Page:Seven Years in South Africa v1.djvu/341

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From Musemanyana to Moshaneng.
273

his way towards the waggon. He was covered with dirt from head to foot, and was as pitiable-looking an object as could be imagined; but although he was trembling with cold, and begrimed with mud, he was carrying a gun as bright as when he had started. He had not much to tell; in order to avoid the fury of the storm he had crept into a hole by the side of an ant-hill, where he had made the best of things all night through, but in order to keep his gun clean and ready for all emergencies, he had wrapped it in his jacket, which he had taken off tor the purpose.

On the morning of the 29th I took a stroll, and brought back a hyæna-skull; this was placed along with some skulls of gnus, blessbocks, and springbocks that we had collected already since we had made our sojourn here.

At mid-day we started again, going to the eastward with the object of getting into the road leading from Taung to Molema’s Town, whence I should—proceed again to the north. After going about six miles we rested in a mimosa grove, where we fell in with some Barolongs. We passed a great number of deserted huts, round which the bones of animals were heaped in piles; to account for such an accumulation the slaughter must have been prodigious. Curious in the matter of pathological deformities, I turned the heaps over, but found the bones nearly all broken; the horns were perfect with the exception of two which had been pierced by bullets, the wounds having healed and a fresh horny substance

VOL. I.

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