the Dutch hunters, which branched off towards the Mababi-veldt.
At this place, too, I fell in with one of Anderson’s servants, named Saul; he was travelling with a Makalahari who had four children, whom he had met at the Nataspruit and invited to join him; he told me he was sure that his master would not disapprove of what he had done, as the man would be very serviceable to him in helping to hunt ostriches.
Hunt ostriches!” I exclaimed; “how can such a bad shot as you hunt ostriches?”
“Ah, sir,” he answered, “I manage to get at them well enough.”
“How so?” I inquired.
“Well, I always take a man with me, and we look about till we discover a nest, and then we dig a hole pretty close to it in which I hide myself. The birds come to sit, and it doesn’t want a very good shot to knock over an ostrich when it is just at hand. Well, having made sure of one bird, we stick up its skin on a pole near the nest, and except we are seen, and so scare the birds away, a second ostrich is soon decoyed, and I get another chance. In this way I succeed very well; besides, I get lots of eggs.”
Whilst at the springs I learnt the meaning of some of the Masarwa and Bamangwato appellations. I might give numerous examples, but one or two will suffice. I found, for instance, that Khori, the district on the side arm of the Shaneng, means “a bustard,” and that Mokhotsi means “a strong current.”
On leaving our encampment on the 10th we had
