sea coast there camp and indulge in a rare old sociable time nothing loth I 1 rolled up my sleeves and assisted in packing up a tent and a host of the good things of this life in the shape of edibles and drinkables drin kables it looks au easy thing to stow away rations for a couple of weeks in a scotch cart but before I 1 got through g h with my job life seemed to have I 1 lost ost its charms for me the canned goods were albrcht but the pies cheese and butter the cheese would assert itself wherever it was placed and whilst working out that problem cb me sat on a pie it hurt the crust any as a black abigail presided as chef anyhow he objected in good queens english to having his bis spotless white ducks unmentionables frescoed with cape gooseberry the pie was handed to the omnipresent dogs which sniffed suspiciously and then promptly passed assed after politely overturning ajar a jar of salt into the tea caddy however after many trials and tribulations everything was safely packed away six oxen in spanned to the cart and the outfit started on its journey in the custody of the leading henchman bestowed on us a huge grin when charlie informed him to pass aop it the way bill did not check up OK at the other end of the journey A small kaffir was dispatched for our horses and off he started with a bridle over his arm on the dead run he was about ten years old being attired solely in one of charlies old white shirts he resembled kayoung a young comet comer scudding studding scud ding oer the veldt jud judging from of tail visible it there is anything these hueltas qu eltas like more than another it is the chance to get across a horse and ride it at a break neck pace how they stick on I 1 dont know in less than awen twenty minutes a horse appeared on the rise ris e ith with tail straight out annihilating distance like an express train hotly pursued by horse no 2 and the boy who bumped from side to side anu and occasionally exhibited six inches of day light betwixt him and his steed the horses being saddled final instructions were given n to the boys and we started on a ave fifty mile ride to the mouth of the fish river the horses seemed eager for a chase so giving them their heads we sailed across the veldts veldt crossin crossing over bushes the dogs yelp g as though 9 bedlam were loose olivi on we clattered rounded a clump of bushes and rode slap on to a flock ot of ostriches ost richea sunning themselves in a flash the whole country appeared to be one mass of undulating necks and plumed wings just then I 1 was busily engaged banging on to my mount by one spur and a handful of mane and when I 1 had time to take in the scenery the birds were on the hori zon the well and charlie holding his sides laughing at something I 1 muttered something about a loose girth but charlie espied the irate owner of the flock coming over the brow of the hill with a shotgun to inquire into the unseemly behavior amongst his birds so we left we soon struck the noted kowie bush and for two hours traversed a road save the mark cut through the bush the scenery being very limited the dogs seemed to be having a huge time to themselves amongst the small game and monkeys on approaching the kowie river our olfactory nerves were greeted with a most horrible odor so we beat lower down the river to find a likely spot to off saddle we found the cause of this stench to be the quartered carcass of an ox that had been killed and flayed clayed the hide being spread on the batik bank and the meat laid on it I 1 was at a loss to account tor for such a thing so far away from any habitation until charlie explained ithac that be had heard of the custom among the natives of presenting a similar offer ing to the river god Tick elosh I 1 think he called him when one of their num her ber had been drowned so that he would g give ive e na up p the body I 1 was was also informed w when n a native is is d drowning 3 his comrades comrad lis let him go simply T osh has got him Tick elosh e eviden vi dently Sr did not want this as his bloated body lay jay extended on the bank sob yards down the river we told some kaffits we ruet met la later i ter OR a of it but as our kaffir vocabulary was ires m meager ea er and their english nil they e evidently vil en ta y put ut us down as a couple of lunatics from from Grahams grahamstown town anyhow we felt proud to think we had done our duty at last once more we reached the open veldt which spread itself OR OB all sides in the desance lay the ind indiala ocean bearing a homeward bound liner on its bosom and although fourteen miles off one could faintly hear the never ceasing roar of the surf as it ft broke upon the rock bound shore U 1 the left the veldt was broken up by dep kloots densely wooded ae home and the haunts of the b bush bok ja boodoo wild pigs baboons babions add monkeys nume numerous rods cattle belonging longine be to thie the settlers lers and natives dotted 6 the 10 dottel grassy veldt the whole picture j ac backed up by bi the grahamstown Grahams town heights heigh tik charlie