mits in strong contrast against the calm blue sky, and broken nearer hand by darkly wooded kloofs, the abode of the jackal, the hyena, and the leopard, and into whose depths perhaps the sunlight never penetrated; while at our feet lay this grassy dell, shaded here and there by clumps of laurel and acacia. Before one of these clumps stood a young girl and a tall powerful youth, in whose aspect was written Dutchman as plainly as on this paper. One glance recognized them as lovers, who, lost in their discourse, were forgetful of all beside themselves, and quite unconscious of observation. It was a strange sight in such a place, and very romantic withal; but we unfeelingly gave the reins to our steeds, and cantered down the hill, all careless of intrusion. The sound of our horses' feet startled the young people from their oblivion of this vile world and its rude denizens, and, at the same instant, our wonder at the scene abated as change of position opened on our gaze two bullock waggons lying side by side amid the graceful trees, while a fat old boer was dozing in the shade on a Kafir mat and half a dozen pillows, and his vrow, a dame of corresponding size, sat knitting industriously; two or three dusky females scattered about completing the details of the picture. "Are the oxen come?" grunted in low Dutch old Stephanus Ficher, as the tramp of so many horses recalled him from the world of dreams, amid whose enchantments he had been striving to forget the annoying reality of being deserted in the wilds by the whole of the horned cattle, on whom had devolved the duty of dragging his household gods into a more civilized neighbourhood. "Ne, ne; it is some Englis yentlepeeples who have come into de boose to kill de tiger* and all the beesties," softly explained his spouse in her broken English, rising at the same time to welcome us. One day will render people old friends in such localities, and ten minutes transformed us all into familiar acquaintances; laughing and chattering like a company of monkeys at their grand reunions, and endeavouring in bad English, and worse Dutch, to institute a reciprocity of meaning, if not of ideas. It was a pleasant hour that we spent there in the cool shade of the laurel boughs, listening to the stout vrow's softly spoken inanities, and to her lord's more gruffly uttered mutilations of our mother tongue; and, if the truth must be told, every one of us doing his very best to appear interesting or agreeable to pretty Katryna Ficher, though the frequent smiles and expressive glances she interchanged with the young Dutchman, who kept for ever hovering round her, might well have saved us the useless labour, by the conviction that the little nook in her heart, whose emptiness might have rendered her sensible to our attractions, was fully occupied, and Tunis Beck of more account in her eyes than the whole of us put together. But Katryna was pretty enough for any man to wish to win a passing smile from her, even though, unlike us, he had not been more than a week without seeing a white damsel of any degree, and knew not when he might see so fair a face again. And little wonder either, for such are not often met in any land. Her snowy brow and flushing cheek, whose brightness perhaps owed something to our undisguised homage (all the more boldly rendered because we knew the fair recipient to be our in * All over the Cape the leopards are tigers-at least in name. ferior in worldly rank), her large blue eyes, so soft and yet so brilliant, and the sunny smile, which bespoke half amusement, half embarrassment at our open flattery, formed a whole of beauty such as sometimes, though rarely, beams upon us in this breathless steeple-chase of life, to be passed by in its impetuosity, and never seen again. And now the hour was past, our adieux were spoken, and we took our departure; while, at the same time, Tunis Beck rode forth in another direction, for the purpose of overtaking the Hottentots who were in quest of the lost cattle, and of himself assisting in their search, though he had obliged us by remaining to do the honours during our visit, or, like a prudent man, to keep watch on our civilities to his betrothed. More than one glance did our party cast back into the dell to see Katryna's willow-like form planted on a flowery knoll, with that fair face turned pertinaciously in the direction of Beck's departing figure; while the five round black eyes of the attendant damsels (for all had not two to boast of) alone followed our cavalcade. It was a little to the mortification of some of the gallant sportsmen, though Doubleitt, who had been at considerable pains to display his horsemanship to great advantage, loudly congratulated us all, and especially himself, on having made our escape from the pretty Dutch girl. He "remembered once the daughter of a Rajah detained him at her father's court by her perilous attachment." "Put your head in jeopardy you mean, for staring offensively into her palanquin," interrupted Grattan, who had by chance picked up the true version of the story. "And said she would not have minded, but that the face it wore was such an ugly one," unkindly added the