Page:Seven Years in South Africa v1.djvu/322

 table-land, as he rode along in his shining leather tunic, the shafts of his assegais supported in a leathern socket attached to the stirrup, and the carcass of a blessbock slung across the front of his primitive saddle.

All the horses are bred upon the plains, and so well accustomed are they to the clumps of grass and to the holes in the soil, that the riders give themselves no concern about their bridles, but chase the fugitive herds of antelopes at full gallop, and generally succeed in overtaking them (except the springbocks, which are too fleet to be caught in this way) in about half an hour; the assegai is then brought into requisition, and is aimed with such precision that it rarely fails to hit its mark. One head of game thus secured, the huntsman, as a rule, never attempts to get a second, but having despatched his booty with his other assegai, he forthwith turns his horse’s head homewards. The fewer the wounds which the animal receives, the greater the value of its skin to the Bas.

As my messenger was long in returning, I began to prepare to start; but just as the bullocks were being harnessed the man was espied in the distance. The message he brought was to the effect that the Bas had only one team for his own use, and that he could not consent to part with it. At the same time, however, he sent word that he had a sheep which he would exchange for a mug (about 1 lb.) of gunpowder. Accepting his offer, I received a fine “fat-tail;” and, in addition to the gunpowder, I