espied a black streak and it cloud of dust in the distance in forty minutes we were alongside and dia covered it to be the wagon and ox tem team of a friend of his nothing loth we ift climbed in and a very merry crowd we were all bound for the same destina tion A colonial trans transport to rt wagon wa is a ponderous affair the bed ed stands five reet feet from the ground and the wagon is from twenty to twenty five feet lot loofe eight feet from rail to rail and will wih caka carrr a load of lbs the whole behof drawn by a span 0 of sixteen oxen e babl 11 A tent generally covers the rear end but this being a pleasure party the there was a tent over the whole wa wagon on I 1 were w I 1 spread over the bed ad lam quite an 0 oriental scene the w way ay wt e lolled around occasionally we would strike a chuck hole there would be a painful pause and we would start to sort ourselves out once more colonial girls I 1 found very entertaining and not am at all shy the young ladies of the die party entertained us with very creditable part singing charlie fished up un a a banjo from and spoil spoiled all he is a good fellow but he ewt cant sing we arrived within a mite mile of camp and then out spanned the sterner sex taki taking ng a convenient sand batik bank we were soon lulled to sleep by the roar of the surf and cheerful yap yap of the jackala jackals jac kals on con awaking next morning wt we loc found und tomta had joined us in the night with the scotch cart if any of out oar readers contemplate cani camping ping out just one word as to sleeping on the grotrud gro grol trod unless you want to cultivate a lop sided gait dig a hole for your hip joint to rest in it is advisable south africa sumo supports some very healthy and energetic mosquitoes and when they join forces with the ticks the poor victim has an unenviable time the sea coast is the happy hunting ground of the gay aud and festive tick As small as pin heads they hang on every grass blade a sheep cannot live where they abound unless a cow is attended to once a week she gets ruined the same with a horse the little tick just selects a soft spot buries his head and in a few days grows as big as a hazel nut if rat not dissected with a pair of scissors when it t gets matured drops off and produces eWd young ones to torture suffering humanity charlie says it is another of the advantages of south africa 6 a man can always indulge in a good scratch scratch next day we pitched our tent on high street canvas town and were ere enrolled as two of its citizens we found there were three distinct camps upper albany lb any lower albany and the methodists dests I 1 am sorry to say that the young men and a good many of the old ones lor for that would visit the latter camp when it was wrapped in slumber exchange the dishes around swap the hing fill the coffee kettles with sea maw rater etc and then get round early in the hue morning to borrow a little milk and isid incidentally dentally take in the remarks bandied about camp the ime program every day would open with a general scamper along the beach at t sunrise and in two minutes shout toe uproarious beings would be rolling a the surf playing all kinds tricks on each other each aich man beem seem imly aej doing his best to down his neigh bor then breakfast and the days doings snapped ped out some would go hunting in the sand hills bills for small game others fishing the majority flirting one day was ims devoted to athletic sports between the ri rival val camps Ps yet another in rifle shooting and dynamiting fish h in the ww A sheltered hole amon amongst t the rocks is in selected so the e swimmers wont be beaten on the rocks by the surf A heavy beavy charge of dynamite is thrown in in off it goes a column of water is blown in the air together with some fish in co 0 o twenty or thirty men and boys there Ili tere is no fear of sharks all the fish diat chat survive the blast have pressing appointments ts elsewhere the tun fun is fast and furious boys diving and brin bringing i up op gag them op the su surface ging ts treading din d w wafer wr and throwing them ashore until the atmosphere is black with them now and again some bi big fish will be half stunned and there wil will be a go as you please wrestle in the water we had the gall to try and cap toe tam a four foot shark one morning but lie snapped 4 p eolia his jaws in in such an in in hospitable xit 91 e manner that we made way for him I 1 counted no less than jia fish fi from om one blast all edible varying jn in size from six inches to three feet long but the evening was the time when we put on our best duds and conena ded to the music of canvas T town band in a name each bouhad boy had his best girl and mighty sentimental some of them waxed under the combined influence of the moonlight and the sad sea waves whilst the old farmers sat around told snake stories hacked backed their off ox against someone sameon ell elises alses ses leader or maybe talked of old times and native rebellions over their pipes and gr grog SORGE GEORGE E CARPENTER |