little sportsman, Lewis Hay; and Doubleitt had a countenance ridiculously like a Twelfth-night mask. "I assure you, I assure you, began the unlucky wight, whose assurance certainly was in general a thing undoubted. "There is a wolf* for you; after it, Mark!" cried W, as a dark animal darted from the thicket close beside us, and sped across a verdant slope towards the bush. The would-be lady-killer galloped off in pursuit, followed by the sound of our laughter; while the creature, which so seldom shows by day, even amid the wildest of those solitudes, gained the jungle, and plunged once more into its congenial shades ere the baffled hunter had thought of lifting his gun against it. Before he rejoined us, a truly savage cry of exultation burst from all sizes and colours in our little band; and, springing from our steeds, the leaders gathered round to gaze on a small bare spot of earth amid the crisp, brown grass of the unsheltered flat; for there on the dust, which lay an inch thick on the firmer ground beneath, was the impression of a lion's foot: recent it must be, for on the previous day a gale had swept those hills and plains, which would have obliterated all before imprinted; and, as those wiser than myself averred, it was the tread of a full-grown animal of no common size, one promising good sport, and a worthy object of our prowess, could we but succeed in tracking him. * There are no wolves at the Cape of Good Hope, but plenty of hyenas to compensate for their absence; yet by a singular custom, which is, however, universal throughout the colony, one never hears the latter name, but constantly the former, by which the animals are always designated. P How we spread over the plain, and peered into the surface of every tiny spot which the scorched herbage left uncovered, seeking another trace of that enormous paw so fitly formed to deal death to all opposing families of creation; and how joyous was the shrill cry revealing that the keen eyes of the little bushman had at length encountered it! A little further on, and there it was again; and so at intervals, where the grass was scantiest, there, right, left, hind, fore, we had the track complete, straight along the flat to the rugged, rocky, precipitous hill, down which it was not easy to find a practicable route for horse or man. Down this break-neck precipice, using our hands pretty well as much as our feet, we contrived to lower ourselves in our haste to track the lion on; but the descent was impassable for horses, so ours were sent with our "after riders" a far circuit round the other end of the jungle, the bipeds being desired to keep their eyes open for the spoor, i.e., track, in that direction. "By St. Hubert!" exclaimed Grattan, when safely landed on level ground, "I am right glad that is over. Doubleitt's barrel was staring me in the face like a lion all the while, and made me think of his gun, that always shot something worth while.'" "Ah, I remember," began Mark. But those ominous words put us all to instant flight, and we hurried on, narrowly scanning the ground as we passed along. No trace of the lion could now be discovered, and stronger every moment grew the thought that he had made his lair in some part of the broad belt of jungle whose edge we were now skirting. In that case he was not lost, as the cabin-boy said of the teakettle which had gone to the bottom of the sea; but who should plunge in to find him? A turret-like projection of the hill, which still rose high on our left, was rounded, and one of those diversified scenes so characteristic of South Africa burst on our view. There towered a perfect wall of dark-green foliage, growing darker and darker towards its foot, which was lost in a kloof so deep and narrow that it seemed but a pit filled up with boughs and leaves. From the nearer side of this dark pit the earth stretched backward with a gentle rise, swelling gracefully in the centre, and covered with softer and greener grass than was granted to the plains above; while over its whole surface were scattered larger and smaller groups of mimosa, planted by a better landscape-gardener than man-the hand of Nature. Behind this rose, ridge after ridge, an amphitheatre of hills, extending far into the distance, until their lofty summits faded into blue. And now might be seen our dusky attendants with their numerous horses cantering down the sunny slope of a near hill, and in perfect harmony with the picture to which they gave life and animation. It was no use going further to meet them, and, coming to a halt, half our number cast themselves on the greensward to await their arrival ; while, like true John Bulls, we grumbled most heartily at the lion for having given us no clearer intimation of his whereabouts. Suddenly, when the little troop had advanced to within some thirty yards, a tremendous shout or shriek, half of terror, half of warning, and loud as though there had been as many throats as feet among them, bade the loungers spring from the grass; and every one of us gazed eagerly in the direction of the sound. The first I saw was our steeds scampering over the hills, those that had riders every whit as wildly as those that had none; these last being left wholly to their own discretion. But I had little time for wonder. "The lion!" uttered Doubleitt, as though fearful of being overheard. And there he was sure enough; the tramp of the horses had aroused him from his lair near the border of the jungle, and he was now scarce a dozen yards away, coming forward at an easy canter, and with obvious intention of becoming better acquainted with us. It was the first of his kind I had ever seen in the full enjoyment of his native freedom; and he looked, in truth, a magnificent animal, as lightly, yet firmly, he bounded on, with his long mane falling over his tawny shoulders, and his tail waving from side to side-if not in actual anger, it seemed but as though he knew not yet if we were worthy of his ire. But there was scant opportunity for observation or reflection; for, quick as thought almost, the lion was close upon us at the very entrance of the semicircle in which we stood like a party of statues, or petrefactions, or fools, so utterly taken by surprise that not a single movement had been made to do honour to our wished-for visitor. I was right opposite him, and seemed his object; as, in briefer time than it takes to read this, he had sprung into the midst of us. My breath came quick and short, as, grasping my rifle, I made a rapid computation of the chances of the coming struggle, which were obviously against the biped. But ere my finger could touch the trigger he turned, and, still without any indication of rage, but as it were taking his pastime much in the way we had meant to take ours, he sprang towards our tiger-killing friend. One gentle bound brought him dangerously near, and Mark awaited not a second. Bang, bang! went his gun, with an aim which might have proved fatal to any bird soaring in mid air; then throwing away the useless weapon, he fled fast as feet could carry him from the scene of action. But his headlong flight would scarce have saved him had not Lewis Hay, with truer aim, fired upon the lion ere he had time for the second spring. The wound, though slight, was yet sufficient to turn him from his purpose, and arouse him at once to the reality of the scene. Sudden fury seemed to dilate his form, his tail described a rapid circle as it struck heavily against one side and then the other, and with a mighty roar of fiercest wrath he sprang on his assailant. Lewis kept his ground unflinchingly, and, dropping on one knee, discharged his second barrel full against the broad chest of his advancing foe. At the same instant the balls of Grattan, W- and myself were lodged in his body; and, mortally wounded, the lion fell short of his mark. Another roar, but this time of agony, blent with wild but powerless rage, echoed from kloof to kloof, as in the violence of his death-struggle he tore the earth with his claws, and writhed with an intensity of suffering which touched the hearts of those who had inflicted it. We showed our pity characteristically by sending another bullet to complete the work of those which had gone before; and then we gathered round to gaze and admire one of the most superb specimens of the leonine race that any of my companions had ever seen, and I, being in my novitiate, to secretly congratulate myself on not having those enormous teeth and claws tearing away at my devoted person. (To be concluded in our next.) "And angling, too, that solitary vice, The quaint, old, cruel, coxcomb, in his gullet So writes Byron. Despite, however, of this anathema, we are prepared to show that many of the most humane men that this country has produced have been devoted to the "gentle crafte." Walton, Dr. Howell (dean of St. Paul's), Sir Henry Wotton, Sir John Offley, Gay, Tobin," the gentle Coleridge," Dr. Paley, Walter Scott, Sir Humphrey Davy, Doctors Babington and Frank, devoted their leisure hours to the rod and line. There are many good and kind-hearted men of the present day, whose names would swell the above list, who, braving the denunciation of the noble bard, and the ridicule of the surly pedant, Johnson "A fool at one end, and a worm at the other” appear at the river side, and while away an idle hour in this innocent recreation. There is one advantage, at least, that angling possesses over other sports-namely, that it can be participated in through "the seven stages of life," from the "whining schoolboy" to the "lean and slippered pantaloon." The truant urchin first commences his piscatorial career with a bent pin and a piece of packthread, bobbing for sticklebacks; the lover, too, from the days of the wanton queen of Egypt, may with her exclaim, "Give me mine angle. We'll to the river; there, Tawny-finn'd fishes and, as I draw them up, I'll think every one an Anthony, And The soldier" may emulate the angling triumphs of Trajan-"best of the good," as recorded by a popular sporting writer of the present day; while the "justice, in fair round belly, with good capon lined," may add to his epicurean luxuries the delicate trout, the voracious pike, the well-flavoured eel, the palatable smelt, the "daynteous" carp, as the Lady Juliana Berners calls it. Even in the "sixth age" the fisherman |